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Texts -- 1 Kings 14:2-31 (NET)

Context
14:2 Jeroboam told his wife , “Disguise yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam’s wife . Then go to Shiloh ; Ahijah the prophet , who told me I would rule over this nation , lives there . 14:3 Take ten loaves of bread , some small cakes , and a container of honey and visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy .” 14:4 Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told . She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah . Now Ahijah could not see ; he had lost his eyesight in his old age . 14:5 But the Lord had told Ahijah , “Look , Jeroboam’s wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son , for he is sick . Tell her so-and-so . When she comes , she will be in a disguise .” 14:6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door , he said , “Come on in, wife of Jeroboam ! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news. 14:7 Go , tell Jeroboam , ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says : “I raised you up from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel . 14:8 I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David , who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve . 14:9 You have sinned more than all who came before you. You went and angered me by making other gods , formed out of metal ; you have completely disregarded me. 14:10 So I am ready to bring disaster on the dynasty of Jeroboam . I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel , including even the weak and incapacitated . I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam , just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed . 14:11 Dogs will eat the members of your family who die in the city , and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country .”’ Indeed , the Lord has announced it! 14:12 “As for you , get up and go home . When you set foot in the city , the boy will die . 14:13 All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family who will receive a decent burial , for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good . 14:14 The Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will cut off Jeroboam’s dynasty . It is ready to happen! 14:15 The Lord will attack Israel , making it like a reed that sways in the water . He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River , because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles . 14:16 He will hand Israel over to their enemies because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit .” 14:17 So Jeroboam’s wife got up and went back to Tirzah . As she crossed the threshold of the house , the boy died . 14:18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him, just as the Lord had predicted through his servant the prophet Ahijah .
Jeroboam’s Reign Ends
14:19 The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including the details of his battles and rule , are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel . 14:20 Jeroboam ruled for twenty-two years ; then he passed away . His son Nadab replaced him as king .
Rehoboam’s Reign over Judah
14:21 Now Rehoboam son of Solomon ruled in Judah . He was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem , the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. His mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah . 14:22 Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord . They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done . 14:23 They even built for themselves high places , sacred pillars , and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree . 14:24 There were also male cultic prostitutes in the land . They committed the same horrible sins as the nations that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites . 14:25 In King Rehoboam’s fifth year , King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem . 14:26 He took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace ; he took everything , including all the golden shields that Solomon had made . 14:27 King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace . 14:28 Whenever the king visited the Lord’s temple , the royal guard carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom . 14:29 The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign, including his accomplishments , are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah . 14:30 Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. 14:31 Rehoboam passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David . His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah . His son Abijah replaced him as king .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • When Israel entered the land the people were to destroy all the places and objects used in the pagan worship of the Canaanites (vv. 2-4). Pagan peoples generally have felt that worshipping on elevated sites brings them into c...
  • Saul's concern for his father's peace of mind was commendable. It shows a sensitivity that would have been an asset in a king (v. 5). Likewise his desire to give Samuel a present for his help was praiseworthy (v. 7; cf. 1 Kin...
  • The writer introduced the history of Saul's reign by referring to the king's age and possibly the length of his reign. Verse one contains a textual corruption in the Hebrew text.132There the verse reads, "Saul was . . . years...
  • "From the religious heights of chapter 7 we descend again to the everyday world of battles and bloodshed in chapter 8. The military action picks up where the story left off at the end of chapter 5."130Chapter 8 evidently desc...
  • The fact that this book opens and closes with death should be a clue as to its message.It opens with David's death, and it closes with Ahab's death. The intervening period of about a century and a half is a story of national ...
  • I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
  • Adonijah was David's fourth son (2 Sam. 3:4) and the eldest one living at this time. Evidently he believed it was more important that the eldest son succeed David, as was customary in the Near East, than that the king of Yahw...
  • Should Solomon have married Pharaoh's daughter? In view of 11:1-2 and 2 Chronicles 8:1 there is no way we can say yes. Furthermore Solomon already had a wife when he married Pharaoh's daughter (14:21; cf. Gen. 2:24). Why then...
  • This pericope summarizes Solomon's wealth as the previous one summarized his wisdom.God brought much wealth to Solomon, almost 25 tons of gold a year (v. 14), plus many other riches."Those who would consider his income of 666...
  • Jeroboam, who would become the first king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, was from Ephraim, the most prominent tribe in the North (v. 26).Part of Benjamin affiliated voluntarily with Judah eventually (v. 32; cf. 12:21; 2 C...
  • The writer of Kings referred to other ancient records (v. 41; cf. 14:19, 29). The Acts of Solomon was the first of these.120It is no longer extant.Solomon's long reign of 40 years (971-931 B.C.) ended with the king in decline...
  • The second major part of the Book of Kings records the histories of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.123During this era of 209 years (931-722 B.C.) the two kingdoms experienced differing relati...
  • During its history the Northern Kingdom had three capitals: first Shechem (v. 25), then Tirzah (14:17; 15:33), and finally Samaria (16:23-24). Perhaps the king strengthened Penuel in west-central Gilead as a Transjordanian pr...
  • Whereas the prophecy of the young prophet from Judah dealt with Jeroboam's religious cult, this one predicted the fate of his descendants.Jeroboam probably sent his wife to see Ahijah because that prophet had previously given...
  • "The narrator introduces a new format and style at this point that enables him to state the essence of a king's reign with an economy of words. The introduction and conclusion of the account of each reign conform to a fixed p...
  • Abijam (or Abijah, lit. my father is Yah[weh]) reigned from 913-911 B.C. while Jeroboam ruled over Israel.155"The accession formulae from this reign onwards make cross-references between Judah and Israel. It is not clear whet...
  • Nadab ruled Israel from 910-909 B.C. Evidently Baasha assassinated him during a battle with the Philistines. Gibbethon stood three miles west of Solomon's stronghold city of Gezer near the border where Israel, Philistia, and ...
  • Baasha's 24-year reign (909-886 B.C.), the third longest of any king of the Northern Kingdom, fell within that of Asa's rule over Judah (911-870 B.C.).Baasha had an outstanding opportunity to lead Israel back to true covenant...
  • Again God told Elijah to "go"(v. 18; cf. 17:3, 9; 18:1; 19:15). As a faithful servant, he went to confront the king again.226Ahab was not in Samaria then (v. 18) but in Jezreel (v. 19). The mention of Samaria was evidently an...
  • The earliest Hebrew title for the Books of Chronicles translates as, "The Things Left Behind."This name describes Chronicles as containing remnants of the monarchy history not recorded in the preceding Old Testament historica...
  • Perhaps the writer mentioned Ahasuerus' tax (v. 1) because Mordecai had something to do with it, or perhaps this tax reflects God's blessing on the king for preserving the Jews (Gen. 12:3).Appeal to the official chronicles (v...
  • Perverse conduct was the consequence of Israel's apostasy and infidelity, and it led to slavery.2:14-15 Israel was Yahweh's firstborn son, not a slave or even a home-born servant.77As such he enjoyed the special care and prov...
  • This chapter on Egypt contains three separate prophecies that Jeremiah delivered about the fate of that nation. Their purpose seems to have been to discourage King Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.) and the pro-Egyptian party in Judah ...
  • 4:12 The overthrow of Jerusalem had surprised the leaders and people of other nations. Invaders had forced their way into it in the past (cf. 1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Kings 14:13-14; 2 Chron. 21:16-17), but the citizens had rebuil...
  • 8:1 The following prophecy came to Ezekiel during September of 592 B.C. as he was sitting in his house with the elders of Israel.141This would have been during the time when he was lying on his right side for part of the day ...
  • 20:1 Certain elders of the Jewish exiles came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord (cf. 14:1-11). Inquiring of the Lord meant securing a divine revelation concerning a particular event (cf. 1 Kings 14:5-18; 22:7-28; 2 Kings 8:8-...
  • The following section is a general indictment of the people of Israel for their idolatry.4:11 The practice of idolatry (spiritual harlotry), with its emphasis on drinking wine, had turned the heart of the Israelites from Yahw...
  • 12:12 The Lord reminded the Israelites again of their humble origins. Jacob was a refugee who migrated to the land of Aram. There he had to work to pay for a wife, and he did so by tending sheep, a very humble occupation (cf....
  • The date of Joel is its largest introductory problem. There are four most likely possibilities. First, some scholars advocate an early pre-exilic dateduring the reign of King Jehoshaphat (872-848 B.C.) or possibly his grandso...
  • Since we do not know who the writer was, other than that his name was Obadiah, it is very difficult to date this book and to determine where it came from."This shortest book in the Old Testament, consisting of only twenty-one...
  • 5:10-11 In that future eschatological day the Lord also promised to remove the vain sources of security that had always tempted the Israelites represented by horses, chariots, cities, and fortifications (cf. Deut. 17:16).5:12...
  • 14:25 Luke described a setting different from the preceding meal. Jesus was on the road again heading toward Jerusalem. It was evidently the great size of the multitude that accompanied Him that led Him to say what He did.14:...
  • There are several connections between this section and the preceding ones that provide continuity. One is the continuation of water as a symbol (cf. 2:6; 3:5; 4:10-15). Another is the continuation of conversation in which Jes...
  • Peter proceeded to emphasize that the witness of the apostles, as well as the witness of Scripture, came from God. He did this to help his readers see that their choice boiled down to accepting God's Word or the word of men w...
  • John's revelation continued to unfold future events as God revealed these to him in his vision. The scene John saw next was in heaven. The seventh trumpet judgment did not begin immediately (cf. 8:1-5), but John received info...
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