Son of Aviyah; reigned 41 years in Yerushalayim — one of the longer reigns of Yehudah's kings
1 Kings 15:11 — 'Asa did what was right in the eyes of Yah, as did David his father'
Removed the male cult prostitutes and the idols his fathers had made; deposed his grandmother Maakah from being queen mother (gevirah) for making an obscene image for Asherah, which he cut down and burned at the Kidron (1 Kings 15:11–13, 2 Chronicles 15:16)
Defeated the vast army of Zerach the Cushite at Mareshah, crying out to Yah for help (2 Chronicles 14:9–15)
Renewed the covenant with Yah at Yerushalayim with the prophet Azaryahu ben Oded (2 Chronicles 15)
In his old age, made an alliance with Aram against Israel rather than trusting Yah, for which the seer Chanani rebuked him; Asa imprisoned Chanani in anger (2 Chronicles 16:7–10)
Afflicted with a severe disease in his feet in his old age; 2 Chronicles 16:12 notes that even then 'he sought not to Yah, but to the physicians' — a notable critical aside
Named in Matthew 1:7–8 (as 'Asa') in the line to Yeshua
“He did what was right, as did David his father — yet in old age sought physicians, not Yah”
Traditional note: FLAGGED AMBIGUITY: 1 Kings 15:10 states 'his mother's name was Maakah, the daughter of Avshalom' — the same name and patronymic already given for Aviyah's mother (1 Kings 15:2, 2 Chronicles 11:20–22). Since 1 Kings 15:13 / 2 Chronicles 15:16 then describe Asa himself removing this Maakah from her position as queen mother (gevirah) during his own reign, the more common harmonizing reading is that Maakah was Asa's grandmother, who continued to hold the official gevirah title into his reign, and that 1 Kings 15:10 repeats the formula for the gevirah rather than naming Asa's biological mother (who is not separately named in the text). Because of this ambiguity, this entry leaves 'mother' as null rather than asserting 'maakah-bat-avshalom' as Asa's biological mother; Maakah's own entry documents her role across both reigns.
