2 Chronicles 16:5 (WEB)

Passage

When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and let his work cease.

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 16:3 “Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.”

2 Chronicles 16:4 Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they struck Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

2 Chronicles 16:5 When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and let his work cease.

2 Chronicles 16:6 Then Asa the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Rama, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

2 Chronicles 16:7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Yahweh your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped out of your hand.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "baasha", "heard", "stopped", "building", "ramah", and "cease". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "baasha" and "heard", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Ben Hadad listened to king Asa and..." into verse 6's "Then Asa the king took all Judah...", so "baasha" and "heard" 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 "baasha" and "heard" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.