1 Kings 15:1-8

C. HYPOCRISY UNDER ABIJAM 15:1-8

TRANSLATION

(1) Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam reigned over Judah. (2) Three years he reigned in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom. (3) And he walked in all the sins of his father which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God like the heart of David his father. (4) But for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave to him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to cause Jerusalem to stand; (5) because David had done that which was upright in the eyes of the LORD, and did not turn aside from all which He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. (6) And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. (7) And the rest of the deeds of Abijam and all which he did, are they not written in the book of chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. (8) And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son ruled in his stead.

Second King of Judah
ABIJAH (ABIJAM) BEN REHOBOAM 913-911 B.C.
(Yahweb is my Father)

1 Kings 15:1-8; 2 Chronicles 13

Synchronism Abijah 1 = Jeroboam 18
Contemporary Prophet Iddo

Mother: Maachah

Appraisal: Bad

Great deliverance gives He to His king; and shows mercy to His anointed, to David, and to his seed forevermore. Psalms 18:50

COMMENTS

Abijam does not appear to have been the eldest of Rehoboam's twenty-eight sons (cf. 2 Chronicles 11:20-22), but he was nevertheless selected to succeed his father because he was the eldest son of Rehoboam's favorite wife. Abijam must have been of considerable age when he ascended the throne, because at his death three years later he left behind him thirty-eight children (2 Chronicles 13:21).

The three years which Abijam reigned are not to be interpreted strictly. As he ascended the throne in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam and died in the twentieth year of that monarch, his reign was really two plus years. The Hebrews often rounded off numbers counting part of a year as a whole year.

Rehoboam's mother's name is given here as Maachah and in Chronicles as Michaiah (2 Chronicles 13:2). This suggests that her name was changed somewhere along the line. Which of the above names was her given name is impossible to ascertain. Maachah was a descendant of Abishalom (1 Kings 15:2), another spelling of Absalom, the son of David (cf. 2 Chronicles 11:21).[369]

[369] In 2 Chronicles 13:2 Abijah's mother is said to have been the daughter of Uriel. Uriel must have married Absalom's daughter Tamar (2 Samuel 14:27), and Maachah was the fruit of that marriage. Thus Maachah was the granddaughter of Absalom on her mother's side. Such was the proposal made by Josephus Ant. VIII, 9.1.

Abijam himself seems to have been a worshiper of the Lord, but because he tolerated idolatry in the realm he receives the reproof of the author. It is said of him what was said of Solomon, his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God (1 Kings 15:3). Nevertheless, God gave him a lamp, i.e., progeny, and a successor on the throne of Judah for the sake of David. But for David's piety, Abijam's family would have been dethroned if not destroyed as was that of Jeroboam, his contemporary in the Northern Kingdom. Abijam was the third prince of the line of David to permit idolatrous worship in Jerusalem, so the dynasty deserved divine judgment. Yet for four hundred years the descendants of David continued to sit on the throne of Judah, while in the Northern Kingdom there were nine changes of dynasty in just over two hundred years. Thus did God demonstrate His faithfulness to David, the man after God's own heart, who had so faithfully observed the commandments of God except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite[370] (1 Kings 15:5).

[370] Because this qualification is missing in the Septuagint, many critics assume that it is a gloss added by a later reader. 1 Kings 15:6, the second reference to the war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, is also absent in the Septuagint.

The writer has previously indicated that a state of hostilities existed between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns (cf. 1 Kings 14:30). Rehoboam in 1 Kings 15:6 stands for the house of Rehoboam represented by Abijam, and the purpose of the author here is to indicate that the state of hostilities erupted into open warfare during the reign of Abijam (1 Kings 15:7). The Chronicler gives the details of Abijam's invasion of the Northern Kingdom with four hundred thousand men. In spite of being outnumbered two to one, the troops of Abijam won a decisive battle at mount Zemaraim. Several Northern cities were annexed by Judah,[371] and Jeroboam was not able to recover his strength[372] all the days of Abijam (2 Chronicles 13:3-20). This military victory is the only distinctive accomplishment of Abijam's reign. The only other information known about this lackluster monarch is that he married fourteen wives and begat thirty-four sons and daughters (2 Chronicles 13:21). Abijam was succeeded on the throne by his son Asa (1 Kings 15:8).

[371] Among the cities captured was Bethel. Scripture relates neither the time nor the circumstances when Bethel was restored to the Northern Kingdom.
[372] Abijam's decisive victory over Jeroboam may have been the reason for the dissatisfaction with the house of Jeroboam which led to the revolt of Baasha.