The Chronicler stands alone both in recording the condemnation of Asa in this passage and in himself condemning him in verse 12. In 1 Kings no blame is passed on Asa. ⁷And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and hast not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. =7.= _Hanani the seer_] Hanani _as a seer_ is known to us from this passage only; but in xix. 2 and xx. 34 (also 1 Kings xvi. 1) Jehu the prophet is called son of Hanani. _the seer_] an ancient title, elsewhere applied only to Samuel. Compare 1 Samuel ix. 9 “he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.” In consequence of this phrase it has been supposed that the story of Hanani is a genuinely old tradition. This is possible, but the evidence of this one phrase is not sufficient to be convincing. The term may be a deliberate archaism of the Chronicler. _therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped_] The prophet declares that if Asa had not detached Syria by his presents, he might have smitten Israel and Syria combined. ⁸Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge host, with chariots and horsemen exceeding many? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand. =8.= _and the Lubim_] The Lubim are not mentioned in xiv. 9‒13, but as they were auxiliaries of the Egyptians (xii. 3) it is quite possible that they represent the help given by Egypt to the Arabian Cushites as they passed the Egyptian border on their way to invade Judah. Compare note on xiv. 9 (_three hundred chariots_). ⁹For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth thou shalt have wars. =9.= _run to and fro_] i.e. no event escapes the Divine vigilance, compare Zechariah iv. 10. ¹⁰Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison house¹; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. ¹ Hebrew _house of the stocks_. =10.= _in the prison house_] Render, =in the stocks= (literally _in the house of the stocks_). Compare xviii. 26; Jeremiah xx. 2. _oppressed_] literally _brake in pieces_, an expression which when applied to things would mean _made spoil of_, when applied to persons _treated outrageously, tortured_, ἐλυμήνατο LXX. =11‒14= (= 1 Kings xv. 23, 24). THE EPILOGUE OF ASA’S REIGN. ¹¹And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²And in the thirty and ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.