Discovery Box1 Kings 12:25--14:20
Context12:25 1 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: 2 “Now the Davidic dynasty could regain the kingdom. 3 12:27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, 4 their loyalty could shift to their former master, 5 King Rehoboam of Judah. They might kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.” 12:28 After the king had consulted with his advisers, 6 he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people, 7 “It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 12:29 He put one in Bethel 8 and the other in Dan. 12:30 This caused Israel to sin; 9 the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves. 10
12:31 He built temples 11 on the high places and appointed as priests people who were not Levites. 12:32 Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, 12 like the festival celebrated in Judah. 13 On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. 14 In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places he had made.
12:33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a date he had arbitrarily chosen) 15 Jeroboam 16 offered sacrifices on the altar he had made in Bethel. 17 He inaugurated a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to offer sacrifices. 13:1 Just then 18 a prophet 19 from Judah, sent by the Lord, arrived in Bethel, 20 as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. 13:2 With the authority of the Lord 21 he cried out against the altar, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” 22 13:3 That day he also announced 23 a sign, “This is the sign the Lord has predetermined: 24 The altar will be split open and the ashes 25 on it will fall to the ground.” 26 13:4 When the king heard what the prophet 27 cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand 28 and ordered, 29 “Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up 30 and he could not pull it back. 13:5 The altar split open and the ashes 31 fell from the altar to the ground, 32 in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had announced with the Lord’s authority. 33 13:6 The king pled with 34 the prophet, 35 “Seek the favor of 36 the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the Lord’s favor 37 and the king’s hand was restored to its former condition. 38 13:7 The king then said to the prophet, “Come home with me and have something to eat. I’d like to give a present.” 13:8 But the prophet said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, 39 I could not go with you and eat and drink 40 in this place. 13:9 For the Lord gave me strict orders, 41 ‘Do not eat or drink 42 there and do not go home the way you came.’” 13:10 So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel.
13:11 Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. 43 When his sons came home, they told their father 44 everything the prophet 45 had done in Bethel that day and all the words he had spoken to the king. 46 13:12 Their father asked them, “Which road did he take?” His sons showed him 47 the road the prophet 48 from Judah had taken. 13:13 He then told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 13:14 and took off after the prophet, 49 whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the prophet 50 from Judah?” He answered, “Yes, I am.” 13:15 He then said to him, “Come home with me and eat something.” 13:16 But he replied, “I can’t go back with you 51 or eat and drink 52 with you in this place. 13:17 For the Lord gave me strict orders, 53 ‘Do not eat or drink 54 there; do not go back the way you came.’” 13:18 The old prophet then said, 55 “I too am a prophet like you. An angel told me with the Lord’s authority, 56 ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat and drink.’” 57 But he was lying to him. 58 13:19 So the prophet went back with him and ate and drank in his house. 59
13:20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke through the old prophet 60 13:21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You 61 have rebelled against the Lord 62 and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 13:22 You went back and ate and drank in this place, even though he said to you, “Do not eat or drink there.” 63 Therefore 64 your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.’” 65
13:23 When the prophet from Judah finished his meal, 66 the old prophet saddled his visitor’s donkey for him. 67 13:24 As the prophet from Judah was traveling, a lion attacked him on the road and killed him. 68 His corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey and the lion just stood there beside it. 69 13:25 Some men came by 70 and saw the corpse lying in the road with the lion standing beside it. 71 They went and reported what they had seen 72 in the city where the old prophet lived. 13:26 When the old prophet who had invited him to his house heard the news, 73 he said, “It is the prophet 74 who rebelled against the Lord. 75 The Lord delivered him over to the lion and it ripped him up 76 and killed him, just as the Lord warned him.” 77 13:27 He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey,” and they did so. 78 13:28 He went and found the corpse lying in the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it; 79 the lion had neither eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey. 13:29 The old prophet 80 picked up the corpse of the prophet, 81 put it on the donkey, and brought it back. The old prophet then entered the city to mourn him and to bury him. 13:30 He put the corpse into his own tomb, and they 82 mourned over him, saying, “Ah, my brother!” 13:31 After he buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet 83 is buried; put my bones right beside his bones, 13:32 for the prophecy he announced with the Lord’s authority 84 against the altar in Bethel 85 and against all the temples on the high places in the cities of the north 86 will certainly be fulfilled.”
13:33 After this happened, Jeroboam still did not change his evil ways; 87 he continued to appoint common people 88 as priests at the high places. Anyone who wanted the job he consecrated as a priest. 89 13:34 This sin caused Jeroboam’s dynasty 90 to come to an end and to be destroyed from the face of the earth.
14:1 91 At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. 14:2 Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise 92 yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam’s wife. Then go to Shiloh; Ahijah the prophet, who told me I would rule over this nation, lives there. 93 14:3 Take 94 ten loaves of bread, some small cakes, and a container of honey and visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
14:4 Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah. 95 Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age. 96 14:5 But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Look, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her so-and-so. 97 When she comes, she will be in a disguise.” 14:6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news. 98 14:7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “I raised you up 99 from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel. 14:8 I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve. 100 14:9 You have sinned more than all who came before you. You went and angered me by making other gods, formed out of metal; you have completely disregarded me. 101 14:10 So I am ready to bring disaster 102 on the dynasty 103 of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. 104 I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed. 105 14:11 Dogs will eat the members of your family 106 who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”’ Indeed, the Lord has announced it!
14:12 “As for you, get up and go home. When you set foot in the city, the boy will die. 14:13 All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family 107 who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good. 14:14 The Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will cut off Jeroboam’s dynasty. 108 It is ready to happen! 109 14:15 The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. 110 He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors 111 and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, 112 because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles. 113 14:16 He will hand Israel over to their enemies 114 because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit.”
14:17 So Jeroboam’s wife got up and went back to 115 Tirzah. As she crossed the threshold of the house, the boy died. 14:18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him, just as the Lord had predicted 116 through his servant the prophet Ahijah.
14:19 The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including the details of his battles and rule, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 117 14:20 Jeroboam ruled for twenty-two years; then he passed away. 118 His son Nadab replaced him as king.
[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.
[12:26] 2 tn Heb “said in his heart.”
[12:26] 3 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.”
[12:27] 4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[12:27] 5 tn Heb “the heart of these people could return to their master.”
[12:28] 6 tn The words “with his advisers” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:28] 7 tn Heb “to them,” although this may be a corruption of “to the people.” Cf. the Old Greek translation.
[12:29] 8 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[12:30] 9 tn Heb “and this thing became a sin.”
[12:30] 10 tc The MT reads “and the people went before the one to Dan.” It is likely that some words have been accidentally omitted and that the text originally said, “and the people went before the one at Bethel and before the one at Dan.”
[12:31] 11 tn The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural is preferable here (see 1 Kgs 13:32). The Old Greek translation and the Vulgate have the plural.
[12:32] 12 sn The eighth month would correspond to October-November in modern reckoning.
[12:32] 13 sn The festival he celebrated in Judah probably refers to the Feast of Tabernacles (i.e., Booths or Temporary Shelters), held in the seventh month (September-October). See also 1 Kgs 8:2.
[12:32] 14 tn Heb “and he offered up [sacrifices] on the altar; he did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made.”
[12:33] 15 tn Heb “which he had chosen by himself.”
[12:33] 16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jeroboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:33] 17 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:1] 18 tn Heb “Look.” The Hebrew particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) is a rhetorical device by which the author invites the reader to visualize the scene for dramatic effect.
[13:1] 19 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:1] 20 tn Heb “came by the word of the
[13:2] 21 tn Heb “by the word of the
[13:2] 22 sn ‘Look…you.’ For the fulfillment of this prophecy see 2 Kgs 23:15-20.
[13:3] 25 tn Heb “the fat.” Reference is made to burnt wood mixed with fat. See HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן.
[13:3] 26 tn Heb “will be poured out.”
[13:4] 27 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:4] 28 tn Heb “Jeroboam extended his hand from the altar.”
[13:4] 30 tn Heb “dried up” or “withered.” TEV and NLT interpret this as “became paralyzed.”
[13:5] 31 tn Heb “the fat.” Reference is made to burnt wood mixed with fat. See HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן.
[13:5] 32 tn Heb “were poured out from the altar.”
[13:5] 33 tn Heb “according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the
[13:6] 34 tn Heb “The king answered and said to.”
[13:6] 35 tn Heb “the man of God” (a second time later in this verse, and once in v. 7 and v. 8).
[13:6] 36 tn Heb “appease the face of.”
[13:6] 37 tn Heb “appeased the face of the
[13:6] 38 tn Heb “and it was as in the beginning.”
[13:8] 40 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:9] 41 tn Heb “for this he commanded me by the word of the
[13:9] 42 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:11] 43 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:11] 44 tn Heb “and his son came and told him.” The MT has the singular here, but several other textual witnesses have the plural, which is more consistent with the second half of the verse and with vv. 12-13.
[13:11] 45 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:11] 46 tn Heb “all the actions which the man of God performed that day in Bethel, the words which he spoke to the king, and they told them to their father.”
[13:12] 47 tn The Hebrew text has “and his sons saw” (וַיִּרְאוּ [vayyir’u], Qal from רָאָה [ra’ah]). In this case the verbal construction (vav consecutive + prefixed verbal form) would have to be understood as pluperfect, “his sons had seen.” Such uses of this construction are rare at best. Consequently many, following the lead of the ancient versions, prefer to emend the verbal form to a Hiphil with pronominal suffix (וַיַּרְאֻהוּ [vayyar’uhu], “and they showed him”).
[13:12] 48 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:14] 49 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:14] 50 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:16] 51 tn Heb “I am unable to return with you or to go with you.”
[13:16] 52 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:17] 53 tn Heb “for a word to me by the word of the
[13:17] 54 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:18] 55 tn Heb “and he said to him.”
[13:18] 56 tn Heb “by the word of the
[13:18] 57 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:18] 58 tn Or “deceiving him.”
[13:19] 59 tn Heb “and he returned with him and ate food in his house and drank water.”
[13:20] 60 tn Heb “and the word of the
[13:21] 61 tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 21-22 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 21-22a) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 22b). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
[13:21] 62 tn Heb “the mouth [i.e., command] of the
[13:22] 63 tn Heb “and you returned and ate food and drank water in the place about which he said to you, ‘do not eat food and do not drink water.’”
[13:22] 64 tn “Therefore” is added for stylistic reasons. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:21 pertaining to the grammatical structure of vv. 21-22.
[13:22] 65 tn Heb “will not go to the tomb of your fathers.”
[13:23] 66 tn Heb “and after he had eaten food and after he had drunk.”
[13:23] 67 tn Heb “and he saddled for him the donkey, for the prophet whom he had brought back.”
[13:24] 68 tn Heb “and he went and a lion met him in the road and killed him.”
[13:24] 69 tn Heb “and his corpse fell on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it, and the lion was standing beside the corpse.”
[13:25] 70 tn Heb “Look, men were passing by.”
[13:25] 71 tn Heb “the corpse.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:25] 72 tn The words “what they had seen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[13:26] 73 tn Heb “and the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard.”
[13:26] 74 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:26] 75 tn Heb “the mouth of the
[13:26] 76 tn Heb “broke him,” or “crushed him.”
[13:26] 77 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[13:27] 78 tn Heb “and they saddled [it].”
[13:28] 79 tn Heb “the corpse.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:29] 80 tn Heb “the prophet.” The word “old” has been supplied in the translation to distinguish this individual from the other prophet.
[13:29] 81 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:30] 82 tn “They” is the reading of the Hebrew text here; perhaps this is meant to include not only the old prophet but his sons (cf. v. 31).
[13:31] 83 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:32] 84 tn Heb “for the word which he cried out by the word of the
[13:32] 85 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:32] 86 tn Heb “Samaria.” The name of Israel’s capital city here stands for the northern kingdom as a whole. Actually Samaria was not built and named until several years after this (see 1 Kgs 16:24), so it is likely that the author of Kings, writing at a later time, is here adapting the old prophet’s original statement.
[13:33] 87 tn Heb “did not turn from his evil way.”
[13:33] 88 sn The expression common people refers to people who were not Levites. See 1 Kgs 12:31.
[13:33] 89 tn Heb “and one who had the desire he was filling his hand so that he became [one of] the priests of the high places.”
[14:1] 91 tc Some
[14:2] 92 tn Heb “Get up, change yourself.”
[14:2] 93 tn Heb “look, Ahijah the prophet is there, he told me [I would be] king over this nation.”
[14:3] 94 tn Heb “take in your hand.”
[14:4] 95 tn Heb “and the wife of Jeroboam did so; she arose and went to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah.”
[14:4] 96 tn Heb “his eyes were set because of his old age.”
[14:5] 97 sn Tell her so-and-so. Certainly the
[14:6] 98 tn Heb “I am sent to you [with] a hard [message].”
[14:7] 99 tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 7-11 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 7-9) and the main clause announcing the punishment (vv. 10-11). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
[14:8] 100 tn Heb “what was right in my eyes.”
[14:9] 101 tn Heb “you went and you made for yourself other gods, metal [ones], angering me, and you threw me behind your back.”
[14:10] 102 sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, ra’ah) is from the same root as the expression “you have sinned” in v. 9 (וַתָּרַע [vattara’], from רָעַע, [ra’a’]). Jeroboam’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.
[14:10] 104 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Jeroboam those who urinate against a wall (including both those who are) restrained and let free (or “abandoned”) in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (’atsur vÿ’azuv) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר 6 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס [’efes], “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.
[14:10] 105 tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean “burn.” Manure was sometimes used as fuel (see Ezek 4:12, 15). However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I will sweep away the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away manure it is gone” (cf. ASV, NASB, TEV). Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.
[14:11] 106 tn The Hebrew text has “belonging to Jeroboam” here.
[14:14] 109 tn Heb “This is the day. What also now?” The precise meaning of the second half of the statement is uncertain.
[14:15] 110 tn The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the
[14:15] 111 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).
[14:15] 112 tn Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew this is a typical reference to the Euphrates River. The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[14:15] 113 tn Heb “because they made their Asherah poles that anger the
[14:16] 114 tn Heb “and he will give [up] Israel.”
[14:17] 115 tn Heb “went and entered.”
[14:18] 116 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[14:19] 117 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he ruled, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
