Text -- 1 Kings 12:1-26 (NET)

Rehoboam Loses His Kingdom

12:1 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, for all Israel had gathered in Shechem to make Rehoboam king. 12:2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. 12:3 They sent for him, and Jeroboam and the whole Israelite assembly came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 12:4 “Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” 12:5 He said to them, “Go away for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away. 12:6 King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, “How do you advise me to answer these people?” 12:7 They said to him, “Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward.” 12:8 But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. 12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” 12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! 12:11 My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” 12:12 Jeroboam and all the people reported to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered when he said, “Return to me on the third day.” 12:13 The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men 12:14 and followed the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” 12:15 The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. 12:16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, “We have no portion in David, no share in the son of Jesse! Return to your homes, O Israel! Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!” So Israel returned to their homes. 12:17 (Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.) 12:18 King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, the supervisor of the work crews, out after them, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 12:19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty to this very day. 12:20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No one except the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty. 12:21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from all of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. 12:22 But God told Shemaiah the prophet, 12:23 “Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the rest of the people, 12:24 ‘The Lord says this: “Do not attack and make war with your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen.”’” They obeyed the Lord and went home as the Lord had ordered them to do.

Jeroboam Makes Golden Calves

12:25 Jeroboam built up Shechem in the Ephraimite hill country and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel. 12:26 Jeroboam then thought to himself: “Now the Davidic dynasty could regain the kingdom.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 1Ki 12:1

Rehoboam did not call them thither, but went thither, because the Israelites prevented him, and had pitched upon that place, rather than upon Jerusalem, because it was most convenient for all, being in the center of the kingdom; and because that being in the potent tribe of Ephraim, they supposed there they might use that freedom of speech, which they resolved to use, to get there grievances redressed. So out of a thousand wives and concubines, he had but one son to bear his name, and he a fool! Is not sin an ill way of building up a family?

Wesley: 1Ki 12:3

When the people sent him word of Solomon's death, they also sent a summons for him to come to Shechem. That the presence and countenance of a man of so great interest and reputation, might lay the greater obligation upon Rehoboam to grant them ease and relief.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:4

By heavy taxes and impositions, not only for the temple and his magnificent buildings, but for the expenses of his numerous court, and of so many wives and concubines. And Solomon having so grossly forsaken God, it is no wonder if he oppressed the people.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:7

By complying with their desires, and condescending to them for a season, till thou art better established in thy throne. They use this expression, fore - seeing that some would dissuade him from this course, as below the majesty of a prince.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:7

Thy service is not hard, it is only a few good words, which it is as easy to give as bad ones.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:8

So called, comparatively to the old men: otherwise they were near forty years old.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:10

Or rather, is thicker, and therefore stronger, and more able to crush you, if you proceed in these mutinous demands, than his loins, in which is the principal seat of strength.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:15

Who gave up Rehoboam to so foolish and fatal a mistake, and alienated the peoples affections from him; and ordered all circumstances by his wise providence to that end.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:16

In David's family and son; we can expect no benefit or relief from him, and therefore we renounce all commerce with him, and subjection to him. They named David, rather than Rehoboam; to signify, that they renounced not Rehoboam only, but all David's family.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:16

So they call David in contempt; as if they had said, Rehoboam hath no reason to carry himself with such pride and contempt toward his people; for if we trace his original, it was as mean and obscure as any of ours.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:16

Let us forsake him, and go to our own homes, there to consider, how to provide for ourselves.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:17

The tribe of Judah; with those parts of the tribes of Levi, and Simeon, and Benjamin, whose dwellings were within the confines of Judah.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:18

Probably to pursue the counsel which he had resolved upon, to execute his office, and exact their tribute with rigour and violence, if need were.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:19

Their revolt was sinful, as they did not this in compliance with God's counsel, but to gratify their own passions.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:20

From Egypt; which was known to them before who met at Shechem, and now by all the people.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:20

That is, no entire tribe.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:24

This event is from my counsel and providence, to punish Solomon's apostasy.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:25

He repaired, and enlarged, and fortified it; for it had been ruined long since, Jdg 9:45. He might chuse it as a place both auspicious, because here the foundation of his monarchy was laid; and commodious, as being near the frontiers of his kingdom.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:25

A place beyond Jordan; to secure that part of his dominions.

Wesley: 1Ki 12:26

_Reasoned within himself. The phrase discovers the fountain of his error, that he did not consult with God, who had given him the kingdom; as in all reason, and justice, and gratitude he should have done: nor believed God's promise, 1Ki 11:38, but his own carnal policy.

JFB: 1Ki 12:1

He was the oldest, and perhaps the only son of Solomon, and had been, doubtless, designated by his father heir to the throne, as Solomon had been by David. The incident here related took place after the funeral obsequies of the late king and the period for public mourning had past. When all Israel came to make him king, it was not to exercise their old right of election (1Sa 10:19-21), for, after God's promise of the perpetual sovereignty to David's posterity, their duty was submission to the authority of the rightful heir; but their object was, when making him king, to renew the conditions and stipulations to which their constitutional kings were subject (1Sa 10:25). To the omission of such rehearsing which, under the peculiar circumstances in which Solomon was made king, they were disposed to ascribe the absolutism of his government.

JFB: 1Ki 12:1

This ancient, venerable, and central town was the place of convocation; and it is evident, if not from the appointment of that place, at least from the tenor of their language, and the concerted presence of Jeroboam [1Ki 12:3], that the people were determined on revolt.

JFB: 1Ki 12:4

The splendor of Solomon's court and the magnitude of his undertakings being such, that neither the tribute of dependent states, nor the presents of foreign princes, nor the profits of his commercial enterprises, were adequate to carry them on, he had been obliged, for obtaining the necessary revenue, to begin a system of heavy taxation. The people looked only to the burdens, not to the benefits they derived from Solomon's peaceful and prosperous reign--and the evils from which they demanded deliverance were civil oppressions, not idolatry, to which they appear to have been indifferent or approving.

JFB: 1Ki 12:5-8

It was prudent to take the people's demand into calm and deliberate consideration. Whether, had the advice of the sage and experienced counsellors been followed, any good result would have followed, it is impossible to say. It would at least have removed all pretext for the separation. [See on 2Ch 10:7.] But he preferred the counsel of his young companions (not in age, for they were all about forty-one, but inexperienced), who recommended prompt and decisive measures to quell the malcontents.

JFB: 1Ki 12:11

The latter [instruments], as contrasted with the former, are supposed to mean thongs thickly set with sharp iron points, used in the castigation of slaves.

JFB: 1Ki 12:15-18

That was the overruling cause. Rehoboam's weakness (Ecc 2:18-19) and inexperience in public affairs has given rise to the probable conjecture, that, like many other princes in the East, he had been kept secluded in the harem till the period of his accession (Ecc 4:14), his father being either afraid of his aspiring to the sovereignty, like the two sons of David, or, which is more probable, afraid of prematurely exposing his imbecility. The king's haughty and violent answer to a people already filled with a spirit of discontent and exasperation, indicated so great an incapacity to appreciate the gravity of the crisis, so utter a want of common sense, as to create a belief that he was struck with judicial blindness. It was received with mingled scorn and derision. The revolt was accomplished, and yet so quietly, that Rehoboam remained in Shechem, fancying himself the sovereign of a united kingdom, until his chief tax gatherer, who had been most imprudently sent to treat with the people, had been stoned to death. This opened his eyes, and he fled for security to Jerusalem.

JFB: 1Ki 12:20-24

This verse closes the parenthetical narrative begun at 1Ki 12:2, and 1Ki 12:21-24 resume the history from 1Ki 12:1. Rehoboam determined to assert his authority by leading a large force into the disaffected provinces. But the revolt of the ten tribes was completed when the prophet Shemaiah ordered, in the Lord's name, an abandonment of any hostile measures against the revolutionists. The army, overawed by the divine prohibition, dispersed, and the king was obliged to submit.

JFB: 1Ki 12:25

Destroyed by Abimelech (Jdg. 9:1-49). It was rebuilt, and perhaps fortified, by Jeroboam, as a royal residence.

JFB: 1Ki 12:25

A ruined city with a tower (Jdg 8:9), east of Jordan, on the north bank of the Jabbok. It was an object of importance to restore this fortress (as it lay on the caravan road from Gilead to Damascus and Palmyra) and to secure his frontier on that quarter.

JFB: 1Ki 12:26-32

Having received the kingdom from God, he should have relied on the divine protection. But he did not. With a view to withdraw the people from the temple and destroy the sacred associations connected with Jerusalem, he made serious and unwarranted innovations on the religious observances of the country, on pretext of saving the people the trouble and expense of a distant journey. First, he erected two golden calves--the young bulls, Apis and Mnevis, as symbols (in the Egyptian fashion) of the true God, and the nearest, according to his fancy, to the figures of the cherubim. The one was placed at Dan, in the northern part of his kingdom; the other at Beth-el, the southern extremity, in sight of Jerusalem, and in which place he probably thought God was as likely to manifest Himself as at Jerusalem (Gen. 32:1-32; 2Ki 2:2). The latter place was the most frequented--for the words (1Ki 12:30) should be rendered, "the people even to Dan went to worship before the one" (Jer 48:13; Amo 4:4-5; Amo 5:5; Hos 5:8; Hos 10:8). The innovation was a sin because it was setting up the worship of God by symbols and images and departing from the place where He had chosen to put His name. Secondly, he changed the feast of tabernacles from the fifteenth of the seventh to the fifteenth of the eighth month. The ostensible reason might be, that the ingathering or harvest was later in the northern parts of the kingdom; but the real reason was to eradicate the old association with this, the most welcome and joyous festival of the year.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:1

Rehoboam went to Shechem - Rehoboam was probably the only son of Solomon; for although he had a thousand wives, he had not the blessing of a numerous offspring; and although he was the wisest of men himself, his son was a poor, unprincipled fool. Had Solomon kept himself within reasonable bounds in matrimonial affairs, he would probably have had more children; and such as would have had common sense enough to discern the delicacy of their situation, and rule according to reason and religion.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:4

The grievous service - and - heavy yoke - They seem here to complain of two things - excessively laborious service, and a heavy taxation. At first it is supposed Solomon employed no Israelite in drudgery: afterwards, when he forsook the God of compassion, he seems to have used them as slaves, and to have revived the Egyptian bondage.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:7

If thou wilt be a servant unto this people - This is a constitutional idea of a king: he is the servant, but not the slave of his people; every regal act of a just king is an act of service to the state. The king is not only the fountain of law and justice; but as he has the appointment of all officers and judges, consequently he is the executor of the laws; and all justice is administered in his name. Properly speaking, a good and constitutional king is the servant of his people; and in being such he is their father and their king

Clarke: 1Ki 12:7

They will be thy servants for ever - The way to insure the obedience of the people is to hold the reins of empire with a steady and impartial hand; let the people see that the king lives for them, and not for himself; and they will obey, love, and defend him. The state is maintained on the part of the ruler and the ruled by mutual acts of service and benevolence. A good king has no self-interest; and such a king will ever have obedient and loving subjects. The haughty, proud tyrant will have a suspicious and jealous people, hourly ripening for revolt. The king is made for the people, not the people for the king. Let every potentate wisely consider this; and let every subject know that the heaviest cares rest on the heart, and the heaviest responsibility rests on the head, of the king. Let them therefore, under his government, fashion themselves as obedient children; acknowledge him their head; and duly consider whose authority he has; that they may love, honor and obey him. Happy are the people who have such a king; safe is the king who has such a people.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:10

And the young men that were grown up with him - It was a custom in different countries to educate with the heir to the throne young noblemen of nearly the same age. This, as Calmet observes, answered two great and important ends: -

1.    It excited the prince to emulation; that he might, as far as possible, surpass in all manly exercises, and in all acts of prudence and virtue, those whom one day he was to surpass in the elevation and dignity of his station

2.    That he might acquire a correct knowledge of the disposition and views of those who were likely to be, under him, the highest officers of the state; and consequently, know the better how to trust and employ them. The old counsellors Rehoboam did not know; with the young nobility he had been familiar

Clarke: 1Ki 12:10

My little finger shall be thicker - A proverbial mode of expression: "My little finger is thicker than my father’ s thigh."As much as the thigh surpasses the little finger in thickness, so much does my power exceed that of my father; and the use that I shall make of it, to employ and tax you, shall be in proportion.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:11

Chastise you with scorpions - Should you rebel, or become disaffected, my father’ s whip shall be a scorpion in my hand. His was chastisement, mine shall be punishment. St. Isidore, and after him Calmet and others, assert that the scorpion was a sort of severe whip, the lashes of which were armed with iron points, that sunk into and tore the flesh. We know that the scorpion was a military engine among the Romans for shooting arrows, which, being poisoned, were likened to the scorpion’ s sting, and the wound it inflicted.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:15

The cause was from the Lord - God left him to himself, and did not incline his heart to follow the counsel of the wise men. This is making the best of our present version; but if we come to inquire into the meaning of the Cause of all this confusion and anarchy, we shall find it was Rehoboam’ s folly, cruelty, and despotic tyranny: and was this from the Lord? But does the text speak this bad doctrine? No: it says סבה sibbah , the Revolution, was from the Lord. This is consistent with all the declarations which went before. God stirred up the people to revolt from a man who had neither skill nor humanity to govern them. We had such a סבה revolution in these nations in 1688; and, thank God, we have never since needed another. None of our ancient translations understood the word as our present version does: they have it either the Turning Away was from the Lord, or it was the Lord’ s Ordinance; viz., that they should turn away from this foolish king.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:16

So Israel departed unto their tents - That is, the ten tribes withdrew their allegiance from Rehoboam; only Judah and Benjamin, frequently reckoned one tribe, remaining with him.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:18

King Rehoboam sent Adoram - As this was the person who was superintendent over the tribute, he was probably sent to collect the ordinary taxes; but the people, indignant at the master who had given them such a brutish answer, stoned the servant to death. The sending of Adoram to collect the taxes, when the public mind was in such a state of fermentation, was another proof of Rehoboam’ s folly and incapacity to govern.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:20

Made him king over all Israel - What is called Israel here, was ten-twelfths of the whole nation; and had they a right to call another person to the throne? They had not, - they had neither legal nor constitutional right. Jeroboam was not of the blood royal; he had no affinity to the kingdom. Nothing could justify this act, but the just judgment of God. God thus punished a disobedient and gainsaying people; and especially Solomon’ s family, whose sins against the Lord were of no ordinary magnitude.

Clarke: 1Ki 12:24

For this thing is from me - That is, the separation of the ten tribes from the house of David

Clarke: 1Ki 12:24

They - returned to depart - This was great deference, both in Rehoboam and his officers, to relinquish, at the demand of the prophet, a war which they thought they had good grounds to undertake. The remnant of the people heard the Divine command gratefully, for the mass of mankind are averse from war. No nations would ever rise up against each other, were they not instigated to it or compelled by the rulers.

Defender: 1Ki 12:11

Despite his wisdom, Solomon yielded to political expediency, with his many pagan wives and their idolatrous nature-religions, and to his pride in opulence and grandeur, which required levying forced labor and heavy taxes on his people (1Ki 11:1-8; 1Ki 5:13-16).

Defender: 1Ki 12:11

The "scorpions" probably referred to particularly painful multi-tailed lashes with barbed hooks, although it may be possible that the threatened punishment involved actual scorpion stings."

TSK: 1Ki 12:1

Rehoboam : 1Ki 11:43; 2Chr. 10:1-19

Shechem : Gen 12:6, Sichem, Gen 33:18, Gen 33:19; Jos 20:7, Jos 24:1, Jos 24:32; Jdg 9:1; Psa 60:6; Act 7:16, Sychem

TSK: 1Ki 12:2

Jeroboam the son of Nebat : 1Ki 11:26-31, 1Ki 11:40; 2Ch 10:2, 2Ch 10:3

TSK: 1Ki 12:4

our yoke : 1Ki 4:7, 1Ki 4:20, 1Ki 4:22, 1Ki 4:23, 1Ki 4:25, 1Ki 9:15, 1Ki 9:22, 1Ki 9:23; 1Sa 8:11-18; 2Ch 10:4, 2Ch 10:5; Mat 11:29, Mat 11:30; Mat 23:4; 1Jo 5:3

TSK: 1Ki 12:6

consulted : 2Sa 16:20, 2Sa 17:5; Job 12:12, Job 32:7; Pro 27:10; Jer 42:2-5, Jer 43:2

TSK: 1Ki 12:7

If thou wilt : 2Ch 10:6, 2Ch 10:7; Pro 15:1; Mar 10:43, Mar 10:44; Phi 2:7-11

speak good : 1Ki 12:13; 2Sa 15:3-6; Ecc 10:4; Zec 1:13

TSK: 1Ki 12:8

2Ch 10:8, 2Ch 25:15, 2Ch 25:16; Pro 1:2-5, Pro 1:25, Pro 1:30, Pro 19:20, Pro 25:12; Ecc 10:2, Ecc 10:3

TSK: 1Ki 12:9

1Ki 22:6-8; 2Sa 17:5, 2Sa 17:6; 2Ch 10:9, 2Ch 18:5-7

TSK: 1Ki 12:10

Thus shalt thou : 2Sa 17:7-13

My little finger : A proverbial mode of expression: ""My little finger is thicker than my father’ s thigh.""As much as the thigh surpasses the little finger in thickness, so much does my power exceed that of my father; and the use I shall make of it to oppress and tax you shall be in proportion. 2Ch 10:10, 2Ch 10:11; Pro 10:14, Pro 18:6, Pro 18:7, Pro 28:25, Pro 29:23; Isa 47:6

TSK: 1Ki 12:11

I will add : Exo 1:13, Exo 1:14, Exo 5:5-9, Exo 5:18; 1Sa 8:18; 2Ch 16:10; Isa 58:6; Jer 27:11; Jer 28:13, Jer 28:14

but I will chastise : Should you rebel or become disaffected, my father’ s whip shall be a scorpion in my hand. His was chastisement, mine shall be punishment. Celsius and Hiller conjecture that âkrabbim denotes a thorny kind of shrub, whose prickles are of a venomous nature, called by the Arabs scorpion thorns, from the exquisite pain which they inflict. But the Chaldee renders it margenin , and the Syriac moragyai , i.e., μαραγναι , scourges; and in the parallel place of Chronicles the Arabic has saut , a scourge. Isidore, and after him Calmet and others, assert that the scorpion was a sort of severe whip, the lashes of which were armed with knots or points that sunk into and tore the flesh.

scorpions : 1Ki 12:14; Eze 2:6; Rev 9:3-10

TSK: 1Ki 12:12

Come to me again : 1Ki 12:5; 2Ch 10:12-14

TSK: 1Ki 12:13

answered : 1Ki 20:6-11; Gen 42:7, Gen 42:30; Exo 5:2, Exo 10:28; Jdg 12:1-6; 1Sa 20:10, 1Sa 20:30, 1Sa 20:31; 1Sa 25:10, 1Sa 25:11; 2Sa 19:43; Pro 10:11, Pro 10:32, Pro 15:1, Pro 18:23; Ecc 10:12; Jam 3:17

roughly : Heb. hardly, Gen 16:6

forsook : Pro 13:20

TSK: 1Ki 12:14

the counsel : 2Ch 22:4, 2Ch 22:5; Est 1:16-21, Est 2:2-4; Pro 12:5; Isa 19:11-13; Dan 6:7

My father made : 1Ki 12:10, 1Ki 12:11; Pro 13:10, Pro 16:18, Pro 17:14; Ecc 7:8; Jam 3:14-18, Jam 4:1, Jam 4:2

TSK: 1Ki 12:15

the cause : The cause of all this confusion and anarchy was Rehoboam’ s folly, cruelty, and despotic tyranny, and this was certainly not ""from the Lord,""nor does the original text speak this doctrine. For an elucidation of a similar passage, see note on 2Sa 24:1. It says, sibbah , (from savav , to turn, change), ""the change or Revolution was from the Lord;""which is consistent with all the preceding declarations. God stirred up the people to revolt from a man who had neither skill nor humanity to govern them. God serves his own wise and righteous purpose by the imprudences and iniquities of men, and snares sinners in the work of their own hands. ""He maketh the wrath of man to praise him.""1Ki 12:24, 1Ki 22:23; Deu 2:30; Jdg 14:4; 2Ch 10:15, 2Ch 22:7, 2Ch 25:16, 2Ch 25:20; Psa 5:10; Amo 3:6; Act 2:23, Act 4:28

that he might : 1Ki 11:11, 1Ki 11:29-38; 1Sa 15:29; 2Sa 17:14; 2Ki 9:36, 2Ki 10:10; Isa 14:13-17; Isa 46:10, Isa 46:11; Dan 4:35; Joh 19:23, Joh 19:24, Joh 19:28, Joh 19:29, Joh 19:32-37; Act 3:17; Act 13:27-29

TSK: 1Ki 12:16

What portion : 2Sa 20:1; 2Ch 10:16

to your tents : 1Ki 22:17, 1Ki 22:36

now see : 1Ki 11:13, 1Ki 11:34, 1Ki 11:36, 1Ki 11:39; 2Sa 7:15, 2Sa 7:16; Psa 2:1-6, Psa 76:10, Psa 89:29-37, Psa 132:17; Isa 7:2, Isa 7:6, Isa 7:7, Isa 9:6, Isa 9:7; Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6, Jer 33:15, Jer 33:16, Jer 33:21; Luk 19:14, Luk 19:27

So Israel : Jdg 8:35; 2Sa 15:13, 2Sa 16:11

TSK: 1Ki 12:17

the children : 1Ki 11:13, 1Ki 11:36; 2Ch 10:17, 2Ch 11:13-17

TSK: 1Ki 12:18

Adoram : 1Ki 4:6, 1Ki 5:14, Adoniram, 2Sa 20:24; 2Ch 10:18, Hadoram

all Israel : Exo 17:4; Num 14:10; 2Ch 24:21; Act 5:26, Act 7:57, Act 7:58

made speed : Heb. strengthened himself

flee to Jerusalem : 1Ki 20:18-20; Pro 28:1, Pro 28:2; Amo 2:16

TSK: 1Ki 12:19

Israel : 1Sa 10:19; 2Ki 17:21; 2Ch 10:19, 2Ch 13:5-7, 2Ch 13:17; Isa 7:17

rebelled : or, fell away, Heb 6:6

unto this day : Jos 4:9

TSK: 1Ki 12:20

and made him : 1Sa 10:24; Hos 8:4

none that followed : 1Ki 12:17, 1Ki 11:13, 1Ki 11:32; Hos 11:12

TSK: 1Ki 12:21

when Rehoboam : 2Ch 11:1-3

an hundred : 1Ch 21:5; 2Ch 14:8, 2Ch 14:11, 2Ch 17:14-19; Pro 21:30, Pro 21:31

TSK: 1Ki 12:22

Deu 33:1; 2Ki 4:16, 2Ki 4:22, 2Ki 4:25, 2Ki 4:27; 1Ti 6:11

Shemaiah : 2Ch 11:2, 2Ch 12:5, 2Ch 12:7

the man : 1Ki 13:1, 1Ki 13:4, 1Ki 13:5, 1Ki 13:11, 1Ki 17:18, 1Ki 17:24

TSK: 1Ki 12:23

1Ki 12:6

TSK: 1Ki 12:24

Ye shall not go up : Num 14:42; 2Ch 11:4, 2Ch 25:7, 2Ch 25:8, 2Ch 28:9-13

for this thing : 1Ki 12:15, 1Ki 11:29-38; Hos 8:4

They hearkened : 2Ch 25:10, 2Ch 28:13-15

TSK: 1Ki 12:25

built : 1Ki 9:15, 1Ki 9:17, 1Ki 9:18, 1Ki 15:17, 1Ki 16:24; 2Ch 11:5-12

Shechem : 1Ki 12:1; Jdg 9:1, Jdg 9:45-49

Penuel : Gen 32:30, Gen 32:31; Jdg 8:8, Jdg 8:17

TSK: 1Ki 12:26

said in his heart : Psa 14:1; Mar 2:6-8; Luk 7:39

Now shall : 1Ki 11:38; 1Sa 27:1; 2Ch 20:20; Isa 7:9; Jer 38:18-21; Joh 11:47-50; Joh 12:10, Joh 12:11, Joh 12:19; Act 4:16, Act 4:17

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 1Ki 12:1

The first step taken by the new king was a most judicious one. If anything could have removed the disaffection of the Ephraimites, and caused them to submit to the ascendancy of Judah, it would have been the honor done to their capital by its selection as the scene of the coronation. Shechem (now Nablous) lay on the flank of Mount Gerizim, directly opposite to Mount Ebal, in a position second to none in all Palestine. Though Abimelech had destroyed the place Jdg 9:45, it had probably soon risen again, and was once more a chief city, or perhaps "the"chief city, of Ephraim. Its central position made it a convenient place for the general assembly of the tribes, as it had been in the days of Joshua Jos 8:30-35; 24:1-28; and this would furnish an additional reason for its selection.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:2

Heard of it - i. e., of the death of Solomon and accession of Rehoboam. This would be more clear without the division into chapters; which division, it must be remembered, is without authority.

Dwelt in Egypt - By a change of the pointing of one word, and of one letter in another, the Hebrew text here will read as in 2Ch 10:2, "returned out of Egypt; and they sent and called him."

In the Septuagint Version the story of Jeroboam is told in two different ways. The general narrative agrees closely with the Hebrew text; but an insertion into the body of 1 Kings 12 - remarkable for its minuteness and circumstantiality - at once deranges the order of the events, and gives to the history in many respects a new aspect and coloring. This section of the Septuagint, though regarded by some as thoroughly authentic, absolutely conflicts with the Hebrew text in many important particulars. In its general outline it is wholly irreconcileable with the other narrative; and, if both stood on the same footing, and we were free to choose between them, there could be no question about preferring the history as given in our Version.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:4

The complaint was probably twofold. The Israelites no doubt complained in part of the heavy weight of taxation laid upon them for the maintenance of the monarch and his court 1Ki 4:19-23. But their chief grievance was the forced labor to which they had been subjected 1Ki 5:13-14; 1Ki 11:28. Forced labor has been among the causes leading to insurrection in many ages and countries. It helped to bring about the French Revolution, and it was for many years one of the principal grievances of the Russian serfs. Jeroboam’ s position as superintendent of the forced labors of the tribe of Ephraim 1Ki 11:28 revealed to him the large amount of dissatisfaction which Solomon’ s system had produced, and his contemplated rebellion in Solomon’ s reign may have been connected with this standing grievance.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:6

The old men, that stood before Solomon his father - Perhaps "the princes"of 1Ki 4:2. Solomon placed great value upon good advisers Pro 11:14; Pro 15:22; Pro 24:6.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:7

The advice was not that the king should permanently resign the office of ruler, but that he should "for once"be ruled by his people.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:8

The age of Rehoboam at his accession is an interesting and difficult question. According to the formal statement of the present text of 1Ki 14:21; 2Ch 12:13, he had reached the mature age of 41 years, and would therefore be unable to plead youth as an excuse for his conduct. The general narrative, however, seems to assume that he was quite a young man (compare 2Ch 13:7). Perhaps the best way of removing the whole difficulty would be to read in the above text "twenty-one"for "forty-one."The corruption is one which might easily take place, if letters were used for numerals.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:10

My little finger ... - i. e., "You shall find my hand heavier on you than my father’ s - as much heavier as if my little finger were thicker than his loins."

Barnes: 1Ki 12:11

Scorpions - By this word some understand whips having leaden balls at the ends of their lashes with hooks projecting from them; others the thorny stem of the eggplant, or "the scorpion plant."But it seems best to regard the expression as a figure of speech.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:15

The cause was from the Lord - i. e., "the turn of events was from the Lord."Human passions, anger, pride, and insolence, worked out the accomplishment of the divine designs. Without interfering with man’ s free will, God guides the course of events, and accomplishes His purposes.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:16

See the marginal reference. The words breathe unmistakeably the spirit of tribal jealousy and dislike (1Ki 11:40 note).

Now see to thine own house, David - i. e., "Henceforth, house of David, look after thine own tribe, Judah, only."It is not a threat of war, but a warning against interference.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:17

Israel ... - The Israelites proper, or members of the other tribes, who happened to be settled within the limits of the land of Judah. These Israelites quietly submitted to Rehoboam. "Israel"through this chapter, and throughout the rest of Kings, designates ordinarily "the ten tribes,"and is antithetical to "Judah."

Barnes: 1Ki 12:18

Adoram has been identified with Adoniram (marginal references), and even with the Adoram of 2Sa 20:24. But it is highly improbable that the same person was chief superintendent of the forced labors during the whole of Solomon’ s long reign, and also during a part of David’ s and Rehoboam’ s. We may therefore conclude that the three names mark three distinct persons, perhaps of the same family, who were respectively contemporary with the three kings. Adoram was chosen, as best acquainted with the hardships whereof the rebels complained, to arrange some alleviation of their burthens.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:19

Unto this day - This expression shows that the writer, who lived during the captivity, and consequently long after the rebellion of Israel had come to an end, is embodying in his history the exact words of an ancient document. His source, whatever it was, appears to have been also followed by the writer of Chronicles. (See 2Ch 10:19.)

Barnes: 1Ki 12:20

The first act of the Israelites, on learning what had occurred at Shechem, was to bring together the great "congregation"of the people (compare Jdg 20:1), in order that, regularly and in solemn form, the crown might be declared vacant, and a king elected in the room of the monarch whose authority had been thrown off. The congregation selected Jeroboam. The rank, the talent, and the known energy of the late exile, his natural hostility to the house of Solomon, his Ephraimitic descent, his acquaintance with the art of fortification, and the friendly relations subsisting between him and the great Egyptian king, pointed him out as the most suitable man for the vacant post. If, according to the Septuagint, Shishak had not only protected him against Solomon, but also given him an Egyptian princess, sister to his own queen, in marriage, his position must have been such that no other Israelite could have borne comparison with him. Again, the prophecy of Ahijah would have been remembered by the more religious part of the nation, and would have secured to Jeroboam their adhesion; so that every motive, whether of policy or of religion, would have united to recommend the son of Nebat to the suffrages of his countrymen.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:21

The adhesion of Benjamin to Judah at this time comes upon us as a surprise. By blood Benjamin was far more closely connected with Ephraim than with Judah. All the traditions of Benjamin were antagonistic to Judah, and hitherto the weak tribe had been accustomed to lean constantly on its strong northern neighhour. But it would seem that, in the half-century which had elapsed since the revolt of Sheba, the son of Bichri 2Sa 20:1, the feelings of the Benjamites had undergone a complete change. This is best accounted for by the establishment of the religious and political capital at Jerusalem, on the border line of the two tribes Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16, from where it resulted that the new metropolis stood partly within the territory of either, and was in a certain sense common to both. One of the gates of Jerusalem was "the high gate of Benjamin"Jer 20:2; and probably Benjamites formed a considerable part of the population. The whole tribe also, we may well believe, was sincerely attached to the temple worship, in which they could participate far more freely and more constantly than the members of remoter tribes, and to which the habits of forty years had now accustomed them.

On the number of the Israelites, see Exo 12:37, notes; and 2Sa 24:9, notes. The number mentioned here is moderate, compared with the numbers given both previously and subsequently 2Ch 13:3; 2Ch 17:14-18.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:22

Shemaiah was the chief prophet in Judah during the reign of Rehoboam, as Ahijah was in Israel. See the marginal references.

Barnes: 1Ki 12:23

The remnant - i. e., "the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah"(1Ki 12:17 note).

Barnes: 1Ki 12:25

Built Shechem - In the sense of "enlarged and fortified."See Dan 4:30. The first intention of Jeroboam seems to have been to make Shechem his capital, and therefore he immediately set about its fortification. So also he seems to have fortified Penuel for the better security of his Trans-Jordanic possessions (marginal reference).

Barnes: 1Ki 12:26

Jeroboam’ s fear was lest a reaction should set in, and a desire for reunion manifest itself. He was not a man content to remain quiet, trusting simply to the promise made him 1Ki 11:38. Hence, he gave way to the temptation of helping forward the plans of Providence by the crooked devices of a merely human policy. His measures, like all measures which involve a dereliction of principle, brought certain evils in their train, and drew down divine judgment on himself. But they fully secured the object at which he aimed. They prevented all healing of the breach between the two kingdoms. They made the separation final. They produced the result that not only no reunion took place, but no symptoms of an inclination to reunite ever manifested themselves during the whole period of the double kingdom.

Poole: 1Ki 12:2

Heard of it in the Hebrew it is only heard , and may relate either to Solomon’ s death, or to the meeting which all the tribes had appointed at Shechem.

Poole: 1Ki 12:3

They sent and called him: when the people sent him word of Solomon’ s death, they also sent a summons for him to come to Shechem. Or as soon as he had heard the tidings of Solomon’ s death from others, or from common fame; presently there came a solemn message to him from the people, who desired his presence and assistance, as it seems probable, from divers motives; some, that they might translate the kingdom from Rehoboam to him; and others only for this reason, that the presence and countenance of a man of so great interest and reputation, and one that had some claim or pretence upon the kingdom, might lay the greater obligation upon Rehoboam to grant their desires of ease and relief.

Poole: 1Ki 12:4

Thy father made our yoke grievous by heavy taxes and impositions, not only for the temple and his magnificent buildings, but for the expenses of his numerous court, and of so many wives and concubines, whose luxury and idolatry must needs be very costly. And Solomon having so grossly forsaken God, it is no wonder if he oppressed the people, and made their yoke most grievous, as they speak. But here the people’ s perverseness is very observable, both in this, that they mention and aggravate only the grievances of the government, but take no notice of the vast benefits which they received from it; and in that, that they mind nothing but their outward pressures, and have no regard unto that abominable idolatry which he set up among them; being, it seemed, either leavened with it by his pernicious example, or grown careless and negligent of all the concerns of religion; by which, see how ripe they were for all those dreadful judgments of God which are now hastening upon them.

Poole: 1Ki 12:5

Give me that time for deliberation and advice.

Poole: 1Ki 12:6

With the old men that stood before Solomon with Solomon’ s old counsellors, whom age, and experience of men and things, and converse with such a king, had made wise.

Poole: 1Ki 12:7

If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day by complying with their desires, and condescending to them for a season, till the troubled humours be quieted, and the opportunity they now have, and that some of them seek, for sedition be gone, and thou be better stablished in thy throne. They use this expression, as foreseeing that some would dissuade him from this course, as servile or slavish, and below the majesty of a prince.

And answer them for that is, answer them. Thy service, say they, is not hard; it is only a few good words, which it is as easy to give as bad ones.

Poole: 1Ki 12:8

He forsook the counsel of the old men judging it unworthy of his majesty and authority, and likely to encourage and increase the people in their insolent demands. The young men; so called comparatively to the old men; otherwise they were near forty years old, as the following words imply.

That were grown up with him which is added as the reason of his inclination to their counsels, because his daily converse with them, and the likeness of their age and humour to his, had engaged his affections to them, and that bribed his judgment, as it commonly doth.

Poole: 1Ki 12:10

Or rather, is thicker , and therefore stronger, and mere able to crush you, if you proceed in these mutinous demands,

than his loins in which is the principal seat of strength. My father was young and weak, and had many enemies, when he first took the kingdom; but I am the undoubted heir; and I find the kingdom by his wise care far better settled and fortified against all enemies, foreign or domestic, than he did.

Poole: 1Ki 12:11

I will add to your yoke i.e. make it heavier and stronger, both to punish your petulancy, and to curb and restrain you from seditious attempts.

With scorpions i.e. with such whips as will sting you like scorpions: if you proceed in these courses, I will most severely punish you for it.

Poole: 1Ki 12:15

The cause was from the Lord who gave up Rehoboam to so foolish and fatal a mistake, and alienated the people’ s affections from him, and ordered all circumstances by his wise providence to that end.

Poole: 1Ki 12:16

What portion have we in David i.e. in David’ s family and son? we can expect no benefit or relief from him, and therefore we renounce all commerce with him, and subjection to him. See 2Sa 20:1 . They named David rather than Rehoboam, to signify, that they did renounce, not Rehoboam only, but all David’ s family.

The son of Jesse so they call David in contempt: q. d. Rehoboam hath no reason to carry himself with such pride and contempt toward his people, for if we trace his original, it was as mean and obscure as many of ours. And since he abuseth his power, let us reduce him to his former obscurity.

To your tents, O Israel i.e. let us all forsake him, and go to our own homes. there to consider, and then to meet and conclude how to provide otherwise for ourselves. Now see to thine own use, David , i.e. govern thy own family; for thou shalt no longer rule over us. Thus they brake out into actual rebellion against him, whom God had made their lawful sovereign; wherein, though they fulfilled God’ s counsel, yet they violated his authority and command. And they do again make an opprobrious mention of David, whom they should not have named without honour.

Poole: 1Ki 12:17

Which dwelt in the cities of Judah by which phrase he principally understands the tribe of Judah; but withal, those parts and parcels of the tribes of Levi, and Simeon, and Benjamin, whose dwellings were within the confines of Judah, or intermixed with them.

Poole: 1Ki 12:18

He sent Adoram either,

1. To pacify the people, and promise them relief, now when it was too late. But then he would not have sent a person so ungrateful to the people, as that sort of men use to be. Or rather,

2. To pursue the counsel which he had resolved upon, and to execute his office, and exact their tribute with rigour and violence, if need were.

To flee to Jerusalem from Shechem, where it seems he yet staid, and his guards and friends with him; that being there in the midst of his kingdom, and among the seditious tribes, he might overawe them by his presence, and repress any tumults in their first rise.

Poole: 1Ki 12:19

Their revolt is called rebellion , and therefore was sinful, because it was contrary to God’ s authority, and command of subjection to David, and his seed for ever; from which the people were not freed by God’ s promise and grant made to Jeroboam, which was but a secret transaction, not yet sufficiently revealed to them, and was not a grant of present and actual possession; but only a promise that God would give it to him in his own time and way, which might have been done, though neither Jeroboam nor the people had used these indirect and evil courses to bring it about, as it befell David upon the same occasion. Besides, the people did not this in compliance with God’ s counsel, but to gratify their own passions, and get themselves a little ease.

Poole: 1Ki 12:20

That Jeroboam was come again to wit, from Egypt, which was known before to the chief of the tribes, and to them who met at Shechem, and now was more universally known by all the people. They

sent to his tent or habitation, to which he had retired himself, as others also generally did: see above, 1Ki 12:16 .

Called him unto the congregation which was summoned by the elders of the several tribes, to take advice how to settle their affairs, which they easily agreed to do, by conferring the crown upon Jeroboam, according to God’ s promise made to him.

There was none i.e. no entire tribe. See Poole "1Ki 11:13,31,32" .

Poole: 1Ki 12:21

With the tribe of Benjamin i.e. that part of it which was next to Judah, and joined with them. See Poole "1Ki 11:13" .

Against the house of Israel i.e. the families or tribes (for these words are promiscuously used one for the other) of Israel.

Poole: 1Ki 12:22

The man of God i.e. the prophet, so called, partly to distinguish him from others of that name; see Neh 6:10 Jer 29:31 ; and partly to add the more weight to his words.

Poole: 1Ki 12:24

This thing is from me this event is from my counsel and providence, to punish Solomon’ s apostacy, though they procured it by sinful means; and therefore, if you proceed, you must fight with me as well as them.

They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord either from conscience of their duty, or because they durst not oppose so potent an adversary.

Poole: 1Ki 12:25

Jeroboam built Shechem i.e. he repaired, and enlarged, and fortified it; for it had been ruined long since, Jud 9:45 . He might choose it as a place both auspicious, because here the foundation of his monarchy was laid; and commodious, as being near the frontiers of his kingdom.

Penuel a place beyond Jordan; of which see Gen 32:30 Jud 8:17 ; to secure that part of his dominions.

Poole: 1Ki 12:26

Said in his heart i.e. reasoned within himself: The phrase discovers the fountain of his error, that he did not consult with God, who had given him the kingdom; as in all reason, and justice, and gratitude he should have done; nor believed God’ s promise, 1Ki 11:38 ; but his own imaginations and carnal policies.

Haydock: 1Ki 12:1

King, or to acknowledge his right, provided he would grant their request. The discontented assembled at Sichem, rather than at Jerusalem, as they would be under less restraint. (Calmet) ---

They appointed Jeroboam to prefer their petition. (Menochius) ---

Roboam was probably the only son whom Solomon had by his wives. (Calmet) ---

We read of two daughters, Japheth and Basemath, chap. iv. 11., and 15. (Haydock) ---

Naama, the Ammonite, was the mother of Robaom, who, though 40 years old, was devoid of good sense, 2 Paralipomenon xiii. 7., Ecclesiastes ii. 18., and Ecclesiasticus xlvii. 27. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:2

Hearing of. Hebrew, " It (the assembly) and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt." (Haydock) ---

But in 2 Paralipomenon x. 2., we find he returned. It is probable that both texts agreed in the days of St. Jerome; as the same letters, if read in a different manner, may have both meanings. (Calmet) ---

Septuagint have also "returned." (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:4

Yoke, of personal service, (Calmet) first to build the temple, and afterwards to erect palaces, fortify cities, &c. The works of Mello gave the greatest discontent. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:6

Old man. Banaias and Jahiel. (St. Jerome, Trad.)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:7

They said. Hebrew, "he said." The transcribers, probably not understanding what they wrote, frequently make singular for plural verbs. So ver. 21, "They came," instead of he came. Some manuscripts and the ancient versions are correct. (Kennicott) ---

Yield. Hebrew, "serve." By the submission of one day he might have acquired the kingdom. Great attention is requisite at first. Tacitus (Hist. iv.) represents Vespasian, Novo principatu suspensum, & vultus quoque ac sermones omnium circumspectantem.

Haydock: 1Ki 12:8

Him. They were young, compared with the former, though they might be 40 years old. (Menochius) ---

It was frequently the custom in the eastern courts, to educate young noblemen along with the heir to the crown. Such formed the captains of Alexander, (1 Machabees i. 7,) and the warriors of Sesostris, whose father ordered all the male children who were born on the same day in his dominions, to be brought to court, to be educated with his son. (Diodorus i.) ---

The Persian nobility were brought up at the gate of the prince, that they might learn temperance and the art of governing. (Xenophon, Cyrop. i.) ---

The endeavours of Solomon were frustrated by the evil disposition of his son, and of those about his person.

Haydock: 1Ki 12:10

Finger is not expressed in Hebrew or Septuagint, but the Syriac and Josephus agree with the Vulgate. In Paralipomenon, we read loins, instead of back. Hebrew and Septuagint, my little (Protestants supply finger ). Septuagint, "my littleness," Greek: mikrotes; but in Paralipomenon finger is added. (Haydock) ---

Chaldean, "my weakness is stronger than my father's strength." The loins denote strength. Roboam did not use these boastings and insolent expressions: but he adopted their spirit. (Calmet) ---

He insinuates that he was twice as old as his father when he began to reign, (Pineda vii. 24,) or he uses a proverbial exaggeration. (Delrio. adag. 202.) (Menochius)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:11

Scorpions. Chaldean, "thorns." Hebrew has both significations. Like a tyrant, Roboam threatens to beat the people with sharp thorns. (Menochius)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:15

Turned. Hebrew, "for the cause (revolution) was from the Lord, (Calmet) that he might verify his word." (Haydock) ---

God permitted the king to act impudently, and disposed things in such a manner, that the prediction took effect. (Calmet) ---

Indeed, the prophet had only spoken, because things would happen. (Haydock) ---

"There are two sorts of persecutors, those who blame, and those who flatter: the tongue of the flatterers persecutes more than the hand of him who kills." (St. Augustine in Psalm lxix.) (Du Hamel) ---

Roboam fell a prey to his evil counsellors. (Haydock) ---

That, (ver. 16.) denotes the sequel, not the final cause, as chap. xiv. 9. (Worthington)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:16

Look to. Chaldean, "rule over thy own tribe." They imitate those who give a bill of divorce. (Calmet) ---

Herein they were not excusable, no more than those who persecuted God's people, though he permitted their wickedness, to chastise the guilty. (Menochius) ---

Seba had formerly withdrawn the people from David in the same manner, 2 Kings xx. 1. (Haydock) ---

Abulensis thinks that as God had chosen Jeroboam, and his rival acted tryannically, the people did right. (Tirinus)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:17

Them, as well as over many, who came into his territory, that they might practise the true religion, without restraint. (Haydock) (Chap. xi. 13.) ---

The kings of Juda afterwards made various conquests, chap. xiii. 19. Hence they were able to contend with the other tribes (Calmet) with advantage. (Haydock) ---

Even at first, Roboam put himself at the head of 180,000 chosen men, ver. 21. Abia had an army of 400,000, and Asa near 600,000; while Josaphat had 1,160,000 soldiers, 2 Paralipomenon xiii. 3., and xiv. 8., and xvii. 14.

Haydock: 1Ki 12:18

Aduram. One of the same name had occupied this post under David, 2 Kings xx. 24. (Calmet) ---

Some suppose that this is the same with Adoniram, chap. iv. 6. Roboam impudently sent him to appease the people, (Salien) or haughtily to demand the usual tribute; unless the king abandoned him to the fury of the populace, as an object of their horror. The people have often been appeased by the death of rapacious ministers. ---

Haste. Hebrew, "he strengthened himself," or obstinately persisted in his resolution of reducing the people by force; and thus those, who might now have been easily reclaimed, were driven to choose another king, and the evil became irremediable. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:20

Again, from Egypt, ver. 2. (Haydock) ---

He had not been present, it seems, at the second assembly; or, at least, he had retired as soon as Roboam had given his decision. But the people having stoned Aduram, and thus rendered a reconciliation very difficult, Jeroboam was invited to accept the crown. (Calmet) ---

As this was conformable to his utmost desires and the prophet's declaration, he made no demur, chap. xi. 37. (Haydock) Only. Benjamin was a small tribe, and so intermixed with the tribe of Juda, (the very city of Jerusalem being partly in Juda, partly in Benjamin) that hey are here counted but as one tribe. (Challoner) ---

Perhaps Benjamin at first hesitated; but, considering the greater danger to which it would be exposed, embraced the party of Roboam, ver. 21. (Salien)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:21

Fourscore. [Eighty.] Septuagint, "twenty." (Du Hamel) ---

But the Alexandrian copy agrees with the Hebrew. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Ki 12:24

Them. This shews the great authority of Semeias. He wrote the history of Roboam, 2 Paralipomenon xii. 15. He also foretold the irruption of Sesac, to punish the house of Israel; but not to destroy it. (Calmet) ---

The obedience of Roboam deserves applause; though it would have been a vain attempt to resist God, who was resolved to punish his family. (Menochius) ---

God must have touched the hearts of the leaders, to convince them that he spoke by the mouth of Semeias. (Salien) ---

The Vatican Septuagint here subjoins almost the whole history of Jeroboam, improperly. (Haydock) See chap. xiv.

Haydock: 1Ki 12:25

Built, or "had built," while Roboam was preparing for his invasion. (Salien) ---

Sichem and Phanuel had been ruined by Abimelech, and by Gedeon, Judges viii. 17., and ix. 45. (Calmet) ---

By means of these fortresses, he secured both sides of the Jordan. (Haydock) ---

Jeroboam afterwards fixed his residence at Thirsa, where the court was kept, till Amri built Samaria.

Gill: 1Ki 12:1

And Rehoboam went to Shechem,.... After the death and internment of his father:

for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king: as was pretended, though in reality it was to seek occasion against him, and make Jeroboam king; it is very probable they knew of the prophecy of Ahijah, and therefore would not go to Jerusalem, but to Shechem, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, of which Jeroboam was, and where he had sowed the seeds of sedition when ruler there; and this place they chose, partly because they could more freely speak what they had in their minds, and partly for the safety of Jeroboam they had sent for on this occasion; so that Rehoboam went thither not of choice, but of necessity. The Jews ^c observe that this place was very ominous; here Dinah was ravished, Joseph was sold, Abimelech exercised tyranny, and here now the kingdom was divided.

Gill: 1Ki 12:2

And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it,.... Of the death of Solomon, and of the meeting of the Israelites at Shechem:

(for he was fled from the presence of King Solomon; see 1Ki 11:40.

and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) until the death of Solomon; some render the words, "Jeroboam, returned out of Egypt" ^d, which agrees with 2Ch 10:2, this he did on hearing the above news, and on being sent for by some of his friends, as follows.

Gill: 1Ki 12:3

That they sent and called him,.... That is, the people of Israel, some of the principal of them, especially of the tribe of Ephraim, sent messengers to him, and gave him an invitation to come to them at Shechem; or, they had sent ^e, as Kimchi interprets it, which was the reason of his returning from Egypt, at least one of them:

and Jeroboam, and all the congregation of Israel, came; the chief men of them, the heads of the people; these, with Jeroboam at the head of them, who was come out of Egypt, came to Shechem, where Rehoboam was, and they had appointed to meet him:

and spake unto Rehoboam; one in the name of them all, perhaps Jeroboam:

saying; as follows.

Gill: 1Ki 12:4

Thy father made our yoke grievous,.... Laid heavy taxes upon them, for the finishing of his buildings, for the maintenance of his household, for keeping such a large number of horses and chariots, and for the salaries of his officers, and for the support of his magnificent court; though they had very little reason to complain, since this was for the honour and grandeur of their nation, and they enjoyed their liberty, and lived in peace, plenty, and safety all his days; and such an abundance of riches was brought unto them by him that silver was as the stones of the street; though perhaps the taxes might be increased in the latter part of his life, for the support of his vast number of wives, and of their idolatrous worship, and for the defence of himself and kingdom against the attempts of Hadad and Rezon; but, as most interpreters observe, what they find most reason to complain of, they take no notice of, even the idolatry he had set up among them:

now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter; that is, ease them of their taxes, or lessen them:

and we will serve thee; acknowledge him as their king, give him homage, and yield obedience to him.

Gill: 1Ki 12:5

And he said unto them, depart yet for three days, then come again to me,.... Suggesting that he would consider of their proposal and inquire into the merits of it and as things should appear to him he would give them an answer in three days time; which at first sight may seem a point of prudence in him, to take time for deliberation and counsel in this affair, but in his case and circumstance it was very imprudent; for he might easily see there was discontent among the people, and a faction forming against him, and, by taking time to himself, he gave them time to take their measures, and hasten and ripen them for a revolt; for, by giving them such an answer, they might plainly perceive he was not inclined to give them satisfaction; it would have been the most advisable in him to have promised them at once that he would make them easy:

and the people departed; to their quarters, and there remained to the third day.

Gill: 1Ki 12:6

And King Rehoboam consulted with the old men that stood before Solomon his father, while he yet lived,.... Which was very prudently done; for as these were men in years, and had been his father's counsellors, from whom, do doubt, they had learnt much wisdom, being often in cabinet council with him, they were capable of giving him the best advice:

and said, how do you advise, that I may answer this people? what answer would you advise me to give to them, and in what manner?

Gill: 1Ki 12:7

And they spake unto him, saying,.... They gave their advice as follows:

if thou wilt be servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them; condescend to them, behave in an humble manner towards them, for this day however, and gratify and oblige them; though indeed a king is but a servant to his people, and his administration of government a doing service to them; hence Antigonus ^f, a king, mild, humble, and gentle, perceiving his son to behave in a fierce and violent manner towards his subjects, said to him, my son, dost thou not know that our glorious kingdom is a servitude?

and answer them, and speak good words unto them; give them a soft answer, and speak kindly and gently to them, and make them fair promises, and give them reason to expect that their requests will be granted:

then they will be thy servants for ever; such conduct would so win upon them, and make such an impressions upon them, that they would for ever after entertain high opinion of him, and be strongly affected and attached to him, and readily serve him.

Gill: 1Ki 12:8

But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,.... He did not rightly relish it, nor cordially receive it; it did not suit with his haughty temper, he could not brook it, to stoop to his people; he thought it a lessening of his dignity to do anything that looked like courting their favour; and therefore determined not to take the advice given him by the old men, but to seek for other:

and consulted with the men, that were grown up with him, and which stood before him; the sons of nobles, with whom he had his education, and who were his companions from his youth upwards, and who were now officers in his court, and of his privy council, being his favourites, and those he consulted on this occasion; and though they are called young men, as they were in comparison of the old men, yet since they were contemporary with Rehoboam, who was now forty one years of age, they must be about forty, or not much under, and at an age to be wiser than they appeared to be.

Gill: 1Ki 12:9

And he said unto them, what counsel give ye, that we may answer this people, saying,.... See Gill on 1Ki 12:4.

Gill: 1Ki 12:10

And the young men that were grown up with him, spake unto him, saying,.... Gave him the following advice:

thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying; as is said, 1Ki 12:4.

thus shall thou say unto them, my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins; or, "is thicker" ^g signifying that he had more strength and power than his father had, and that he would make them know it, and they should feel the weight of it, and instead of lessening he would increase their taxes; for also hereby was intimated, that his glory, grandeur, and magnificence, was greater than his father's, especially when he first came to the kingdom, and therefore required the same taxes, or greater, to support it; and perhaps reference may be had to the difference of their age, Solomon being a child, or a very young man, when he came to the throne; whereas Rehoboam was upwards of forty years of age, and capable of judging what was fit to be done, and not to be talked to and treated after this manner, nor to receive the kingdom upon a condition of the people's prescribing.

Gill: 1Ki 12:11

And now, whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke,.... Which was putting words into his mouth, owning the charge and accusation brought against his father, as he did, 1Ki 12:14, which was very unbecoming, if true; unless this is said according to the sense of the people:

I will add to your yoke; make it heavier, lay more taxes on them:

my father hath chastised you with whips; which was putting a lie into his mouth, and which he uttered, 1Ki 12:14 for no instance of severity exercised on the people in general can be given during the whole reign of Solomon:

but I will chastise you with scorpions; treat them more roughly, and with greater rigour: whips may mean smaller ones, these horse whips, as in the Targum; which gave an acute pain, like the sting of scorpions, or made a wound like one. Ben Gersom says, these were rods with thorns on them, which pierced and gave much pain. Weemse ^h thinks these are alluded to by thorns in the sides, Num 33:55, for whipping with them was about the sides, and not along the back. Abarbinel calls them iron thorns, rods that had iron prongs or rowels to them, which tore the flesh extremely. Isidore ⁱ says, a rod that is smooth is called a rod, but, if knotty and prickled, it is rightly called a scorpion, because it makes a wound in the body arched or crooked. Pliny ^k ascribes the invention of this sort of scorpions to the Cretians.

Gill: 1Ki 12:12

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day,.... Jeroboam came to him at the head of the people, being the head of the faction, and designed for their king:

as the king had appointed, saying, come to me again the third day; see 1Ki 12:5.

Gill: 1Ki 12:13

And the king answered the people roughly,.... In a blustering manner, gave them hard words and severe menaces, being worked up to such a spirit by his young counsellors:

and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him: to give them good words and kind promises.

Gill: 1Ki 12:14

And spake to them after the counsel of the young men,.... And in the very language in which they gave it:

saying, my father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions; see Gill on 1Ki 12:11.

Gill: 1Ki 12:15

Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people,.... To lessen their taxes, and ease them of their burdens, as they desired:

for the cause was from the Lord; it was according to his will and appointment; the defection of the people was willed by the Lord, and various things in Providence turned up to alienate their minds from Rehoboam, and dispose them to a revolt from him in favour of Jeroboam; and the Lord suffered the counsellors of Rehoboam to give him the advice they did, and gave him up to the folly of his own heart to take it:

that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake to Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat; see 1Ki 11:29.

Gill: 1Ki 12:16

So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them,.... To grant their requests:

the people answered the king, saying, what portion have we in David? or in his posterity, which are not of our tribes, nor are we obliged to have a king of that family; nor can we expect any benefit or advantage from thence, as may be easily concluded from the rough answer of Rehoboam:

neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; so they called David by way of contempt; which was great ingratitude, when he had done such great things for them, and he and his son Solomon had raised them to the pitch of wealth and glory they now enjoyed; these were seditious expressions, and seem to be borrowed from a seditious person in the times of David, 2Sa 20:1.

to your tents, O Israel; signifying it was high time to depart from Rehoboam, and to have nothing to say to him, or do with him, but retire to their habitations, to consider whom to set as king over them:

now see to thine own house, David; thou son or grandson of David; not his own house and family, and mind his domestic affairs, nor the house of the sanctuary in his tribe, as many of the Jewish writers interpret it; but rather the tribe of Judah, of which he was, and would have him consider to what a narrow compass his kingdom would be brought, who was just now blustering and boasting of his grandeur as a king:

so Israel departed unto their tents; to their cities, as the Targum, and their habitations there, without recognizing Rehoboam as their king, or swearing allegiance, or giving homage to him as such.

Gill: 1Ki 12:17

But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah,.... Either such Israelites of the ten tribes that had before dwelt, or now upon this removed, for the sake of worship, to dwell in the tribe of Judah; or else that part of Israel, the tribe of Judah, which dwelt in the cities belonging to it:

Rehoboam reigned over them; they owned him to be their king, and submitted to his government.

Gill: 1Ki 12:18

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute,.... There was one of this name in this office in the time of David, 2Sa 20:24, this is the same with Adoniram, as Jarchi thinks, see 1Ki 4:6, him he sent either to collect the tribute of the Ephraimites, to show his authority; or rather to call the people back to have some further discourse with them, and endeavour to soften things, and bring them to a compliance, so Josephus ^l; but it was too late, and he employed a very improper person; the heavy taxes were their complaint, and a tax gatherer, and especially one that was at the head of the tribute, must be of all men the most disagreeable to them; this is another instance of the folly and false steps of Rehoboam:

and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died; the populace fell upon him at once, and stoned him to death; and which, though contrary to law and justice, was approved of and applauded by their principal men and all the people; so irritated and provoked were they by Rehoboam's answer to them. Hottinger ^m says, this man was buried in Shechem, which is very probable; but it is not expressed here, as he suggests it is; however, a grave stone, found A. D. 1480, in Spain, with this inscription, is not genuine,

"this is the grave of Adoniram, a servant of King Solomon, who came to collect tribute, and died such a day:''

therefore King Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem; from Shechem, fearing they would treat him in the same manner in their rage and fury; his courage was now cooled, and his haughty and hectoring spirit was now brought down, and he was glad to make use of his chariot for flight; this is the first time we read of a king of Israel riding in a chariot; though before of Sisera, a Canaanitish captain, and that only in a chariot of war.

Gill: 1Ki 12:19

So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. In which the writer of this book lived, and so continued until their captivity by the king of Assyria. Their revolt is called a rebellion; for though it was according to the purpose and will of God, yet the people had no command or order from God for it, and was done without consulting him, and was a rejection of their lawful prince.

Gill: 1Ki 12:20

And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again,.... Out of Egypt; the chief men knew of it before, for he had headed them in their approach and address to Rehoboam; but the people in common had not, and especially those of the various tribes besides that of Ephraim:

that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel; they sent for him from his tent or house, which probably was in Shechem, and gave him an invitation to come to their assembly, met together to deliberate about a king; when they unanimously chose him to be king over Israel, that is, over the ten tribes, and inaugurated him into his office:

there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only; in which Benjamin was included, as appears from the following verse; that being joined to it, and mixed with it, and both having a part in Jerusalem, and so ever after the kingdom was denominated the kingdom of Judah.

Gill: 1Ki 12:21

And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, From Shechem, which was forty miles ⁿ from Jerusalem:

he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon; which not only shows courage reassumed by Rehoboam, now safely home, but the hearty attachment of Judah and Benjamin to him, who raised presently so numerous an army in his favour; and had it not been that the Lord was against their going to battle with Israel, in all probability they might have gained their point, Jeroboam being scarcely settled in his kingdom, and having no forces raised.

Gill: 1Ki 12:22

But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God,.... A prophet in those days, see 2Ch 12:15 and the word that came to him, as in the Targum, is called the word of prophecy:

saying; as follows.

Gill: 1Ki 12:23

Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon king of Judah,.... He is called king before, but of what tribe or tribes is not expressly said, only it is implied in 1Ki 12:17 and he is only acknowledged king of Judah by the Lord himself:

and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin; which made but one house, as before but one tribe, 1Ki 11:36.

and to the remnant of the people; of the other tribes that might dwell among them at Jerusalem, and especially Simeon, whose inheritance was within the tribe of Judah, Jos 19:1.

saying: as follows.

Gill: 1Ki 12:24

Thus saith the Lord,.... A common preface the prophets used when they spoke in the name of the Lord:

ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel; and that because they were their brethren; though that is not the only reason, another follows:

return every man to his house, for this thing is from me; it was according to the will of God, as Josephus rightly says ^o; it was by his ordination and appointment, though Jeroboam and the people sinned in the way and manner in which they brought it about; and therefore to fight against Israel, in order to regain the kingdom, would be fighting against God, and so to no purpose:

they hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart according to the word of the Lord; they knew Shemaiah was a prophet of the Lord, and they believed the message he brought came from him, and therefore hearkened and were obedient to it; and with the consent of Rehoboam were disbanded, and returned to their habitations, being satisfied with, and submissive to, the will of God, both king and people.

Gill: 1Ki 12:25

Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein,.... Not that this city had lain in ruins from the times of Abimelech, Jdg 9:45 for then it would not have been a proper place for the convention of the people, 1Ki 12:1 but he repaired the walls of it, and fortified it, and built a palace in it for his residence:

and went out from thence, and built Penuel; a place on the other side Jordan, the tower of which was beaten down by Gideon, Jdg 8:17 and might be now rebuilt, or at least the city was repaired by him, and anew fortified, perhaps for the better security of his dominions on that side Jordan; though Fortunatus Scacchus ^p is of opinion that this was an altar, the same as at Carmel, 1Ki 18:30, which Jeroboam built, and called by this name in testimony of the common religion of the Israelites and Jews.

Gill: 1Ki 12:26

And Jeroboam said in his heart, As he was musing about the state of his kingdom and the affairs of it:

now shall the kingdom return to the house of David; such were his fears, unless some method could be taken to prevent it, particularly with respect to religion, which was what his thoughts were employed about.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:1

¹ tn Heb “come [to].”

² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:2

¹ tc Verse 2 is not included in the Old Greek translation. See the note on 11:43.

² tn Heb “and Jeroboam lived in Egypt.” The parallel text in 2 Chr 10:2 reads, “and Jeroboam returned from Egypt.” In a purely consonantal text the forms “and he lived” and “and he returned” are identical (וישׁב).

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:3

¹ tn Heb “They sent and called for him.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:4

¹ tn Heb “made our yoke burdensome.”

² tn Heb “but you, now, lighten the burdensome work of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.” In the Hebrew text the prefixed verbal form with vav (וְנַעַבְדֶךָ, [vÿna’avdekha] “and we will serve you”) following the imperative (הָקֵל [haqel], “lighten”) indicates purpose (or result). The conditional sentence used in the translation above is an attempt to bring out the logical relationship between these forms.

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:6

¹ tn Heb “stood before.”

² tn Heb “saying.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:7

¹ tn Heb “If today you are a servant to these people and you serve them and answer them and speak to them good words, they will be your servants all the days.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:8

¹ tn Heb “He rejected the advice of the elders which they advised and he consulted the young men with whom he had grown up, who stood before him.” The referent (Rehoboam) of the initial pronoun (“he”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:9

¹ tn In the Hebrew text the verb “we will respond” is plural, although it can be understood as an editorial “we.” The ancient versions have the singular here.

² tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:10

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”

³ tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger. As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:11

¹ tn Heb “and now my father placed upon you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke.”

² tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture using poisonous insects, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound. Cf. CEV “whips with pieces of sharp metal.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:12

¹ tn Heb “came.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:14

¹ tn Heb “and spoke to them according to.”

² tn Heb “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.”

³ tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” See the note on the same phrase in v. 11.

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:15

¹ tn Heb “because this turn of events was from the Lord.”

² tn Heb “so that he might bring to pass his word which the Lord spoke.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:16

¹ sn We have no portion in David; no share in the son of Jesse. Their point seems to be that they have no familial relationship with David that brings them any benefits or places upon them any obligations. They are being treated like outsiders.

² tn Heb “to your tents, Israel.” The word “return” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “Now see your house, David.”

⁴ tn Heb “went to their tents.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:18

¹ tc The MT has “Adoram” here, but the Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have “Adoniram.” Cf. 1 Kgs 4:6.

² sn The work crews. See the note on this expression in 4:6.

³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:20

¹ tn Heb “there was no one [following] after the house of David except the tribe of Judah, it alone.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:21

¹ tn Heb “he summoned all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men, accomplished in war.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:22

¹ tn Heb “and the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:24

¹ tn Heb “for this thing is from me.”

² tn Heb “and they heard the word of the Lord and returned to go according to the word of the Lord.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:25

¹ tc The Old Greek translation has here a lengthy section consisting of twenty-three verses that are not found in the MT.

NET Notes: 1Ki 12:26

¹ tn Heb “said in his heart.”

² tn Heb “Now the kingdom could return to the house of David.” The imperfect verbal form translated “could return” is understood as having a potential force here. Perhaps this is not strong enough; another option is “will return.”

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:4

Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, ^{( a )} lighter, and we will serve thee.

^{( a )} Do not oppress us with such high taxes, which we are not able to pay.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:7

And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a ^{( b )} servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.

^{( b )} They showed him that there was no way to win the people's hearts but to grant them their just petition.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:9

And he said unto them, ^{( c )} What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?

^{( c )} There is nothing harder for them that are in authority than to control their desires and follow good counsel.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:10

And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou [it] lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little [finger] shall be ^{( d )} thicker than my father's loins.

^{( d )} I am much more able to keep you in subjection than my father was.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:12

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had ^{( e )} appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.

^{( e )} The people declare their obedience in this that they attempted nothing before the king gave them just opportunity.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:16

So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in ^{( f )} David? neither [have we] inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

^{( f )} Though their cause was good, yet it was hard for the people to control their desires, as these vile words declare.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:19

So Israel rebelled against the house ^{( g )} of David unto this day.

^{( g )} By the just judgment of God for Solomon's sins.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:21

And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he ^{( h )} assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

^{( h )} For as yet he did not realize that the Lord had so appointed it.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:22

But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the ^{( i )} man of God, saying,

^{( i )} That is, the Prophet.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 12:24

Thus saith the ^{( k )} LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.

^{( k )} Who of his just judgment will punish the trespasser, and of his mercy spare the innocent people.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 1Ki 12:1-33

1 The Israelites, assembled at Shechem to crown Rehoboam, by Jeroboam make a suit of relaxation unto him.

6 Rehoboam, refusing the old men's counsel, answers them roughly.

16 Ten tribes revolting, kill Adoram, and make Rehoboam flee.

21 Rehoboam, raising an army, is forbidden by Shemaiah.

25 Jeroboam strengthens himself by cities;

26 and by the idolatry of the two calves.

MHCC: 1Ki 12:1-15

The tribes complained not to Rehoboam of his father's idolatry, and revolt from God. That which was the greatest grievance, was none to them; so careless were they in matters of religion, if they might live at case, and pay no taxes. Factious spirits will never want something to complain of. And when we see the Scripture account of Solomon's reign; the peace, wealth, and prosperity Israel then enjoyed; we cannot doubt but that their charges were false, or far beyond the truth. Rehoboam answered the people according to the counsel of the young men. Never was man more blinded by pride, and desire of arbitrary power, than which nothing is more fatal. God's counsels were hereby fulfilled. He left Rehoboam to his own folly, and hid from his eyes the things which belonged to his peace, that the kingdom might be rent from him. God serves his own wise and righteous purposes by the imprudences and sins of men. Those that lose the kingdom of heaven, throw it away, as Rehoboam, by wilfulness and folly.

MHCC: 1Ki 12:16-24

The people speak unbecomingly of David. How soon are good men, and their good services to the public, forgotten! These considerations should reconcile us to our losses and troubles, that God is the Author of them, and our brethren the instruments: let us not meditate revenge. Rehoboam and his people hearkened to the word of the Lord. When we know God's mind, we must submit, how much soever it crosses our own mind. If we secure the favour of God, not all the universe can hurt us.

MHCC: 1Ki 12:25-33

Jeroboam distrusted the providence of God; he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our departures from him. Though it is probable he meant his worship for Jehovah the God of Israel, it was contrary to the Divine law, and dishonourable to the Divine majesty to be thus represented. The people might be less shocked at worshipping the God of Israel under an image, than if they had at once been asked to worship Baal; but it made way for that idolatry. Blessed Lord, give us grace to reverence thy temple, thine ordinances, thine house of prayer, thy sabbaths, and never more, like Jeroboam, to set up in our hearts any idol of abomination. Be thou to us every thing precious; do thou reign and rule in our hearts, the hope of glory.

Matthew Henry: 1Ki 12:1-15

Solomon had 1000 wives and concubines, yet we read but of one son he had to bear up his name, and he a fool. It is said (Hos 4:10), They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase. Sin is a bad way of building up a family. Rehoboam was the son of the wisest of men, yet did not inherit his father's wisdom, and then it stood him in little stead to inherit his father's throne. Neither wisdom nor grace runs in the blood. Solomon came to the crown very young, yet he was then a wise man. Rehoboam came to the crown at forty years old, when men will be wise if ever they will, yet he was then foolish. Wisdom does not go by age, nor is it the multitude of years nor the advantage of education that reaches it. Solomon's court was a mart of wisdom and the rendezvous of learned men, and Rehoboam was the darling of the court; and yet all was not sufficient to make him a wise man. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. No dispute is made of Rehoboam's succession; upon the death of his father, he was immediately proclaimed. But,

I. The people desired a treaty with him at Shechem, and he condescended to meet them there. 1. Their pretence was to make him king, but the design was to unmake him. They would give him a public inauguration in another place than the city of David, that he might not seem to be king of Judah only. They had ten parts in him, and would have him among themselves for once, that they might recognize his title. 2. The place was ominous: at Shechem, where Abimelech set up himself (Jdg. 9); yet it had been famous for the convention of the states there, Jos 24:1. Rehoboam, we may suppose, knew of the threatening, that the kingdom should be rent from him, and hoped by going to Shechem, and treating there with the ten tribes, to prevent it: yet it proved the most impolitic thing he could do, and hastened the rupture.

II. The representatives of the tribes addressed him, praying to be eased of the taxes they were burdened with. The meeting being appointed, they sent for Jeroboam out of Egypt to come and be their speaker. This they needed not to have done: he knew what God had designed him for, and would have come though he had not been sent for, for now was his time to expect the possession of the promised crown. In their address, 1. They complain of the last reign: Thy father made our yoke grievous, 1Ki 12:4. They complain not of his father's idolatry and revolt from God; that which was the greatest grievance of all was none to them, so careless and indifferent were they in the matters of religion, as if God or Moloch were all one, so they might but live at ease and pay no taxes. Yet the complaint was groundless and unjust. Never did people live more at ease than they did, nor in great plenty. Did they pay taxes? It was to advance the strength and magnificence of their kingdom. If Solomon's buildings cost them money, they cost them no blood, as war would do. Were many servile hands employed about them? They were not the hands of the Israelites. Were the taxes a burden? How could that be, when Solomon imported bullion in such plenty that silver was, in a manner, as common as the stones? So that they did but render to Solomon the things that were Solomon's. Nay, suppose there was some hardship put upon them, were they not told before that this would be the manner of the king and yet they would have one? The best government cannot secure itself from reproach and censure, no, not Solomon's. Factious spirits will never want something to complain of. I know nothing in Solomon's administration that could make the people's yoke grievous, unless perhaps the women whom in his latter days he doted on were connived at in oppressing them. 2. They demand relief from him, and on this condition will continue in their allegiance to the house of David. They asked not to be wholly free from paying taxes, but to have the burden made lighter; this was all their care, to save their money, whether their religion was supported and the government protected or no. All seek their own.

III. Rehoboam consulted with those about him concerning the answer he should give to this address. It was prudent to take advice, especially having so weak a head of his own; yet, upon this occasion, it was impolitic to take time himself to consider, for thereby he gave time to the disaffected people to ripen things for a revolt, and his deliberating in so plain a case would be improved as an indication of the little concern he had for the people's ease. They saw what they must expect, and prepared accordingly. Now, 1. The grave experienced men of his council advised him by all means to give the petitioners a kind answer, to give them good words, to promise them fair, and this day, this critical day, to serve them, that is, to tell them that he was their servant, and that he would redress all their grievances and make it his business to please them and make them easy. "Deny thyself (say they) so far as to do this for this once, and they will be thy servants for ever. When the present heat is allayed with a soft answer, and the assembly dismissed, their cooler thoughts will reconcile and fix them to Solomon's family still."Note, The way to rule is to serve, to do good, and stoop to do it, to become all things to all men and so win their hearts. Those who are in power really sit highest, and easiest, and safest, when they take this method. 2. The young men of his council were hot and haughty, and they advised him to return a severe and threatening answer to the people's demands. It was an instance of Rehoboam's weakness, (1.) That he did not prefer aged counsellors, but had a better opinion of the young men that had grown up with him and with whom he was familiar, 1Ki 12:8. Days should speak. It was a folly for him to think that, because they had been his agreeable companions in the sports and pleasures of his youth, they were therefore fit to have the management of the affairs of his kingdom. Great wits have not always the most wisdom; nor are those to be relied on as our best friends that know how to make us merry, for that will not make us happy. It is of great consequence to young people, that are setting out in the world, whom they associate with, accommodate themselves to, and depend upon for advice. If they reckon those that feed their pride, gratify their vanity, and further them in their pleasures, their best friends, they are already marked for ruin. (2.) That he did not prefer moderate counsels, but was pleased with those that put him upon harsh and rigorous methods, and advised him to double the taxes, whether there was occasion for so doing or no, and to tell them in plain terms that he would do so, 1Ki 12:10, 1Ki 12:11. These young counsellors thought the old men expressed themselves but dully, 1Ki 12:7. They affect to be witty in their advice, and value themselves on that. The old men did not undertake to put words into Rehoboam's mouth, only counselled him to speak good words; but the young men will furnish him with very quaint and pretty phrases, with pointed and pert similitudes: My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins, etc. That is not always the best sense that is best worded.

IV. He answered the people according to the counsel of the young men, 1Ki 12:14, 1Ki 12:15. He affected to be haughty and imperious, and fancied he could carry all before him with a high hand, and therefore would rather run the risk of losing them than deny himself so far as to give them good words. Note, Many ruin themselves by consulting their humour more than their interest. See,

1. How Rehoboam was infatuated in his counsels. He could not have acted more foolishly and impoliticly. (1.) He owned their reflections upon his father's government to be true: My father made your yoke heavy; and therein he was unjust to his father's memory, which he might easily have vindicated from the imputation. (2.) He fancied himself better able to manage them, and impose upon them, than his father was, not considering that he was vastly inferior to him in capacity. Could he think to support the blemishes of his father's reign who could never pretend to come near the glories of it? (3.) He threatened not only to squeeze them by taxes, but to chastise them by cruel laws and severe executions of them, which should be not as whips only, but as scorpions, whips with rowels in them, that will fetch blood at every lash. In short, he would use them as brute beasts, load them and beat them at his pleasure: not caring whether they loved him or no, he would make them fear him. (4.) He gave this provocation to a people that by long ease and prosperity were made wealthy, and strong, and proud, and would not be trampled upon (as a poor cowed dispirited people may), to a people that were now disposed to revolt, and had one ready to head them. Never, surely, was man so blinded by pride and affectation of arbitrary power, than which nothing is more fatal.

2. How God's counsels were hereby fulfilled. It was from the Lord, 1Ki 12:15. He left Rehoboam to his own folly, and hid from his eyes the things which belonged to his peace, that the kingdom might be rent from him. Note, God serves his own wise and righteous purposes by the imprudences and iniquities of men, and snares sinners in the work of their own hands. Those that lose the kingdom of heaven throw it away, as Rehoboam did his, by their own wilfulness and folly.

Matthew Henry: 1Ki 12:16-24

We have here the rending of the kingdom of the ten tribes from the house of David, to effect which,

I. The people were hold and resolute in their revolt. They highly resented the provocation that Rehoboam had given them, were incensed at his menaces, concluded that that government would in the progress of it be intolerably grievous which in the beginning of it was so very haughty, and therefore immediately came to this resolve, one and all: What portion have we in David? 1Ki 12:16. They speak here very unbecomingly of David, that great benefactor of their nation, calling him the son of Jesse, no greater a man than his neighbours. How soon are good men, and their good services to the public, forgotten! The rashness of their resolution was also much to be blamed. In time, and with prudent management, they might have settled the original contract with Rehoboam to mutual satisfaction. Had they enquired who gave Rehoboam this advice, and taken a course to remove those evil counsellors from about him, the rupture might have been prevented: otherwise their jealousy for their liberty and property well became that free people. Israel is not a servant, is not a homeborn slave; why should he be spoiled? Jer 2:14. They are willing to be ruled, but not to be ridden. Protection draws allegiance, but destruction cannot. No marvel that Israel falls away from the house of David (1Ki 12:19) if the house of David fall away from the great ends of their advancement, which was to be ministers of God to them for good. But thus to rebel against the seed of David, whom God had advanced to the kingdom (entailing it on his seed), and to set up another king in opposition to that family, was a great sin; see 2Ch 13:5-8. To this God refers, Hos 8:4. They have set up kings, but not by me. And it is here mentioned to the praise of the tribe of Judah that they followed the house of David (1Ki 12:17, 1Ki 12:20), and, for aught that appears, they found Rehoboam better than his word, nor did he rule with the rigour which at first he threatened.

II. Rehoboam was imprudent in the further management of this affair, and more and more infatuated. Having foolishly thrown himself into a quick-sand, he sunk the further in with plunging to get out. 1. He was very unadvised in sending Adoram, who was over the tribute, to treat with them, 1Ki 12:18. The tribute was the thing, and, for the sake of that, Adoram was the person, they most complained of. The very sight of him, whose name was odious among them, exasperated them, and made them outrageous. He was one to whom they could not so much as give a patient hearing, but stoned him to death in a popular tumult. Rehoboam was now as unhappy in the choice of his ambassador as before of his counsellors. 2. Some think he was also unadvised in quitting his ground, and making so much haste to Jerusalem, for thereby he deserted his friends and gave advantage to his enemies, who had gone to their tents indeed (1Ki 12:16) in disgust, but did not offer to make Jeroboam king till Rehoboam had gone, 1Ki 12:20. See how soon this foolish prince went from one extreme to the other. He hectored and talked big when he thought all was his own, but sneaked and looked very mean when he saw himself in danger. It is common for those that are most haughty in their prosperity to be most abject in adversity.

III. God forbade his attempt to recover by the sword what he had lost. What was done was of God, who would not suffer that it should be undone again (as it would be if Rehoboam got the better and reduced the ten tribes), nor that more should be done to the prejudice of the house of David, as would be if Jeroboam got the better and conquered the two tribes. The thing must rest as it is, and therefore God forbids the battle. 1. It was brave in Rehoboam to design the reducing of the revolters by force. His courage came to him when he had come to Jerusalem, 1Ki 12:21. There he thought himself among his firm friends, who generously adhered to him and appeared for him. Judah and Benjamin (who feared the Lord and the king, and meddled not with those that were given to change) presently raised an army of 180,000 men, for the recovery of their king's right to the ten tribes, and were resolved to stand by him (as we say) with their lives and fortunes, having either not such cause, or rather not such a disposition, to complain, as the rest had. 2. It as more brave in Rehoboam to desist when God, by a prophet, ordered him to lay down his arms. He would not lose a kingdom tamely, for then he would have been unworthy the title of a prince; and yet he would not contend for it in opposition to God, for then he would have been unworthy the title of an Israelite. To proceed in this war would be not only to fight against their brethren (1Ki 12:24), whom they ought to love, but to fight against their God, to whom they ought to submit: This thing is from me. These two considerations should reconcile us to our losses and troubles, that God is the author of them and our brethren are the instruments of them; let us not therefore meditate revenge. Rehoboam and his people hearkened to the word of the Lord, disbanded the army, and acquiesced. Though, in human probability, they had a fair prospect of success (for their army was numerous and resolute, Jeroboam's party weak and unsettled), though it would turn to their reproach among their neighbours to lose so much of their strength and never have one push for it, to make a flourish and do nothing, yet, (1.) They regarded the command of God though sent by a poor prophet. When we know God's mind we must submit to it, how much soever it crosses our own mind. (2.) They consulted their own interest, concluding that though they had all the advantages, even that of right, on their side, yet they could not prosper if they fought in disobedience to God; and it was better to sit still than to rise up and fall. In the next reign God allowed them to fight, and gave them victory (2 Chr. 13), but not now.

Matthew Henry: 1Ki 12:25-33

We have here the beginning of the reign of Jeroboam. He built Shechem first and then Penuel - beautified and fortified them, and probably had a palace in each of them for himself (1Ki 12:25), the former in Ephraim, the latter in Gad, on the other side Jordan. This might be proper; but he formed another project for the establishing of his kingdom which was fatal to the interests of religion in it.

I. That which he designed was by some effectual means to secure those to himself who had now chosen him for their king, and to prevent their return to the house of David, 1Ki 12:26, 1Ki 12:27. It seems, 1. He was jealous of the people, afraid that, some time or other, they would kill him and go again to Rehoboam. Many that have been advanced in one tumult have been hurled down in another. Jeroboam could not put any confidence in the affections of his people, though now they seemed extremely fond of him; for what is got by wrong and usurpation cannot be enjoyed nor kept with any security or satisfaction. 2. He was distrustful of the promise of God, could not take his word that, if he would keep close to his duty, God would build him a sure house (1Ki 11:38); but he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our treacherous departures from him.

II. The way he took to do this was by keeping the people from going up to Jerusalem to worship. That was the place God had chosen, to put his name there. Solomon's temple was there, which God had, in the sight of all Israel, and in the memory of many now living, taken solemn possession of in a cloud of glory. At the altar there the priest of the Lord attended, there all Israel were to keep the feasts, and thither they were to bring their sacrifices. Now,

1. Jeroboam apprehended that, if the people continued to do this, they would in time return to the house of David, allured by the magnificence both of the court and of the temple. If they cleave to their old religion, they will go back to their old king. We may suppose, if he had treated with Rehoboam for the safe conduct of himself and his people to and from Jerusalem at the times appointed for their solemn feasts, it would not have been denied him; therefore he fears not their being driven back by force, but their going back voluntarily to Rehoboam.

2. He therefore dissuaded them from going up to Jerusalem, pretending to consult their ease: " It is too much for you to go so far to worship God, 1Ki 12:28. It is a heavy yoke, and it is time to shake it off; you have gone long enough to Jerusalem "(so some read it); "the temple, now that you are used to it, does not appear so glorious and sacred as it did at first"(sensible glories wither by degrees in men's estimation); "you have greed yourselves from other burdens, free yourselves from this: why should we now be tied to one place any more than in Samuel's time?"

3. He provided for the assistance of their devotion at home. Upon consultation with some of his politicians, he came to this resolve, to set up two golden calves, as tokens or signs of the divine presence, and persuade the people that they might as well stay at home and offer sacrifice to those as go to Jerusalem to worship before the ark: and some are so charitable as to think they were made to represent the mercy-seat and the cherubim over the ark; but more probably he adopted the idolatry of the Egyptians, in whose land he had sojourned for some time and who worshipped their god Apis under the similitude of a bull or calf. (1.) He would not be at the charge of building a golden temple, as Solomon had done; two golden calves are the most that he can afford. (2.) He intended, no doubt, by these to represent, or rather make present, not any false god, as Moloch or Chemosh, but the true God only, the God of Israel, the God that brought them up out of the land of Egypt, as he declares, 1Ki 12:28. So that it was no violation of the first commandment, but the second. And he chose thus to engage the people's devotion because he knew there were many among them so in love with images that for the sake of the calves they would willingly quit God's temple, where all images were forbidden. (3.) He set up two, by degrees to break people off from the belief of the unity of the godhead, which would pave the way to the polytheism of the Pagans. He set up these two at Dan and Beth-el (one the utmost border of his country northward), the other southward, as if they were the guardians and protectors of the kingdom. Beth-el lay close to Judah. He set up one there, to tempt those of Rehoboam's subjects over to him who were inclined to image-worship, in lieu of those of his subjects that would continue to go to Jerusalem. He set up the other at Dan, for the convenience of those that lay most remote, and because Micah's images had been set up there, and great veneration paid to them for many ages, Jdg 18:30, Jdg 18:31. Beth-el signifies the house of God, which gave some colour to the superstition; but the prophet called it Beth-aven, the house of vanity, or iniquity.

4. The people complied with him herein, and were fond enough of the novelty: They went to worship before the one, even unto Dan (1Ki 12:30), to that at Dan first because it was first set up, or even to that at Dan, though it lay such a great way off. Those that thought it much to go to Jerusalem, to worship God according to his institution, made no difficulty of going twice as far, to Dan, to worship him according to their own inventions. Or they are said to go to one of the calves at Dan because Abijah, king of Judah, within twenty years, recovered Beth-el (2Ch 13:19), and it is likely removed the golden calf, or forbade the use of it, and then they had only that at Dan to go to. This became a sin; and a great sin it was, against the express letter of the second commandment. God had sometimes dispensed with the law concerning worshipping in one place, but never allowed the worship of him by images. Hereby they justified their fathers in making the calf at Horeb, though God had so fully shown his displeasure against them for it and threatened to visit for it in the day of visitation (Exo 32:34), so that it was as great a contempt of God's wrath as it was of his law; and thus they added sin to sin. Bishop Patrick quotes a saying of the Jews, That till Jeroboam's time the Israelites sucked but one calf, but from that time they sucked two.

5. Having set up the gods, he fitted up accommodations for them; and wherein he varied from the divine appointment we are here told, which intimates that in other things he imitated what was done in Judah (1Ki 12:32) as well as he could. See how one error multiplied into many. (1.) He made a house of high-places, or of altars, one temple at Dan, we may suppose, and another at Beth-el (1Ki 12:31), and in each many altars, probably complaining of it as an inconvenience that in the temple at Jerusalem there was but one. The multiplying of altars passed with some for a piece of devotion, but God, by the prophet, puts another construction upon it, Hos 8:11. Ephraim has made many altars to sin. (2.) He made priests of the lowest of the people; and the lowest of the people were good enough to be priests to his calves, and too good. He made priests from the extremest parts of the people, that is, some out of every corner of the country, whom he ordered to reside among their neighbours, to instruct them in his appointments and reconcile them to them. Thus were they dispersed as the Levites, but were not of the sons of Levi. But the priests of the high-laces, or altars, he ordered to reside in Beth-el, as the priests at Jerusalem (1Ki 12:32), to attend the public service. (3.) The feast of tabernacles, which God had appointed on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he adjourned to the fifteenth day of the eighth month (1Ki 12:32), the month which he devised of his own heart, to show his power in ecclesiastical matters, 1Ki 12:33. The passover and pentecost he observed in their proper season, or did not observe them at all, or with little solemnity in comparison with this. (4.) He himself assuming a power to make priests, no marvel if he undertook to do the priests' work with his own hands: He offered upon the altar. This is twice mentioned (1Ki 12:32, 1Ki 12:33), as also that he burnt incense. This was connived at in him because it was of a piece with the rest of his irregularities; but in king Uzziah it was immediately punished with the plague of leprosy. He did it himself, to make himself look great among the people and to get the reputation of a devout man, also to grace the solemnity of his new festival, with which, it is likely, at this time he joined the feast of the dedication of his altar. And thus, [1.] Jeroboam sinned himself, yet perhaps excused himself to the world and his own conscience with this, that he did not do so ill as Solomon did, who worshipped other gods. [2.] He made Israel to sin, drew them off from the worship of God and entailed idolatry upon their seed. And hereby they were punished for deserting the thrones of the house of David. The learned Mr. Whiston, in his chronology, for the adjusting of the annals of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel, supposes that Jeroboam changed the calculation of the year and made it to contain but eleven months, and that by those years the reigns of the kings of Israel are measured till Jehu's revolution and no longer, so that during this interval eleven years of the annals of Judah answer to twelve in those of Israel.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Ki 12:1-24

The jealousy which had prevailed from time immemorial between Ephraim and Judah, the two most powerful tribes of the covenant nation, and had broken out on different occasions into open hostilities (Jdg 8:1.; 2Sa 2:9; 2Sa 19:42.), issued, on the death of Solomon, in the division of the kingdom; ten tribes, headed by Ephraim, refusing to do homage to Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, and choosing Jeroboam the Ephraimite as their king. Now, although the secession of the ten tribes from the royal house of David had been ordained by God as a punishment for Solomon's idolatry, and not only had Solomon been threatened with this punishment, but the sovereignty over ten tribes had been promised to Jeroboam by the prophet Ahijah, whilst the secession itself was occasioned by Rehoboam's imprudence; yet it was essentially a rebellion against the Lord and His anointed, a conspiracy on the part of these tribes against Judah and its king Rehoboam. For apart from the fact that the tribes had no right to choose at their pleasure a different king from the one who was the lawful heir to the throne of David, the very circumstance that the tribes who were discontented with Solomon's government did not come to Jerusalem to do homage to Rehoboam, but chose Sichem as the place of meeting, and had also sent for Jeroboam out of Egypt, showed clearly enough that it was their intention to sever themselves from the royal house of David; so that the harsh reply given by Rehoboam to their petition that the service imposed upon them might be lightened, furnished them with the desired opportunity for carrying out the secession upon which they had already resolved, and for which Jeroboam was the suitable man. And we have already shown at 1Ki 11:40 that the promise of the throne, which Jeroboam had already received from God, neither warranted him in rebelling against Solomon, nor in wresting to himself the government over the tribes that were discontented with the house of David after Solomon's death. The usurpation of the throne was therefore Jeroboam's first sin (vv. 1-24), to which he added a second and much greater one immediately after his ascent of the throne, namely, the establishment of an unlawful worship, by which he turned the political division into a religious schism and a falling away from Jehovah the God-King of His people (1Ki 12:25-33).

1Ki 12:1

Secession of the Ten Tribes (cf., 2 Chron 10:1-11:4). - 1Ki 12:1-4. Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come thither to make him king. "All Israel,"according to what follows (cf., 1Ki 12:20, 1Ki 12:21), was the ten tribes beside Judah and Benjamin. The right of making king the prince whom God had chosen, i.e., of anointing him and doing homage to him (compare 1Ch 12:38, where המליך alternates with למלך משׁך , (2Sa 2:4; 2Sa 5:3), was an old traditional right in Israel, and the tribes had exercised it not only in the case of Saul and David (1Sa 11:15; 2Sa 2:4; 2Sa 5:3), but in that of Solomon also (1Ch 29:22). The ten tribes of Israel made use of this right on Rehoboam's ascent of the throne; but instead of coming to Jerusalem, the residence of the king and capital of the kingdom, as they ought to have done, and doing homage there to the legitimate successor of Solomon, they had gone to Sichem, the present Nabulus (see at Gen 12:6 and Gen 33:18), the place where the ancient national gatherings were held in the tribe of Ephraim (Jos 24:1), and where Abimelech the son of Gideon had offered himself as king in the time of the Judges (Jdg 9:1.). On the choice of Sichem as the place for doing homage Kimchi has quite correctly observed, that "they sought an opportunity for transferring the government to Jeroboam, and therefore were unwilling to come to Jerusalem, but came to Sichem, which belonged to Ephraim, whilst Jeroboam was an Ephraimite."If there could be any further doubt on the matter, it would be removed by the fact that they had sent for Jeroboam the son of Nebat to come from Egypt, whither he had fled from Solomon (1Ki 11:40), and attend this meeting, and that Jeroboam took the lead in the meeting, and no doubt suggested to those assembled the demand which they should lay before Rehoboam (1Ki 12:4).

(Note: "This pretext was no doubt furnished to the people byJeroboam, who, because he had formerly been placed above Ephraimas superintendent of the works, could most craftily suggest calumnies,from the things which he knew better than others."- (Seb. Schmidt.)

1Ki 12:2-3

The construction of 1Ki 12:2, 1Ki 12:3 is a complicated one, since it is only in ויּבאוּ in 1Ki 12:3 that the apodosis occurs to the protasis וגו כּשׁמע ויהי , and several circumstantial clauses intervene. "And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard, sc., that Solomon was dead and Rehoboam had been made king ... he was still in Egypt, however, whither he had fled from king Solomon; and as Jeroboam was living in Egypt, they had sent and called him ... that Jeroboam came and the whole congregation of Israel,"etc. On the other hand, in 2Ch 10:2 the construction is very much simplified, and is rendered clearer by the alteration of בּמצרים יר ויּשׁב , "and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt,"into ממּצרים יר ויּשׁב , "that Jeroboam returned from Egypt."

(Note: At the same time, neither this explanation in the Chronicles,nor the fact that the Vulgate has the same in our text also, warrantsour making alterations in the text, for the simple reason that thedeviation in the Chronicles and Vulgate is so obviously nothing but anelucidation of our account, which is more obscurely expressed. Thereis still less ground for the interpolation, which Thenius has proposed,from the clauses contained in the Septuagint partly after 1Ki 11:43, partly in 1 Kings 12 between 1Ki 12:24 and 1Ki 12:25, and in an abbreviatedform once more after 1Ki 13:34, so as to obtain the followingmore precise account of the course of the rebellion which Jeroboaminstigated, and of which we have not a very minute description in 1Ki 11:26 : "Solomon having appointed Jeroboam superintendent ofthe tributary labour in Ephraim, for the purpose of keeping in checkthe Sichemites, who were probably pre-eminently inclined to rebel,directed him to make a fortress, which already existed upon MountGerizim under the name of Millo , into a strong prison ( צרירה( ),from which the whole district of Gerizim, the table-land, received thename of the land of Zerirah , and probably made him governor of itand invested him with great power. When holding this post, Jeroboamrebelled against Solomon, but was obliged to flee. Having now returnedfrom Egypt, he assembled the members of his own tribe, and withthem he first of all besieged this prison, for the purpose of makinghimself lord of the surrounding district. Now this castle was the citadelof the city in which Jeroboam was born, to which he had just returned,and from which they fetched him to take part in the negotiationswith Rehoboam. Its ruins are still in existence, according to Robinson( Pal . iii. p. 99), and from all that has been said it was not calledZeredah (1Ki 11:26), but (after the castle) Zerira."This is whatThenius says. But if we read the two longer additions of the lxx quite through, weshall easily see that the words ᾠκοδόμησε τῷ Σαλωμὼν τὴν ἐν ὄρει Ἐφραΐ́μ do notgive any more precise historical information concerning the buildingof the Millo mentioned in 1Ki 11:27, since this verse is repeatedimmediately afterwards in the following form: οὖτος ᾠκοδόμησε τὴν ἄκραν ἐν ταῖς ἄρσεσιν οἴκου Ἐφραΐ́μ οὖτος συνέκλεισε τὴν πόλιν Δαβίδ ,- but are nothing more than a legendary supplement madeby an Alexandrian, which has no more value than the statement thatJeroboam's mother was named Sarira and was γυνὴ πόρνη . The name of the city Σαριρά is simply the Greek form of theHebrew צררה , which the lxx have erroneously adopted inthe place of צרדה , as the reading in 1Ki 11:26. But inthe additional clauses in question in the Alexandrian version, Σαριρά ismade into the residence of king Jeroboam and confounded with Thirza ; what took place at Thirza according to 1Ki 14:17 (of theHebrew text) being transferred to Sarira, and the following accountbeing introduced, viz., that Jeroboam's wife went ἐκ Σαριρά to theprophet Ahijah to consult him concerning her sick son, and onreturning heard of the child's death as she was entering the city of Sarira .- These remarks will be quite sufficient to prove that theAlexandrian additions have not the least historical worth.)

1Ki 12:4

The persons assembled desired that the burdens which Solomon had laid upon them should be lightened, in which case they would serve Rehoboam, i.e., would yield obedience to him as their king. אביך מעבדת הקל , "make light away from the service of thy father,"i.e., reduce what was imposed upon us by thy father. Solomon had undoubtedly demanded greater performances from the people than they had previously been accustomed to, not only to meet the cost of maintaining the splendour of his court, but also and principally to carry out his large and numerous buildings. But in return for this, he had secured for his people not only the blessings of undisturbed peace throughout his whole reign, but also great wealth from the trade and tribute of the subjugated nations, so that there cannot have been any well-grounded occasion for complaint. But when, as is too often the case, men overlooked the advantages and blessings which they owed to his government, and fixed their attention in a one-sided manner merely upon the performances which the king demanded, it might appear as though he had oppressed his people with excessive burdens.

1Ki 12:5-6

In order that the request of the tribes might be maturely weighed, Rehoboam directed them to appear before him again in three days, and in the meantime discussed the matter with the older counsellors,who had served his father.

1Ki 12:7

These counsellors said (the singular וידבּר is used- because one of them spoke in the name of the whole), "If thou wilt be subservient to this people to-day (now), and servest them, and hearkenest to them, ... they will serve thee for ever."

1Ki 12:8-14

But Rehoboam forsook this advice, and asked the younger ministers who had grown up with him. They advised him to overawe the people by harsh threats. "My little finger is stronger than my father's loins." קטי , from קטן , littleness, i.e., the little finger (for the form, see Ewald, § 255, b .), - a figurative expression in the sense of, I possess much greater might than my father. "And now, my father laid a heavy yoke upon you, and I will still further add to your yoke (lay still more upon you): my father chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions." עקרבּים , scorpiones , are whips with barbed points like the point of a scorpion's sting.

(Note: The Rabbins give this explanation: virgae spinis instructae . Isidor. His Pal. Origg . v. c. 27, explains it in a similar manner: virga siest nodosa vel aculeata, scorpio vocatur . The Targ. and Syr., on theother hand, מרגגין , Syr. 9 mārganā' , i.e., the Greek μάραγνα , awhip. See the various explanations in Bochart, Hieroz . iii. p. 554f. ed. Ros.)

This advice was not only imprudent, "considering all the circumstances"(Seb. Schmidt), but it was unwise in itself, and could only accelerate the secession of the discontented. It was the language of a tyrant, and not of a ruler whom God had placed over His people. This is shown in 1Ki 12:13, 1Ki 12:14 : "The king answered the people harshly, and forsook the counsel of the old men,"i.e., the counsellors who were rich in experience, and spoke according to the counsels of the young men, who flattered his ambition. It is very doubtful, indeed, whether the advice of the old men would have been followed by so favourable a result; it might probably have been so for the moment, but not for a permanency. For the king could not become the עגלים of the people, serve the people, without prejudicing the authority entrusted to him by God; though there is no doubt that if he had consented to such condescension, he would have deprived the discontented tribes of all pretext for rebellion, and not have shared in the sin of their secession.

1Ki 12:15

"And the king hearkened not to the people (to their request for their burdens to be reduced), for it was יהוה מעם סבּה , a turning from the Lord, that He might establish His word"(1Ki 11:31.), i.e., by a divine decree, that Rehoboam contributed to the fulfilment of the counsel of God through his own folly, and brought about the accomplishment of the sentence pronounced upon Solomon.

1Ki 12:16

The harsh word supplied the discontented with an apparently just occasion for saying, "What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse! To thy tents, O Israel! Now see to thy house, David!"i.e., take care of thy house. David, the tribe-father, is mentioned in the place of his family. These words, with which Sheba had once preached rebellion in the time of David (2Sa 20:1), give expression to the deep-rooted aversion which was cherished by these tribes towards the Davidic monarchy, and that in so distinct and unvarnished a manner, that we may clearly see that there were deeper causes for the secession than the pretended oppression of Solomon's government; that its real foundation was the ancient jealousy of the tribes, which had been only suppressed for the time by David and Solomon, but had not been entirely eradicated, whilst this jealousy again had its roots in the estrangement of these tribes from the Lord, and from His law and righteousness.

1Ki 12:17

But the sons of Israel, who dwelt in the cities of Judah, over these Rehoboam became king. These "sons of Israel"are members of the ten tribes who had settled in Judah in the course of ages (cf., 1Ki 12:23); and the Simeonites especially are included, since they were obliged to remain in the kingdom of Judah from the very situation of their tribe-territory, and might very well be reckoned among the Israelites who dwelt in the cities of Judah, inasmuch as at first the whole of their territory was allotted to the tribe of Judah, from which they afterwards received a portion (Jos 19:1). The verse cannot possibly mean that "the tribe of Judah declared in favour of their countryman Rehoboam as king"(Ewald, Gesch . iii. p. 399).

1Ki 12:18

In order to appease the agitated tribes and commence negotiations with them, Rehoboam sent Adoram, the superintendent of the tribute, to them (see at 1Ki 4:6). Rehoboam entrusted him with the negotiation, because the tribes had complained that the tribute burdens were too severe, and the king was no doubt serious in his wish to meet the demands of the people. But the very fact that he sent this man only increased the bitterness of feeling, so that they stoned him to death, and Rehoboam himself was obliged to summon up all his strength ( התאמּץ ) to escape a similar fate by a speedy flight to his chariot.

1Ki 12:19

Thus Israel fell away from the house of David "unto this day."

1Ki 12:20

The secession was completed by the fact that all Israel (of the ten tribes) called Jeroboam to the assembly of the congregation and made him king "over all Israel,"so that the tribe of Judah alone adhered to the house of David (see at 1Ki 11:32). 1Ki 12:20 commences in the same manner as 1Ki 12:2, to indicate that it closes the account commenced in 1Ki 12:2.

1Ki 12:21-24

But after the return of Rehoboam to Jerusalem he was still desirous of bringing back the seceders by force of arms, and raised for that purpose an army of 180,000 men out of all Judah, the tribe of Benjamin, and the rest of the people, i.e., the Israelites dwelling in the cities of Judah, - a number which does not appear too large according to 2Sa 24:9. But the prophet Shemaiah, a prophet who is not mentioned again, received instructions from God to forbid the king to go to war with their brethren the Israelites, "for this thing was from the Lord." הזּה הדּבר , "this thing, i.e., his being deprived of the sovereignty over ten tribes, but not their rebellion"(Seb. Schmidt). For the fact itself, see the remark on 1Ki 12:15. The king and the people hearkened to this word. ללכת ישׁוּבוּ , "they turned to go,"i.e., they gave up the intended expedition and returned home. In 2Ch 11:4 we have the explanatory phrase מלּכת ישׁוּבוּ .

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Ki 12:25-33

Founding of the Kingdom of Israel. - 1Ki 12:25. When Jeroboam had become king, it was his first care to give a firmer basis to his sovereignty by the fortification of Sichem and Pnuel. בּנח , to build, is used here in the sense of fortifying, because both cities had stood for a long time, and nothing is known of their having been destroyed under either Solomon or David, although the tower of Sichem had been burnt down by Abimelech (Jdg 9:49), and the tower of Pnuel had been destroyed by Gideon (Jdg 8:17). Sichem , a place well known from the time of Abraham downwards (Gen 12:6), was situated upon the mountains of Ephraim, between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and still exists under the name of Nabulus or Nablûs , a name corrupted from Flavia Neapolis . Jeroboam dwelt therein, i.e., he chose it at first as his residence, though he afterwards resided in Thirza (see 1Ki 14:17). Pnuel was situated, according to Gen 32:31, on the other side of the Jordan, on the northern bank of the Jabbok (not the southern side, as Thenius supposes); and judging from Gen 32:22. and Jdg 8:8., it was on the caravan road, which led through Gilead to Damascus, and thence past Palmyra and along the Euphrates to Mesopotamia. It was probably on account of its situation that Jeroboam fortified it, to defend his sovereignty over Gilead against hostile attacks from the north-east and east.

1Ki 12:26-27

In order also to give internal strength to his kingdom, Jeroboam resolved to provide for his subjects a substitute for the sacrificial worship in the temple by establishing new sacra , and thus to take away all occasion for making festal journeys to Jerusalem, from which he apprehended, and that probably not without reason, a return of the people to the house of David and consequently further danger for his own life. "If this people go up to perform sacrifice in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, their heart will turn to their lord, king Rehoboam,"etc.

1Ki 12:28-29

He therefore consulted, sc., with his counsellors, or the heads of the nation, who had helped him to the throne, and made two calves of gold. זהב עגלי are young oxen, not of pure gold however, or cast in brass and gilded, but in all probability like the golden calf which Aaron had cast for the people at Sinai, made of a kernel of wood, which was then covered with gold plate (see the Comm. on Exo 32:4). That Jeroboam had in his mind not merely the Egyptian Apis -worship generally, but more especially the image-worship which Aaron introduced for the people at Sinai, is evident from the words borrowed from Exo 32:4, with which he studiously endeavoured to recommend his new form of worship to the people: "Behold, this is thy God, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." רב־לכם מעלות , it is too much for you to go to Jerusalem; not "let your going suffice,"because מן is not to be taken in a partitive sense here, as it is in Exo 9:28 and Eze 44:6. What Jeroboam meant to say by the words, "Behold thy God,"etc., was, "this is no new religion, but this was the form of worship which our fathers used in the desert, with Aaron himself leading the way"(Seb. Schmidt). And whilst the verbal allusion to that event at Sinai plainly shows that this worship was not actual idolatry, i.e., was not a worship of Egyptian idols, from which it is constantly distinguished in our books as well as in Hosea and Amos, but that Jehovah was worshipped under the image of the calves or young oxen; the choice of the places in which the golden calves were set up also shows that Jeroboam desired to adhere as closely as possible to ancient traditions. He did not select his own place of residence, but Bethel and Dan. Bethel , on the southern border of his kingdom, which properly belonged to the tribe of Benjamin (Jos 18:13 and Jos 18:22), the present Beitin , had already been consecrated as a divine seat by the vision of Jehovah which the patriarch Jacob received there in a dream (Gen 28:11, Gen 28:19), and Jacob gave it the name of Bethel , house of God, and afterwards built an altar there to the Lord (Gen 35:7). And Jeroboam may easily have fancied, and have tried to persuade others, that Jehovah would reveal Himself to the descendants of Jacob in this sacred place just as well as He had done to their forefather. - Dan , in the northern part of the kingdom, on the one source of the Jordan, formerly called Laish (Jdg 18:26.), was also consecrated as a place of worship by the image-worship established there by the Danites, at which even a grandson of Moses had officiated; and regard may also have been had to the convenience of the people, namely, that the tribes living in the north would not have to go a long distance to perform their worship.

1Ki 12:30-31

But this institution became a sin to Jeroboam, because it violated the fundamental law of the Old Testament religion, since this not only prohibited all worship of Jehovah under images and symbols (Exo 20:4), but had not even left the choice of the place of worship to the people themselves (Deu 12:5.). "And the people went before the one to Dan."The expression "to Dan"can only be suitably explained by connecting it with העם : the people even to Dan, i.e., the people throughout the whole kingdom even to Dan. The southern boundary as the terminus a quo is not mentioned; not because it was for a long time in dispute, but because it was already given in the allusion to Bethel. האחד is neither the golden calf at Dan nor (as I formerly thought) that at Bethel, but is to be interpreted according to the receding את־האחד ואת־האחד : one of the two, or actually both the one and the other (Thenius). The sin of which Jeroboam was guilty consisted in the fact that he no longer allowed the people to go to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, but induced or compelled them to worship Jehovah before one or the other of the calves which he had set up, or _(as it is expressed in 1Ki 12:31) made a house of high places, בּמות בּית (see at 1Ki 3:2), instead of the house of God, which the Lord had sanctified as the place of worship by filling it with His gracious presence. The singular בּית ב may be accounted for from the antithesis to יהוה בּית , upon which it rests. There was no necessity to say expressly that there was a house of high places at Bethel and Dan, i.e., in two places, because it followed as a matter of course that the golden calves could not stand in the open air, but were placed in a temple, by which the sacrificial altar stood. These places of worship were houses of high places , Bamoth , because the ark of the covenant was wanting, and therewith the gracious presence of God, the Shechinah , for which no symbol invented by men could be a substitute. Moreover Jeroboam made "priests from the mass of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi." העם מקצות , i.e., not of the poorest of the people (Luther and others), but from the last of the people onwards, that is to say, from the whole of the people any one without distinction even to the very last, instead of the priests chosen by God out of the tribe of Levi. For this meaning of מקצות see Gen 19:4 and Eze 33:2, also Lud. de Dieu on this passage. This innovation on the part of Jeroboam appears very surprising, if we consider how the Ephraimite Micah (Jdg 17:10.) rejoiced that he had obtained a Levite to act as priest for his image-worship, and can only be explained from the fact that the Levites did not consent to act as priests in the worship before the golden calves, but set their faces against it, and therefore, as is stated in 2Ch 11:13-14, were obliged to leave their district towns and possessions and emigrate into the kingdom of Judah.

1Ki 12:32-33

Jeroboam also transferred to the eighth month the feast which ought to have been kept in the seventh month (the feast of tabernacles, Lev 23:34.). The pretext for this arbitrary alteration of the law, which repeatedly describes the seventh month as the month appointed by the Lord (Lev 23:34, Lev 23:39, Lev 23:41), he may have found in the fact that in the northern portion of the kingdom the corn ripened a month later than in the more southern Judah (see my Bibl. Archäol . ii. §118, Anm. 3, and §119, Anm. 2), since this feast of the ingathering of the produce of the threshing-floor and wine-press (Exo 23:16; Lev 23:39; Deu 16:13) was a feast of thanksgiving for the gathering in of all the fruits of the ground. But the true reason was to be found in his intention to make the separation in a religious point of view as complete as possible, although Jeroboam retained the day of the month, the fifteenth, for the sake of the weak who took offence at his innovations. For we may see very clearly that many beside the Levites were very discontented with these illegal institutions, from the notice in 2Ch 11:16, that out of all the tribes those who were devoted to the Lord from the heart went to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the God of the fathers there. "And he sacrificed upon the altar."This clause is connected with the preceding one, in the sense of: he instituted the feast and offered sacrifices thereat. In 1Ki 12:32 (from עשׂה כּן onwards) and 1Ki 12:33, what has already been related concerning Jeroboam's religious institutions is brought to a close by a comprehensive repetition of the leading points. "Thus did he in Bethel, (namely) to offer sacrifice to the calves; and there he appointed the priests of the high places which he had made, and offered sacrifice upon the altar which he had made at Bethel, on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, which he himself had devised, and so made a feast for the children of Israel and sacrificed upon the altar to turn." מלּבד signifies seorsum , by himself alone, i.e., in this connection, i.q . "from his own heart."The Keri מלּבּו is therefore a correct explanation as to the fact; but it is a needless correction from Neh 6:8. The last clause, להקטיר ... ויּעל , leads on to what follows, and it would be more correct to take it in connection with 1Ki 13:1 and render it thus: and when he was offering sacrifice upon the altar to burn, behold there came a man of God, etc. Thenius has rendered ויּעל incorrectly, and he stood at the altar. This thought would have been expressed by הם על ויּעמוד , as in 1Ki 13:1. By הקטיר we are not to understand the burning or offering of incense, but the burning of the sacrificial portions of the flesh upon the altar, as in Lev 1:9, Lev 1:13, Lev 1:17, etc.

Constable: 1Ki 12:1-5

Rehoboam's dilemma 12:1-5

It is not clear why the northern tribes had invited Rehoboam to the northern town of Shechem. They may have done so for a coronation over Israel separate from his coronation over Judah.¹²⁵ On the other hand the northern tribes may have invited him to go there for his coronation over the entire nation. Jerusalem was the natural coronation site. Perhaps Rehoboam chose to hold the ceremony at Shechem to accommodate and perhaps placate the northern tribes. In any case, Shechem was an understandable site because of its historical significance and earlier covenant renewal ceremonies (cf. Gen. 12:6-7; 33:18-20; Josh. 8; 24).

The heavy yoke Solomon had imposed on the Israelites consisted of taxation, forced labor, and other burdens. If Solomon had exempted Judah from these,¹²⁶ the spokesmen were probably speaking for the northern tribes rather than for all the Israelites and were demanding similar favors.¹²⁷

Constable: 1Ki 12:6-15

Rehoboam's decision 12:6-15

Rehoboam's choice was whether he would regard himself as the people's servant under Yahweh's authority, as David and Solomon had done, or as the supreme authority in Israel, as Saul had done. His pride led to his downfall.

The "scorpion" (v. 11) was a particularly cruel kind of whip that contained sharp pieces of metal (1 Macc. 6:51).

"Rehoboam chooses slogans over wisdom, machismo over servanthood."¹²⁸

Rehoboam's decision resulted in what God had predicted to Solomon (11:11-13), Ahijah, and Jeroboam (11:31-39).

Constable: 1Ki 12:16-20

Israel's secession 12:16-20

The dissatisfaction with the rule of David's house that had been brewing for years (cf. 2 Sam. 20:1) finally boiled over.

Perhaps Rehoboam sent Adoram to pacify the angry mob (v. 18). Whatever his reason, this proved to be "the straw that broke the camel's back." Rehoboam lacked wisdom because he did not give God the place He deserved in his life. Because he revolted against God, the people revolted against him. In rebelling against Rehoboam, however, the Israelites were rebelling against God's anointed king. That action could only and did bring divine discipline on them. This rebellion continued throughout the history of the divided kingdom and accounts for much of the misery that nation experienced.¹²⁹

Rehoboam's coronation turned into a bloody lynching and the coronation of his rival (v. 20).

Constable: 1Ki 12:21-24

Rehoboam's reprisal 12:21-24

Rehoboam's pride led him into further trouble. He wanted to start a civil war to recapture the throne. Benjamin joined with Judah at this time and remained allied from then on (cf. 2 Sam. 19:16-17). God had to intervene through a prophet to get Rehoboam to turn back (vv. 22-24).¹³⁰ To his credit Rehoboam obeyed God.

"Shemaiah's message goes against the perceived national interest, opposes a popular cause, and stifles the impulse to avenge wounded pride. But Shemaiah was a man of God before he was a man of Judah. His loyalty to God transcended that to king and country. His identity came from his relationship to God, not from society. He served God rather than the state. In short, he was a prophet."¹³¹

"Rehoboam is harsh, despotic, and autocratic, but the worst part is that he is also stupid and incompetent."¹³²

There were several reasons for the division of the kingdom. The primary one was Solomon's apostasy. However tribal jealousy, sectionalism, and Solomon's exploitation of the people were contributing causes.¹³³

Constable: 1Ki 12:25--14:21

2. Jeroboam's evil reign in Israel 12:25-14:20

Jeroboam was the first of 20 kings who ruled the Northern Kingdom during its 209 year history. He reigned for 22 years (931-910 B.C.). Not one of the kings of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, turned the people to a serious recommitment to the Mosaic Covenant. Consequently the writer judged all of them evil.

Constable: 1Ki 12:25-33

Jeroboam's idolatry 12:25-33

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 provincial center. Like Shechem, Penuel was an important site in patriarchal times (Gen. 32:30). By strengthening these sites Jeroboam appears to have been trying to get the residents of his kingdom to view their nation as the continuation of what God had begun in patriarchal days.

One writer suggested that Jeroboam may have abandoned Shechem and moved to Penuel because Shechem was a divided city. Levitical priests who would have opposed his religious reforms lived there.¹³⁴

Jeroboam's fears that his subjects would kill him and return to Rehoboam (v. 27) were due to disbelief in God's promises that the prophet Ahijah had announced to him (11:31, 37-38).

Jeroboam seems to have designed his substitute religious system (vv. 28-33) to offer the Israelites convenient "improvements" in the Mosaic system that tied in with certain events in their history. The golden calves, for instance, recall the golden calf in the wilderness. The apis bull was a common religious symbol in Egypt. The golden calf in the wilderness and these calves may have been similar symbols. There is some question among scholars whether the people regarded calves of this type as idols or as pedestals on which the gods stood.¹³⁵ One writer made a good case for their having been idols (cf. 14:9).¹³⁶ They certainly became idols to the Israelites in the North.¹³⁷ However it seems more likely that Jeroboam conceived of them as the symbols and supporters of Yahweh.

"With the division of the kingdom, the chief symbol of God's presence, the ark and the cherubim, was left to Judah. Needing a comparable symbol for his new state, Jeroboam chose the bull, universally admired for its strength and procreative power (Deut. 33:17; Isa. 10:13; 34:7; Ps. 68:30; 1 Kings 7:25). It is probable that Jeroboam meant the bull to serve the same function as the ark and cherubim, that is, as the throne or footstool of the invisibly present God.

"The adoption of the bull as a cult object may have been an effort to adapt the ark and cherubim to the culture of the northern tribes, especially since the bull was an indigenous symbol to the Canaanite element of the population. Archaeological finds in Palestine-Syria of statues depicting a god astride a bull point to a function for the bull similar to that of the ark and cherubim (ANEP [The Ancient Near East in Pictures, ed. James B. Pritchard], nos. 470-501, 522-538)."¹³⁸

After making the calves, Jeroboam said exactly the same thing Aaron had said (v. 28; cf. Exod. 32:4). Jeroboam also followed up the making of the calves with a feast similar to the one at Sinai (vv. 32-33; cf. Exod. 32:5). Furthermore Jeroboam followed Aaron's example of setting himself up as covenant mediator, in Moses' absence, and as head of the cult (formal worship). In this he was quite clearly identifying his cult with the Exodus.¹³⁹ Jeroboam also assumed the role of the Davidic monarch who was the Lord's anointed and as such both the political and the religious leader of Israel.¹⁴⁰

How could Jeroboam have hoped to win the support of the Israelites since he revived the practice of worshipping a calf?

"I suggest that the motivation behind Jeroboam's action may have been an intense animosity toward the Levites. It was the Levites who had taken sword in hand to slay the worshippers of Aaron's golden calves. Jeroboam now bypassed the Levites by appointing his own priests and, in a supreme irony, manufactured his own golden calves as a symbol of his disdain for the Levitical priesthood. Had not Moses' own grandson, Jonathan, anticipated Jeroboam by serving as the first priest of the competing shrine at Dan [Judg. 17-18]? Besides according a measure of legitimacy to Dan, this story revealed that even within Moses' family there was room for diversity in religious practice. How could Jeroboam be faulted for his golden calves when Moses' own grandson had officiated over a cult at Dan which worshipped idols having no connection at all with the exodus?"¹⁴¹

This may also explain Jeroboam's choice of Dan as one of his cultic centers, but why did he select Bethel? Jacob had met God at Bethel twice (Gen. 28:10-22; 35:1-7). Perhaps Jeroboam promoted it as the birthplace of Israel's faith. Geographically Bethel stood on the main highway that led into Judah just north of the border. It was a convenient gathering place for Israelites who lived in the southern and central parts of the Northern Kingdom. Since they would have had to pass through Bethel if they wanted to go south to worship in Jerusalem, Jeroboam's priests could have discouraged them from doing so there.

The feast Jeroboam set up (v. 32) took place one month later than the day of Atonement when the Levitical priests offered sacrifice to atone for the sins of the nation for the past year (Lev. 16).

Thus it seems that Jeroboam had no regard for the will of God as expressed in the commands of the Mosaic Covenant. He viewed himself as a king like all the other kings of the ancient Near East. To establish himself and the Northern Kingdom as independent from Judah, he combined commonly accepted religious concepts that the surrounding pagan nations held with elements from Israel's history.¹⁴²

". . . Jeroboam's sins are so far-reaching and repulsive that the author uses him as the example of how to define a morally deficient king (cf. 1 Kgs 16:7, 9, 26)."¹⁴³

Guzik: 1Ki 12:1-33

1 Kings 12 - Rehoboam and Jeroboam

A. Rehoboam and the division of Israel.

1. (1-5) The elders of Israel offer Rehoboam the throne of Israel.

And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, "Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you." So he said to them, "Depart for three days, then come back to me." And the people departed.

a. Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king: This was a logical continuation of the Davidic dynasty. David was succeeded by his son Solomon, and now Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was assumed to be the next king.

i. Rehoboam was the only son of Solomon that we know by name. Solomon had 1000 wives and concubines, yet we read of one son he had to bear up his name, and he was a fool. This demonstrates that sin is a bad way of building up a family.

ii. Shechem was a city with a rich history. Abraham worshipped there (Genesis 12:6). Jacob built an altar and purchased land there (Genesis 33:18-20). Joseph was buried there (Joshua 24:32). It was also the geographical center of the northern tribes. All in all, it showed that Rehoboam was in a position of weakness, having to meet the ten northern tribes on their territory, instead of demanding that representatives come to Jerusalem.

b. When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it: Jeroboam was mentioned previously in 1 Kings 11:26-40. God told him through a prophet that he would rule over a portion of a divided Israel. Naturally, Jeroboam was interested in Solomon's successor. He was specifically part of the group of elders that addressed Rehoboam.

c. Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father: Solomon was a great king, but he took a lot from the people. The people of Israel wanted relief from the heavy taxation and forced service of Solomon's reign, and they offered allegiance to Rehoboam if he agreed to this.

i. God warned Israel about this in 1 Samuel 8:10-19, when through Samuel He spoke of what a king would take from Israel. After the warning the people still wanted a king, and now they knew what it was like to be ruled by a taking king.

ii. Sadly, the elders of Israel made no spiritual demand or request on Rehoboam. Seemingly, the gross idolatry and apostasy of Solomon didn't bother them at all.

2. (6-7) The counsel from Rehoboam's older advisors.

Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, "How do you advise me to answer these people?" And they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."

a. Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived: Wisely, Rehoboam asked the counsel of these older, experienced men. They seemed to advise Solomon well, so it was fitting that Rehoboam asked for their advice.

b. If you will be a servant to these people today . . . then they will be your servants forever: The elders knew that Rehoboam was not Solomon, and could not expect the same from the people that Solomon did. Rehoboam had to relate to the people based on who he was, not on who his father was. If he showed kindness and a servant's heart to the people, they would love and serve him forever. This was good advice.

3. (8-11) The counsel from Rehoboam's younger advisors.

But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. And he said to them, "What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?" Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us'; thus you shall say to them: 'My little finger shall be thicker than my father's waist! And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!'"

a. But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men: Before Rehoboam ever consulted with the younger men he rejected the advice of the elders.

i. This is a common phenomenon today - what some call "advice shopping." The idea is that you keep asking different people for advice until you find someone who will tell you what you want to hear. This is an unwise and ungodly way to get counsel. It is better to have a few trusted counselors you will listen to even when they tell you what you don't want to hear.

b. And consulted the young men who had grown up with him: These men were much more likely to tell Rehoboam what he already thought. By turning to those likely to think just as he did, it shows that Rehoboam only asked for advice for the sake of appearances

i. Their unwise advice shows the wisdom of seeking counsel from those outside our immediate situation and context. Sometimes an outsider can see things more clearly than those who share our same experiences.

c. And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke: The younger men offered the opposite advice to the elders. They suggested an adversarial approach, one that would make Rehoboam more feared than Solomon was.

i. Solomon asked a lot of Israel, in both taxes and service. Yet we don't have the impression that Israel followed Solomon out of fear, but out of a sense of shared vision and purpose. They believed in what Solomon wanted to do, and were willing to sacrifice to accomplish it. Rehoboam did not appeal to any sense of shared vision and purpose - he simply wanted the people to follow his orders out of the fear of a tyrant.

ii. "With a dozen rash words, Rehoboam, the bungling dictator, opened the door for four hundred years of strife, weakness, and, eventually, the destruction of the entire nation." (Dilday)

4. (12-15) Rehoboam answers Jeroboam and the elders of Israel harshly.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day." Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!" So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the LORD, that He might fulfill His word, which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

a. So the king did not listen to the people: In this case, Rehoboam clearly should have listened to the people. This is not to say that a leader should always lead by popular vote, but a leader needs the wisdom to know when what the people want is best for them.

i. Rehoboam was a fool. Ironically, his father Solomon worried about losing all he worked for under a foolish successor: Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19)

b. For the turn of events was from the LORD: God managed this whole series of events, but He did not make Rehoboam take this unwise and sinful action. God simply left Rehoboam alone and allowed him to make the critical errors his sinful heart wanted to make.

i. "Notice also, dear friends, that God is in events which are produced by the sin and the stupidity of men. This breaking up of the kingdom of Solomon into two parts was the result of Solomon's sin and Rehoboam's folly; yet God was in it: "This thing is from me, saith the Lord." God had nothing to do with the sin or the folly, but in some way which we can never explain, in a mysterious way in which we are to believe without hesitation, God was in it all." (Spurgeon)

5. (16-19) Rehoboam is rejected as king over the 10 northern tribes.

Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: "What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!" So Israel departed to their tents. But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah. Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

a. What share have we in David? Rehoboam's foolishness made Israel reject not only Rehoboam, but also the entire dynasty of David. They rejected the descendants of Israel's greatest king.

b. King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones: Apparently, Rehoboam did not take the rebellions seriously until this happened. When his chief tax collector was murdered, he knew that the ten tribes were serious about their rebellion.

i. Adoram was the wrong man for Rehoboam to send. He was famous for his harsh policy of forced labor (1 Kings 4:6 and 5:14). Rehoboam probably sent Adoram because he wanted to make good on his promise to punish those who opposed him. His tough-guy policy didn't work.

c. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day: From this point on in the history of Israel, the name "Israel" referred to the 10 northern tribes and the name "Judah" referred to the southern tribes of Benjamin and Judah.

i. There was a long-standing tension between the ten northern tribes and the combined group of Judah and Benjamin. There were two earlier rebellions along this line of potential division, in the days after Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 19:40-43), which developed into the rebellion of Sheba (2 Samuel 20:1-2).

6. (20-24) Rehoboam attempts to re-unify the nation by force.

Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me." Therefore they obeyed the word of the LORD, and turned back, according to the word of the LORD.

a. When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king: Thus the prophecy of Ahijah in 1 Kings 11:29-39 was fulfilled. At the time the prophecy was made, it seemed unlikely - but God's word through His prophet was fulfilled.

i. This King Jeroboam is sometimes called Jeroboam I to distinguish him from a later king of Israel also named Jeroboam, usually known as Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:23-29).

b. To fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam: Rehoboam intended to make war against the seceding tribes of Israel, but God spoke through a prophet and stopped him. To his credit - or perhaps due to a lack of courage - Rehoboam listened to God's word through Shemaiah the man of God.

i. "Here is one Shemaiah, - some of you never heard of him before, perhaps you will never hear of him again; he appears once in this history, and then he vanishes; he comes, and he goes, - only fancy this one man constraining to peace a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, warriors ready to fight against the house of Israel, by giving to them in very plain, unpolished words, the simple command of God . . . Why have we not such power? Peradventure, brethren, we do not always speak in the name of the Lord, or speak God's Word as God's Word. If we are simply tellers out of our own thoughts, why should men mind us?" (Spurgeon)

B. Jeroboam's idolatry.

1. (25) Jeroboam's new capital - Shechem.

Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel.

a. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim: Jeroboam needed a capital city because Jerusalem was in the territory of Judah and Benjamin. The city of Schechem became the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel.

b. He went out from there and built Penuel: It seems that Jeroboam's reign began with energy and opportunity. He had a significant promise from God through the prophet Ahijah: that if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. (1 Kings 11:38)

2. (26-29) Jeroboam makes a religion to serve the state.

And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah." Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

a. If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam: The fact of the divided kingdom did not mean that the northern tribes were exempt from their covenant obligations. They were under the Law of Moses as much as the southern tribes, but Jeroboam feared the political implications of yearly trips down to the capital city of the southern kingdom of Judah.

b. They will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah: Jeroboam seems to forget or ignore the promise God made to him through the prophet Ahijah recorded in 1 Kings 11. Jeroboam could best secure his throne by radical obedience to God, not by leading the ten northern tribes into idolatry.

c. Therefore the king asked advice: There was no point in asking advice for this evil purpose. Jeroboam wanted advice on how to do a bad thing in the best way.

i. Jeroboam was even more foolish than it first appears. "It literally says, 'Therefore the king took counsel of himself.' " (Dilday) "The phrase discovers the fountain of his error, that he did not consult with God, who had given him the kingdom; as in all reason, and justice, and gratitude he should have done." (Poole)

d. It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt! Jeroboam appealed to their natural desire for convenience. Men will usually take the easy way out when they can; therefore it is good if an idol in Bethel or Dan can replace a trip all the way to Jerusalem.

i. Jeroboam becomes an example of a political leader who shapes religion for his own purpose. The issue of true religion was unimportant to Jeroboam; he was interested in useful religion.

ii. Here are your gods, O Israel: Jeroboam repeats the same words of Aaron about 500 years before his time (Exodus 32:4).

iii. It is possible - perhaps even likely - that Jeroboam intended the gold calves to represent the God of Israel. This wasn't the introduction of a new god, but a perversion of the proper worship of the true God. "Men are willing to worship God if they are allowed to have a ritual and symbols which they have themselves devised." (Spurgeon)

3. (30-33) The establishment of Jeroboam's religion.

Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

a. Now this thing became a sin: It was a sin when Jeroboam suggested it, but it was more of a sin when the people followed it. The people were so attracted to the religion of Jeroboam that they went as far as Dan (at the far north of Israel) to worship at the shrine of the golden calf there.

b. He made shrines on the high places: Jeroboam made more places of worship than the main centers at Bethel and Dan. These high places were even more convenient for the people.

c. Made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi: Jeroboam rejected the commandments of God regarding the priesthood of Israel, and established a priesthood of his own liking.

i. The legitimate priests and Levites who lived in the northern ten tribes did not like this. They, along with others who set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel, moved from the northern kingdom of Israel to the southern kingdom of Judah during this period (2 Chronicles 11:13-16). Spiritually speaking, Israel was struck twice - by the ungodly religion of Jeroboam and by the departure of the godly and faithful. There were few godly people left in the northern kingdom.

d. In the month which he had devised in his own heart: This is a good summary of Jeroboam's religion - it was devised in his own heart. Jeroboam is an example of those who create their own religion according to their own taste.

i. For the most part, the world embraces the religion of Jeroboam. Not necessarily his particular expression of golden calves and high places, but a religion created according to taste. In the book Habits of the Heart, Robert Bellah and his colleagues interviewed a young nurse named Sheila Larson, whom they described as representing many Americans' experience and views on religion. Speaking about her own faith and how it operated in her life, she said: "I believe in God. I'm not a religious fanatic. I can't remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It is 'Sheilaism.' Just my own little voice." This "pick-and-choose-as-I-go-along-according-to-my-inner-voice" approach is the modern version of Jeroboam's religion - and in opposition to the revealed religion of the Bible.

ii. Therefore, it was natural that Jeroboam servedas his own priest (and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense). "Jeroboam probably performed the functions of high priest himself, that he might in his own person condense the civil and ecclesiastical power." (Clarke)

© 2004 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: 1Ki 12:25

1 KINGS 12:25—Was Jeroboam’s residence in Shechem or at Tirzah?

PROBLEM: In 1 Kings 12:25 Jeroboam’s home is said to be in Shechem, but later it is listed as Tirzah ( 1 Kings 14:12-17 ).

SOLUTION: He may have moved later to a different location. Or, one place could have been a vacation or retreat home. It was not uncommon for kings to have more than one place of residence.   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF KINGS, in the ancient copies of the Hebrew Bible, constitute one book. Various titles have been given them; in the Septuagint and the Vulgate they are called the Third and Fourth Books of Kings. The authorship of these books is unknown; but the prevailing opinion is that they were compiled by Ezra, or one of the later prophets, from the ancient documents that are so frequently referred to in the course of the history as of public and established authority. Their inspired character was acknowledged by the Jewish Church, which ranked them in the sacred canon; and, besides, it is attested by our Lord, who frequently quotes from them (compare 1Ki 17:9; 2Ki 5:14 with Luk 4:24-27; 1Ki 10:1 with Mat 12:42).

JFB: 1 Kings (Outline)

• ABISHAG CHERISHES DAVID IN HIS EXTREME AGE. (1Ki 1:1-4)
• ADONIJAH USURPS THE KINGDOM. (1Ki. 1:5-31)
• SOLOMON, BY DAVID'S APPOINTMENT, IS ANOINTED KING. (1Ki. 1:32-49)
• ADONIJAH, FLEEING TO THE HORNS OF THE ALTAR, IS DISMISSED BY SOLOMON. (1Ki 1:50-53)
• DAVID DIES. (1Ki 2:1-11)
• SOLOMON SUCCEEDS HIM. (1Ki 2:12-24)
• JOAB SLAIN. (1Ki. 2:28-45)
• SHIMEI PUT TO DEATH. (1Ki 2:34-46)
• SOLOMON MARRIES PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER. (1Ki 3:1)
• HIGH PLACES BEING IN USE, HE SACRIFICES AT GIBEON. (1Ki 3:2-5)
• HE CHOOSES WISDOM. (1Ki 3:6-15)
• HIS JUDGMENT BETWEEN TWO HARLOTS. (1Ki 3:16-28)
• SOLOMON'S PRINCES. (1Ki 4:1-6)
• HIS TWELVE OFFICERS. (1Ki 4:7-21)
• HIS WISDOM. (1Ki 4:29-34)
• HIRAM SENDS TO CONGRATULATE SOLOMON. (1Ki 5:1-6)
• FURNISHES TIMBER TO BUILD THE TEMPLE. (1Ki 5:7-12)
• SOLOMON'S WORKMEN AND LABORERS. (1Ki 5:13-18)
• THE BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. (1Ki 6:1-4)
• THE CHAMBERS THEREOF. (1Ki 6:5-10)
• GOD'S PROMISES UNTO IT. (1Ki 6:11-14)
• THE CEILING AND ADORNING OF IT. (1Ki 6:15-22)
• THE TIME TAKEN TO BUILD IT. (1Ki 6:37-38)
• BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S HOUSE. (1Ki 7:1)
• OF THE HOUSE OF LEBANON. (1Ki 7:2-7)
• HIRAM'S WORKS. (1Ki. 7:13-51)
• THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. (1Ki 8:1-12)
• SOLOMON'S BLESSING. (1Ki 8:12-21)
• HIS PRAYER. (1Ki. 8:22-61)
• HIS SACRIFICE OF PEACE OFFERING. (1Ki 8:62-64)
• THE PEOPLE JOYFUL. (1Ki 8:65)
• GOD'S COVENANT IN A SECOND VISION WITH SOLOMON. (1Ki 9:1-9)
• THE MUTUAL PRESENTS OF SOLOMON AND HIRAM. (1Ki 9:10-23)
• SOLOMON'S YEARLY SACRIFICES. (1Ki 9:24-28)
• THE QUEEN OF SHEBA ADMIRES THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. (1Ki 10:1-13)
• HIS RICHES. (1Ki. 10:14-29)
• SOLOMON'S WIVES AND CONCUBINES IN HIS OLD AGE. (1Ki 11:1-8)
• GOD THREATENS HIM. (1Ki 11:9-13)
• REFUSING THE OLD MEN'S COUNSEL. (1Ki 12:1-5)
• JEROBOAM MADE KING OVER THEM. (1Ki 12:20-33)
• JEROBOAM'S HAND WITHERS. (1Ki. 13:1-22)
• THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET SLAIN BY A LION. (1Ki 13:23-32)
• AHIJAH DENOUNCES GOD'S JUDGMENTS AGAINST JEROBOAM. (1Ki. 14:1-20)
• REHOBOAM'S WICKED REIGN. (1Ki 14:21-24)
• SHISHAK SPOILS JERUSALEM. (1Ki 14:25-31)
• ABIJAM'S WICKED REIGN OVER JUDAH. (1Ki 15:1-8)
• ASA'S GOOD REIGN. (1Ki 15:9-22)
• NADAB'S WICKED REIGN. (1Ki 15:25-34)
• JEHU'S PROPHECY AGAINST BAASHA. (1Ki 16:1-8)
• ZIMRI'S CONSPIRACY. (1Ki 16:9-22)
• OMRI BUILDS SAMARIA. (1Ki 16:23-28)
• JOSHUA'S CURSE FULFILLED UPON HIEL THE BUILDER OF JERICHO. (1Ki 16:34)
• ELIJAH, PROPHESYING AGAINST AHAB, IS SENT TO CHERITH. (1Ki 17:1-7)
• HE IS SENT TO A WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. (1Ki 17:8-16)
• HE RAISES HER SON TO LIFE. (1Ki 17:17-24)
• ELIJAH MEETS OBADIAH. (1Ki. 18:1-16)
• ELIJAH, BY PRAYER, OBTAINS RAIN. (1Ki 18:41-46)
• ELIJAH FLEES TO BEER-SHEBA. (1Ki 19:1-3)
• ELISHA FOLLOWS ELIJAH. (1Ki 19:19-21)
• BEN-HADAD BESIEGES SAMARIA. (1Ki 20:1-12)
• THE SYRIANS ARE SLAIN. (1Ki 20:13-20)
• A PROPHET REPROVES HIM. (1Ki 20:35-42)
• NABOTH REFUSES AHAB HIS VINEYARD. (1Ki 21:1-4)
• JEZEBEL CAUSES NABOTH TO BE STONED. (1Ki 21:5-16)
• ELIJAH DENOUNCES JUDGMENTS AGAINST AHAB AND JEZEBEL. (1Ki 21:17-29)
• AHAB SLAIN AT RAMOTH-GILEAD. (1Ki. 22:1-36)

TSK: 1 Kings 12 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

1Ki 12:1, The Israelites, assembled at Shechem to crown Rehoboam, by Jeroboam make a suit of relaxation unto him; 1Ki 12:6, Rehoboam, refusing the old men’s counsel, answers them roughly; 1Ki 12:16, Ten tribes revolting, kill Adoram, and make Rehoboam flee; 1Ki 12:21, Rehoboam, raising an army, is forbidden by Shemaiah; 1Ki 12:25, Jeroboam strengthens himself by cities; 1Ki 12:26, and by the idolatry of the two calves.

Poole: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

FIRST BOOK OF KINGS COMMONLY CALLED

THE THIRD BOOK OF THE KINGS

THE ARGUMENT

THESE two Books called Of the Kings, because they treat of the kings of Judah and Israel, were written by the prophets, or holy men of God, living in or near their several times, and by some one of them digested into this order. But whoever was the penman, that these are a part of those Holy Scriptures which were Divinely inspired is sufficiently evident first,

From the concurring testimony of the whole Jewish church in all ages, to whom were committed the oracles of God, Rom 3:2 , who also did faithfully discharge their duty in preserving and delivering them entirely and truly to their posterity from time to time, as plainly appears, because Christ and his apostles, who reproved them freely for their several sins, never taxed them with this fault, of depraving the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. Secondly, Because this is manifest concerning divers parcels of them which were taken out of the records of the prophets Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo, 2Ch 9:29 , and out of the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah; and the rest doubtless were of the same nature.

Thirdly, From the approbation of these books by the New Testament, both generally, as 2Ti 3:16 , All Scripture is given by inspiration from God, &c., which is affirmed concerning all those Holy Scriptures which Timothy had known, from a child, 2Ti 3:15 , and therefore must necessarily be meant of all the books of the Old Testament, which the Jews owned for canonical Scripture; and particularly Rom 11:2,3 , &c., where a passage out of these books is quoted and owned as a part of the Holy Scripture, called the Scripture by way of eminency.

Poole: 1 Kings 12 (Chapter Introduction)

KINGS CHAPTER 12

The Israelites seek to Rehoboam for relaxation, 1Ki 12:1-5 . He refusing the old men’ s counsel, by the advice of the young men answereth them roughly, 1Ki 12:6-15 ; for which ten tribes revolt; kill Adoram; and make Rehoboam to flee, 1Ki 12:16-20 . He raising an army is forbidden by Shemaiah, 1Ki 12:21-24 . Jeroboam, king of Israel, strengtheneth himself by cities, and by the idolatry of the two calves, 1Ki 12:25-33 .

Rehoboam did not call them thither, but went thither, because the Israelites prevented him, and had generally pitched upon that place rather than upon Jerusalem; partly, because it was most convenient for all, as being in the centre of the whole kingdom; partly, because that being in the potent tribe of Ephraim, they supposed there they might use that freedom of speech which they resolved to use to get their grievances redressed; and partly, by the secret direction of Jeroboam, or his friends, who would not trust themselves in Jerusalem, and thought Shechem a fitter place to execute their design. To make him king to confirm him in the kingdom, which they generally-intended to do; he being the undoubted heir of the crown, and the only son which Solomon had from so vast a number of wives.

MHCC: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

The history now before us accounts for the affairs of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, yet with special regard to the kingdom of God among them; for it is a sacred history. It is earlier as to time, teaches much more, and is more interesting than any common histories.

MHCC: 1 Kings 12 (Chapter Introduction)

(1Ki 12:1-15) Rehoboam's accession, The people's petition, His rough answer.

(1Ki 12:16-24) Ten tribes revolt.

(1Ki 12:25-33) Jeroboam's idolatry.

Matthew Henry: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Book of Kings

Many histories are books of kings and their reigns, to which the affairs of their kingdoms are reduced; this is a piece of honour that has commonly been paid to crowned heads. The holy Scripture is the history of the kingdom of God among men, under the several administrations of it; but there the King is one and his name one. The particular history now before us accounts for the affairs of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, yet with special regard to the kingdom of God among them; for still it is a sacred history, much more instructive and not less entertaining than any of the histories of the kings of the earth, to which (those of them that are of any certainty) it is prior in time; for though there were kings in Edom before there was any king in Israel, Gen 36:31 (foreigners, in that point of state, got the precedency), yet the history of the kings of Israel lives, and will live, in holy Writ, to the end of the world, whereas that of the kings of Edom is long since buried in oblivion; for the honour that comes from God is durable, while the honour of the world is like a mushroom, which comes up in a night and perishes in a night. - The Bible began with the story of patriarchs, and prophets, and judges, men whose converse with heaven was more immediate, the record of which strengthens our faith, but is not so easily accommodated to our case, now that we expect not visions, as the subsequent history of affairs like ours under the direction of common providence; and here also we find, though not many types and figures of the Messiah, yet great expectations of him; for not only prophets, but kings, desired to see the great mysteries of the gospel, Luk 10:24 - The two books of Samuel are introductions to the books of the Kings, as they relate the origin of the royal government in Saul and of the royal family in David. These two books give us an account of David's successor, Solomon, the division of his kingdom, and the succession of the several kings both of Judah and Israel, with an abstract of their history down to the captivity. And as from the book of Genesis we may collect excellent rules of economics, for the good governing of families, so from these books we may collect rules of politics, for the directing of public affairs. There is in these books special regard had to the house and lineage of David, from which Christ came. Some of his sons trod in his steps, and others did not. The characters of the kings of Judah may be thus briefly given: - David the devout, Solomon the wise, Rehoboam the simple, Abijah the valiant, Asa the upright, Jehoshaphat the religious, Jehoram the wicked, Ahaziah the profane, Joash the backslider, Amaziah the rash, Uzziah the mighty, Jotham the peaceable, Ahaz the idolater, Hezekiah the reformer, Manasseh the penitent, Amon the obscure, Josiah the tender-hearted, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, all wicked, and such as brought ruin quickly on themselves and their kingdom. The number of the good and bad is nearly equal, but the reigns of the good were generally long and those of the bad short, the consideration of which will make the state of Israel not altogether so bad in this period as at first it seems. In this first book we have, I. The death of David, ch. 1 and 2. II. The glorious reign of Solomon, and his building the temple (ch. 3-10), but the cloud his sun set under, ch. 11. III. The division of the kingdoms in Rehoboam, and his reign and Jeroboam's, ch. 12-14. IV. The reigns of Abijah and Asa over Judah, Baasha and Omri over Israel, ch. 15 and 16. V. Elijah's miracles, ch. 17-19. VI. Ahab's success against Benhadad, his wickedness and fall, ch. 20-22. And in all this history it appears that kings, though gods to us, are men to God, mortal and accountable.

Matthew Henry: 1 Kings 12 (Chapter Introduction)

The glory of the kingdom of Israel was in its height and perfection in Solomon; it was long in coming to it, but it soon declined, and began to sink and wither in the very next reign, as we find in this chapter, where we have the kingdom divided, and thereby weakened and made little in comparison with what it had been. Here is, I. Rehoboam's accession to the throne and Jeroboam's return out of Egypt (1Ki 12:1, 1Ki 12:2). II. The people's petition to Rehoboam for the redress of grievances, and the rough answer he gave, by the advice of his young counsellors, to that petition (1Ki 12:3-15). III. The revolt of the ten tribes thereupon, and their setting up Jeroboam (1Ki 12:16-20). IV. Rehoboam's attempt to reduce them and the prohibition God gave to that attempt (1Ki 12:21-24). V. Jeroboam's establishment of his government upon idolatry (1Ki 12:25-33). Thus did Judah become weak, being deserted by their brethren, and Israel, by deserting the house of the Lord.

Constable: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The Books of 1 and 2 Kings received their names because they document the reigns of the 40 kings of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah following David.¹

In the Hebrew Bible 1 and 2 Kings were one book until the sixteenth century. The ancients regarded them as the continuation of the narrative begun in Samuel. The Septuagint (Greek) translation of the Hebrew text, dating from about 250 B.C., was the first to divide Kings into two books. That division has continued to the present day. The Septuagint translators, however, called these two books 3 and 4 Kingdoms. First and 2 Kingdoms were our 1 and 2 Samuel. Jerome's Vulgate (Latin) translation, which dates about A.D. 400, changed the name from Kingdoms to Kings.

"The English Bible presents the books primarily as historical accounts. Their placement next to 1, 2 Chronicles demonstrates the collectors' interest in detailing all the events of Israel's history. In contrast, the Hebrew Bible places Joshua-Kings with the prophets, which highlights their common viewpoints. This decision implies that 1, 2 Kings are being treated as proclamation and history."²

Writer and Date

Most Old Testament scholars today believe several different individuals wrote and edited Kings because of theories concerning textual transmission that have gained popularity in the last 150 years. However, many conservatives have continued to follow the older tradition of the church that one individual probably put Kings together.³ This view finds support in the stylistic and linguistic features that run through the whole work and make it read like the product of a single writer. Some of these features are the way the writer described and summarized each king's reign, the consistent basis on which he evaluated all the kings, and recurring phrases and terms.

The identity of the writer is unknown today and has been for centuries. Ancient Jewish tradition suggested Ezra or Ezekiel as possible writers since both of these men were biblical writers who lived after the Babylonian exile. The record of King Jehoiachin's release from Babylonian captivity (2 Kings 25:27-30) points to a date of final composition sometime after that event. Jeremiah has traditional Talmudic support as well though he never went to Babylon but died in Egypt. Of course, someone else may have written Kings. Scholars have suggested these men only because they were famous writers who lived when Kings reached its final form.

Most non-conservatives date Kings considerably later than the sixth or fifth centuries.⁴

Scope

The historical period Kings covers totals about 413 years. The events that frame this period were Solomon's coronation as co-regent with David (973 B.C.) and Jehoiachin's release from Babylonian exile (560 B.C.).

However, most of Kings deals with the period that spans Solomon's coronation and the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., a period of 387 years. In terms of the temple, at the beginning we see the temple built and at the end the temple burnt.

". . . 1, 2 Kings present Israel's history as a series of events that describe how and why the nation fell from the heights of national prosperity to the depths of conquest and exile."⁵

"More specifically, 1, 2 Kings explain how and why Israel lost the land it fought so hard to win in Joshua and worked so hard to organize in Judges and 1, 2 Samuel."⁶

"Plot relates the causes and effects in a story. Thus, the story line in 1, 2 Kings may be that Israel went into exile, but the plot is Israel went into exile because of its unfaithfulness to God. To make cause and effect unfold, plots normally have at least two basic aspects: conflict and resolution. A plot's conflict is the tension in a story that makes it an interesting account, while a plot's resolution is the way the conflict is settled. How the author develops these two components usually decides the shape and effectiveness of the plot."⁷

This historical period is more than twice that of the one the Books of Samuel covered, which was about 150 years in length. The Book of Judges covers about 300 years of Israel's history.

The dates of the kings of Israel and Judah that I have used in the following notes are those of Edwin Thiele.⁸ He has worked out the many problems regarding these dates more satisfactorily than anyone else in the opinion of most scholars.⁹

Message¹⁰

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 decline, disruption, disintegration, and disaster. Israel and Judah passed from affluence and influence to poverty and paralysis.

There is an emphasis in this book on thrones.

Obviously there were the thrones of Judah and Israel on earth with their kings who succeeded one another. However there is also the throne in heaven with its one King. Rehoboam and Jeroboam had their successors, the kings who replaced one another. Yahweh also in a sense had His successors, the prophets who replaced one another as His messengers to the people. While the kings remind us of the thrones on earth, the prophets remind us of the throne in heaven.

The thrones on earth present a story of disruption, disintegration, and disaster in both kingdoms, Judah and Israel. This trend continued despite changes in the methods the various rulers employed to govern their people.

Solomon's method of government was oppression. He taxed the people greatly and conscripted them into government service. The result was material magnificence. He multiplied riches and manifested great displays in the temple, the palace, and throughout his kingdom. He increased the military strength of the nation. Nevertheless in the process he ground down the people. The state became more important than the people. The testimony to this appears in 12:4. The result was dissatisfaction with Solomon's method of government.

In reaction to this method Rehoboam chose a new method of government: autocracy. He decided to tighten his grip on the people so he could control them (12:14). He believed the people should trust in their rulers, but he did not trust in God. Consequently he failed. Autocracy led to revolution (12:16).

Jeroboam chose a third method of government: democracy. He let the people determine how they would live. While this resulted in more pleasant conditions for the people, it also resulted in ultimate disaster for his nation. Notice what democracy produced in Jeroboam's day: 12:27-29. People cannot rule themselves effectively. We need God to govern us. Jeroboam believed rulers should trust in the people, but he did not trust in God. Consequently he failed. He made religion convenient, and the people became corrupt (12:30-31).

Rehoboam's successors in Judah chose a method of government we could call government by policy. That is, they chose to follow precedent, the pattern of their predecessors, rather than getting and following God's direction for their nation. There were some exceptions to this approach, but on the whole this was Judah's method of government.

Jeroboam's successors in Israel, however, chose a different method of government: selfishness. The kings of Israel cared little for the people of Israel. What concerned them primarily was what they could get out of being king for themselves. That is why the story of the kingdom of Israel is a story of intrigue, assassinations, and much bloodshed.

In summary, every form of human government results in disastrous failure if people do not acknowledge God's sovereignty. People cannot govern themselves effectively. The result is always decline, disruption, and disintegration. This is one of the great revelations of 1 Kings.

However there is another throne in view in this book: the throne in heaven. Whereas 1 Kings reveals that human government always fails, it also reveals that God's government never fails. There are two ways God exercised His kingship over His people during Israel's monarchy.

First, He broke in on human life with messages that the prophets delivered. Ahijah announced the division of the kingdom (11:26-39). Later he announced the death of Jeroboam's son (14:4-16). Shemaiah directed Rehoboam not to fight against Jeroboam (12:21-24). An unnamed prophet announced the fate of Jeroboam's altar (13:1-10). Jehu announced Baasha's doom (16:1-4). Elijah vindicated Yahweh in the days of Ahab's apostasy (chs. 17-21). Another unnamed prophet rebuked Ahab for allowing Ben-Hadad to escape (20:35-43). Micaiah foretold Israel's scattering (22:8-28). These are all evidences that God was governing His people independently of the kings when they forgot Him. The heavenly throne ruled in spite of the earthly thrones.

The second way God exercised His rule, in addition to sending messages by the prophets, was by directly and indirectly intervening in the lives of His people. He appeared and spoke directly to Solomon, which resulted in the building of the temple. He raised up an adversary to Solomon, namely Jeroboam. He slew Abijah. He withheld rain and brought famine. He sent fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel. He sent rain. He appeared to Elijah in an earthquake. He enticed Ahab into battle through the mouths of lying prophets.

In short, God ruled by exercising direct and indirect influence over people, by directly intervening and by controlling circumstances occasionally. He manipulated history. God sits in perfect control and continuity over all the human chaos that peoples' failure to rule themselves causes.

The message of the book, therefore, is that when people exclude God, every method of human government will fail; but even so God is still on His throne and is in control.

If people exclude God, every method of government ends in disaster. Even though in Solomon's reign the king emphasized religious forms and ceremonies, internal development, foreign treaties, and intellectual attainment, his oppression did not bring stability and peace. Autocracy will end in revolution eventually. Democracy that locks God out can result in the most terrible consequences for the people whose interests it professes to advocate. Government by policy can only deteriorate. Selfish rulers will only rape their nations.

Man cannot govern himself because he does not know himself apart from God's Word. How can he govern others about whom he knows even less? If people do not submit to the throne in heaven, no matter what method of government they choose, they will fail. As Christians, we must remember who is in control. We must look beyond our government to our God.

First Kings also reveals God's method in the midst of human failures.

First, when a throne on earth rebels against the throne in heaven God abandons that throne on earth. He separated Himself from it. He allowed the evil choices of the rulers to work themselves out to their inevitable consequences. Departure leads to disaster. Apostasy results in awful consequences (cf. Rom. 1).

Second, God keeps some consciousness of Himself and His government alive in the hearts and minds of a remnant. The prophets spoke. All Christians exercise that ministry today. We should speak for God to our generation.

Third, God maintains ultimate control. He controls history directly and indirectly so His purposes get accomplished. The Christian never needs to panic. God has revealed His plan for history. Knowledge of the Word should give us stability in uncertain times.

What I have said is true on the national scale is also true on the individual level. If a person excludes God from his or her life, no matter how the person may live, he or she will fail. We can resist God's authority, but we cannot overcome it. People only break themselves by refusing to submit to the throne in heaven. People need reminding of the throne in heaven. These principles have worked out throughout history. God's plan moves ahead.

Constable: 1 Kings (Outline)

Outline

I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11

A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:12

1. David's declining health 1:1-4

2. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-53

3. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-9

4. David's death 2:10-12

B. The foundation of Solomon's reign 2:13-4:34

1. Solomon's purges 2:13-46

2. Solomon's wisdom from God ch. 3

3. Solomon's political strength ch. 4

C. Solomon's greatest contribution chs. 5-8

1. Preparations for building ch. 5

2. Temple construction ch. 6

3. Solomon's palace 7:1-12

4. The temple furnishings 7:13-51

5. The temple dedication ch. 8

D. The fruits of Solomon's reign chs. 9-11

1. God's covenant with Solomon 9:1-9

2. Further evidences of God's blessing 9:10-28

3. Solomon's greatness ch. 10

4. Solomon's apostasy ch. 11

II. The divided kingdom -1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17

A. The first period of antagonism 12:1-16:28

1. The division of the kingdom ch. 12

2. Jeroboam's evil reign in Israel 12:25-14:20

3. Rehoboam's evil reign in Judah 14:21-31

4. Abijam's evil reign in Judah 15:1-8

5. Asa's good reign in Judah 15:9-24

6. Nadab's evil reign in Israel 15:25-32

7. Baasha's evil reign in Israel 15:33-16:7

8. Elah's evil reign in Israel 16:8-14

9. Zimri's evil reign in Israel 16:15-20

10. Omri's evil reign in Israel 16:21-28

B. The period of alliance -1 Kings 16:29-2 Kings 9:29

1. Ahab's evil reign in Israel 16:29-22:40

2. Jehoshaphat's good reign in Judah 22:41-50

3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:18

(Continued in notes on 2 Kings)

One writer observed that a chiastic structure marks the Books of Kings.¹¹

A Solomon/United Monarchy -- 1 Kings 1:1-11:25

B Jeroboam/Rehoboam; the division of the kingdom -- 1 Kings 11:26-14:31

C Kings of Judah/Israel -- 1 Kings 15:1-16:22

D The Omride dynasty; the rise and fall of the Baal cult in Israel and Judah -- -1 Kings 16:23-2 Kings 12

C' Kings of Judah/Israel -- 2 Kings 13-16

B' The fall of the Northern Kingdom -- 2 Kings 17

A' The Kingdom of Judah -- 2 Kings 18-25.

Constable: 1 Kings

1 Kings

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

THE THIRD BOOK OF KINGS.

INTRODUCTION.

This and the following Book are called by the holy Fathers, The Third and Fourth Book of Kings; but by the Hebrews, the First and Second. They contain the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Juda, from the beginning of the reign of Solomon to the captivity. As to the writer of these books, it seem most probable they were not written by one man, nor at one time; but as there was all along a succession of prophets in Israel, who recorded, by divine inspiration, the most remarkable things that happened in their days, these books seem to have been written by these prophets. See 2 Paralipomenon, alias 2 Chronicles ix. 29., xii. 15., xiii. 22., xx. 34., xxvi. 22., and xxxii. 32. (Challoner) --- This book informs us of the death of David, chap. ii. 11, where some Greek copies concluded the second book "of the reigns or kingdoms," as they style all the four books. Theodoret and Diodorus follow this division. The point is of no consequence; and the Hebrew editions have often varied. Origen observes, that the Jews denoted these two books from the first words, "Ouammelech David." (Eusebius, Hist. vi. 25.) (Haydock) --- In St. Jerome's time, the four books made only two. The present book details the actions of Solomon, (Calmet) till the end of the 12th chapter. Then we behold the division of the kingdom: Roboam, Abias, Asa, and Josaphat, reign over Juda; Jeroboam, &c., over Israel; while the prophets Abias, Elias, Eliseus, appear in the remaining eleven chapters. (Worthington) --- Though the memoirs seem to have been left by contemporary authors, (Haydock) one, and most probably Esdras, made the compilation, after the captivity, inserting frequently the very words of his authors, yet so as to make some additional reflections. (Calmet) --- The Rabbins generally attribute the work to Jeremias. (Haydock) --- He is more attentive to the house of David, and to display the rewards of the piety, and the punishment of vice, as well as the glory of the temple and of religion, than to describe the military exploits, which occupy so much of the profane history. (Calmet)

Gill: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS

This, and the following book, properly are but one book, divided into two parts, and went with the Jews under the common name of Kings. This, in the Syriac version, is called the Book of Kings; and in the Arabic version, the Book of Solomon, the Son of David the Prophet, because it begins with his reign upon the death of his father; and, in the Vulgate Latin version, the Third Book of Kings, the two preceding books of Samuel being sometimes called the First and Second Books of Kings, they containing the reigns of Saul and David; and in the Septuagint version both this and the following book are called Kingdoms, because they treat of the kingdom of Israel and Judah, after the division in the times of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and of the several kings of them; as of Solomon before the division, so afterwards of the kings of Judah; Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Jehoash, Amaziah, Uzziah or Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah; and of the kings of Israel, Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam the son of Joash, Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea; so that these books may, with great propriety, be called the books or histories of the kings in the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel: who they were written by, is not easy to say; some think they were written by piecemeal by the prophets that lived in the several reigns successively, as Nathan, Ahijah the Shilonite, Iddo, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and afterwards put together by an inspired writer. The Jews commonly say ^a, that Jeremiah wrote the book of the Kings, by which they mean this, and the following book; though very probably they were written by Ezra, since the history in them is carried down to the liberty granted to Jehoiachin in Babylon; but that Ezra was the writer of all the preceding historical books, and even of the Pentateuch, cannot be admitted, which is the conceit of Spinosa ^b; part of whose tract is just now republished by somebody, word for word, under a title as in the margin ^c; but that Ezra was not the writer of the Pentateuch is clear, since he refers to it as written by Moses, and as the rule of religion and worship in his times, Ezr 3:2; and it is certain these writings were in being in the times of Josiah, Amaziah, Joash, yea, of David, and even of Joshua, 2Ch 34:14; and as for the book of Joshua, that also was written long before Ezra's time; it must be written long before the times of David, before the Jebusites were expelled from Jerusalem, since the writer of it says, that they dwelt there in his days, Jos 15:63; the book of Judges must be written before the times of Samuel and David, since the former refers to the annals of it, 1Sa 12:9; and the latter alludes to some passages in it, Psa 68:7; see Jdg 5:4; and a speech of Joab's, 2Sa 11:21, shows it to be an history then extant: to which may be added, that in it Jerusalem is called Jebus, Jdg 19:10; which it never was, after it was taken by David out of the hands of the Jebusites, 2Sa 5:6; the book of Ruth very probably was written by Samuel; had it been of a later date, or written by Ezra, the genealogy with which it concludes, would doubtless have been carried further than to David: the Book of Samuel, and particularly the song of Hannah in it, were written in all probability before the penning of the hundred thirteenth psalm, Psa 113:1, in which some expressions seem to be taken from it wherefore, though the two books of Kings may be allowed to be written or compiled by Ezra, the ten preceding ones cannot be assigned to him: however, there is no room to doubt of the divine authority of these two books, when the honour our Lord has done them is observed, by quoting or referring to several histories in them; as to the account of the queen of Sheba coming to hear the wisdom of Solomon; of the famine in the times of Elijah; and of that prophet being sent to the widow of Sarepta, and of the cleansing of Naaman the Syrian in the times of Elisha, Mat 12:42 from 1Ki 17:1 2Ki 5:10; to which may be added, the quotations and references made by the apostles to passages in them, as by the Apostle Paul in Rom 11:2 from 1Ki 19:14 where this book is expressly called the Scripture; and by the Apostle James, Jam 5:17; who manifestly refers to 1Ki 17:1; and there are various things in this part of Scripture, which are confirmed by the testimonies of Heathen writers, as will be observed in the exposition of it. The use of these books is to carry on the history of the Jewish nation, to show the state of the church of God in those times, and his providential care of it amidst all the changes and vicissitudes in the state; and, above all, to transmit to us the true genealogy of the Messiah, which serves to confirm the Evangelist Matthew's account of it.

Gill: 1 Kings 12 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 12

This chapter relates Rehoboam's going to Shechem to be made king, and Jeroboam's return from Egypt, 1Ki 12:1, the people's request to Rehoboam to be eased of their taxes, as the condition of making him king, 1Ki 12:3, his answer to them, after three days, having had the advice both of the old and young men, which latter he followed, and gave in a rough answer, 1Ki 12:5, upon which ten tribes revolted from him, and two abode by him, 1Ki 12:16, wherefore he meditated a war against the ten tribes, but was forbid by the Lord to engage in it, 1Ki 12:21 and Jeroboam, in order to establish his kingdom, and preserve the people from a revolt to the house of David, because of the temple worship at Jerusalem, devised a scheme of idolatrous worship in his own territories, 1Ki 12:25.