11:5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem; 1 he built up these fortified cities throughout Judah: 11:6 Bethlehem, 2 Etam, Tekoa, 11:7 Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, 11:8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 11:9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 11:10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. 11:11 He fortified these cities and placed officers in them, as well as storehouses of food, olive oil, and wine. 11:12 In each city there were shields and spears; he strongly fortified them. 3 Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.
11:13 The priests and Levites who lived throughout Israel supported him, no matter where they resided. 4 11:14 The Levites even left their pasturelands and their property behind and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons prohibited them from serving as the Lord’s priests. 11:15 Jeroboam 5 appointed his own priests to serve at the worship centers 6 and to lead in the worship of the goat idols and calf idols he had made. 7 11:16 Those among all the Israelite tribes who were determined to worship the Lord God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem 8 to sacrifice to the Lord God of their ancestors. 9 11:17 They supported 10 the kingdom of Judah and were loyal to 11 Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years; they followed the edicts of 12 David and Solomon for three years.
11:18 Rehoboam married 13 Mahalath the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of 14 Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. 11:19 She bore him sons named Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 11:20 He later married Maacah the daughter of Absalom. She bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 11:21 Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. 15 He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
11:22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as the leader over his brothers, for he intended to name him his successor. 16 11:23 He wisely placed some of his many sons throughout the regions of Judah and Benjamin in the various fortified cities. 17 He supplied them with abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them. 18
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
3 tn Heb “he strengthened them greatly, very much.”
4 tn Heb “and the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel supported him from all their territory.”
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jeroboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “for the high places.”
7 tn Heb “and for the goats and for the calves he had made.”
8 tn Heb “and after them from all the tribes of Israel, the ones giving their heart[s] to seek the
9 tn Heb “fathers.”
10 tn Or “strengthened.”
11 tn Or “strengthened.”
12 tn Heb “they walked in the way of.”
13 tn Heb “took for himself a wife.”
14 tn The words “and of” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
15 sn Concubines were slave women in ancient Near Eastern societies who were the legal property of their master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with their master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).
16 tn Heb “and Rehoboam appointed for a head Abijah son of Maacah for ruler among his brothers, indeed to make him king.”
17 tn Heb “and he was discerning and broke up from all his sons to all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities.”
18 tn “and he asked for a multitude of wives.”