**AŜA.** – Third king of Judah after the division of the kingdom, son and successor of Abia. He reigned for 41 years (1910–1970 B.C.). He repaired the damage that Pharaoh Shishak, his great-grandfather, had caused to the country under King Rehoboam. He built various fortresses to defend the borders.
In the 15th year of his reign, Zerah the Ethiopian (Cushite), a bandit chief (not a king), not to be confused with Osorkon I, son of Shishak, invaded Palestine with a large force of Arabs and Libyans as far as Maresha, beyond Hebron. Asa repulsed him victoriously as far as Gerar, bringing back great spoils. He also waged war against Baasha, king of Israel, who had already occupied Ramah, the gateway to Judah; Asa defeated him, but with the help of Ben-hadad, king of Syria, who had already allied himself with Baasha and had been won over by the treasures from the Temple and the royal palace. The prophet Hanani reproached him for this lack of theocratic spirit (2 Chron. 16:7–10).
Asa also took care of the interests of his people and religion. He reformed the court, removing even his mother Maacah, who openly favored idolatrous cults, and he removed the idols and cult prostitutes that his predecessors had introduced, destroying even the statue of Asherah that his mother had erected.
He dedicated a large portion of the war spoils to the Temple; he encouraged the people to return to the true worship by solemnly renewing, in the 15th year of his reign, their pledge of loyalty to Yahweh. But in his later years, he showed little faith, seeking help for his ailments more from physicians than from Yahweh. In the 39th year of his reign, unable to govern further because of the worsening of his illness, he associated his son Jehoshaphat with him in the kingdom.
1 Kings 15:8–24 and 2 Chronicles 14:1–16:14 describe in greater detail the events of his long reign, emphasizing Asa’s partial religious defection in keeping with the religious-pedagogical purpose of the work.