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The five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa - Archbishop Usher thinks that this should be counted from the separation of the kingdom, and that this fell on the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. To settle in every respect these chronologies is a most difficult undertaking; and the difficulty does not belong to the sacred books alone, all other chronological tables of all the nations in the world, are in the same predicament. With those of our own history I have often been puzzled, even while I had access to all the archives of the nation. Probably we should read here the five and twentieth year. See the note on 1 Kings 15:16.

The five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa - This cannot be reconciled with the chronqlogy of Kings 1 Kings 16:8: and the suggestion in the marg. implies the adoption of a mode of marking time unknown either to himself or any other Scriptural writer. It is supposed that the figures here and in 2 Chronicles 16:1 are corrupt, and that in both verses “twentieth” should replace “thirtieth.” The attack of Baasha would then have been made in the last year of Asa‘s reign; and ten years of peace would have followed Asa‘s victory over Zerah.