2 Chronicles 16:4 (LSB)

Passage

So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 16:2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,

2 Chronicles 16:3 “Let there be a covenant between you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”

2 Chronicles 16:4 So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.

2 Chronicles 16:5 Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped his work.

2 Chronicles 16:6 Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ben-hadad", "listened", "king", "sent", "commanders", "military", "forces", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ben-hadad" and "listened", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Let there be a covenant between you..." into verse 5's "Now it happened that when Baasha heard...", so "ben-hadad" and "listened" belong inside that flow. In 2 Chronicles context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "ben-hadad" and "listened" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.