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Rehoboam Loses His Kingdom

12 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, for all Israel had gathered in[a] Shechem to make Rehoboam[b] king. [c] When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since.[d] They sent for him,[e] and Jeroboam and the whole Israelite assembly came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, “Your father made us work too hard.[f] Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.”[g] He said to them, “Go away for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away.

King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served[h] his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them,[i] “How do you advise me to answer these people?” They said to him, “Today if you will be a servant to these people and grant their request,[j] speaking kind words to them,[k] they will be your servants from this time forward.”[l] But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up.[m] He asked them, “How do you advise me[n] to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?”[o] 10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam[p] had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’[q] Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father![r] 11 My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier.[s] My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’”[t]

12 Jeroboam and all the people reported[u] to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered when he said, “Return to me on the third day.” 13 The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men 14 and followed[v] the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier.[w] My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.”[x] 15 The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events[y] so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made[z] through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, “We have no portion in David, no share in the son of Jesse![aa] Return to your homes, O Israel![ab] Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!”[ac] So Israel returned to their homes.[ad] 17 (Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.) 18 King Rehoboam sent Adoniram,[ae] the supervisor of the work crews,[af] out after them, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty to this very day. 20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No one except the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty.[ag]

21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin[ah] to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. 22 But God told Shemaiah the prophet,[ai] 23 “Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the rest of the people, 24 ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Do not attack and make war with your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you go home. Indeed this thing has happened because of me.”’” So they obeyed the Lord’s message. They went home in keeping with the Lord’s message.

Jeroboam Makes Golden Calves

25 [aj] Jeroboam built up Shechem in the Ephraimite hill country and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel. 26 Jeroboam then thought to himself:[ak] “Now the Davidic dynasty could regain the kingdom.[al] 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, their loyalty could shift to their former master,[am] King Rehoboam of Judah. They might kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.” 28 After the king had consulted with his advisers,[an] he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people,[ao] “It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan. 30 This caused Israel to sin;[ap] the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves.[aq]

31 He built temples[ar] on the high places and appointed as priests common people who were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,[as] like the festival celebrated in Judah.[at] On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made.[au] In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places he had made.

A Prophet from Judah Visits Bethel

33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a date he had arbitrarily chosen)[av] Jeroboam[aw] offered sacrifices on the altar he had made in Bethel. He inaugurated a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to offer sacrifices. 13 Just then[ax] a prophet[ay] arrived from Judah with[az] the Lord’s message for Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. He cried out against the altar with the Lord’s message, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord has said, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’”[ba] That day he had also given a sign, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has declared: The altar will split open and the ashes[bb] on it will pour out.” When the king heard the prophet’s message that he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam took his hand from the altar and pointed it[bc] saying, “Seize him!” Then the hand that he had pointed at him stiffened up,[bd] and he could not pull it back. Meanwhile the altar split open, and the ashes[be] poured from the altar in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had given with the Lord’s message. The king responded to[bf] the prophet, “Seek the favor of[bg] the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the Lord’s favor and the king’s hand was restored as it was at first. The king then said to the prophet, “Come home with me and have something to eat, so that I may give you a gift.”[bh] But the prophet said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions,[bi] I would not go with you. I am not allowed to eat food or drink water in this place. For this is how I was commanded in the Lord’s message, ‘Eat no food. Drink no water. And do not return by the way you came.’” 10 So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel.

11 Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. When his sons[bj] came home, they told him everything the prophet[bk] had done in Bethel that day. And they told their father all the words that he had spoken to the king.[bl] 12 Their father asked them, “Which road did he take?” His sons showed him[bm] the road the prophet from Judah had taken. 13 He then told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and took off after the prophet, whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the prophet from Judah?” He answered, “Yes, I am.” 15 He then said to him, “Come home with me and eat something.” 16 But he replied, “I can’t go back with you.[bn] I am not allowed to eat food or to drink water with you in this place. 17 For an order came to me in the Lord’s message, ‘Eat no food. Drink no water there. And do not return by the way you came.’” 18 Then the old prophet[bo] said, “I too am a prophet like you. And an angel has told me in a message from the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat food and drink water.’” But he had lied to him.[bp] 19 So the prophet[bq] went back with him. He ate food in his house and he drank water.

20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord’s message came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 So he cried out to the prophet[br] who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘You[bs] have rebelled against the Lord’s instruction[bt] and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You went back. You ate food. And you drank water in the place of which he had said to you, “Eat no food. Drink no water.” Therefore[bu] your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.’”[bv]

23 So this is what happened after he had eaten food and drunk water.[bw] The old prophet[bx] saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 So the prophet from Judah travelled on. Then a lion attacked him on the road and killed him.

There was his body lying on the road, with the donkey standing next to it, and the lion just standing there by the body. 25 Then some men came passing by and saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing next to the body. They went and reported what they had seen[by] in the city where the old prophet lived. 26 When the old prophet who had invited him to his house heard the news,[bz] he said, “It is the prophet[ca] who rebelled against the Lord.[cb] The Lord delivered him over to the lion and it tore him up[cc] and killed him, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken to him.” 27 He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled it. 28 He went and found the body lying in the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it;[cd] the lion had neither eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. 29 The old prophet[ce] picked up the prophet’s[cf] body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back. The old prophet then entered the city to mourn him and to bury him. 30 He put the body into his own tomb, and they[cg] mourned over him, saying, “Ah, my brother!” 31 After he buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet[ch] is buried; put my bones right beside his bones, 32 because the message that he announced as the Lord’s message against the altar in Bethel and against all the temples on the high places in the cities of the north[ci] will certainly be fulfilled.”

A Prophet Announces the End of Jeroboam’s Dynasty

33 After this happened, Jeroboam still did not change his evil ways;[cj] he continued to appoint common people[ck] as priests at the high places. Anyone who wanted the job he consecrated as a priest.[cl] 34 This sin caused Jeroboam’s dynasty[cm] to come to an end and to be destroyed from the face of the earth.

14 [cn] At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise[co] yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam’s wife. Then go to Shiloh; Ahijah the prophet, who told me I would rule over this nation, lives there.[cp] Take[cq] ten loaves of bread, some small cakes, and a container of honey and visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah.[cr] Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age.[cs] But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Look, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her such and such.[ct] When she comes, she will be in a disguise.” When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news.[cu] Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: “I raised you up[cv] from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel. I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve.[cw] You have sinned more than all who came before you. You went and angered me by making other gods, formed out of metal; you have completely disregarded me.[cx] 10 So I am ready to bring disaster[cy] on the dynasty[cz] of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated.[da] I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed.[db] 11 Dogs will eat the members of your family[dc] who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”’ Indeed, the Lord has announced it!

12 “As for you, get up and go home. When you set foot in the city, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family[dd] who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good. 14 The Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will cut off Jeroboam’s dynasty.[de] It is ready to happen![df] 15 The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water.[dg] He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors[dh] and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River,[di] because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles.[dj] 16 He will hand Israel over to their enemies[dk] because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit.”

17 So Jeroboam’s wife got up and went back to[dl] Tirzah. As she crossed the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.

Jeroboam’s Reign Ends

19 The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including the details of his battles and rule, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[dm] 20 Jeroboam ruled for twenty-two years; then he passed away.[dn] His son Nadab replaced him as king.

Rehoboam’s Reign over Judah

21 Now Rehoboam son of Solomon ruled in Judah. He[do] was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home.[dp] His mother was an Ammonite woman[dq] named Naamah.

22 Judah did evil in the sight of[dr] the Lord. They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done.[ds] 23 They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 There were also male cultic prostitutes[dt] in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations[du] that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

25 In King Rehoboam’s fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including all the golden shields that Solomon had made. 27 King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard[dv] who protected the entrance to the royal palace. 28 Whenever the king visited the Lord’s temple, the royal guard carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom.

29 The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[dw] 30 Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. 31 Rehoboam passed away[dx] and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. His son Abijah[dy] replaced him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 12:1 tn Heb “come [to].”
  2. 1 Kings 12:1 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  3. 1 Kings 12:2 tc Verse 2 is not included in the Old Greek translation. See the note on 11:43.
  4. 1 Kings 12:2 tn Heb “and Jeroboam lived in Egypt.” The parallel text in 2 Chr 10:2 reads, “and Jeroboam returned from Egypt.” In a purely consonantal text the forms “and he lived” and “and he returned” are identical (וישׁב).
  5. 1 Kings 12:3 tn Heb “They sent and called for him.”
  6. 1 Kings 12:4 tn Heb “made our yoke burdensome.”
  7. 1 Kings 12:4 tn Heb “but you, now, lighten the burdensome work of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.” In the Hebrew text the prefixed verbal form with vav (וְנַעַבְדֶךָ, [venaʿavdekha] “and we will serve you”) following the imperative (הָקֵל [haqel], “lighten”) indicates purpose (or result). The conditional sentence used in the translation above is an attempt to bring out the logical relationship between these forms.
  8. 1 Kings 12:6 tn Heb “stood before.”
  9. 1 Kings 12:6 tn Heb “saying.”
  10. 1 Kings 12:7 tn Heb “and serve them and answer them,” understood as “serve them in how you answer them,” hence “grant their request.”
  11. 1 Kings 12:7 tn Heb “and speak to them good words.”
  12. 1 Kings 12:7 tn Heb “all the days.” The Hebrew phrase contrasts what he is asked to do “today” (literally “the day”) with the benefit for “all the days.”
  13. 1 Kings 12:8 tn Heb “He rejected the advice of the elders which they advised and he consulted the young men with whom he had grown up, who stood before him.” The referent (Rehoboam) of the initial pronoun (“he”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. 1 Kings 12:9 tn In the Hebrew text the verb “we will respond” is plural, although it can be understood as an editorial “we.” The ancient versions have the singular here.
  15. 1 Kings 12:9 tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”
  16. 1 Kings 12:10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  17. 1 Kings 12:10 tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”
  18. 1 Kings 12:10 tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger. As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.
  19. 1 Kings 12:11 tn Heb “and now my father placed upon you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke.”
  20. 1 Kings 12:11 tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture using poisonous insects, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound. Cf. CEV “whips with pieces of sharp metal.”
  21. 1 Kings 12:12 tn Heb “came.”
  22. 1 Kings 12:14 tn Heb “and spoke to them according to.”
  23. 1 Kings 12:14 tn Heb “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.”
  24. 1 Kings 12:14 tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” See the note on the same phrase in v. 11.
  25. 1 Kings 12:15 tn Heb “because this turn of events was from the Lord.”
  26. 1 Kings 12:15 tn Heb “so that he might bring to pass his word which the Lord spoke.”
  27. 1 Kings 12:16 sn We have no portion in David; no share in the son of Jesse. Their point seems to be that they have no familial relationship with David that brings them any benefits or places upon them any obligations. They are being treated like outsiders.
  28. 1 Kings 12:16 tn Heb “to your tents, Israel.” The word “return” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  29. 1 Kings 12:16 tn Heb “Now see your house, David.”
  30. 1 Kings 12:16 tn Heb “went to their tents.”
  31. 1 Kings 12:18 tc The MT has “Adoram” here, but the Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have “Adoniram.” Cf. 1 Kgs 4:6.
  32. 1 Kings 12:18 sn The work crews. See the note on this expression in 4:6.
  33. 1 Kings 12:20 tn Heb “there was no one [following] after the house of David except the tribe of Judah, it alone.”
  34. 1 Kings 12:21 tn Heb “he summoned all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men, accomplished in war.”
  35. 1 Kings 12:22 tn Heb “and the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying.”
  36. 1 Kings 12:25 tc The Old Greek translation has here a lengthy section consisting of twenty-three verses that are not found in the MT.
  37. 1 Kings 12:26 tn Heb “said in his heart.”
  38. 1 Kings 12:26 tn Heb “Now the kingdom could return to the house of David.” The imperfect verbal form translated “could return” is understood as having a potential force here. Perhaps this is not strong enough; another option is “will return.”
  39. 1 Kings 12:27 tn Heb “the heart of these people could return to their master.”
  40. 1 Kings 12:28 tn The words “with his advisers” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  41. 1 Kings 12:28 tn Heb “to them.”
  42. 1 Kings 12:30 tn Heb “and this thing became a sin.”
  43. 1 Kings 12:30 tc The MT reads “and the people went before the one to Dan.” It is likely that some words have been accidentally omitted and that the text originally said, “and the people went before the one at Bethel and before the one at Dan.”
  44. 1 Kings 12:31 tn The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural is preferable here (see 1 Kgs 13:32). The Old Greek translation and the Vulgate have the plural.
  45. 1 Kings 12:32 sn The eighth month would correspond to October-November in modern reckoning.
  46. 1 Kings 12:32 sn The festival celebrated in Judah probably refers to the Feast of Tabernacles (i.e., Booths or Temporary Shelters), held in the seventh month (September-October). See also 1 Kgs 8:2.
  47. 1 Kings 12:32 tn Heb “and he offered up [sacrifices] on the altar; he did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made.”
  48. 1 Kings 12:33 tn Heb “which he had chosen by himself.”
  49. 1 Kings 12:33 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jeroboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  50. 1 Kings 13:1 tn Heb The Hebrew particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) is a rhetorical device by which the author invites the reader to visualize the scene for dramatic effect.
  51. 1 Kings 13:1 tn Heb “the man of God.” Also in vv. 4-8.
  52. 1 Kings 13:1 tn Or “in keeping with” (also at vv. 2, 5, 9, 17, 18, 32).
  53. 1 Kings 13:2 sn “Lookyou.” For the fulfillment of this prophecy see 2 Kgs 23:15-20.
  54. 1 Kings 13:3 tn Heb “the fat,” i.e., fat mixed with ashes from the altar (HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן).
  55. 1 Kings 13:4 tn Heb “extended his hand from the altar.”
  56. 1 Kings 13:4 tn Heb The verb יָבֵשׁ (yavesh) usually describes water sources as dry or plants as dry and withered. Applied to a hand or an arm (Zech 11:17), it probably means to be(come) stiff, feeble, or both. TEV and NLT interpret this as “became paralyzed.”
  57. 1 Kings 13:5 tn The fat mixed with ashes. See note v. 3.
  58. 1 Kings 13:6 tn Heb “answered and said to.”
  59. 1 Kings 13:6 tn Heb “appease” or “soften the face of,” twice in this verse.
  60. 1 Kings 13:7 tn Or “reward.”
  61. 1 Kings 13:8 tn Heb “house,” representing one’s estate or possessions.
  62. 1 Kings 13:11 tc The MT has the singular but the LXX, Syriac, some Latin manuscripts and two medieval Hebrew manuscripts have the plural, which consistent with the end of the verse and vv. 12-13.
  63. 1 Kings 13:11 tn Heb “the man of God.” Also in vv. 12, 14.
  64. 1 Kings 13:11 tn Heb “the words which he had spoken to the king, and they told them to their father.”
  65. 1 Kings 13:12 tc The MT reads וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyirʾu, “they saw”) the Qal preterite of רָאָה (raʾah, “to see”). Some translations render this as pluperfect “they had seen” (KJV, NASB), but then the verb should have been preceded by a different construction. Other translations (NIV, ESV, NRSV) follow some ancient versions and emend the verbal form to a Hiphil with pronominal suffix וַיַּרְאֻהוּ (vayyarʾuhu, “and they showed him”).
  66. 1 Kings 13:16 tn Heb “I am unable to return with you or to go with you.”
  67. 1 Kings 13:18 tn Heb “he.”
  68. 1 Kings 13:18 sn He had lied to him. The motives and actions of the old prophet are difficult to understand. The old man’s response to the prophet’s death (see vv. 26-32) suggests he did not trick him with malicious intent. Perhaps the old prophet wanted the honor of entertaining such a celebrity, or perhaps simply desired some social interaction with a fellow prophet.
  69. 1 Kings 13:19 tn Heb “he.”
  70. 1 Kings 13:21 tn Heb “man of God.”
  71. 1 Kings 13:21 tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 21-22 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 21-22a) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 22b). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
  72. 1 Kings 13:21 tn Heb “mouth.”
  73. 1 Kings 13:22 tn “Therefore” is added for stylistic reasons. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:21 pertaining to the grammatical structure of vv. 21-22.
  74. 1 Kings 13:22 tn Heb “will not come to the tomb of your fathers.”
  75. 1 Kings 13:23 tn The MT does not include “water” though it is implied and included in the LXX and Syriac versions.
  76. 1 Kings 13:23 tn Heb “he.”
  77. 1 Kings 13:25 tn The words “what they had seen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  78. 1 Kings 13:26 tn Heb “and the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard.”
  79. 1 Kings 13:26 tn Heb “the man of God.”
  80. 1 Kings 13:26 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”
  81. 1 Kings 13:26 tn Heb “destroyed him,” or “maimed him.”
  82. 1 Kings 13:28 tn Heb “the body.”
  83. 1 Kings 13:29 tn Heb “the prophet.” The word “old” has been supplied in the translation to distinguish this individual from the other prophet.
  84. 1 Kings 13:29 tn Heb “the man of God.”
  85. 1 Kings 13:30 tn “They” is the reading of the Hebrew text here; perhaps this is meant to include not only the old prophet but his sons (cf. v. 31).
  86. 1 Kings 13:31 tn Heb “the man of God.”
  87. 1 Kings 13:32 tn Heb “Samaria.” The name of Israel’s capital city here stands for the northern kingdom as a whole. Actually Samaria was not built and named until several years after this (see 1 Kgs 16:24), so it is likely that the author of Kings, writing at a later time, is here adapting the old prophet’s original statement.
  88. 1 Kings 13:33 tn Heb “did not turn from his evil way.”
  89. 1 Kings 13:33 sn The expression common people refers to people who were not Levites. See 1 Kgs 12:31.
  90. 1 Kings 13:33 tn Heb “and one who had the desire he was filling his hand so that he became [one of] the priests of the high places.”
  91. 1 Kings 13:34 tn Heb “house.”
  92. 1 Kings 14:1 tc Some mss of the Old Greek lack vv. 1-20.
  93. 1 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “Get up, change yourself.”
  94. 1 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “look, Ahijah the prophet is there; he spoke about me as king over this nation.”
  95. 1 Kings 14:3 tn Heb “take in your hand.”
  96. 1 Kings 14:4 tn Heb “and the wife of Jeroboam did so; she arose and went to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah.”
  97. 1 Kings 14:4 tn Heb “his eyes were set because of his old age.”
  98. 1 Kings 14:5 tn Heb “like this and like this.”sn Tell her such and such. Certainly the Lord gave Ahijah a specific message to give to Jeroboam’s wife (see vv. 6-16), but the author of Kings here condenses the Lord’s message with the words “so-and-so.” For dramatic effect he prefers to have us hear the message from Ahijah’s lips as he speaks to the king’s wife.
  99. 1 Kings 14:6 tn Heb “I am sent to you [with] a hard [message].”
  100. 1 Kings 14:7 tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 7-11 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 7-9) and the main clause announcing the punishment (vv. 10-11). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
  101. 1 Kings 14:8 tn Heb “what was right in my eyes.”
  102. 1 Kings 14:9 tn Heb “you went and you made for yourself other gods, and metal [ones], angering me, and you threw me behind your back.”
  103. 1 Kings 14:10 sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, raʿah) is from the same root as the expression “you have sinned” in v. 9 (וַתָּרַע [vattaraʿ], from רָעַע, [raʿaʿ]). Jeroboam’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.
  104. 1 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “house.”
  105. 1 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Jeroboam those who urinate against a wall (including both those who are) restrained and let free (or “abandoned”) in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (ʿatsur veʿazuv) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר 6 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס [ʾefes], “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.
  106. 1 Kings 14:10 tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (baʿar) to mean “burn.” Manure was sometimes used as fuel (see Ezek 4:12, 15). However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I will sweep away the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away manure it is gone” (cf. ASV, NASB, TEV). Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.
  107. 1 Kings 14:11 tn The Hebrew text has “belonging to Jeroboam” here.
  108. 1 Kings 14:13 tn Heb “house.”
  109. 1 Kings 14:14 tn Heb “house.”
  110. 1 Kings 14:14 tn Heb “This is the day. What also now?” The precise meaning of the second half of the statement is uncertain.
  111. 1 Kings 14:15 tn The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the Lord will strike Israel as a reed sways in the water.”
  112. 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).
  113. 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew this is a typical reference to the Euphrates River. The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  114. 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “because they made their Asherah poles that anger the Lord”; or “their images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “they set up idols to worship Asherah.”sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
  115. 1 Kings 14:16 tn Heb “and he will give [up] Israel.”
  116. 1 Kings 14:17 tn Heb “went and entered.”
  117. 1 Kings 14:19 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he ruled, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
  118. 1 Kings 14:20 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  119. 1 Kings 14:21 tn Heb “Rehoboam.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  120. 1 Kings 14:21 tn Heb “the city where the Lord chose to place his name from all the tribes of Israel.”
  121. 1 Kings 14:21 tn Heb “an Ammonite”; the word “woman” is implied by the gender of the word.
  122. 1 Kings 14:22 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  123. 1 Kings 14:22 tn Heb “and they made him jealous more than all which their fathers had done by their sins which they sinned.”
  124. 1 Kings 14:24 tc The Old Greek translation has “a conspiracy” rather than “male cultic prostitutes.”
  125. 1 Kings 14:24 tn Heb “they did according to all the abominable acts of the nations.”
  126. 1 Kings 14:27 tn Heb “runners.”
  127. 1 Kings 14:29 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Rehoboam, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
  128. 1 Kings 14:31 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  129. 1 Kings 14:31 tn In the Hebrew text the name is spelled “Abijam” here and in 1 Kgs 15:1-8.