The first step taken by the new king was a most judicious one. If anything could have removed the disaffection of the Ephraimites, and caused them to submit to the ascendancy of Judah, it would have been the honor done to their capital by its selection as the scene of the coronation. Shechem (now Na... [ Continue Reading ]
HEARD OF IT - i. e., of the death of Solomon and accession of Rehoboam. This would be more clear without the division into chapters; which division, it must be remembered, is without authority. DWELT IN EGYPT - By a change of the pointing of one word, and of one letter in another, the Hebrew text h... [ Continue Reading ]
The complaint was probably twofold. The Israelites no doubt complained in part of the heavy weight of taxation laid upon them for the maintenance of the monarch and his court 1 Kings 4:19. But their chief grievance was the forced labor to which they had been subjected 1 Kings 5:13; 1 Kings 11:28. Fo... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OLD MEN, THAT STOOD BEFORE SOLOMON HIS FATHER - Perhaps “the princes” of 1 Kings 4:2. Solomon placed great value upon good advisers Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 15:22; Proverbs 24:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
The advice was not that the king should permanently resign the office of ruler, but that he should “for once” be ruled by his people.... [ Continue Reading ]
The age of Rehoboam at his accession is an interesting and difficult question. According to the formal statement of the present text of 1Ki 14:21; 2 Chronicles 12:13, he had reached the mature age of 41 years, and would therefore be unable to plead youth as an excuse for his conduct. The general nar... [ Continue Reading ]
MY LITTLE FINGER ... - i. e., “You shall find my hand heavier on you than my father’s - as much heavier as if my little finger were thicker than his loins.”... [ Continue Reading ]
SCORPIONS - By this word some understand whips having leaden balls at the ends of their lashes with hooks projecting from them; others the thorny stem of the eggplant, or “the scorpion plant.” But it seems best to regard the expression as a figure of speech.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CAUSE WAS FROM THE LORD - i. e., “the turn of events was from the Lord.” Human passions, anger, pride, and insolence, worked out the accomplishment of the divine designs. Without interfering with man’s free will, God guides the course of events, and accomplishes His purposes.... [ Continue Reading ]
See the marginal reference. The words breathe unmistakeably the spirit of tribal jealousy and dislike (1 Kings 11:40 note). NOW SEE TO THINE OWN HOUSE, DAVID - i. e., “Henceforth, house of David, look after thine own tribe, Judah, only.” It is not a threat of war, but a warning against interference... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL ... - The Israelites proper, or members of the other tribes, who happened to be settled within the limits of the land of Judah. These Israelites quietly submitted to Rehoboam. “Israel” through this chapter, and throughout the rest of Kings, designates ordinarily “the ten tribes,” and is antit... [ Continue Reading ]
Adoram has been identified with Adoniram (marginal references), and even with the Adoram of 2 Samuel 20:24. But it is highly improbable that the same person was chief superintendent of the forced labors during the whole of Solomon’s long reign, and also during a part of David’s and Rehoboam’s. We ma... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THIS DAY - This expression shows that the writer, who lived during the captivity, and consequently long after the rebellion of Israel had come to an end, is embodying in his history the exact words of an ancient document. His source, whatever it was, appears to have been also followed by the wr... [ Continue Reading ]
The first act of the Israelites, on learning what had occurred at Shechem, was to bring together the great “congregation” of the people (compare Judges 20:1), in order that, regularly and in solemn form, the crown might be declared vacant, and a king elected in the room of the monarch whose authorit... [ Continue Reading ]
The adhesion of Benjamin to Judah at this time comes upon us as a surprise. By blood Benjamin was far more closely connected with Ephraim than with Judah. All the traditions of Benjamin were antagonistic to Judah, and hitherto the weak tribe had been accustomed to lean constantly on its strong north... [ Continue Reading ]
Shemaiah was the chief prophet in Judah during the reign of Rehoboam, as Ahijah was in Israel. See the marginal references.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REMNANT - i. e., “the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah” (1 Kings 12:17 note).... [ Continue Reading ]
BUILT SHECHEM - In the sense of “enlarged and fortified.” See Daniel 4:30. The first intention of Jeroboam seems to have been to make Shechem his capital, and therefore he immediately set about its fortification. So also he seems to have fortified Penuel for the better security of his Trans-Jordanic... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeroboam’s fear was lest a reaction should set in, and a desire for reunion manifest itself. He was not a man content to remain quiet, trusting simply to the promise made him 1 Kings 11:38. Hence, he gave way to the temptation of helping forward the plans of Providence by the crooked devices of a me... [ Continue Reading ]
KILL ME - In case his subjects desired a reconciliation with Rehoboam, Jeroboam’s death would at once facilitate the re-establishment of a single kingdom, and obtain favor with the legitimate monarch. (Compare 2 Samuel 4:7.)... [ Continue Reading ]
The “calves of gold” were probably representations of the cherubic form, imitations of the two cherubim which guarded the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies. But being unauthorized copies, set up in places which God had not chosen, and without any divine sanction, the sacred writers call them... [ Continue Reading ]
In the first place, Jeroboam consulted the convenience of his subjects, who would thus in no case have very far to go in order to reach one or the other sanctuary. Further, he avoided the danger of reminding them continually that they had no ark - a danger which would have been imminent, had the two... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS THING BECAME A SIN - i. e., this act of Jeroboam’s became an occasion of sin to the people. The author perhaps wrote the following words thus: “The people went to worship before the one to Bethel and before the other to Dan.”... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MADE AN HOUSE OF HIGH PLACES - i. e., “He built a temple, or sanctuary, at each of the two cities where the calves were set up.” The writer uses the expression “house of high places” in contempt, meaning that the buildings were not real temples, or houses of God, like that at Jerusalem, but only... [ Continue Reading ]
A FEAST - Intended as a substitute for the Feast of tabernacles (marginal reference “c”). It may also have assumed the character of a feast of dedication, held at the same time, after the example of Solomon 1 Kings 8:2. His object in changing the month from the seventh to the eighth, and yet keeping... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse belongs to 1 Kings 13 rather than to 1 Kings 12, being intended as an introduction to what follows. WHICH HE HAD DEVISED OF HIS OWN HEART - The entire system of Jeroboam receives its condemnation in these words. His main fault was that he left a ritual and a worship where all was divinel... [ Continue Reading ]