Baasha was the third king of the northern Israelite

Israelite

According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...

 Kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Ahijah

Ahijah

Ahijah is a name of several Biblical individuals:# Ahijah the Shilonite, the Biblical prophet who divided the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.# One of the sons of Bela . In AV called "Ahiah."...

 of the Tribe of Issachar

Tribe of Issachar

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Issachar was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...

. Baasha's story is told in .

Baasha became king of Israel in the third year of Asa, king of Judah

Asa of Judah

Asa was the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the House of David. He was the son of Abijam, grandson of Rehoboam, and great-grandson of Solomon. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign as 41 years. His reign is dated between 913-910 BCE to 873-869 BCE. He was...

. William F. Albright

William F. Albright

William Foxwell Albright was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist and expert on ceramics. From the early twentieth century until his death, he was the dean of biblical archaeologists and the universally acknowledged founder of the Biblical archaeology movement...

 has dated his reign to 900 - 877 BCE, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 909 - 886 BCE. Baasha came to power by murdering the previous king, Nadab

Nadab of Israel

Nadab was the second king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel. He was the son and successor of Jeroboam. Nadab became king of Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned for two years. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 901 - 900 BCE, while E. R...

, followed by the entire House of Jeroboam

Jeroboam

Jeroboam was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy....

 (Nadab's father and predecessor). Baasha had previously been a captain in Nadab's own army.

Over the course of his 23-year reign, Baasha was at war with Asa, king of Judah. He allied Israel with Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and endeavored to strangle Judah

Kingdom of Judah

The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....

's trade by fortifying Ramah

Ramathaim-Zophim

Ramathaim-Zophim , also called Ramah and Ramatha in the Douay-Rheims, is a town that has been identified with the modern Neby Samwil , about 4 or 5 miles north-west of Jerusalem...

, a city five miles north of Jerusalem. King Asa of Judah

Asa of Judah

Asa was the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the House of David. He was the son of Abijam, grandson of Rehoboam, and great-grandson of Solomon. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign as 41 years. His reign is dated between 913-910 BCE to 873-869 BCE. He was...

 then bribed King Ben-hadad of Syria to switch sides and attack Israel, prompting the loss of extensive territory in Dan

Tribe of Dan

The Tribe of Dan, also sometimes spelled as "Dann", was one of the Tribes of Israel. Though known mostly from biblical sources, they were possibly descendants of the Denyen Sea Peoples who joined with Hebrews...

 and Naphtali

Tribe of Naphtali

The Tribe of Naphtali was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...

 northwest of the Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...

. Baasha was forced to withdraw from Ramah.

Though Baasha remained in power for life, he was not without his opponents. The prophet Jehu

Jehu (prophet)

Jehu , ) son of Hanani was a prophet in the Hebrew Bible, who was active in the 9th century BC.According to the Bible, Jehu condemned the house of Baasha, king of Israel, accusing him of leading the people into sin like his predecessor Jeroboam...

, the son of Hanani

Hanani

The word Hanani means "God has gratified me", or "God is gracious".Hanani is the name of three men in the Hebrew Bible* One of the sons of Heman ....

, foretold the destruction of his dynasty, which came to pass with the assassination

Assassination

To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

 of Baasha's son Elah

King Elah

Elah was a son of Baasha, who succeeded him as the 4th king of Israel. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 877 BC - 876 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 886 BC - 885 BC....

.