Chronological
Israel’s Appeal to Rehoboam
12 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all of Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 It happened that Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it while he was still in Egypt where he had fled from the face of King Solomon, and Jeroboam had lived in Egypt. 3 So they sent and summoned him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came. Then they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy; now lighten the hard labor of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said, “Go up for three days and then return to me”; so the people went away.
Rehoboam Seeks Counsel to Respond
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who had been serving[a] before Solomon his father when he was alive, saying, “How are you advising me to answer this people?”[b] 7 They said to him, “If you will be a servant today to this people, then you will serve them; and if you answer them and speak good words to them, they will always be your servants.” 8 But he rejected the advice of the old men, which they gave him, and he consulted with the youngsters who had grown up with him, who were serving[c] before him. 9 He said to them, “What are you advising that we should reply to this people who spoke to me by saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us.’” 10 Then the youngsters who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. 11 So then, my father loaded a heavy yoke on all of you, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!’”
Rehoboam Responds Unwisely with Disastrous Results
12 Jeroboam and all of the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had spoken: “Return to me on the third day.” 13 Then the king answered all the people harshly, as he had rejected the advice of the old men that they had offered. 14 He spoke to them according to the advice of the youngsters, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add onto your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turning of events from Yahweh in order to fulfill his word which Yahweh had spoken through the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 When all of Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What share do we have in David?[d] There is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, Israel! Now look to your house, David!” Then Israel went to their[e] tents.
17 The Israelites[f] were living in the cities of Judah, and Rehoboam was reigning over them. 18 King Rehoboam sent Adoram who was over the forced labor, and all of Israel cast stones at him and he died, but King Rehoboam managed to get up on the chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David until this day.
Civil War Averted
20 It happened that just when all of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all of Israel. Not one followed after the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone. 21 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all of the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand choice troops[g] to fight with the house of Israel, to restore the kingship to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 Then the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon the king of Judah and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and the remainder of the people, saying, 24 ‘Thus says Yahweh: “You shall not go up and you shall not fight with your brothers the Israelites.[h] Return each of you to his house, for this thing was from me.”’” So they heeded the word of Yahweh, and they returned to go home according to the word of Yahweh.
Jeroboam Becomes King over Israel
25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and he resided in it. Then he went out from there and built Penuel. 26 Then Jeroboam said to himself,[i] “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David 27 if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house[j] of Yahweh in Jerusalem. The heart of this people will return to their master Rehoboam the king of Judah, and they shall kill me and return to him.”[k]
28 And the king had decided, so he made two golden calves and he said to them,[l] “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough;[m] here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He put one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 This thing became a sin, and the people walked before the one as far as Dan. 31 Then he built the houses on the high places, and he appointed priests from all walks of life[n] who were not from the sons of Levi. 32 Jeroboam also inaugurated a religious feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the religious feast which was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, by sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 He offered sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month which his heart had devised. He inaugurated a religious feast for the Israelites,[o] and he went up to the altar to offer incense.
A Man of God Proclaims Judgment against the False Altar
13 Suddenly a man of God from Judah came to Bethel, by the word of Yahweh, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer incense. 2 Then he proclaimed against the altar by the word of Yahweh and said, “O altar, altar, thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall burn on you.’”
3 He gave a sign on that day, saying, “This is the sign that Yahweh has predetermined: Look, this altar will be torn apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”
4 It happened at the moment the king heard the word of the man of God that he cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But his hand which he stretched out to him was paralyzed, and he was not able to draw it back to himself. 5 Then the altar was torn apart and the ashes from the altar poured out according to the sign which the man of God had announced by the word of Yahweh. 6 Then the king responded and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me that my hand may return to me.” So the man of God entreated the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king returned to him, as it was in the beginning. 7 Then the king spoke to the man of God, “Come with me to the house and refresh yourself, that I may give you a gift.” 8 Then the man of God said to the king, “Even if you give to me half of your house I will not come with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place, 9 for the word of Yahweh has commanded me, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water, and you shall not return on the way that you came.’” 10 So he went another way, and he did not return by the way on which he had come to Bethel.
The Man of God Disobeys
11 Now a certain older prophet was living in Bethel, and his son came and recounted to him all of the things that the man of God had done that day in Bethel and the words he had spoken to the king, and they told them to their father. 12 Then their father asked them, “Which way did he go?”[p] His sons had seen the way which the man of God who had come from Judah had taken. 13 Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it 14 and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under the oak and said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.” 15 Then he said to him, “Come with me to the house and eat some food.” 16 Then he said, “I am not able to return with you or to go with you. I will not eat food nor will I drink water with you in this place. 17 For a word came to me by the word of Yahweh, ‘You shall not eat food, nor shall you drink water there. You shall not return to go by the way that you came.’”
18 Then he said, “I am also a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘Let him return with you to your house that he may eat food and drink water.’” He lied to him. 19 So he returned with him and ate food in his house and drank water.
20 Now it happened that they were sitting at the table, and the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who brought him back. 21 He proclaimed to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of Yahweh and have not kept the command which Yahweh your God commanded you, 22 but you have returned and have eaten food and drank water in the place which he ordered you not to eat food nor to drink water, then your dead body shall not return to the tomb of your ancestors.’”[q]
The Disobedient Man of God Dies
23 It happened after he ate food and drank water that he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 When he left, a lion found him on the road and killed him, and his dead body was thrown on the road with the donkey standing beside it, and the lion was standing by the dead body. 25 As men were passing by and they saw the dead body thrown in the road and the lion standing beside the dead body, they came and told it in the city where the old prophet was living. 26 When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the mouth of Yahweh, and Yahweh has given him to the lion. He tore him in pieces and killed him according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken to him.” 27 Then he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. 28 He went and found his dead body thrown in the road and a donkey with the lion standing beside it, but the lion had not eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey. 29 So the prophet lifted up the corpse of the man of God and put it on the donkey and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn him and to bury him. 30 He put his corpse in his tomb, and they mourned over him, “Alas, my brother!” 31 It happened after he buried him that he said to his sons, “When I die, you shall bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; you shall lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For surely, the thing which he proclaimed by the word of Yahweh against the altar which is in Bethel will happen, as it will against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria.”
Jeroboam Continues in His Sin
33 After this event, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but he returned and again made priests for the high places of people from all walks of life.[r] He filled his hand with all his desire and became one of the priests of the high places himself. 34 This matter became sin in the house of Jeroboam, to make it disappear and to destroy it from the surface of the earth.
Judgment for Jeroboam Continues
14 At that time, Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill. 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Look, Ahijah the prophet is there, and he spoke concerning me before I became king over this people. 3 You must take ten loaves of bread in your hand and cakes and a jar of honey, and you must go to him. He shall tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4 The wife of Jeroboam did so. She got up, went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah was not able to see, for his eyes were fixed[s] because of his old age. 5 Then Yahweh said to Ahijah, “Look, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from you about her son, for he is ill. Thus and so[t] you shall say to her. When she comes, she will be disguising herself.” 6 It happened at the moment Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps coming through the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why are you making yourself unrecognizable? I have been sent a hard message for you: 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: “Because I raised you from the midst of the people and I made you leader over my people Israel, 8 I tore the kingdom from the house of David and I gave it to you. But you were not like my servant David who kept my commandments, and who went after me with all his heart, to do only what is right in my eyes. 9 But you did more evil than all who were before you. You have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten idols to provoke me, but me you have completely disregarded.[u] 10 Therefore, look, I am about to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off males[v] from Jeroboam, bond or free, in Israel. I will burn after the house of Jeroboam as one burns after the manure, until it is finished. 11 He who dies for Jeroboam in the city, the dogs will eat. He who dies in the open field, the birds from the heavens will eat, for Yahweh has spoken it.”’ 12 As for you, get up. Go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child will die. 13 All of Israel will mourn for him, and they will bury him. This one alone will come to a tomb for Jeroboam, because a good thing has been found in him by Yahweh the God of Israel in the house of Israel. 14 Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will even now cut off the house of Jeroboam this day. 15 Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors.[w] He will scatter them beyond the River[x] because they have made their sacred poles which are provoking Yahweh. 16 He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin.”
17 Then the wife of Jeroboam got up, went, and came to Tirzah. As she was coming to the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 They buried him and all of Israel mourned for him, according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet. 19 The remainder of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel. 20 The days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty-two years, and he slept with his ancestors.[y] Then Nadab his son became king in place of him.
Rehoboam Reigns in Judah
21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which, from all of the tribes of Israel, Yahweh chose to place his name. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. 22 But Judah did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and they annoyed him more than their fathers[z] did with their sins that they had committed. 23 They also built for themselves high places and stone pillars and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 There were also male shrine prostitutes in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh had driven out from before the Israelites.[aa]
Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt Raids Jerusalem
25 It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, 26 and he took the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and he took all the treasures of the king’s house. He took the small gold shields that Solomon had made, 27 so King Rehoboam made small copper shields in place of them and entrusted them[ab] to the commanders of the royal guard who keep the doorway of the king’s house. 28 Whenever the king came to the house of Yahweh, the royal guard carried them and brought them back to the alcove room of the royal guard. 29 The remainder of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? 30 There was always war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 Then Rehoboam slept with his ancestors,[ac] and he was buried with his ancestors[ad] in the city of David. The name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son became king in his place.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software