1 Kings 15:20
So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
The chapter belongs to the history of the kings after the division of the kingdom at Solomon's death, when Rehoboam's imprudent stubbornness lost a large portion of the kingdom, leaving Israel and Judah as two kingdoms continuing together sometimes at war and sometimes at peace until Israel was obliterated in 721 B.C. The verse belongs to the account of Asa's reign in Judah after the kingdom was divided, a period of war and strife between the two divisions, with Abijah and Asa reigning in Judah while Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri and Ahab reigned in Israel. Asa's reign was better than Abijam's and was a time of prosperity for Judah. The verse stands in the account of Israel's apostasy in which the kings led the nation to forsake the worship of the living God for the worship of idols and to turn away from the God-given plan of worship that pointed to Christ and revealed the way of salvation from sin. That apostasy was a forsaking of all that was pure and true and uplifting for the impure, untrue and degrading worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, which was worship of the creature instead of the Creator.
The verse shows that Asa of Judah sent a present to the king of Syria and persuaded him to break his league with Baasha, king of Israel, and help Asa by attacking Israel's cities. Asa sought that help against Baasha of Israel by using treasures from the Lord's house, and the conflict included Baasha's building at Ramah and Asa's use of its materials to build other cities. The verse shows Benhadad besieging Abel-beth-maachah, which means meadow of the house of Maachah. That city was a city of Naphtali called mother in Israel and renowned for wisdom, which was also besieged by Joab and by Tiglath-pileser.