Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Kings 14:21-31
The Reign Of Rehoboam of Judah c. 930-913 BC (1 Kings 14:21).
The sad thing about Rehoboam's reign would be its extreme bankruptcy. He reigned over a country which went to the excess in religious apostasy and sin, he saw all his treasures which had been built up by David and Solomon stripped away, and he spent much of his time fighting with Jeroboam and thus weakening Judah. And he did it while ruling in the city which YHWH had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name there, chosen because it had been the city chosen by His servant David. But there is one thing indicated in his favour. While the country appear to have gone wild over false religion Rehoboam himself is not said to have been implicated and indeed is said to have worshipped regularly in the Temple. (The Chronicler is not quit so lacking in criticism, but even he does not condemn Rehoboam wholeheartedly).
The one thing that appears to have saved Rehoboam's reign from being as catastrophic as Jeroboam's was the true worship maintained in the Temple, which would partly explain the comment about him reigning in the city where YHWH had set His Name. It would appear from this that initially the future of Yahwism in Judah was being secured by the true worship of the Temple, the place where YHWH had set His Name, and in both Judah and Israel by the activities of the prophets, who certainly in Israel must have arranged sanctuaries at which those who were faithful to YHWH could truly worship. Problems would therefore begin to arise in Judah when the Temple itself went astray. But that would not be for some time.
From this point on each reign will begin with an opening formula similar in general to that which introduces Rehoboam's reign, and the order in which kings are dealt with from now on will be based on whether they commence reigning during the reign of their counterpart in the other country who has already been introduced. Thus Rehoboam's son Abiyam will follow Rehoboam, because Jeroboam was still reigning in Israel when he began to reign, and Abiyam's son (Rehoboam's grandson), Asa will then follow, for the same reason. Jeroboam will then die during Asa's reign and so Jeroboam's son will be dealt with next because he came to the throne while Asa was reigning, followed by Baasha, Zimri, Omri and Ahab, all kings of Israel, because all began reigning during the reign of Asa. Asa then died during the reign of Ahab so that Jehoshaphat of Judah will be dealt with after Ahab, because he began reigning during the reign of Ahab. And so it will go on. The result is that we have a continual, if imperfect, co-relation between what is happening in the two countries around the same time.
Analysis.
a And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which YHWH had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there, and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess (1 Kings 14:21).
b And Judah did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done (1 Kings 14:22).
c For they also built for themselves high places, and pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree (1 Kings 14:23).
d And there were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which YHWH drove out before the children of Israel (1 Kings 14:24).
e And it came about in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took away the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king's house. He even took away all, and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made (1 Kings 14:25).
d And king Rehoboam made as replacements shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house (1 Kings 14:27).
c And it was so, that, as often as the king went into the house of YHWH, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber (1 Kings 14:28).
b Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually (1 Kings 14:29).
a And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And Abiyam his son reigned instead of him (1 Kings 14:31).
Note that in ‘a' we have details of Rehoboam and his mother, and in the parallel we have the same. In ‘b' we are informed about the acts of Judah and their sins, and in the parallel we have reference to the acts of Rehoboam, and especially his act in warring with Israel. In ‘c' Judah went to excess in idolatry and false worship outside Jerusalem while in Jerusalem the king regularly visited the house of YHWH. In ‘d' the land was defiled with adulterated behaviour, and in the parallel the king's own ceremonial equipment was adulterated. Centrally in ‘e' we have the fact that Jerusalem and the Temple were emptied of their treasures by Shishak.
‘ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which YHWH had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there, and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.
After his bad start Rehoboam continued his rule over Judah. He was forty one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, ‘the city which YHWH had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name there'. From this point on the reference for other kings of Judah will be shortened to ‘in Jerusalem' but it is probable that we are intended each time to add these words on in our mind. The emphasis is basically on the fact that they are ruling in the city of David, the chosen of YHWH, for the reason why YHWH ‘chose' Jerusalem was because of David's interest in it. Jerusalem was blessed for David's sake. We must never allow Jerusalem to replace David in our thinking. It was chosen because it was David's city, and it was because David introduced the Ark into it that His Name was there (2 Samuel 6:2). Rehoboam was therefore to be seen as ruling in it as the new David.
“And his mother” s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.' With rare exceptions the introductory formulae for the kings of Judah regularly refer to the name of the king's mother, thus confirming that the king's blood line was genuine. It emphasised that he was born of a known wife of the previous Davidic king. Naamah may well have been one of the wives who led Solomon astray. She was no doubt a treaty wife. Rehoboam was thus half Ammonite.
Others see the mention of the mother's name as signifying that she had special status and authority at court as ‘the queen mother'.
“The city which YHWH had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there.” The emphasis here is first on the fact that Jerusalem now housed the Central Sanctuary, which was where His Name was set because it contained the Ark of the Covenant, although it should be noted that it is the city that is being emphasised, not the Temple. The statement is based on Deuteronomy 12:5 which referred to wherever YHWH set up the Central Sanctuary, initially at Shechem and Shiloh. But there was no mention of a city there. The emphasis was simply on ‘the place' where the Sanctuary was set up. So the idea here is that, because he was the new David, Rehoboam reigned in the city which had been chosen by YHWH with a view to pleasing His servant David, and where YHWH now dwelt with the king as His regent. Compare 1 Kings 11:13 which is the first indication in Kings that Jerusalem had been chosen, and there the idea is closely connected with YHWH's covenant with David. The emphasis is thus not on the Temple, but on the YHWH/David partnership.
‘ And Judah did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done.'
Regularly in Kings the king's reign is introduced with the words ‘he did evil (good) in the sight of YHWH', thus we must see a deliberate distinction here between Rehoboam and Judah. It was Judah as a whole, but not Rehoboam, who are seen as doing evil in the sight of YHWH. He lost control over the country's religious behaviour, but at least he retained his own loyalty to YHWH (1 Kings 14:28), at least superficially. It was the one bright spot in his reign. The Chronicler, however, states that ‘he did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek YHWH' (2 Chronicles 12:14). While at the beginning of his reign he warmed towards YHWH, when the priests and Levites who were in Israel made their way to Jerusalem, his love again began to grow cold. It was revived again for a short while as a result of the invasion by Shishak, but then it again grew nominal so that he no longer prepared his heart to seek YHWH. But it is never suggested, even by the Chronicler, that he worshipped at the high places (see 2 Chronicles 11:13 to 2 Chronicles 12:14).
On the other hand the country as a whole apostasised. Solomon's behaviour (not Rehoboam's) was coming home to roost. So Judah did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins and idolatry to a far greater extent than their fathers. From now on Yahwism would struggle to maintain its purity in a land which had succumbed to syncretism with Canaanite religion. This did not mean that they had ceased to worship in YHWH's name. It meant that they were using a combination of Yahwism and Baalism to the detriment of Yahwism. They hoped to retain YHWH's favour while at the same time enjoying what Baalism offered, a religion free of moral demands and offering sexual licence. We can see now why YHWH had wanted the Canaanites either to be driven out, or to be slaughtered. Judah was now experiencing the consequences of compromise.
‘ For they also built for themselves high places, and pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree,'
We are given full details of how far they went. They filled the land with adulterated sanctuaries, which included all the Canaanite paraphernalia. The ‘high places' were raised altars (Leviticus 26:30; Numbers 33:50), which were forbidden in Israel (Exodus 20:26). The ‘pillars' represented male gods (Deuteronomy 12:3), probably in this case usually Baal, which is why they were frowned on. (Pillars erected to the glory of YHWH were not frowned on - Genesis 28:18; Genesis 31:45; Exodus 24:4). The Asherim were the images or poles which represented the fertility goddess. And these were set up in places seen as sacred, on high hills and under green trees (compare Deuteronomy 12:2). Religion abounded but it was no longer pleasing to YHWH. The essentials of the covenant had been stripped way, and the true sanctuaries were being sidelined. Every man did what was right in his own eyes and YHWH was diminished.
‘ And there were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which YHWH drove out before the children of Israel.'
Indeed the situation had deteriorated even further, for religious prostitutes of both sexes were introduced. It was all part of the fertility rites. It was the popular method of obtaining good harvests without having to resort to good living. Thus they entered into ‘all the abominations' of the Canaanites, the abominations because of which YHWH had insisted on the Canaanites being driven out of the land. And Rehoboam seemingly let it happen without making any effort to interfere. Perhaps his confidence had gone as a result of the fiasco with Israel, so that he no longer dared to try to lay down the Law, preferring rather to enjoy himself in Jerusalem.
‘ And it came about in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took away the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king's house. He even took away all, and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.'
In view of what is written above the invasion by Shishak of Egypt in 925 BC was clearly intended to be seen as God's judgment coming on the land of Judah. It was also revealing the folly of Solomon for putting such effort into amassing gold. His efforts would have been far better spent in training up his son to walk rightly in the sight of YHWH. Solomon cannot escape blame for what Rehoboam had become. So it was both a judgment and a retribution on Solomon and his son.
Shishak must have chuckled with delight when he saw his protégé Jeroboam made king of Israel, and then the two countries battling with each other. He had bided his time, waiting for them to weaken each other, and now he was ready to strike. He came with massive forces and his aim was twofold, firstly to secure the trade routes for Egypt, and secondly in order to obtain booty. He would die a year later.
Information about his invasion is found in the temple of Amun in Thebes. There he listed the towns from which he extracted tribute in Judah and Israel, and it was a long list. He first sacked Gezer on the border, and then moved into Judah towards Jerusalem city by city until, when he had reached Gibeon, Rehoboam sued for peace and paid him a huge ransom in the terms described above. The treasures that Solomon had built up had only been safe while the country was strong enough to hold on to them, and due to Rehoboam's folly it was no longer strong enough to resist a revived Egypt. Shishak also invaded deeply into the Negev in the South, possibly as far as Ezion-Geber, hitting at the trade routes there, and once Jerusalem had yielded, he advanced from Gibeon into Israel and received tribute from many Israelite cities. We do not know in fact whether Jeroboam ceded the tribute peacefully, in gratitude for Shishak's previous assistance, or whether Shishak had to sack the cities in Israel as well. There are indications that suggest that the former might have been so, but included among the list of Israelite cities who paid tribute were Penuel and Mahanaim in the Transjordan. This was then followed by Taanach, Megiddo and Shunem in the west as Shishak began to make his way back to Egypt along the coastal plain, laden with spoils. A stele belonging to Shishak was discovered in Megiddo, and we know that it was certainly partially sacked around this time. Megiddo was a huge city and would not yield up its riches easily. Shishak then appears to have set up his statue in Megiddo, the plinth of which has been discovered.
But none of this is mentioned in Kings. The only thing that was of interest to the author was the loss of the treasures of David and Solomon, because this demonstrated God's judgment on Rehoboam (and on the deceased Solomon). It will be noted that concentration is not on the Temple treasure. Equal mention is given of the spoiling of the king's house. This was not about the Temple. It was about Rehoboam.
‘ And king Rehoboam made as replacements shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.'
And the result was that, having lost his ceremonial shields of gold, a humiliated Rehoboam had to make shields of bronze in order to retain his fading glory. The ‘glory' of Judah had been lost because of the behaviour of the people at the high places, and the consequence was that YHWH took away its shields of gold, replacing them with shields of bronze. Its glory was thus twice adulterated. And the result was that the shields no longer needed the security of the House of the Forest of Lebanon, but were kept in the guard house.
‘ And it was so, that, as often as the king went into the house of YHWH, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber.'
So when in future Rehoboam went into the house of YHWH to worship, there was still a splendid ceremonial display as his bodyguard bore the shields of bronze which glistened in the sun, but all knew that the splendour was tarnished because of YHWH's judgment on Rehoboam and on Jerusalem.
‘ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?'
Having dealt with what mattered to him, because of what it revealed about YHWH's dealings with Judah, the prophetic author now referred his readers to the chronicles of the kings of Judah if they wanted further information about what Rehoboam had done. He was not interested in the secular details of the history of a king who did not concern himself with obeying YHWH.
‘ And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.'
One thing, however, he does stress and that is that there was a continual state of warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. This may indicate that they fortified their frontiers, and bristled at each other over them, with the occasional incident occurring, and their not allowing any movement of people between them, or even that they made continual forays into each others territory for punitive purposes without the actual intention of a full scale invasion. It would be many years before the two countries could live side by side amicably. The hurt had gone too deep. But the result of this state of affairs would be that the people of Israel were discouraged from coming to the Temple as the Central Sanctuary, in order to worship YHWH in accordance with the covenant. That was another thing that YHWH had against Rehoboam.
‘ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And Abiyam his son reigned instead of him.'
And eventually Rehoboam died peacefully, and ‘slept with his fathers', and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Note the emphasis on Jerusalem as ‘the city of David'. It was because of that that it had been chosen by YHWH.
The repetition of his mother's name, which is unusual in Kings, was probably an indication of the author's unhappiness with the fact that Solomon had married an Ammonitess. The Ammonites were one of the peoples excluded from becoming true worshipping Israelites (Deuteronomy 23:3), and his Ammonite wives had led him astray. But finally we learn that Abiyam his son reigned in his place. The Davidic dynasty continued.
The name Abiyam means ‘my father is Yam' (see also 1 Kings 15:1; 1 Kings 15:7). Yam was a Canaanite god of widespread influence, which goes with Abiyam's mother being an Ammonitess. Elsewhere his name is said to have been Abi-yah, ‘my father is YHWH (e.g. 2 Chronicles 13:1). This can be seen as a conversion of the previous name in order to remove its disgrace. It may have taken place when he came to the throne.
Rehoboam's life is a warning for us to be considerate of other people's needs. If only Rehoboam had ‘loved his neighbour as himself' what a difference it would have made to Israel's history. We need to recognise that unwise words and attitudes can rebound on us both in the present, and in our future lives. Better not to speak than to speak foolishly. It is also a warning to us to ensure that when we seek advice we do it in the right quarters. Rehoboam had had the good advice, he just did not listen to it.
The Early Kings Of Judah And Israel (1 Kings 15:1 to 1 Kings 16:28)
There now follows information concerning the reigns of seven kings, each of which is dealt with briefly in order to bring out the lesson that the prophetic writer is interested in. The first two kings were kings of Judah. The first, Abiyam, shared the condemnation of Rehoboam, but the author emphasised that for David's sake YHWH would establish for him a lamp in Jerusalem. He was a warning against compromise and half-heartedness. The second, Asa, turned out truly to be a lamp for he did what was right in the eyes of YHWH, and his heart was right towards YHWH. Nevertheless due to his failing to fully trust YHWH he lost the treasures that he had built up, and ended up diseased in his feet. He was a warning against the danger of not fully trusting with all his heart. Things seemed, however, to be generally promising in Judah.
Due to Asa's long reign the next five kings were kings of Israel. The picture in that case was one of continual decline as things got worse and worse. It began with Nadab who followed in the way of his father, and was assassinated as a result of God's judgment on Jeroboam, continued with Baasha who not only continued in the way of Jeroboam but also sought to prevent Israelites from entering Judah in order to worship YHWH, and was continually belligerent towards Judah, with the result that his son, who followed in his ways, was also assassinated for the same reason. The man who carried out the assassination was Zimri, a chariot commander, who lasted only seven days, and after a period of civil war he was followed by Omri, Israel's commander-in-chief who not only walked in the way of Jeroboam but also began to lay a greater emphasis on the open worship of Baal. Thus no king of Israel concerned himself with purifying the worship of YHWH, but instead contributed to the continuing deterioration. Indeed had it not been for the rise of Elijah faith in YHWH in Israel may well have died out.
Overall Analysis.
The Short Reign Of Abiyam, King of Judah c. 913-911/910 BC (1 Kings 15:1).
The Long Reign Of Asa, King of Judah c. 911/910-870 BC (1 Kings 15:9).
The Short Reign Of Nadab, King Of Israel c.910-908 BC (1 Kings 15:25).
The Longer Reign Of Baasha, The Usurper Of Israel c.908-885 BC (1 Kings 15:32 to 1 Kings 16:7).
The Short Reign Of Elah, King of Israel c. 885-884 BC (1 Kings 16:8).
The Seven Day Reign Of Zimri, King Of Israel c. 884 BC (1 Kings 16:15).
The Longer Reign Of Omri, King of Israel c. 884-872 BC (1 Kings 16:21).