1 Kings 12:21-24

D. THE RESPONSE OF REHOBOAM 12:21-24

TRANSLATION

(21) Now Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and assembled the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight with the house of Israel, to cause the kingdom to return to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. (22) But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, (23) Say unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying, (24) Thus says the LORD: Do not go up and fight with your brethren the house of Israel. Return each one to his house, for this thing has come from Me. And they hearkened to the word of the LORD, and turned, and departed according to the word of the LORD.

COMMENTS

Rehoboam was determined to crush the Northern uprising with military force. To this end he gathered his forces from Judah and Benjamin. The figure of a hundred eighty thousand men (1 Kings 12:21) is not an overstatement in view of the fact that David's census found some five hundred thousand men in Judah(IIS24:9).[324]

[324] Some commentators have tried to reduce the size of this army by suggesting that the Hebrew word -eleph may mean tribal division as well as thousand. Thus Rehoboam mustered a hundred eighty tribal divisions. Calculating two hundred men to a division, he would have had about thirty-six thousand men in his army. See Honor, JCBR, p. 184. This theory regarding the meaning of -eleph will not bear the test of careful investigation throughout the Old Testament.

Whereas Rehoboam wanted to fight for the unity of his kingdom, God had other plans. Shemaiah the man of God (1 Kings 12:22) was sent to the king and the loyalists with a divine prohibition (1 Kings 12:23). The term man of God is a favorite expression of the author of Kings to designate servants of the Lord, particularly prophets. The remnant of the people of 1 Kings 12:23 are the children of Israel who lived in Judah and remained loyal to the crown. Shemaiah,[325] in the name of the Lord, ordered a halt to the planned invasion of the North, and ordered every soldier to return to his house. Two reasons were cited for this order. The Northern tribes were still the brethren of those who lived in the South. Furthermore, this national disruption was God-ordained. Thus a prophet of Judah (Shemaiah) confirmed what a prophet of Israel (Ahijah) had announced. Because of this prophetic prohibition, the men of Judah called off the planned attack on the North and returned to their homes (1 Kings 12:24).[326]

[325] Shemaiah was the historian of Rehoboam's reign (2 Chronicles 12:15).

[326] At this point the Septuagint (Greek version) inserts a long addition which differs from and contradicts the Hebrew account in several particulars. Rawlinson (BC, II, S6ff.) has demonstrated conclusively that this Greek addition is a compilation of a later date, is untrustworthy, and certainly has no right to a place in the canonical Scriptures.