Worthy.Bible » Parallel » 1 Kings » Chapter 14

1 Kings 14:1-31 King James Version (KJV)

1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.

3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.

4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

5 And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.

6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,

8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;

9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.

12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

14 Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.

15 For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.

16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;

18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.

23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.

28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.

31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.


1 Kings 14:1-31 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 At that time H6256 Abijah H29 the son H1121 of Jeroboam H3379 fell sick. H2470

2 And Jeroboam H3379 said H559 to his wife, H802 Arise, H6965 I pray thee, and disguise H8138 thyself, that thou be not known H3045 to be the wife H802 of Jeroboam; H3379 and get H1980 thee to Shiloh: H7887 behold, there is Ahijah H281 the prophet, H5030 which told H1696 me that I should be king H4428 over this people. H5971

3 And take H3947 with thee H3027 ten H6235 loaves, H3899 and cracknels, H5350 and a cruse H1228 of honey, H1706 and go H935 to him: he shall tell H5046 thee what shall become of the child. H5288

4 And Jeroboam's H3379 wife H802 did so, H6213 and arose, H6965 and went H3212 to Shiloh, H7887 and came H935 to the house H1004 of Ahijah. H281 But Ahijah H281 could H3201 not see; H7200 for his eyes H5869 were set H6965 by reason of his age. H7869

5 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto Ahijah, H281 Behold, the wife H802 of Jeroboam H3379 cometh H935 to ask H1875 a thing H1697 of thee for her son; H1121 for he is sick: H2470 thus H2090 and thus shalt thou say H1696 unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, H935 that she shall feign herself to be another H5234 woman.

6 And it was so, when Ahijah H281 heard H8085 the sound H6963 of her feet, H7272 as she came in H935 at the door, H6607 that he said, H559 Come in, H935 thou wife H802 of Jeroboam; H3379 why feignest thou thyself to be another? H5234 for I am sent H7971 to thee with heavy H7186 tidings.

7 Go, H3212 tell H559 Jeroboam, H3379 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 Forasmuch as H3282 I exalted H7311 thee from among H8432 the people, H5971 and made H5414 thee prince H5057 over my people H5971 Israel, H3478

8 And rent H7167 the kingdom H4467 away H7167 from the house H1004 of David, H1732 and gave H5414 it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant H5650 David, H1732 who kept H8104 my commandments, H4687 and who followed H1980 H310 me with all his heart, H3824 to do H6213 that only which was right H3477 in mine eyes; H5869

9 But hast done H6213 evil H7489 above all that were before H6440 thee: for thou hast gone H3212 and made H6213 thee other H312 gods, H430 and molten images, H4541 to provoke me to anger, H3707 and hast cast H7993 me behind H310 thy back: H1458

10 Therefore, behold, I will bring H935 evil H7451 upon the house H1004 of Jeroboam, H3379 and will cut off H3772 from Jeroboam H3379 him that pisseth H8366 against the wall, H7023 and him that is shut up H6113 and left H5800 in Israel, H3478 and will take away H1197 the remnant H310 of the house H1004 of Jeroboam, H3379 as a man taketh away H1197 dung, H1557 till it be all gone. H8552

11 Him that dieth H4191 of Jeroboam H3379 in the city H5892 shall the dogs H3611 eat; H398 and him that dieth H4191 in the field H7704 shall the fowls H5775 of the air H8064 eat: H398 for the LORD H3068 hath spoken H1696 it.

12 Arise H6965 thou therefore, get H3212 thee to thine own house: H1004 and when thy feet H7272 enter H935 into the city, H5892 the child H3206 shall die. H4191

13 And all Israel H3478 shall mourn H5594 for him, and bury H6912 him: for he only of Jeroboam H3379 shall come H935 to the grave, H6913 because in him there is found H4672 some good H2896 thing H1697 toward the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel H3478 in the house H1004 of Jeroboam. H3379

14 Moreover the LORD H3068 shall raise him up H6965 a king H4428 over Israel, H3478 who shall cut off H3772 the house H1004 of Jeroboam H3379 that day: H3117 but what? even now.

15 For the LORD H3068 shall smite H5221 Israel, H3478 as a reed H7070 is shaken H5110 in the water, H4325 and he shall root up H5428 Israel H3478 out of this good H2896 land, H127 which he gave H5414 to their fathers, H1 and shall scatter H2219 them beyond H5676 the river, H5104 because they have made H6213 their groves, H842 provoking the LORD H3068 to anger. H3707

16 And he shall give H5414 Israel H3478 up H5414 because H1558 of the sins H2403 of Jeroboam, H3379 who did sin, H2398 and who made Israel H3478 to sin. H2398

17 And Jeroboam's H3379 wife H802 arose, H6965 and departed, H3212 and came H935 to Tirzah: H8656 and when she came H935 to the threshold H5592 of the door, H1004 the child H5288 died; H4191

18 And they buried H6912 him; and all Israel H3478 mourned H5594 for him, according to the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 which he spake H1696 by the hand H3027 of his servant H5650 Ahijah H281 the prophet. H5030

19 And the rest H3499 of the acts H1697 of Jeroboam, H3379 how he warred, H3898 and how he reigned, H4427 behold, they are written H3789 in the book H5612 of the chronicles H1697 H3117 of the kings H4428 of Israel. H3478

20 And the days H3117 which Jeroboam H3379 reigned H4427 were two H8147 and twenty H6242 years: H8141 and he slept H7901 with his fathers, H1 and Nadab H5070 his son H1121 reigned H4427 in his stead.

21 And Rehoboam H7346 the son H1121 of Solomon H8010 reigned H4427 in Judah. H3063 Rehoboam H7346 was forty H705 and one H259 years H8141 old H1121 when he began to reign, H4427 and he reigned H4427 seventeen H7651 H6240 years H8141 in Jerusalem, H3389 the city H5892 which the LORD H3068 did choose H977 out of all the tribes H7626 of Israel, H3478 to put H7760 his name H8034 there. And his mother's H517 name H8034 was Naamah H5279 an Ammonitess. H5985

22 And Judah H3063 did H6213 evil H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD, H3068 and they provoked him to jealousy H7065 with their sins H2403 which they had committed, H2398 above all that their fathers H1 had done. H6213

23 For they also built H1129 them high places, H1116 and images, H4676 and groves, H842 on every high H1364 hill, H1389 and under every green H7488 tree. H6086

24 And there were also sodomites H6945 in the land: H776 and they did H6213 according to all the abominations H8441 of the nations H1471 which the LORD H3068 cast out H3423 before H6440 the children H1121 of Israel. H3478

25 And it came to pass in the fifth H2549 year H8141 of king H4428 Rehoboam, H7346 that Shishak H7895 king H4428 of Egypt H4714 came up H5927 against Jerusalem: H3389

26 And he took away H3947 the treasures H214 of the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and the treasures H214 of the king's H4428 house; H1004 he even took away H3947 all: and he took away H3947 all the shields H4043 of gold H2091 which Solomon H8010 had made. H6213

27 And king H4428 Rehoboam H7346 made H6213 in their stead brasen H5178 shields, H4043 and committed H6485 them unto the hands H3027 of the chief H8269 of the guard, H7323 which kept H8104 the door H6607 of the king's H4428 house. H1004

28 And it was so, when H1767 the king H4428 went H935 into the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 that the guard H7323 bare H5375 them, and brought them back H7725 into the guard H7323 chamber. H8372

29 Now the rest H3499 of the acts H1697 of Rehoboam, H7346 and all that he did, H6213 are they not written H3789 in the book H5612 of the chronicles H1697 H3117 of the kings H4428 of Judah? H3063

30 And there was war H4421 between Rehoboam H7346 and Jeroboam H3379 all their days. H3117

31 And Rehoboam H7346 slept H7901 with his fathers, H1 and was buried H6912 with his fathers H1 in the city H5892 of David. H1732 And his mother's H517 name H8034 was Naamah H5279 an Ammonitess. H5985 And Abijam H38 his son H1121 reigned H4427 in his stead.


1 Kings 14:1-31 American Standard (ASV)

1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spake concerning me that I should be king over this people.

3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cakes, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he will tell thee what shall become of the child.

4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

5 And Jehovah said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to inquire of thee concerning her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her; for it will be, when she cometh in, that she will feign herself to be another woman.

6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,

8 and rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee; and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes,

9 but hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

10 therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every man-child, him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweepeth away dung, till it be all gone.

11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat: for Jehovah hath spoken it.

12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thy house: `and' when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

14 Moreover Jehovah will raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.

15 For Jehovah will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking Jehovah to anger.

16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he hath sinned, and wherewith he hath made Israel to sin.

17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: `and' as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.

18 And all Israel buried him, and mourned for him, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

22 And Judah did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done.

23 For they also built them high places, and pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree;

24 and there were also sodomites in the land: they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Jehovah drove out before the children of Israel.

25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;

26 and he took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.

28 And it was so, that, as oft as the king went into the house of Jehovah, the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.


1 Kings 14:1-31 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 At that time was Abijah son of Jeroboam sick,

2 and Jeroboam saith to his wife, `Rise, I pray thee, and change thyself, and they know not that thou `art' wife of Jeroboam, and thou hast gone to Shiloh; lo, there `is' Ahijah the prophet; he spake unto me of `being' king over this people;

3 and thou hast taken in thy hand ten loaves, and crumbs, and a bottle of honey, and hast gone in unto him; he doth declare to thee what becometh of the youth.'

4 And the wife of Jeroboam doth so, and riseth, and goeth to Shiloh, and entereth the house of Ahijah, and Ahijah is not able to see, for his eyes have stood because of his age.

5 And Jehovah said unto Ahijah, `Lo, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from thee concerning her son, for he is sick; thus and thus thou dost speak unto her, and it cometh to pass at her coming in, that she is making herself strange.'

6 And it cometh to pass, at Ahijah's hearing the sound of her feet `as' she came in to the opening, that he saith, `Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why is this -- thou art making thyself strange? and I am sent unto thee `with' a sharp thing:

7 Go, say to Jeroboam, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Because that I have made thee high out of the midst of the people, and appoint thee leader over my people Israel,

8 and rend the kingdom from the house of David, and give it to thee, -- and thou hast not been as My servant David who kept My commands, and who walked after Me with all his heart, to do only that which `is' right in Mine eyes,

9 and thou dost evil above all who have been before thee, and goest, and makest to thee other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and Me thou hast cast behind thy back:

10 `Therefore, lo, I am bringing in evil unto the house of Jeroboam, and have cut off to Jeroboam those sitting on the wall -- shut up and left -- in Israel, and have put away the posterity of the house of Jeroboam, as one putteth away the dung till its consumption;

11 him who dieth of Jeroboam in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat, for Jehovah hath spoken.

12 `And thou, rise, go to thy house; in the going in of thy feet to the city -- hath the lad died;

13 and all Israel have mourned for him, and buried him, for this one -- by himself -- cometh of Jeroboam unto a grave, because there hath been found in him a good thing towards Jehovah, God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

14 `And Jehovah hath raised up for Him a king over Israel who cutteth off the house of Jeroboam this day -- and what? -- even now!

15 And Jehovah hath smitten Israel as the reed is moved by the waters, and hath plucked Israel from off this good ground that He gave to their fathers, and scattered them beyond the River, because that they made their shrines, provoking Jehovah to anger;

16 and He giveth up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin.'

17 And the wife of Jeroboam riseth, and goeth, and cometh to Tirzah; she hath come in to the threshold of the house, and the youth dieth;

18 and they bury him, and mourn for him do all Israel, according to the word of Jehovah, that he spake by the hand of His servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 And the rest of the matters of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, lo, they are written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.

20 And the days that Jeroboam reigned `are' twenty and two years, and he lieth with his fathers, and reign doth Nadab his son in his stead.

21 And Rehoboam son of Solomon hath reigned in Judah; a son of forty and one years `is' Rehoboam in his reigning, and seventeen years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah chose to set His name there, out of all the tribes of Israel, and the name of his mother `is' Naamah the Ammonitess.

22 And Judah doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and they make Him zealous above all that their fathers did by their sins that they have sinned.

23 And they build -- also they -- for themselves high places, and standing-pillars, and shrines, on every high height, and under every green tree;

24 and also a whoremonger hath been in the land; they have done according to all the abominations of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel.

25 And it cometh to pass, in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, gone up hath Shishak king of Egypt against Jerusalem,

26 and he taketh the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king, yea, the whole he hath taken; and he taketh all the shields of gold that Solomon made.

27 And king Rehoboam maketh in their stead shields of brass, and hath made `them' a charge on the hand of the heads of the runners, those keeping the opening of the house of the king,

28 and it cometh to pass, from the going in of the king to the house of Jehovah, the runners bear them, and have brought them back unto the chamber of the runners.

29 And the rest of the matters of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?

30 And war hath been between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days;

31 and Rehoboam lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers, in the city of David, and the name of his mother `is' Naamah the Ammonitess, and reign doth Abijam his son in his stead.


1 Kings 14:1-31 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam was sick.

2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and go to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who told me that [I should be] king over this people.

3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cakes, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he will tell thee what shall become of the lad.

4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. And Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

5 And Jehovah said to Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee about her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her; for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign to be another.

6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou to be another? But I am sent to thee with a hard [message].

7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,

8 and rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee; and thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do only that which is right in my sight;

9 but thou hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

10 therefore behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the field shall the fowl of the heavens eat; for Jehovah hath spoken.

12 And thou, arise, go to thine own house; when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and they shall bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward Jehovah the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

14 And Jehovah shall raise up for himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day; and what? ... even now.

15 And Jehovah will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their Asherahs, provoking Jehovah to anger.

16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, wherewith he has sinned, and made Israel to sin.

17 And Jeroboam's wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah; when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died.

18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

20 And the days that Jeroboam reigned were twenty-two years; and he slept with his fathers. And Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there; and his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.

22 And Judah did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed more than all that their fathers had done.

23 And they also built for themselves high places, and columns, and Asherahs on every high hill and under every green tree;

24 and there were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed before the children of Israel.

25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, [that] Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.

26 And he took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all; and he took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made.

27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the couriers who kept the entrance of the king's house.

28 And it was so, that as often as the king entered into the house of Jehovah, the couriers bore them, and brought them again into the chamber of the couriers.

29 And the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all [their] days.

31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.


1 Kings 14:1-31 World English Bible (WEB)

1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

2 Jeroboam said to his wife, Please get up and disguise yourself, that you not be known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get you to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people.

3 Take with you ten loaves, and cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him: he will tell you what shall become of the child.

4 Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

5 Yahweh said to Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam comes to inquire of you concerning her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shall you tell her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will feign herself to be another woman.

6 It was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, you wife of Jeroboam; why feign you yourself to be another? for I am sent to you with heavy news.

7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel,

8 and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it you; and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in my eyes,

9 but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made you other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back:

10 therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every man-child, him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it be all gone.

11 Him who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him who dies in the field shall the birds of the sky eat: for Yahweh has spoken it.

12 Arise you therefore, get you to your house: [and] when your feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

13 All Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

14 Moreover Yahweh will raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.

15 For Yahweh will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking Yahweh to anger.

16 He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.

17 Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: [and] as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.

18 All Israel buried him, and mourned for him, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

20 The days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

21 Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

22 Judah did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done.

23 For they also built them high places, and pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree;

24 and there were also sodomites in the land: they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh drove out before the children of Israel.

25 It happened in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;

26 and he took away the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

27 King Rehoboam made in their place shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.

28 It was so, that as often as the king went into the house of Yahweh, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

31 Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son reigned in his place.


1 Kings 14:1-31 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 At that time Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, became ill.

2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Now come, put on different clothing so that you may not seem to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh; see, Ahijah is there, the prophet who said I would be king over this people.

3 And take with you ten cakes of bread and dry cakes and a pot of honey, and go to him: he will give you word of what is to become of the child.

4 So Jeroboam's wife did so, and got up and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah was unable to see, because he was very old.

5 And the Lord had said to Ahijah, The wife of Jeroboam is coming to get news from you about her son, who is ill; give her such and such an answer; for she will make herself seem to be another woman.

6 Then Ahijah, hearing the sound of her footsteps coming in at the door, said, Come in, O wife of Jeroboam; why do you make yourself seem like another? for I am sent to you with bitter news.

7 Go, say to Jeroboam, These are the words of the Lord, the God of Israel: Though I took you from among the people, lifting you up to be a ruler over my people Israel,

8 And took the kingdom away by force from the seed of David and gave it to you, you have not been like my servant David, who kept my orders, and was true to me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.

9 But you have done evil more than any before you, and have made for yourself other gods, and images of metal, moving me to wrath, and turning your back on me.

10 So I will send evil on the line of Jeroboam, cutting off from his family every male child, those who are shut up and those who go free in Israel; the family of Jeroboam will be brushed away like a man brushing away waste till it is all gone.

11 Those of the family of Jeroboam who come to death in the town, will become food for the dogs; and those on whom death comes in the open country, will be food for the birds of the air; for the Lord has said it.

12 Up, then! go back to your house; and in the hour when your feet go into the town, the death of the child will take place.

13 And all Israel will put his body to rest, weeping over him, because he only of the family of Jeroboam will be put into his resting-place in the earth; for of all the family of Jeroboam, in him only has the Lord, the God of Israel, seen some good.

14 And the Lord will put up a king over Israel who will send destruction on the family of Jeroboam in that day;

15 And even now the hand of the Lord has come down on Israel, shaking it like a river-grass in the water; and, uprooting Israel from this good land, which he gave to their fathers, he will send them this way and that on the other side of the River; because they have made for themselves images, moving the Lord to wrath.

16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins which Jeroboam has done and made Israel do.

17 Then Jeroboam's wife got up and went away and came to Tirzah; and when she came to the doorway of the house, death came to the child.

18 And all Israel put his body to rest, weeping over him, as the Lord had said by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he became king, are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

20 And Jeroboam was king for twenty-two years, and was put to rest with his fathers, and Nadab his son became king in his place.

21 And Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was king in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he was king for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the town which the Lord had made his out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there; his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonite woman.

22 And Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and made him more angry than their fathers had done by their sins.

23 For they made high places and upright stones and wood pillars on every high hill and under every green tree;

24 And more than this, there were those in the land who were used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods, doing the same disgusting crimes as the nations which the Lord had sent out before the children of Israel.

25 Now in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem;

26 And took away all the stored wealth from the house of the Lord, and from the king's house, and all the gold body-covers which Solomon had made.

27 So in their place King Rehoboam had other body-covers made of brass, and gave them into the care of the captains of the armed men who were stationed at the door of the king's house.

28 And whenever the king went into the house of the Lord, the armed men went with him taking the body-covers, and then took them back to their room.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.

31 And Rehoboam went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth with his fathers in the town of David; his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonite woman. And Abijam his son became king in his place.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 14

Commentary on 1 Kings 14 Matthew Henry Commentary


Chapter 14

The kingdom being divided into that of Judah and that of Israel, we must henceforward, in these books of Kings, expect and attend their separate history, the succession of their kings, and the affairs of their kingdoms, accounted for distinctly. In this chapter we have,

  • I. The prophecy of the destruction of Jeroboam's house (v. 7-16). The sickness of his child was the occasion of it (v. 1-6), and the death of his child the earnest of it (v. 17, 18), together with the conclusion of his reign (v. 19, 20).
  • II. The history of the declension and diminution of Rehoboam's house and kingdom (v. 21-28) and the conclusion of his reign (v. 29-31). In both we may read the mischievous consequences of sin and the calamities it brings on kingdoms and families.

1Ki 14:1-6

How Jeroboam persisted in his contempt of God and religion we read in the close of the foregoing chapter. Here we are told how God proceeded in his controversy with him; for when God judges he will overcome, and sinners shall either bend or break before him.

  • I. His child fell sick, v. 1. It is probable that he was his eldest son, and heir-apparent to the crown; for at his death all the kingdom went into mourning for him, ch. 13. His dignity as a prince, his age as a young prince, and his interest in heaven as a pious prince, could not exempt him from sickness, dangerous sickness. Let none be secure of the continuance of their health, but improve it, while it continues, for the best purposes. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest, thy favourite, he whom Israel loves, their darling, is sick. At that time, when Jeroboam prostituted the profaned the priesthood (ch. 13:33), his child sickened. When sickness comes into our families we should enquire whether there be not some particular sin harboured in our houses, which the affliction is sent to convince us of and reclaim us from.
  • II. He sent his wife in disguise to enquire of Ahijah the prophet what should become of the child, v. 2, 3. The sickness of his child touched him in a tender part. The withering of this branch of the family would, perhaps, be as sore an affliction to him as the withering of that branch of his body, ch. 13:4. Such is the force of natural affection; our children are ourselves but once removed. Now,
    • 1. Jeroboam's great desire, under this affliction, is to know what shall become of the child, whether he will live or die.
      • (1.) It would have been more prudent if he had desired to know what means they should use for the recovery of the child, what they should give him, and what they should do to him; but by this instance, and those of Ahaziah (2 Ki. 1:2) and Benhadad (2 Ki. 8:8), it should seem they had then such a foolish notion of fatality as took them off from all use of means; for, if they were sure the patient would live, they thought means needless; if he would die, they thought them useless; not considering that duty is ours, events are God's, and that he that ordained the end ordained the means. Why should a prophet be desired to show that which a little time will show?
      • (2.) It would have been more pious if he had desired to know wherefore God contended with him, had begged the prophet's prayers, and cast away his idols from him; then the child might have been restored to him, as his hand was. But most people would rather be told their fortune than their faults or their duty.
    • 2. That he might know the child's doom, he sent to Ahijah the prophet, who lived obscurely and neglected in Shiloh, blind through age, yet still blest with the visions of the Almighty, which need not bodily eyes, but are rather favoured by the want of them, the eyes of the mind being then most intent and least diverted. Jeroboam sent not to him for advice about the setting up of his calves, or the consecrating of his priests, but had recourse to him in his distress, when the gods he served could give him no relief. Lord, in trouble have those visited thee who before slighted thee. Some have by sickness been reminded of their forgotten ministers and praying friends. He sent to Ahijah, because he had told him he should be king, v. 2. "He was once the messenger of good tidings, surely he will be so again.' Those that by sin disqualify themselves for comfort, and yet expect their ministers, because they are good men, should speak peace and comfort to them, greatly wrong both themselves and their ministers.
    • 3. He sent his wife to enquire of the prophet, because she could best put the question without naming names, or making any other description than this, "Sir, I have a son ill; will he recover or not?' The heart of her husband safely trusted in her that she would be faithful both in delivering the message and bringing him the answer; and it seems there were none of all his counsellors in whom he could repose such a confidence; otherwise the sick child could very ill spare her, for mothers are the best nurses, and it would have been much fitter for her to have staid at home to tend him than go to Shiloh to enquire what would become of him. If she go, she must be incognito-in disguise, must change her dress, cover her face, and go by another name, not only to conceal herself from her own court and the country through which she passed (as if it were below her quality to go upon such an errand, and what she had reason to be ashamed of, as Nicodemus that came to Jesus by night, whereas it is no disparagement to the greatest to attend God's prophets), but also to conceal herself from the prophet himself, that he might only answer her question concerning her son, and not enter upon the unpleasing subject of her husband's defection. Thus some people love to prescribe to their ministers, limit them to smooth things, and care not for having the whole counsel of God declared to them, lest it prove to prophesy no good concerning them, but evil. But what a strange notion had Jeroboam of God's prophet when he believed that he could and would certainly tell what would become of the child, and yet either could not or would not discover who was the mother! Could he see into the thick darkness of futurity, and yet not see through the thin veil of this disguise? Did Jeroboam think the God of Israel like his calves, just what he pleased? Be not deceived, God is not mocked.
  • III. God gave Ahijah notice of the approach of Jeroboam's wife, and that she came in disguise, and full instructions what to say to her (v. 5), which enabled him, as she came in at the door, to call her by her name, to her great surprise, and so to discover to all about him who she was (v. 6): Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam, why feignest thou thyself to be another? He had no regard,
    • 1. To her rank. She was a queen, but what was that to him, who had a message to deliver to her immediately from God, before whom all the children of men stand upon the same level? Nor,
    • 2. To her present. It was usual for those who consulted prophets to bring them tokens of respect, which they accepted, and yet were no hirelings. She brought him a handsome country present (v. 3), but he did not think himself obliged by that to give her any finer language than the nature of her message required. Nor,
    • 3. To her industrious concealment of herself. It is a piece of civility not to take notice of those who desire not to be taken notice of; but the prophet was no courtier, nor gave flattering titles; plain dealing is best, and she shall know, at the first word, what she has to trust to: I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. Note, Those who think by their disguises to hide themselves from God will be wretchedly confounded when they find themselves disappointed in the day of discovery. Sinners now appear in the garb of saints, and are taken to be such; but how will they blush and tremble when they find themselves stripped of their false colours, and are called by their own name: "Go out, thou treacherous false-hearted hypocrite. I never knew thee. Why feignest thou thyself to be another?' Tidings of a portion with hypocrites will be heavy tidings. God will judge men according to what they are, not according to what they seem.

1Ki 14:7-20

When those that set up idols, and keep them up, go to enquire of the Lord, he determines to answer them, not according to the pretensions of their enquiry, but according to the multitude of their idols, Eze. 14:4. So Jeroboam is answered here.

  • I. The prophet anticipates the enquiry concerning the child, and foretels the ruin of Jeroboam's house for the wickedness of it. No one else durst have carried such a message: a servant would have smothered it, but his own wife cannot be suspected of ill-will to him.
    • 1. God calls himself the Lord God of Israel. Though Israel had forsaken God, God had not cast them off, nor given them a bill of divorce for their whoredoms. He is Israel's God, and therefore will take vengeance on him who did them the greatest mischief he could do them, debauched them and drew them away from God.
    • 2. He upbraids Jeroboam with the great favour he had bestowed upon him, in making him king, exalting him from among the people, the common people, to be prince over God's chosen Israel, and taking the kingdom from the house of David, to bestow it upon him. Whether we keep an account of God's mercies to us or no, he does, and will set even them in order before us, if we be ungrateful, to our greater confusion; otherwise he gives and upbraids not.
    • 3. He charges him with his impiety and apostasy, and his idolatry particularly: Thou hast done evil above all that were before thee, v. 9. Saul, that was rejected, never worshipped idols; Solomon did it but occasionally, in his dotage, and never made Israel to sin. Jeroboam's calves, though pretended to be set up in honour of the God of Israel, that brought them up out of Egypt, yet are here called other gods, or strange gods, because in them he worshipped God as the heathen worshipped their strange gods, because by them he changed the truth of God into a lie and represented him as altogether different from what he is, and because many of the ignorant worshippers terminated their devotion in the image, and did not at all regard the God of Israel. Though they were calves of gold, the richness of the metal was so far from making them acceptable to God that they provoked him to anger, designedly affronted him, under colour of pleasing him. In doing this,
      • (1.) He had not set David before him (v. 8): Thou hast not been as my servant David, who, though he had his faults and some bad ones, yet never forsook the worship of God nor grew loose nor cold to that; his faithful adherence to that gained him this honourable character, that he followed God with all his heart, and herein he was proposed for an example to all his successors. Those did not do well that did not do like David.
      • (2.) He had not set God before him, but (v. 9), "Thou hast cast me behind thy back, my law, my fear; thou hast neglected me, forgotten me, and preferred thy policies before my precepts.'
    • 4. He foretels the utter ruin of Jeroboam's house, v. 10, 11. He thought, by his idolatry, to establish his government, and by that he not only lost it, but brought destruction upon his family, the universal destruction of all the males, whether shut up or left, married or unmarried.
      • (1.) Shameful destruction. They shall be taken away as dung, which is loathsome and which men are glad to be rid of. He worshipped dunghill-deities, and God removed his family as a great dunghill. Noble and royal families, if wicked, are no better in God's account.
      • (2.) Unusual destruction. Their very dead bodies should be meat for the dogs in the street, or the birds of prey in the field, v. 11. Thus evil pursues sinners. See this fulfilled, ch. 15:29.
    • 5. He foretels the immediate death of the sick child, v. 12, 13.
      • (1.) In mercy to him, lest, if he live, he be infected with the sin, and so involved in the ruin, of his father's house. Observe the character given of him: In him was found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. He had an affection for the true worship of God and disliked the worship of the calves. Note,
        • [1.] Those are good in whom are good things towards the Lord God of Israel, good inclinations, good intentions, good desires, towards him.
        • [2.] Where there is but some good thing of that kind it will be found: God, who seeks it, sees it be it ever so little and is pleased with it.
        • [3.] A little grace goes a great way with great people. It is so rare to find princes well affected to religion that, when they are so, they are worthy of double honour.
        • [4.] Pious dispositions are in a peculiar manner amiable and acceptable when they are found in those that are young. The divine image in miniature has a peculiar beauty and lustre in it.
        • [5.] Those that are good in bad times and places shine very brightly in the eyes of God. A good child in the house of Jeroboam is a miracle of divine grace: to be there untainted is like being in the fiery furnace unhurt, unsinged. Observe the care taken of him: he only, of all Jeroboam's family, shall die in honour, shall be buried, and shall be lamented as one that lived desired. Note, Those that are distinguished by divine grace shall be distinguished by divine providence. This hopeful child dies first of all the family, for God often takes those soonest whom he loves best. Heaven is the fittest place for them; this earth is not worthy of them.
      • (2.) In wrath to the family.
        • [1.] It was a sign the family would be ruined when he was taken by whom it might have been reformed. The righteous are removed from the evil to come in this world, to the good to come in a better world. It is a bad omen to a family when the best in it are buried out of it; when what was valuable is picked out the rest is for the fire.
        • [2.] It was likewise a present affliction to the family and kingdom, by which both ought to have been bettered; and this aggravated the affliction to the poor mother that she should not reach home time enough to see her son alive: When thy feet enter into the city, just then the child shall die. This was to be a sign to her of the accomplishment of the rest of the threatenings, as 1 Sa. 2:34.
    • 6. He foretels the setting up of another family to rule over Israel, v. 14. This was fulfilled in Baasha of Issachar, who conspired against Nadab the son of Jeroboam, in the second year of his reign, murdered him and all his family. "But what? Even now. Why do I speak of it as a thing at a distance? It is at the door. It shall be done even now.' Sometimes God makes quick work with sinners; he did so with the house of Jeroboam. It was not twenty-four years from his first elevation to the final extirpation of his family.
    • 7. He foretels the judgments which should come upon the people of Israel for conforming to the worship which Jeroboam had established. If the blind lead the blind, both the blind leaders and the blind followers shall fall into the ditch. It is here foretold, v. 15,
      • (1.) That they should never be easy, nor rightly settled in their land, but continually shaken like a reed in the water. After they left the house of David, the government never continued long in one family, but one undermined and destroyed another, which must needs occasion great disorders and disturbances among the people.
      • (2.) That they should, ere long, be totally expelled out of their land, that good land, and given up to ruin, v. 16. This was fulfilled in the captivity of the ten tribes by the king of Assyria. Families and kingdoms are ruined by sin, ruined by the wickedness of the heads of them. Jeroboam did sin, and made Israel to sin. If great men do wickedly, they involve many others both in the guilt and in the snare; multitudes follow their pernicious ways. They go to hell with a long train, and their condemnation will be the more intolerable, for they must answer, not only for their own sins, but for the sins which others have been drawn into and kept in by their influence.
  • II. Jeroboam's wife has nothing to say against the word of the Lord, but she goes home with a heavy heart to their house in Tirzah, a sweet delightful place, so the name signifies, famed for its beauty, Cant. 6:4. But death, which will stain its beauty and embitter all its delights, cannot be shut out from it. Hither she came, and here we leave her attending the funeral of her son, and expecting the fate of her family.
    • 1. The child died (v. 17), and justly did all Israel mourn, not only for the loss of so hopeful a prince, whom they were not worthy of, but because his death plucked up the flood-gates, and made a breach, at which an inundation of judgments broke in.
    • 2. Jeroboam himself died soon after, v. 20. It is said (2 Chr. 13:20), The Lord struck him with some sore disease, so that he died miserably, when he had reigned twenty-two years, and left his crown to a son who lost it, and his life too, and all the lives of his family, within two years after. For a further account of him the reader is referred to the annals of his reign, drawn up by his own secretaries, or to the public records, like those in the Tower, called here, The Book or register, of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, to which recourse might then be had; but, not being divinely inspired, these records are long since lost.

1Ki 14:21-31

Judah's story and Israel's are intermixed in this book. Jeroboam out-lived Rehoboam, four or five years, yet his history is despatched first, that the account of Rehoboam's reign may be laid together; and a sad account it is.

  • I. Here is no good said of the king. All the account we have of him here is,
    • 1. That he was forty-one years old when he began to reign, by which reckoning he was born in the last year of David, and had his education, and the forming of his mind, in the best days of Solomon; yet he lived not up to these advantages. Solomon's defection at last did more to corrupt him than his wisdom and devotion had done to give him good principles.
    • 2. That he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where God put his name, where he had opportunity enough to know his duty, if he had but had a heart to do it.
    • 3. That his mother was Naamah, an Ammonitess; this is twice mentioned, v. 21, 31. It was strange that David would marry his son Solomon to an Ammonitess (for it was done while he lived), but it is probable that Solomon was in love with her, because she was Naamah, a beauty (so it signifies), and his father was loth to cross him, but it proved to have a very bad influence upon posterity. Probably she was daughter to Shobi the Ammonite, who was kind to David (2 Sa. 17:27), and David was too willing to requite him by matching his son into his family. None can imagine how lasting and how fatal the consequences may be of being unequally yoked with unbelievers.
    • 4. That he had continual war with Jeroboam (v. 30), which could not but be a perpetual uneasiness to him.
    • 5. That when he had reigned but seventeen years he died, and left his throne to his son. His father, and grandfather, and grandson, that reigned well, reigned long, forty years apiece. But sin often shortens men's lives and comforts.
  • II. Here is much evil said of the subjects, both as to their character and their condition.
    • 1. See here how wicked and profane they were. It is a most sad account that is here given of their apostasy from God, v. 22-24. Judah, the only professing people God had in the world, did evil in his sight, in contempt and defiance of him and the tokens of his special presence with them; they provoked him to jealousy, as the adulterous wife provokes her husband by breaking the marriage-covenant. Their fathers had been bad enough, especially in the times of the judges, but they did abominable things, above all that their fathers had done. The magnificence of their temple, the pomp of their priesthood, and all the secular advantages with which their religion was attended, could not prevail to keep them to it. Nothing less than the pouring out of the Spirit from on high will keep God's Israel in their allegiance to him. The account here given of the wickedness of the Jews agrees with that which the apostle gives of the wickedness of the Gentile world (Rom. 1:21, 24), so that both Jew and Gentile are alike under sin, Rom. 3:9.
      • (1.) They became vain in their imaginations concerning God, and changed his glory into an image, for they built themselves high places, images, and groves (v. 23), profaning God's name by affixing to it their images, and God's ordinances by serving their idols with them. They foolishly fancied that they exalted God when they worshipped him on high hills and pleased him when they worshipped him under the pleasant shadow of green trees.
      • (2.) They were given up to vile affections (as those idolaters Rom. 1:26, 27), for there were sodomites in the land (v. 24), men with men working that which is unseemly, and not to be thought of, much less mentioned, without abhorrence and indignation. They dishonoured God by one sin and then God left them to dishonour themselves by another. They profaned the privileges of a holy nation, therefore God gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, to imitate the abominations of the accursed Canaanites; and herein the Lord was righteous. And, when they did like those that were cast out, how could they expect any other than to be cast out like them?
    • 2. See here how weak and poor they were; and this was the consequence of the former. Sin exposes, impoverishes, and weakens any people. Shishak, king of Egypt, came against them, and so far, either by force or surrender, made himself master of Jerusalem itself that he took away the treasures both of the temple and of the exchequer, of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, which David and Solomon had amassed, v. 25, 26. These, it is likely, tempted him to make his descent; and, to save the rest, Rehoboam perhaps tamely surrendered them, as Ahab, ch. 20:4. He also took away the golden shields that were made but in his father's time, v. 26. These the king of Egypt carried off as trophies of his victory; and, instead of them, Rehoboam made brazen shields, which the life-guard carried before him when he went to church in state, v. 27, 28. This was an emblem of the diminution of his glory. Sin makes the gold become dim, changes the most fine gold, and turns it into brass. We commend Rehoboam for going to the house of the Lord, perhaps the oftener for the rebuke he had been under, and do not condemn him for going in pomp. Great men should honour God with their honour, and then they are themselves most honoured by it.