1st Kings Chapter 15 verse 17 Holy Bible

ASV 1stKings 15:17

And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
read chapter 15 in ASV

BBE 1stKings 15:17

And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah, building Ramah, so that no one was able to go out or in to Asa, king of Judah.
read chapter 15 in BBE

DARBY 1stKings 15:17

And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, in order to let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
read chapter 15 in DARBY

KJV 1stKings 15:17

And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
read chapter 15 in KJV

WBT 1stKings 15:17

And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
read chapter 15 in WBT

WEB 1stKings 15:17

Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
read chapter 15 in WEB

YLT 1stKings 15:17

and Baasha king of Israel goeth up against Judah, and buildeth Ramah, not to permit any one going out and coming in to Asa king of Judah.
read chapter 15 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah [This statement probably refers to the reconquest of the three cities which Abijah had taken from Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13:19), as Ramah could hardly have been rebuilt whilst Bethel remained in the hands of Judah], and built Ramah [Heb. the Ramah, i.e., "the elevation," or "high place." Now er Ram ( = the height), in Benjamin (Joshua 18:25; Judges 19:18, 14), five miles distant from Jerusalem, near the frontier of the two territories, and also then, as now, on the great north road. It was the key, consequently, to both kingdoms. Hence the struggles to possess it, vers, 21, 22; 2 Chronicles 16:1, etc.], that he might not suffer any to go out [Heb. not to give any going out, etc.] or come in to Asa, king of Judah. [The object of Baasha in fortifying this place is evident. It was not merely to have an advanced post as a menace to Jerusalem (Rawlinson), but primarily, by its command of the high road, to prevent his subjects from falling away to the kingdom of Judah, or even from going up to Jerusalem to worship; in fact, to isolate Judah and to blockade its capital. That there was a great defection to Ass at this time we know from 2 Chronicles 15:9. This was an exodus which Baasha felt must be checked. Blunt ("Coincidences," pp. 176-8) has happily shown from 2 Chronicles 16:6, etc., how the primary object must have been to "stop the alarming drainage of all that was virtuous out of their borders." Rawlinson sees in the fortification of this place "the first step towards a conquest of the southern kingdom." But as to this the text is silent, or rather it assigns an entirely different reason.]

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) Built Ramah.--Ramah, or properly, the Ramah--the word signifying only "elevation"--is mentioned in Joshua 18:25 as a city of Benjamin, situated (see Jos. Ant. viii. 12, 3) about five miles north of Jerusalem. It is mentioned in Judges 4:5; Judges 19:13; Isaiah 10:29; Jeremiah 40:1, and is identified with the village known as Er-Ram at the present day.This fortification of Ramah close to the hostile capital--like the fortification of Decelea, near Athens, in the Peloponnesian war--was a standing menace to Judah. Baasha, who was a military chief, seems to have been warned by the ill-success of former attempts to invade and subjugate Judah, and to have used this easier means of keeping the enemy in check, and provoking a conflict--if a conflict there was to be--on his own ground. The text, however, implies a further design to blockade the road between the kingdoms, perhaps explained by the statement, in 2Chronicles 15:9-10, of the falling away of many from Israel to Asa, now in the height of his prosperity. The new fortress was, no doubt, supported by all the military force of Israel, which Asa, in spite of his increased strength, dared not attack. . . .