The First Book of the Kings, commonly called the Third Book of the Kings
1 Kings 12
Chapter XII · Vol. II, pp. 741–744
1 The Israelites, assembled at Shechem to crown Rehoboam, by Jeroboam make a suit of relaxation unto him. 6 Rehoboam, refusing the old men's counsel, by the advice of young men, answereth them roughly. 16 Ten tribes revolting, kill Adoram, and make Rehoboam to flee. 21 Rehoboam, raising an army, is forbidden by Shemaiah. 25 Jeroboam strengtheneth himself by cities, 26 and by the idolatry of the two calves.
1 And Rehoboama went to bShechem:1 for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
B.C. 975.
a 2 Ch.10.1. Mat.1.7. 1 Ch.3.10.
b Jos.24.1. Ju.9.1. Ge.12.6; 23.19.
1 The reasons of the assembly being held at Shechem do not appear. The most probable are: (1) It was situated between Ebal and Gerizim, where the blessings and curses of the law had been nationally announced, De. 11. 29. (2) It was the place of assembly for Joshua's last charge, Jos. xxiv. (3) It was an ancient place of coronation, Ju. ix. (4) It was a capacious valley, and much better suited to such a popular assembly than any around Jerusalem. (5) The leaven of disaffection that was evidently working, led, most probably, to the selection of a 'mustering place,' distant from the influence of Jerusalem. It is at present called Nablous, and is still a considerable town, beautifully situated amidst gardens and groves.—C.
2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in cEgypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
c ch.11.40,43. 2 Ch.10.2-5.
3 That they sent and called him: and Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
4 Thy father made our dyoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
d With ch.4.7,22,23; 5.18; 9.15. It seems he had laid taxes on them to build his idolatrous temples, ch.11.7,8,33.
5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me.2 And the people departed.
2 The man who requires advice before he can decide upon redressing a grievance and showing mercy, is not likely to take good advice when given, and so it was with Rehoboam.—C.
6 And king Rehoboam econsulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
e Je.42.2,5; 43.2, with Job 12.12,13; 32.7. 2 Ch.10.6,7.
7 And they spake unto him, saying, fIf thou wilt be a servant unto this people3 this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
f 2 Ch.10.7. Pr.15.1; 29.15. Ec.3.1.
A.M. 3029. B.C. 975.
3 The real character of a king—the ruler, but still the first servant of the state, a sentence embodying more sound political truth than whole volumes of human theories. It is likewise the best description of a father and a mother; nor less of those who rule, yet minister (do service) in the church of Christ.—C.
8 But he gforsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:
g ver.6,7,9-11. 2 Ch.10.8-11.
9 And he said unto them, hWhat counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?
10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, iMy little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
i Pr.18.6,7; 10.6,11,14. 2 Ch.22.4,5; 10.10. Ps.7.16; 140.11. ver.13.
11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.4
4 The scorpion is a poisonous animal, perhaps considered hideous because it is known to be dangerous and whose sting causes exquisite pain, or even death. It is here supposed by the rabbins to be a name for a scourge with sharp thorny twigs and knots. Others derive the name from an Arabian shrub called the scorpion thorn It is here the appropriate emblem of folly, cruelty, and tyranny.—Note, How thankful should a people be for a well-ordered government, where law, not will, governs, and where mercy and justice preside in every court and decision! C.——Here a simple scourge is contrasted with another more painful. The latter is called a scorpion, probably to denote a comparison between the pain occasioned by the scourge and the reptile. Isidore, and after him Calmet, assert that it was a sort of severe whip, the lashes of which were armed with iron points; while others say it was a long bag of leather, filled with sand, and stuck full of spikes.—I.
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, kMy father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that mhe might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, nWhat portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
17 But as ofor the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
o ch.11.13,32,35; ver.20.
18 Then king Rehoboam sent pAdoram, who was over the tribute;5 and qall Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed6 to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
p ch.4.6; 5.14.
5 Rehoboam commences by a foolish act in seeking advice where he needs none; he proceeds as foolishly as he had begun, in rejecting good advice and following bad; he consummates his folly by sending his most obnoxious agent to an insulted and irritated multitude; and as the proceeding was foolish, the result is disastrous.—Note, A wise father may have a foolish son; and that partly to restrain parental vanity, and to incite rather to prayer for filial grace. But a wise father may give a foolish education, of which fact the example of Solomon forms a melancholy illustration, followed by its natural and disastrous consequences.—C.
q Ac.7.57,58.
A.M. 3029. B.C. 975.
6 Heb. strengthened himself.
19 So Israel rrebelled against the house of David unto7 this day.8
r Or, fell away, 2 Ki.17.21. Pr.5.11-14.
7 To the time of Ezra.
8 The day or period in which the author lived. I have stated in the introduction that Jeremiah seems to have been the author of the Books of Kings; if so, then these words were written about 400 years after the events occurred.—P.
20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they ssent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was tnone that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.9
s 1 Sa.10.24. Ho.1.10,11; 8.4. Ps.75.6,7. Da.2.21; 4.34,35.
t No whole tribe, ch.11.13,32,36. Ec.10.16. ver.17.
9 This is reconciled with ver. 21, not by considering Benjamin a mere appendage to Judah, but by a very natural supposition, that the tribe of Benjamin did not at first join him, but were induced to do so after he had come to Jerusalem.—C.
21 Andu when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
u 2 Ch.11.1-4. Ps.33.16; 146.3. Pr.21.30,31.
22 But xthe word of God came unto Shemaiah the yman of God, saying,
x 2 Ch.11.2-4.
y ch.13.1. 1 Sa.9.6. 2 Ch.12.5,15.
23 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the zremnant of the people,1 saying,
z ver.27. 2 Ch.11.13,16.
1 Refugees from the other tribes who maintained unshaken their loyalty to the house of David.—C.
24 Thus saith the LORD, aYe shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; bfor this thing is from me.2 They chearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.
a Nu.14.42. 2 Ch.11.4; 25.7,8; 28.13.
b ver.15; ch.11.29-38.
2 Not that the people should rebel against legitimate authority, but that a foolish and cruel king should be punished by the disaffection of his people and dismemberment of his kingdom.—C.
c 2 Ch.25.10; 28.13. Pr.21.3. 1 Sa.15.22.
25 Then Jeroboam dbuilt eShechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built fPenuel.3
27 If this people hgo up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they ishall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 Whereupon the king ktook counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, lIt is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
30 And this thing obecame a sin:5 for the people went to worship before the one, even punto Dan.6
o ch.13.34. 2 Ki.10.31; 17.21. Ho.5.11.
5 A breach of the first, ver. 28, and second commandment, Ex.20.3.—C.
p ver.29. Ju.18.7,27,28; 20.21. 2 Sa.24.2,6; 17.11.
6 The people of the northern parts went for their private sacrifices to Dan, but the king appointed their public national feasts at Bethel.—C.
31 And he made an qhouse of high places, and made priests rof the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.7
q ch.13.32. Eze.16.25. Ho.12.11.
A.M. 3029. B.C. 975.
r 2 Ki.17.32. 2 Ch.11.15; 13.9. Eze.44.7,8. ch.13.33, with Nu.3.6,10.
7 'And he made an house of high-places; and he made priests of all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.' The words 'lowest of the people' does not express the sense of the original. The meaning is, he made priests of the people indiscriminately, without any regard to hereditary qualification.—P.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a sfeast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah; and he offered upon the altar, (so did he in tBeth-el,) sacrificing8 unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made.
33 So he offered upon the altar9 which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devisedu of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he xoffered upon the altar, and burnt incense.1
9 Or, went up to the altar, &c.
u Nu.15.39. Mat.15.9. Ps.106.39.
x ver.32; ch.13.1. 2 Ch.26.16. 1 Sa.13.9,12.
1 Heb. to burn incense.
Notes
[Ver. 1. Shechem was the capital, stronghold, and gathering-place of the great tribe of Ephraim, which had from the time of the exodus disputed the supremacy with Judah. There was a traditional glory, too, about Shechem. There the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob pitched their tents: there Jacob bought his only property in Canaan; there the first great national assembly was held on entering Palestine; and there the law was publicly read, and adopted as the national code, both civil and sacred. Rehoboam was doubtless aware of the growing discontent, and he wished by going to Shechem to conciliate the powerful tribe of Ephraim. P.]
Ver. 28. [Made two calves of gold. The worship of the bull was the chief idolatry of Egypt, where Jeroboam was educated, and a form that Israel was known to be ready to receive, Ex. 32. 4.—Note, He that commits a sin once is always in danger of being tempted specially to the same sin again. C.——Jeroboam cunningly pandered to popular superstition, while he carefully abstained from shocking national feeling. The Israelites had from the time of the exodus manifested a desire to have some visible embodiment of their God. They did not reject Jehovah. They did not wish to do so. Jeroboam gave them their wish. He set up the two calves, and said, 'Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' P.]
Ver. 33. [Devised of his own heart. The sin of Cain—not in the offering, which here was a proper sacrifice—but in the principle, a sacrifice in object, place, time, and priesthood the device of the worshipper's own heart.—Note, God will be worshipped, but in the manner of his own order. 'No man cometh to the Father, but by the Son,' Jn. 14. 6. C.]
Reflections.—Sin is but a bad way of building families. By all his wives Solomon seems to have had but one son, and he a fool. Neither wisdom nor grace runs in the blood. And often the best instructions are thrown away upon children; especially if the parent has practically disregarded them himself. Some factious spirits are always ready to blow up the coals of sedition; and often their vile designs lurk under the most specious appearances. It is astonishing that we hear no complaint of Solomon's idolatry when we hear so much of his oppressive servitude. But most men seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. They are more concerned to save their money than their souls. That government is but in a tottering condition which subsists by severity, and where the king does not reign in the hearts of his subjects. They are our best friends who dissuade us from our rash designs, and they our worst enemies who soothe our folly and flatter our pride. It is mad to give true causes of provocation to those who are already provoked without cause. But it is common at courts to study the pleasure of the king more than the profit of the kingdom. And God fulfils his purposes, promises, and threatenings by the follies as well as by the crimes of mankind. When people once become unreasonable, they will not stick to contemn and calumniate the best of kings and the best of governments. And they who by oppression drive men into rebellion must blame themselves for the mischiefs which they incur. Princes, once infatuated in their counsels, readily add one blunder to another, running to the various extremes of haughtiness, silly compliance, and open violence. We often see the miseries which our follies occasion when it is too late to remedy them. Hasty words often produce endless mischiefs. But love to our brethren should make us put up with many injuries, rather than seek to redress them in a manner which may be ruinous to both: and when God's will contradicts our designs, we must submit without delay. If we fight against him, there can be no hope of success. Wicked princes soon forget the express conditions on which God granted them their power. And with infinite infamy, guilt, and danger to themselves and their subjects, they model the worship of God after patterns of human invention which they have seen, or as they hope will best answer their carnal purposes; or which, by contrariety to what God has appointed, most gratifies their enmity against him. But to secure our safety by sin is only to hasten our ruin. Great men's examples are grievously infectious: and most subjects are ready to comply with any form of religion which their rulers please to appoint.