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2 Chronicles 11:4 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

4 The Lord has said, You are not to go to war against your brothers: let every man go back to his house, for this thing is my purpose. So they gave ear to the words of the Lord and were turned back from fighting against Jeroboam.

Cross Reference

Genesis 50:20 BBE

As for you, it was in your mind to do me evil, but God has given a happy outcome, the salvation of numbers of people, as you see today.

1 Kings 11:29-38 BBE

Now at that time, when Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite came across him on the road; now Ahijah had put on a new robe; and the two of them were by themselves in the open country. And Ahijah took his new robe in his hands, parting it violently into twelve. And he said to Jeroboam, Take ten of the parts, for this is what the Lord has said: See, I will take the kingdom away from Solomon by force, and will give ten tribes to you; (But one tribe will be his, because of my servant David, and because of Jerusalem, the town which, out of all the tribes of Israel, I have made mine,) Because they are turned away from me to the worship of Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and Chemosh, the god of Moab, and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites; they have not been walking in my ways or doing what is right in my eyes or keeping my laws and my decisions as his father David did. But I will not take the kingdom from him; I will let him be king all the days of his life, because of David my servant, in whom I took delight because he kept my orders and my laws. But I will take the kingdom from his son, and give it to you. And one tribe I will give to his son, so that David my servant may have a light for ever burning before me in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine to put my name there. And you I will take, and you will be king over Israel, ruling over whatever is the desire of your soul. And if you give attention to the orders I give you, walking in my ways and doing what is right in my eyes and keeping my laws and my orders as David my servant did; then I will be with you, building up for you a safe house, as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you.

2 Chronicles 10:15-16 BBE

So the king did not give ear to the people; for this came about by the purpose of God, so that the Lord might give effect to his word which he had said by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. And when all Israel saw that the king would give no attention to them, the people in answer said to the king, What part have we in David? what is our heritage in the son of Jesse? every man to your tents, O Israel; now see to your house, David. So all Israel went to their tents.

2 Chronicles 25:7-10 BBE

But a man of God came to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with you; for the Lord is not with Israel, that is, the children of Ephraim. But go yourself, and be strong in war; God will not let you go down before those who are fighting against you; for God has power to give help or to send you down before your attackers. Then Amaziah said to the man of God, But what is to be done about the hundred talents which I have given for the armed band of Israel? And the man of God in answer said, God is able to give you much more than this. So Amaziah, separating the armed band which had come to him from Ephraim, sent them back again; which made them very angry with Judah, and they went back burning with wrath.

2 Chronicles 28:8-15 BBE

And the children of Israel took away as prisoners from their brothers, two hundred thousand, women and sons and daughters, and a great store of their goods, and took them to Samaria. But a prophet of the Lord was there, named Oded; and he went out in front of the army which was coming into Samaria and said to them, Truly, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them up into your hands, and you have put them to death in an outburst of wrath stretching up to heaven. And now your purpose is to keep the children of Judah and Jerusalem as men-servants and women-servants under your yoke: but are there no sins against the Lord your God to be seen among yourselves? And now give ear to me, and send back the prisoners whom you have taken from your brothers: for the wrath of the Lord is burning against you. Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth Jehizkiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, put themselves against those who had come from the war, And said to them, You are not to let these prisoners come here; for what you are designing to do will be a cause of sin against the Lord to us, making even greater our sin and our wrongdoing, which now are great enough, and his wrath is burning against Israel. So the armed men gave up the prisoners and the goods they had taken to the heads and the meeting of the people. And those men who have been named went up and took the prisoners, clothing those among them who were uncovered, with things from the goods which had been taken in the war, and putting robes on them and shoes on their feet; and they gave them food and drink and oil for their bodies, and seating all the feeble among them on asses, they took them to Jericho, the town of palm-trees, to their people, and then went back to Samaria.

Genesis 13:8 BBE

Then Abram said to Lot, Let there be no argument between me and you, and between my herdmen and your herdmen, for we are brothers.

2 Samuel 2:26 BBE

Then crying out to Joab, Abner said, Are fighting and destruction to go on for ever? do you not see that the end will only be bitter? how long will it be before you send the people back and make them give up attacking their countrymen?

1 Kings 22:36 BBE

And about sundown a cry went up from all parts of the army, saying, Let every man go back to his town and his country, for the king is dead.

Psalms 33:11 BBE

The Lord's purpose is eternal, the designs of his heart go on through all the generations of man.

Hosea 8:4 BBE

They have put up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, but I had no knowledge of it; they have made images of silver and gold, so that they may be cut off.

Acts 7:26 BBE

And the day after, he came to them, while they were having a fight, and would have made peace between them, saying, Sirs, you are brothers; why do you do wrong to one another?

1 Corinthians 6:5-8 BBE

I say this to put you to shame. Is there not among you one wise man who may be able to give a decision between his brothers? But a brother who has a cause at law against another takes it before Gentile judges. More than this, it is not to your credit to have causes at law with one another at all. Why not put up with wrong? why not undergo loss? So far from doing this, you yourselves do wrong and take your brothers' property.

Hebrews 13:1 BBE

Go on loving your brothers in the faith.

1 Peter 3:8 BBE

Last of all, see that you are all in agreement; feeling for one another, loving one another like brothers, full of pity, without pride:

1 John 3:11-13 BBE

Because this is the word which was given to you from the first, that we are to have love for one another; Not being of the Evil One like Cain, who put his brother to death. And why did he put him to death? Because his works were evil and his brother's works were good. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world has no love for you.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 11

Commentary on 2 Chronicles 11 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction

Rehoboam's Reign - 2 Chronicles 11-12

When the ten tribes had renounced their allegiance to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, and had made Jeroboam their king (1 Kings 12:20), Rehoboam wished to compel them by force of arms again to submit to him, and made for this purpose a levy of all the men capable of bearing arms in Judah and Benjamin. But the prophet Shemaiah commanded him, in the name of the Lord, to desist from making war upon the Israelites, they being brethren, and Rehoboam abandoned his purpose (2 Chronicles 11:1-4, cf. 1 Kings 12:21-24), and began to establish his dominion over Judah and Benjamin. His kingdom, moreover, was increased in power by the immigration of the priests and Levites, whom Jeroboam had expelled from the priesthood, and also of many God-fearing Israelites out of the ten tribes, to Judah (2 Chronicles 11:13-17). Rehoboam also set his family affairs in order, by nominating from among his many sons, whom his wives had borne to him, Abijah to be his successor on the throne, and making provision for the others in different parts of the country (2 Chronicles 11:18-23). But when he had established his royal authority, he forsook the law of Jahve, and was punished for it by the inroad of the Egyptian king Shishak, who marched through his land with a numerous host, took Jerusalem, and plundered the palace and the temple (2 Chronicles 12:1-11), but without wholly ruining Judah; and Rehoboam was king until his death, and his son succeeded him on the throne (2 Chronicles 11:12-16).

The order in which these events are narrated is not chronological; they are rather grouped together according to their similarities. As Rehoboam began even in the third year of his reign to forsake the law of God, and King Shishak made war upon Judah as early as in his fifth year, the building of the fortresses may have been begun in the first three or four years, but cannot have been ended then; still less can the sons of Rehoboam have been provided for in the time before Shishak's inroad.


Verses 1-4

Rehoboam's attitude to the ten rebel tribes . Cf. 1 Kings 12:21-24. - Rehoboam's purpose, to subdue these tribes by force of arms, and bring them again under his dominion, and the abandonment of this purpose in consequence of the command of the prophet Shemaiah, belong in a certain measure to the history of the revolt of the ten tribes from the house of David; for the revolt only became an accomplished fact when the prophet Shemaiah proclaimed in the name of the Lord that the matter was from the Lord. 2 Chronicles 11:3. Of Jahve was the thing done; He had ordained the revolt as a chastisement of the seed of David for walking no more in His ways. Solomon had, by allowing himself to be seduced by his many foreign wives into departing from the Lord, exposed himself to the divine displeasure, and his successor Rehoboam increased the guilt by his impolitic treatment of the tribes dissatisfied with Solomon's rule, and had, if not brought about the revolt, yet hastened it; but yet the conduct of these tribes was not thereby justified. Their demand that the burdens laid upon them by Solomon should be lightened, flowed from impure and godless motives, and at bottom had its root in discontent with the theocratic rule of the house of David (see on 1 Kings 12:21.). The expression, “to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin,” is deeper than “the whole house of Judah and Benjamin and the remnant of the people,” i.e., those belonging to the other tribes who were dwelling in the tribal domains of Judah and Benjamin (1 Kings 12:23); for it characterizes all who had remained true to the house of David as Israel, i.e., those who walked in the footsteps of their progenitor Israel (Jacob).


Verses 5-12

Rehoboam's measures for the fortifying of his kingdom . - To defend his kingdom against hostile attacks, Rehoboam built cities for defence in Judah. The sing. למצור is used, because the building of cities served for the defence of the kingdom. Judah is the name of the kingdom, for the fifteen fenced cities enumerated in the following verses were situated in the tribal domains of both Benjamin and Judah.

2 Chronicles 11:6

In Judah lay Bethlehem, a small city mentioned as early as in Jacob's time (Genesis 35:19), two hours south of Jerusalem, the birthplace of David and of Christ (Micah 5:1; Matthew 2:5, Matthew 2:11), now Beit-Lahm; see on Joshua 15:59. Etam is not the place bearing the same name which is spoken of in 1 Chronicles 4:32 and Judges 15:8, and mentioned in the Talmud as the place where, near Solomon's Pools, the aqueduct which supplied Jerusalem with water commenced (cf. Robins. Pal. sub voce; Tobler, Topogr. v. Jerus. ii. S. 84ff., 855ff.);

(Note: For further information as to the commencement of this aqueduct, see the masterly dissertation of Dr. Herm. Zschokke, “ Die versiegelte Quelle Salomo ' s, ” in the Tübingen Theol. Quartalschr . 1867, H. 3, S. 426ff.)

nor is it to be looked for, as Robins. loc. cit ., and New Bibl. Researches , maintains, in the present village Urtâs (Artâs), for it has been identified by Tobl., dritte Wand. S. 89, with Ain Attân, a valley south-west from Artâs. Not only does the name Attân correspond more than Artâs with Etam, but from it the water is conducted to Jerusalem, while according to Tobler's thorough conviction it could not have been brought from Artâs. Tekoa, now Tekua, on the summit of a hill covered with ancient ruins, two hours south of Bethlehem; see on Joshua 15:59.

2 Chronicles 11:7

Beth-zur was situated where the ruin Beth-Sur now stands, midway between Urtâs and Hebron; see on Joshua 15:58. Shoko, the present Shuweike in Wady Sumt, 3 1/2 hours south-west from Jerusalem; see on Joshua 15:35. Adullam, in Joshua 15:35 included among the cities of the hill country, reckoned part of the lowland ( Shephelah ), i.e., the slope of the hills, has not yet been discovered. Tobler, dritte Wand. S. 151, conjectures that it is identical with the present Dula, about eight miles to the east of Beit-Jibrin; but this can hardly be correct (see against it, Arnold in Herzog's Realenc. xiv. S. 723. It is much more probable that its site was that of the present Deir Dubban, two hours to the north of Beit-Jibrin; see on Joshua 12:15.

2 Chronicles 11:8

Gath, a royal city of the Philistines, which was first made subject to the Israelites by David (1 Chronicles 18:1), and was under Solomon the seat of its own king, who was subject to the Israelite king (1 Kings 2:39), has not yet been certainly discovered; see on Joshua 13:3.

(Note: C. Schick, Reise in das Philisterland (in “ Ausland ” 1867, Nr. 7, S. 162), identifies Gath with the present Tel Safieh, “ an isolated conical hill in the plain, like a sentinel of a watchtower or fortress, and on that account there was so much struggling for its possession. ” On the other hand, Konr. Furrer, Wanderungen durch Palästina , Zürich 1865, thinks, S. 133, that he has found the true situation of Gath in the Wady el Gat, northward of the ruins of Askalon.)

Mareshah, the city Marissa, on the road from Hebron to the land of the Philistines, was at a later time very important, and is not represented by the ruin Marash, twenty-four minutes to the south of Beit-Jibrin (Eleutheropolis); see on Joshua 15:44, and Tobl. dritte Wand. S. 129, 142f. Ziph is probably the Ziph mentioned in Joshua 15:55, in the hill country of Judah, of which ruins yet remain on the hill Ziph, about an hour and a quarter south-east of Hebron; see on Joshua 15:55. C. v. Raumer thinks, on the contrary, Pal. S. 222, Anm. 249, that our Ziph, as it is mentioned along with Mareshah and other cities of the lowland, cannot be identified with either of the Ziphs mentioned in Joshua 15:24 and Joshua 15:55, but is probably Achzib in the lowland mentioned along with Mareshah, Joshua 15:44; but this is very improbable.

2 Chronicles 11:9

Adoraim ( Ἂδωραΐ́μ in Joseph. Antt. viii. 10. 1), met with in 1 Macc. 13:20 as an Idumean city, Ἄδωρα , and so also frequently in Josephus, was taken by Hyrcanus, and rebuilt by Gabinius (Jos. Antt. xiii. 15. 4, and xiv. 5. 3) under the name Δῶρα , and often spoken of along with Marissa (s. Reland, Palaest. p. 547). Robinson ( Pal. sub voce ) has identified it with the present Dûra, a village about 7 1/2 miles to the westward of Hebron. Lachish, situated in the lowland of Judah, as we learn from Joshua 15:39, is probably the present Um Lakis, on the road from Gaza to Beit-Jibrin and Hebron, to the left hand, seven hours to the west of Beit-Jibrin, on a circular height covered with ancient walls and marble fragments, and overgrown with thistles and bushes; see on Joshua 10:3, and Pressel in Herz.'s Realenc. viii. S. 157f. Azekah, situated in the neighbourhood of Shoco (2 Chronicles 11:7), and, according to 1 Samuel 17:1, in an oblique direction near Ephes-dammim, i.e., Damûm, one hour east to the south of Beit-Nettif,

(Note: Compare the interesting note of Breytenbach ( Reybb. des heil. Landes, i. 134) in Tobler, dritte Wand. S. 463: “ Thence (from Azekah) three miles is the city Zochot-Jude, not far from Nobah, where David slew Goliath. ” )

has not been re-discovered; see on Joshua 10:10.

2 Chronicles 11:10

Zorah, Samson's birthplace, is represented by the ruin Sura, at the south-west end of the ridge, which encloses the Wady es Surar on the north; see on Joshua 15:33. To the north of that again lay Ajalon, now the village Jâlo, on the verge of the plain Merj ibn Omeir , four leagues to the west of Gibeon; see on Joshua 10:12 and Joshua 19:42. Finally, Hebron, the ancient city of the patriarchs, now called el Khalil (The friend of God, i.e., Abraham); see on Genesis 23:2. All these fenced cities lay in the tribal domain of Judah, with the exception of Zorah and Ajalon, which were assigned to the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:41.). These two were probably afterwards, in the time of the judges, when a part of the Danites emigrated from Zorah and Eshtaol to the north of Palestine (Judges 18:1), taken possession of by Benjamites, and were afterwards reckoned to the land of Benjamin, and are here named as cities which Rehoboam fortified in Benjamin. If we glance for a moment at the geographical position of the whole fifteen cities, we see that they lay partly to the south of Jerusalem, on the road which went by Hebron to Beersheba and Egypt, partly on the western slopes of the hill country of Judah, on the road by Beit-Jibrin to Gaza, while only a few lay to the north of this road towards the Philistine plain, and there were none to the north to defend the kingdom against invasions from that side. “Rehoboam seems, therefore, to have had much more apprehension of an attack from the south and west, i.e., from the Egyptians, than of a war with the northern kingdom” (Berth.). Hence we may conclude that Rehoboam fortified these cities only after the inroad of the Egyptian king Shishak.

2 Chronicles 11:11-12

“And he made strong the fortresses, and put captains in them,” etc.; i.e., he increased their strength by placing them in a thoroughly efficient condition to defend themselves against attacks, appointing commandants ( נגידים ), provisioning them, and (2 Chronicles 11:12) laying up stores of all kinds of arms. In this way he made them exceedingly strong. The last clause, 2 Chronicles 11:12, “And there were to him Judah and Benjamin,” corresponds to the statement, 2 Chronicles 10:19, that Israel revolted from the house of David, and forms the conclusion of the account (vv. 1-17 a ) of that which Rehoboam did to establish his power and consolidate his kingdom. There follows hereupon, in


Verses 13-17

2 Chronicles 11:13-17, the account of the internal spiritual strengthening of the kingdom of Judah by the migration of the priests and Levites, and many pious worshippers of Jahve out of all the tribes, to the kingdom of Judah .

2 Chronicles 11:13-14

The priests and Levites in all Israel went over to him out of their whole domain. על התיצּב , to present oneself before any one, to await his commands, cf. Zechariah 6:5; Job 1:6; Job 2:1; here in the signification to place oneself at another's disposal, i.e., to go over to one. The suffix in גּבוּלם refers to “all Israel.” For - this was the motive of their migration, 2 Chronicles 11:14 -the Levites (in the wider signification of the word, including the priests) forsook their territory and their possessions, i.e., the cities assigned to them, with the pasture lands for their cattle (Numbers 35:1-8), scil. in the domain of the ten tribes; “for Jeroboam and his sons had driven them out from the priesthood of Jahve.” To prevent his subjects from visiting the temple at Jerusalem, which he feared might ultimately cause the people to return to the house of David, Jeroboam had erected his own places of worship for his kingdom in Bethel and Dan, where Jahve was worshipped in the ox images (the golden calves), and had appointed, not the Levites, but men from the body of the people, to be priests in these so-called sanctuaries (1 Kings 12:26-31), consecrated by himself. By these innovations not only the priests and Levites, who would not recognise this unlawful image-worship, were compelled to migrate to Judah and Jerusalem, but also the pious worshippers of the Lord, who would not renounce the temple worship which had been consecrated by God Himself. All Jeroboam's successors held firmly by this calf-worship introduced by him, and consequently the driving out of the priests and Levites is here said to have been the act of Jeroboam and his sons. By his sons are meant Jeroboam's successors on the throne, without respect to the fact that of Jeroboam's own sons only Nadab reached the throne, and that his dynasty terminated with him; for in this matter all the kings of Israel walked in the footsteps of Jeroboam.

2 Chronicles 11:15

And had ordained him priests for the high places. ויּעמד־לו is a continuation of הזניחם כּי , 2 Chronicles 11:14. בּמות are the places of worship which were erected by Jeroboam for the image-worship, called in 1 Kings 12:31 בּמות בּית ; see on that passage. The gods worshipped in these houses in high places the author of the Chronicle calls שׂעירים from their nature, and עגלים from their form. The word שׂעירים is taken from Leviticus 17:7, and signifies demons, so named from the Egyptian idolatry, in which the worship of goats, of Pan (Mendes), who was always represented in the form of a goat, occupied a prominent place; see on Leviticus 17:7. For further details as to the עגלים , see on 1 Kings 12:28.

2 Chronicles 11:16

אחריהם , after them, i.e., following after the priests and Levites. With את־לבבם הנּתנים , who turned their hearts thereto, cf. 1 Chronicles 22:19. They went to Jerusalem to sacrifice there; i.e., as we learn from the context, not merely to offer sacrifices, but also to remain in the kingdom of Judah.

2 Chronicles 11:17

These immigrants - priests, Levites, and pious worshippers of Jahve-made the kingdom of Judah strong, by strengthening the religious foundation on which the kingdom was founded, and made Rehoboam strong three years, so that they (king and people) walked in the way of David and Solomon. The strengthening lasted only three years-only while the opposition to Jeroboam's action in the matter of religion was kept alive by the emigration of the pious people from the ten tribes. What occurred after these three years is narrated only in 2 Chron 12. - Here there follows, in


Verse 18-19

2 Chronicles 11:18-23, information as to Rehoboam's family relationships . - 2 Chronicles 11:18. Instead of בּן we must read, with the Keri , many MSS, lxx, and Vulg., בּת : Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David. Among the sons of David (1 Chronicles 3:1-8) no Jerimoth is found. If this name be not another form of יתרעם , 1 Chronicles 3:3, Jerimoth must have been a son of one of David's concubines. Before the name אביחיל , ו must have been dropped out, and is to be supplied; so that Mahalath's father and mother are both named: the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, i.e., David's eldest brother (1 Chronicles 2:13; 1 Samuel 17:13). For Abihail cannot be held to be a second wife of Rehoboam, because 2 Chronicles 11:19, “and she bore,” and 2 Chronicles 11:20, “and after her,” show that in 2 Chronicles 11:18 only one wife is named. She bare him three sons, whose names occur only here (2 Chronicles 11:19).


Verse 20

Maachah the daughter, i.e., the granddaughter, of Absalom; for she cannot have been Absalom's daughter, because Absalom, according to 2 Samuel 14:27, had only one daughter, Tamar by name, who must have been fifty years old at Solomon's death. According to 2 Samuel 18:18, Absalom left no son; Maachah therefore can only be a daughter of Tamar, who, according to 2 Chronicles 13:2, was married to Uriel of Gibeah: see on 1 Kings 15:2. Abijah, the oldest son of Maachah, whom his father nominated his successor (2 Chronicles 11:22 and 2 Chronicles 12:16), is called in the book of Kings constantly Abijam, the original form of the name, which was afterwards weakened into Abijah.


Verse 21-22

Only these wives with their children are mentioned by name, though besides these Rehoboam had a number of wives, 18 wives and 60 (according to Josephus, 30) concubines, who bore him twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Rehoboam trod in his father's footsteps in this not quite praise-worthy point. The eldest son of Maachah he made head ( לראשׁ ), i.e., prince, among his brethren; להמליכו כּי , for to make him king, scil. was his intention. The infin. with ל is here used in the swiftness of speech in loose connection to state with what further purpose he had appointed him נגיד ; cf. Ew. §351, c , at the end.


Verse 23

And he did wisely, and dispersed of all his sons in all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, i.e., dispersed all his sons so, that they were placed in all parts of Judah and Benjamin in the fenced cities, and he gave them victual in abundance, and he sought (for them) a multitude of wives. שׁאל , to ask for, for the father brought about the marriage of his sons. He therefore took care that his sons, by being thus scattered in the fenced cities of the country as their governors, were separated from each other, but also that they received the necessary means for living in a way befitting their princely rank, in the shape of an abundant maintenance and a considerable number of wives. They were thus kept in a state of contentment, so that they might not make any attempt to gain the crown, which he had reserved for Abijah; and in this lay the wisdom of his conduct.