Bible Dictionaries
Asa

Holman Bible Dictionary

(a' ssuh) Personal name meaning, “doctor” or “healing.” 1. Son and successor of Abijam as king of Judah (1 Kings 15:8 ). He reigned for forty-one years (913-873 B.C.). A pious man, he instituted several reforms to remove foreign gods and foreign religious practices from the land, even removing his mother from political power (1 Kings 15:13 ). After his death, apparently from natural causes, he was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat or Josaphat (KJV). Asa was rebuked by the prophet Hanani (2 Chronicles 16:7 ) for relying on the king of Syria rather than on the Lord (1 Kings 15:17-20 ). The chronicler further reported that when Asa developed a disease in his feet, he relied on physicians rather than on the Lord (2 Chronicles 16:12 ). Matthew 1:7-8 lists Asa among Jesus' ancestors. See Israel; Chronology of Biblical Period.

2. A Levite who returned from the Exile to Jerusalem. He was the head of a family in the villages of the Netophathites near Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 9:16 ).