Holy Prophet Hanani

Holy Prophet Hanani (Feast Day - March 27)

Verses

By the tripod of the Trinity you prophesied Hanani,
Foretelling the future before the end.

The Prophet Hanani was sent by the Lord to rebuke King Asa of Judah for entering into a league with Benhadad I, King of Syria (Aram), against the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Chr. 16:1-10). This Hanani was also probably the father of the Prophet Jehu (1 Kings 16:7).

In 2 Chronicles 16 we read of him:

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”

Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.

The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors.

The Holy Prophet Hanani reposed in peace.