1 Kings 14:21-31

I. THE FIRST THREE KINGS OF JUDAH 14:21-15:24
(931-870 B.C.)

The first three kings of Judah ruled for sixty-one years. In this section the author speaks of (1) the apostasy of Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:21-31); (2) the hypocrisy of Abijam (1 Kings 15:1-8); and (3) the reformation of Asa (1 Kings 15:9-24)

A. THE APOSTASY OF REHOBOAM 14:21-31

In dealing with the unfaithfulness of Judah under Rehoboam, the historian first describes (1) the extent of the apostasy (1 Kings 14:21-24), and then (2) the punishment of the apostasy. The chapter closes with (3) a brief summary note about Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:29-31).

First King of Judah
REHOBOAM BEN SOLOMON
931 913 B.C.
(liberator or enlarger of the people)

1 Kings 12:1-24; 1 Kings 14:21-31; 1 Kings 2 Chronicles 10-12

Synchronism
Rehoboam 1 = Jeroboam 1
Contemporary Prophet
Shemaiah

Mother: Naamah

Appraisal: Bad

in the multitude of people is the king's honor-, but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince. Proverbs 14:28

1. THE EXTENT OF THE APOSTASY (1 Kings 14:21-24)

TRANSLATION

(21) Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon ruled in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he ruled seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD chose from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. (22) And Judah did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, and they made Hun jealous more than all which their fathers had done in their sins which they committed. (23) And they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim upon every high hill and under every green tree. (24) And also male temple prostitutes came to be in the land; they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had driven out from before the children of Israel.

COMMENTS

Having brought to a close his treatment of the first king in the North, the historian now turns his attention to the reign of Rehoboam who ruled simultaneously in the South. Rehoboam was no child when he foolishly responded to the elders of the Northern tribes and thereby lost their allegiance. He was forty-one when he became, king. He ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the capital of God's own choosing. It was a great advantage to Rehoboam to have as the seat of his government the city which God had chosen for His Temple and thus this point is emphasized by the historian in 1 Kings 14:21. The name of Rehoboam's mother is givenshe was Naamah (peasant) the Ammonitess (1 Kings 14:21). The name of the mother is given with every king in Judah, probably because of the position of influence which the queen mother occupied in the kingdom.

It is somewhat shocking that there was extensive religious deterioration and apostasy in Judah during the reign of Rehoboam. From the account in Chronicles it would appear that the tiny nation remained faithful to the Lord for the first three or four years of this reign. But when Rehoboam began to feel secure, the defection commenced (2 Chronicles 12:1). It is perhaps noteworthy that the historian says Judah, not Rehoboam, did evil. Perhaps the king himself remained faithful and was unable to suppress the idolatrous tendencies which had crept in under his father Solomon. Be that as it may, the evil in Judah provoked the Lord to jealousy. Israel was the bride of the Lord and whenever the nation got carried away with the worship of other gods, the Scriptures speak anthropomorphically of God's jealousy. The apostasy was quite serious, for the people exceeded their fathers in sin (1 Kings 14:22). Just as in the Northern Kingdom, the people built high places where they might worship the astral deities. They erected the pillars which symbolized Baal and the poles which were symbols of Asherah.[363] These abominations were found throughout the land on every high hill and under every green tree (1 Kings 14:23). Shady spots were necessary for the immoral rites associated with Baal worship. Most shocking of all, male cult prostitutes[364] sprang up around the land. Whether these were homosexual[365] or heterosexual prostitutes is uncertain. For these abominations the Lord cast out the Canaanites (1 Kings 14:24), and now His own people had adopted these practices!

[363] The Ras Shamra texts revealed that Asherah was the mother-goddess of the fertility cult.

[364] According to Deuteronomy 23:18 cult prostitutes were of both sexes. The masculine here may embrace both male and female prostitutes.

[365] That castrated Sodomites were known in ancient Israel is indicated by Deuteronomy 23:2.

2. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE APOSTASY (1 Kings 14:25-28)

TRANSLATION

(25) And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak, king of Egypt, went up against Jerusalem. (26) And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the house of the king, and everything he took away, even taking the shields of gold which Solomon had made. (27) And King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them into the hand of the commanders of the guard who kept the door of the king's house. (28) And it came to pass when the king went up to the house of the LORD, the guard carried them; and then they returned them to the chamber of the guard.

COMMENTS

The apostasy in Judah was punished rather swiftly by the Lord. In the fifth year of Rehoboam (926 B.C.) the great Pharaoh Shishak invaded the land (1 Kings 14:25). Egypt was overjoyed at the turn of events in Canaan. The mighty empire of Solomon had been divided. No doubt this is the very thing which Shishak had hoped for when he granted asylum to Jeroboam several years earlier. At last Egypt could reassert her claims to dominion over Palestine. A record of this invasion is inscribed on one of the pylons of the great Amon temple at Karnak (Thebes) in lower Egypt. This inscription contains the names of between fifty and sixty localities in Israel and about a hundred in Judah which were captured on this expedition.[366] Scripture makes no direct mention of the fact that the kingdom of Jeroboam suffered along with Judah, but there is a hint to this effect in the notice that Jeroboam moved his capital temporarily into the region of Transjordan (1 Kings 12:25).

[366] Shishak left at Megiddo a stele of which fragments have been found. The best discussion of this campaign is B. Mazor, The Campaign of Pharaoh Shishak to Palestine, SVT, IV (1957), 57-66.

The Chronicler relates that at the approach of Shishak, Rehoboam and the nation repented of their transgressions and begged God for mercy. God heard that prayer and spared Jerusalem from destruction at the hands of Shishak (2 Chronicles 12:5-8). Nevertheless, to teach His people the bitter results of sin, God permitted them to be brought under tributary obligation to Shishak. The Egyptian invader took away all the treasures of the house of the Lord as well as those of the king's palace, including the beautiful shields of gold which Solomon had hung in the house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 14:26). Rehoboam could do no better than to replace these golden shields with shields of bronze or copper (1 Kings 14:27) which were carried by the royal bodyguards (lit., runners) whenever the king made an official visit to the Temple. After the parade these shields were immediately returned to guard chambers so as to conceal from the people the humiliating fact that bronze had been substituted for gold (1 Kings 14:28). What a contrast! Solomon's golden shields were put on public display in the house of the forest of Lebanon; but the shields of bronze were of so little value that they were stored in a guard chamber. The shields of bronze are a striking evidence of the decadence of Rehoboam's kingdom. Try as he may to maintain the grandeur of Solomon's court, Rehoboam was but a pale imitation of his father.

2. A CONCLUDING NOTE ON THE REIGN OF REHOBOAM (1 Kings 14:29-31)

TRANSLATION

(29) And the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (30) And war occurred between Rehoboam and Jeroboam constantly. (31) And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess; and Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

COMMENTS

In this formal conclusion to the account of Rehoboam the historian alludes to his source of informationthe book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah (1 Kings 14:29). He adds the information that a state of war or perhaps an armed truce existed between Rehoboam and his counterpart in the North, Jeroboam, throughout the seventeen years in which they simultaneously reigned (1 Kings 14:30). Shemaiah the prophet had prohibited a full-scale invasion of the North by Rehoboam, and thus it is unlikely that 1 Kings 14:30 is referring to organized campaigns. Rather the reference here is probably to incessant border skirmishes and raids.

The account concludes with a note that Rehoboam died peacefully (he slept with his fathers) and was buried in the family tomb in the city of David, i.e., the southeastern hill of Jerusalem.[367] The name of Rehoboam's Ammonitess mother is repeated from 1 Kings 14:21, perhaps suggesting that she was the one who had unduly influenced Rehoboam to walk the paths of apostasy. Finally, the name of Rehoboam's son and successor, Abijam (or Abijah[368] as it appears in Chronicles) is given (1 Kings 14:31).

[367] The phrase slept with his fathers may reflect the mortuary custom of laying corpses on benches in the burial cave as though on a couch. Honor, JCBR, p. 208.

[368] It may be that the author of Kings has deliberately corrupted the name Abijah (my father is Yahweh) to make it Abijam (my father is Yam). Yam was the Canaanite sea god. Some Hebrew manuscripts, however, read here Abijah.