1 Kings 15:1-8. Abijam, king of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:1-2) 1. _reigned Abijam over Judah_ Better, with R.V. BEGAN _Abijam_ TO REIGN. This is the sense of the verb here, though in the next verse it must be simply -reigned." The A.V. renders it -began to reign" in 1 Kings 15:25 of this chapter, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Three years reigned he_ If he began his reign in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam, and was succeeded by Asa (1 Kings 15:9) in the twentieth year of the same king, the three years cannot have been complete. But this must frequently be noted in the chronological records of the two kingdoms, and import... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he walked in all the sins of his father_ The LXX. omits -all." For an account of the sins of Rehoboam see above 1 Kings 14:22-24. _as the heart of David his father_ The LXX. omits -David." The word -perfect" as here applied to David, does not mean that he did not offend, but that he aimed at k... [ Continue Reading ]
_a lamp_ Cf. above on 1 Kings 11:36. The LXX. gives κατάλειμμα here = a remnant, thus expressing the sense of the original, instead of translating. Similarly in 1 Kings 11:36 the rendering is θέσις = a position.... [ Continue Reading ]
_save only in the matter of Urijah the Hittite_ See 2 Samuel 11:4; 2 Samuel 11:15. This clause is omitted in the LXX. Time would soften down the offence which David committed in numbering the people, so that the compiler of the narrative before us can pass it by in giving expression to the high esti... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_[R.V. NOW] _there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam_&c. The whole of this verse is omitted by the LXX. and it seems altogether out of place in a notice of the reign of Abijam, and has been already inserted [1 Kings 14:30] in the history of Rehoboam, while the parallel statement in reference... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now_[R.V. AND] _the rest of the acts of Abijam_ Consisting no doubt principally of the great victory over Jeroboam near mount Zemaraim (2 Chronicles 13:17) which inflicted so much disaster and loss upon the northern kingdom, that Jeroboam did not recover strength again during Abijam's reign. The so... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Abijam slept with his fathers_ To this the LXX. adds -in the twenty-fourth year of Jeroboam." This statement does not quite agree with the chronology given in 1 Kings 15:1-2 of this chapter, and repeated in 2 Chronicles 13:1-2. If Abijam came to the throne in the 18th year of Jeroboam and reign... [ Continue Reading ]
Asa king of Judah. His reforms (2 Chronicles 14:1-5; 2 Chronicles 15:16-19) 9. _In the twentieth year_ The LXX. in accordance with the addition in the previous verse says the -twenty-fourth." _reigned Asa_ R.V. BEGAN ASA TO REIGN. See on 1 Kings 15:1 of this chapter.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And his mother's name_was _Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom_ The most probable explanation of this clause, which is the same as in 1 Kings 15:2 above, is that the word -mother" is here used for -grandmother," and that Asa's own mother sank into small importance in comparison with her mother-in-la... [ Continue Reading ]
_and he took_(R.V. PUT) _away_ The same word is so rendered in 2 Chronicles 15:8, of these very reforms. Literally it means -caused to pass by." _idols that his fathers had made_ Not only those in Judah and Benjamin, but also those that were set up in the hill country of Ephraim, in the cities whic... [ Continue Reading ]
_And also Maachah_ Here, as above, the LXX. has _Ana_. _his mother, even her he removed_ The R.V. omits -even her". The Hebrew has this construction, but it is Hebrew, not English, though like several other Hebrew idioms, it has become accepted, through the influence of the A. V. _from_being _quee... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the high places were not removed_ R.V. TAKEN AWAY. The change is made that this passage may be rendered in the same way as 2 Chronicles 15:17, with which it is identical. In Judah (we are told 2 Chronicles 14:5) Asa did take away the high places, but in Israel (2 Chronicles 15:17) they were not... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he brought in_the things _which_[R.V. THAT] _his father had dedicated, and_the things _which_[R.V. THAT] _himself had dedicated_ These apparently trivial changes of the R.V. are made so that this passage may be in accord with the identical passage in 2 Chronicles 15:18. Here a commencement was... [ Continue Reading ]
Asa's war with Baasha. His death (2 Chronicles 16:1-6; 2 Chronicles 16:11-14) 16. _between Asa and Baasha_ Baasha obtained the throne of Israel in the third year of Asa's reign (1 Kings 15:33) and reigned twenty-four years. So Asa was king all through Baasha's reign. Hence -all their days" implies... [ Continue Reading ]
_went up against Judah and built Ramah_ This act of Baasha's shews us that Israel must by this time have recovered some of the power and territory which had been taken from them in Jeroboam's reign (2 Chronicles 13:19). Ramah, though lying in the hill country of Ephraim, was among the places allotte... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon_[R.V. TABRIMMON] _the son of Hezion, king of Syria_ This is the earliest of the three kings of this name mentioned in the Old Testament. -Hezion" is probably the same person as the -Rezon," king of Damascus mentioned in 1 Kings 11:23, and Ben-hadad 1. was apparently h... [ Continue Reading ]
There is _a league_ There is, as the italics of A. V. shew, no verb expressed in the original. The LXX. supplies the imperative διάθου = make. This the R.V. represents on the margin by -Let there be." But the concluding words of the clause seem to point to the indicative as the more suitable inserti... [ Continue Reading ]
_So_[R.V. AND] _Ben-hadad hearkened_ The conjunction is the simple copulative, and is so rendered in the parallel place in Chronicles. _the captains of the hosts which he had_ This is an attempt to represent the Hebrew construction. But it is not nearly so idiomatic as the translation in Chronicles... [ Continue Reading ]
_he left off building of Ramah_ Thus releasing Jerusalem from its blockade, as Asa desired. In Chronicles it is said -he let his work cease." _Tirzah_ A royal residence before this time. See on 1 Kings 14:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Asa made a proclamation throughout_[R.V. UNTO] _all Judah_ Literally -caused all Judah to hear." The people, rather than the land, are spoken of, as is shewn by the next words -none was exempted." The whole labouring population was gathered on the king's requisition that the work might be completed... [ Continue Reading ]
_The rest of all the acts of Asa_ There is a conjunction at the opening of the verse in the original. Hence R.V. NOW the rest &c. The reign of Asa is dealt with more fully in the book of Chronicles. Beside what is told in Kings, we learn there that he built fenced cities in Judah, because the land... [ Continue Reading ]
_and was buried with his fathers_ There is much more detail concerning the burial in 2 Chronicles 16:14, -They buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the a... [ Continue Reading ]
Nadab king of Israel. Baasha slays him, and all that belong to Jeroboam (Not in Chronicles) 25. _reigned over Israel two years_ These must have been but portions of two years. Nadab's reign began in the second year of Asa, and below (1 Kings 15:31) we find that his successor began to reign in the t... [ Continue Reading ]
_he did evil_ R.V. (as always for this definite expression) HE DID THAT WHICH WAS EVIL. Nadab followed the same worship of the calves which his father had introduced. This was a most insidious fashion of idolatry, for it did not disown Jehovah, only acted against His law in making a representation f... [ Continue Reading ]
_of the house of Issachar_ Jeroboam's family was of the tribe of Ephraim (1 Kings 11:26), and it may have been some tribal jealousy which led a man of Issachar to exterminate the whole family of Jeroboam, and to found a new dynasty. From the message of the prophet Jehu to Baasha (1 Kings 14:1-2) it... [ Continue Reading ]
_when he reigned,_that _he smote_ R.V. THAT AS SOON AS HE WAS KING HE SMOTE. Being an usurper he would desire to make his power secure by removing at once everyone who might become a rival. This is expressed in the original, and the R.V. seems to bring it out fully. Thus God used the policy of Baash... [ Continue Reading ]
_because of_[R.V. FOR] _the sins_ In 1 Kings 14:16, words very like this clause are found, but the preposition there is a strong compound word, and -because of" was there left as the translation. Here the original gives another and lighter preposition. Hence the seemingly unnecessary change, by whic... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Kings 15:32 TO 1 KINGS 16:7. Baasha king of Israel. God's messages to him by the prophet Jehu (Not in Chronicles) 32. _And there was war_ The LXX. (_Vat_.) omits this verse entirely.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in Tirzah, twenty and four years_ To complete the sense the R.V. inserts in italics after -Tirzah" the words - _and reigned_." Tirzah seems to have become by this time a more common royal residence than Shechem. Perhaps its extreme beauty attracted the kings and their families. Cf. Sol. Song of So... [ Continue Reading ]
_evil_ R.V. THAT WHICH WAS EVIL. See above on 1 Kings 15:26; 1 Kings 16:1.... [ Continue Reading ]