Discovery Box1 Kings 12:28-33
Context12:28 After the king had consulted with his advisers, 1 he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people, 2 “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 3 and the other in Dan. 12:30 This caused Israel to sin; 4 the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves. 5
12:31 He built temples 6 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, 7 like the festival celebrated in Judah. 8 On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. 9 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) 10 Jeroboam 11 offered sacrifices on the altar he had made in Bethel. 12 He inaugurated a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to offer sacrifices.
1 Kings 14:9-16
Context14:9 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. 13 14:10 So I am ready to bring disaster 14 on the dynasty 15 of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. 16 I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed. 17 14:11 Dogs will eat the members of your family 18 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 19 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. 20 It is ready to happen! 21 14:15 The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. 22 He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors 23 and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, 24 because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles. 25 14:16 He will hand Israel over to their enemies 26 because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit.”
1 Kings 15:34
Context15:34 He did evil in the sight of 27 the Lord; he followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to sin. 28
1 Kings 15:2
Context15:2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. 29 His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. 30
1 Kings 3:3
Context3:3 Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the Lord by following 31 the practices 32 of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
[12:28] 1 tn The words “with his advisers” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:28] 2 tn Heb “to them,” although this may be a corruption of “to the people.” Cf. the Old Greek translation.
[12:29] 3 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[12:30] 4 tn Heb “and this thing became a sin.”
[12:30] 5 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] 6 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] 7 sn The eighth month would correspond to October-November in modern reckoning.
[12:32] 8 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] 9 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] 10 tn Heb “which he had chosen by himself.”
[12:33] 11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jeroboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:33] 12 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[14:9] 13 tn Heb “you went and you made for yourself other gods, metal [ones], angering me, and you threw me behind your back.”
[14:10] 14 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] 16 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] 17 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] 18 tn The Hebrew text has “belonging to Jeroboam” here.
[14:14] 21 tn Heb “This is the day. What also now?” The precise meaning of the second half of the statement is uncertain.
[14:15] 22 tn The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the
[14:15] 23 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).
[14:15] 24 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] 25 tn Heb “because they made their Asherah poles that anger the
[14:16] 26 tn Heb “and he will give [up] Israel.”
[15:34] 27 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
[15:34] 28 tn Heb “and he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.”
[15:2] 29 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[15:2] 30 sn Abishalom (also in v. 10) is a variant of the name Absalom (cf. 2 Chr 11:20). The more common form is used by TEV, NLT.
