And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.

1 KINGS 15:24KJV
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1 Kings 15:24 (KJV)

What does 1 Kings 15:24 mean?

1 Kings 15:24 marks the end of Asa’s life and the transfer of Judah’s throne to his son Jehoshaphat. The verse places Asa among the earlier kings buried in David’s city and identifies the next ruler in David’s family line.

The narrator uses “slept with his fathers” as a respectful way to say that Asa died. “David his father” calls David an ancestor, not Asa’s immediate father.

The Hebrew behind 1 Kings 15:24

  • “slept” — שָׁכַב (shakav): The word means to lie down or sleep. Here, “slept with his fathers” is a customary way of speaking about death.
  • “father” — אָב (av): The word can mean father or an earlier ancestor. That wider sense helps explain why the verse calls David Asa’s father.

Why 1 Kings 15:24 matters

  • Asa’s burial places him among Judah’s royal dead. The verse says he was buried “in the city of David,” the part of Jerusalem associated with David.
  • The throne passed within Asa’s family. “Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead” names the son who took his place as king.

Where else these words appear

“Asa” Hebrew H609 · used in 52 verses

  • 1 Kings 15:8 And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
  • 1 Kings 16:15 In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
  • 2 Chronicles 15:10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

“Jehoshaphat” Hebrew H3092 · used in 75 verses

  • 2 Samuel 8:16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
  • 2 Kings 3:7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.
  • 2 Chronicles 18:31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

“buried” Hebrew H6912 · used in 122 verses

  • Genesis 15:15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
  • Judges 16:31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
  • 2 Kings 15:7 So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.