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1 Kings 12:15 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

15 Wherefore the king H4428 hearkened H8085 not unto the people; H5971 for the cause H5438 was from the LORD, H3068 that he might perform H6965 his saying, H1697 which the LORD H3068 spake H1696 by H3027 Ahijah H281 the Shilonite H7888 unto Jeroboam H3379 the son H1121 of Nebat. H5028

Cross Reference

John 19:28-29 STRONG

After G3326 this, G5124 Jesus G2424 knowing G1492 that G3754 all things G3956 were G5055 now G2235 accomplished, G5055 that G2443 the scripture G1124 might be fulfilled, G5048 saith, G3004 I thirst. G1372 Now G3767 there was set G2749 a vessel G4632 full G3324 of vinegar: G3690 and G1161 they filled G4130 a spunge G4699 with vinegar, G3690 and G2532 put it upon G4060 hyssop, G5301 and put G4374 it to his G846 mouth. G4750

Acts 13:27-29 STRONG

For G1063 they that dwell G2730 at G1722 Jerusalem, G2419 and G2532 their G846 rulers, G758 because they knew G50 him G5126 not, G50 nor yet G2532 the voices G5456 of the prophets G4396 which G3588 are read G314 G2596 every G3956 sabbath day, G4521 they have fulfilled G4137 them in condemning G2919 him. And G2532 though they found G2147 no G3367 cause G156 of death G2288 in him, yet desired they G154 Pilate G4091 that he G846 should be slain. G337 And G1161 when G5613 they had fulfilled G5055 all G537 that was written G1125 of G4012 him, G846 they took him down G2507 from G575 the tree, G3586 and laid G5087 him in G1519 a sepulchre. G3419

John 19:32-37 STRONG

Then G3767 came G2064 the soldiers, G4757 and G2532 brake G2608 the legs G4628 of the G3303 first, G4413 and G2532 of the other G243 which G3588 was crucified with G4957 him. G846 But G1161 when G5613 they came G2064 to G1909 Jesus, G2424 and saw G1492 that he G846 was dead G2348 already, G2235 they brake G2608 not G3756 his G846 legs: G4628 But G235 one G1520 of the soldiers G4757 with a spear G3057 pierced G3572 his G846 side, G4125 and G2532 forthwith G2117 came there out G1831 blood G129 and G2532 water. G5204 And G2532 he that saw G3708 it bare record, G3140 and G2532 his G846 record G3141 is G2076 true: G228 and he G2548 knoweth G1492 that G3754 he saith G3004 true, G227 that G2443 ye G5210 might believe. G4100 For G1063 these things G5023 were done, G1096 that G2443 the scripture G1124 should be fulfilled, G4137 A bone G3747 of him G846 shall G4937 not G3756 be broken. G4937 And G2532 again G3825 another G2087 scripture G1124 saith, G3004 They shall look G3700 on G1519 him whom G3739 they pierced. G1574

John 19:23-24 STRONG

Then G3767 the soldiers, G4757 when G3753 they had crucified G4717 Jesus, G2424 took G2983 his G846 garments, G2440 and G2532 made G4160 four G5064 parts, G3313 to every G1538 soldier G4757 a part; G3313 and also G2532 his coat: G5509 now G1161 the coat G5509 was G2258 without seam, G729 woven G5307 from G1537 the top G509 throughout. G1223 G3650 They said G2036 therefore G3767 among G4314 themselves, G240 Let us G4977 not G3361 rend G4977 it, G846 but G235 cast lots G2975 for G4012 it, G846 whose G5101 it shall be: G2071 that G2443 the scripture G1124 might be fulfilled, G4137 which G3588 saith, G3004 They parted G1266 my G3450 raiment G2440 among them, G1438 and G2532 for G1909 my G3450 vesture G2441 they did cast G906 lots. G2819 These things G5023 G3303 therefore G3767 the soldiers G4757 did. G4160

Isaiah 46:10-11 STRONG

Declaring H5046 the end H319 from the beginning, H7225 and from ancient times H6924 the things that are not yet done, H6213 saying, H559 My counsel H6098 shall stand, H6965 and I will do H6213 all my pleasure: H2656 Calling H7121 a ravenous bird H5861 from the east, H4217 the man H376 that executeth my counsel H6098 from a far H4801 country: H776 yea, I have spoken H1696 it, I will also bring H935 it to pass; I have purposed H3335 it, I will also do H6213 it.

Isaiah 14:13-17 STRONG

For thou hast said H559 in thine heart, H3824 I will ascend H5927 into heaven, H8064 I will exalt H7311 my throne H3678 above H4605 the stars H3556 of God: H410 I will sit H3427 also upon the mount H2022 of the congregation, H4150 in the sides H3411 of the north: H6828 I will ascend H5927 above the heights H1116 of the clouds; H5645 I will be like H1819 the most High. H5945 Yet thou shalt be brought down H3381 to hell, H7585 to the sides H3411 of the pit. H953 They that see H7200 thee shall narrowly look H7688 upon thee, and consider H995 thee, saying, Is this the man H376 that made the earth H776 to tremble, H7264 that did shake H7493 kingdoms; H4467 That made H7760 the world H8398 as a wilderness, H4057 and destroyed H2040 the cities H5892 thereof; that opened H6605 not the house H1004 of his prisoners? H615

1 Kings 11:29-38 STRONG

And it came to pass at that time H6256 when Jeroboam H3379 went out H3318 of Jerusalem, H3389 that the prophet H5030 Ahijah H281 the Shilonite H7888 found H4672 him in the way; H1870 and he had clad H3680 himself with a new H2319 garment; H8008 and they two H8147 were alone in the field: H7704 And Ahijah H281 caught H8610 the new H2319 garment H8008 that was on him, and rent H7167 it in twelve H8147 H6240 pieces: H7168 And he said H559 to Jeroboam, H3379 Take H3947 thee ten H6235 pieces: H7168 for thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 the God H430 of Israel, H3478 Behold, I will rend H7167 the kingdom H4467 out of the hand H3027 of Solomon, H8010 and will give H5414 ten H6235 tribes H7626 to thee: (But he shall have one H259 tribe H7626 for my servant H5650 David's H1732 sake, and for Jerusalem's H3389 sake, the city H5892 which I have chosen H977 out of all the tribes H7626 of Israel:) H3478 Because that they have forsaken H5800 me, and have worshipped H7812 Ashtoreth H6253 the goddess H430 of the Zidonians, H6722 Chemosh H3645 the god H430 of the Moabites, H4124 and Milcom H4445 the god H430 of the children H1121 of Ammon, H5983 and have not walked H1980 in my ways, H1870 to do H6213 that which is right H3477 in mine eyes, H5869 and to keep my statutes H2708 and my judgments, H4941 as did David H1732 his father. H1 Howbeit I will not take H3947 the whole kingdom H4467 out of his hand: H3027 but I will make H7896 him prince H5387 all the days H3117 of his life H2416 for David H1732 my servant's H5650 sake, whom I chose, H977 because he kept H8104 my commandments H4687 and my statutes: H2708 But I will take H3947 the kingdom H4410 out of his son's H1121 hand, H3027 and will give H5414 it unto thee, even ten H6235 tribes. H7626 And unto his son H1121 will I give H5414 one H259 tribe, H7626 that David H1732 my servant H5650 may have a light H5216 alway H3117 before H6440 me in Jerusalem, H3389 the city H5892 which I have chosen H977 me to put H7760 my name H8034 there. And I will take H3947 thee, and thou shalt reign H4427 according to all that thy soul H5315 desireth, H183 and shalt be king H4428 over Israel. H3478 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken H8085 unto all that I command H6680 thee, and wilt walk H1980 in my ways, H1870 and do H6213 that is right H3477 in my sight, H5869 to keep H8104 my statutes H2708 and my commandments, H4687 as David H1732 my servant H5650 did; H6213 that I will be with thee, and build H1129 thee a sure H539 house, H1004 as I built H1129 for David, H1732 and will give H5414 Israel H3478 unto thee.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 12

Commentary on 1 Kings 12 Matthew Henry Commentary


Chapter 12

The glory of the kingdom of Israel was in its height and perfection in Solomon; it was long in coming to it, but it soon declined, and began to sink and wither in the very next reign, as we find in this chapter, where we have the kingdom divided, and thereby weakened and made little in comparison with what it had been. Here is,

  • I. Rehoboam's accession to the throne and Jeroboam's return out of Egypt (v. 1, 2).
  • II. The people's petition to Rehoboam for the redress of grievances, and the rough answer he gave, by the advice of his young counsellors, to that petition (v. 3-15).
  • III. The revolt of the ten tribes thereupon, and their setting up Jeroboam (v. 16-20).
  • IV. Rehoboam's attempt to reduce them and the prohibition God gave to that attempt (v. 21-24).
  • V. Jeroboam's establishment of his government upon idolatry (v. 25-33). Thus did Judah become weak, being deserted by their brethren, and Israel, by deserting the house of the Lord.

1Ki 12:1-15

Solomon had 1000 wives and concubines, yet we read but of one son he had to bear up his name, and he a fool. It is said (Hos. 4:10), They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase. Sin is a bad way of building up a family. Rehoboam was the son of the wisest of men, yet did not inherit his father's wisdom, and then it stood him in little stead to inherit his father's throne. Neither wisdom nor grace runs in the blood. Solomon came to the crown very young, yet he was then a wise man. Rehoboam came to the crown at forty years old, when men will be wise if ever they will, yet he was then foolish. Wisdom does not go by age, nor is it the multitude of years nor the advantage of education that reaches it. Solomon's court was a mart of wisdom and the rendezvous of learned men, and Rehoboam was the darling of the court; and yet all was not sufficient to make him a wise man. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. No dispute is made of Rehoboam's succession; upon the death of his father, he was immediately proclaimed. But,

  • I. The people desired a treaty with him at Shechem, and he condescended to meet them there.
    • 1. Their pretence was to make him king, but the design was to unmake him. They would give him a public inauguration in another place than the city of David, that he might not seem to be king of Judah only. They had ten parts in him, and would have him among themselves for once, that they might recognize his title.
    • 2. The place was ominous: at Shechem, where Abimelech set up himself (Jdg. 9); yet it had been famous for the convention of the states there, Jos. 24:1. Rehoboam, we may suppose, knew of the threatening, that the kingdom should be rent from him, and hoped by going to Shechem, and treating there with the ten tribes, to prevent it: yet it proved the most impolitic thing he could do, and hastened the rupture.
  • II. The representatives of the tribes addressed him, praying to be eased of the taxes they were burdened with. The meeting being appointed, they sent for Jeroboam out of Egypt to come and be their speaker. This they needed not to have done: he knew what God had designed him for, and would have come though he had not been sent for, for now was his time to expect the possession of the promised crown. In their address,
    • 1. They complain of the last reign: Thy father made our yoke grievous, v. 4. They complain not of his father's idolatry and revolt from God; that which was the greatest grievance of all was none to them, so careless and indifferent were they in the matters of religion, as if God or Moloch were all one, so they might but live at ease and pay no taxes. Yet the complaint was groundless and unjust. Never did people live more at ease than they did, nor in great plenty. Did they pay taxes? It was to advance the strength and magnificence of their kingdom. If Solomon's buildings cost them money, they cost them no blood, as war would do. Were many servile hands employed about them? They were not the hands of the Israelites. Were the taxes a burden? How could that be, when Solomon imported bullion in such plenty that silver was, in a manner, as common as the stones? So that they did but render to Solomon the things that were Solomon's. Nay, suppose there was some hardship put upon them, were they not told before that this would be the manner of the king and yet they would have one? The best government cannot secure itself from reproach and censure, no, not Solomon's. Factious spirits will never want something to complain of. I know nothing in Solomon's administration that could make the people's yoke grievous, unless perhaps the women whom in his latter days he doted on were connived at in oppressing them.
    • 2. They demand relief from him, and on this condition will continue in their allegiance to the house of David. They asked not to be wholly free from paying taxes, but to have the burden made lighter; this was all their care, to save their money, whether their religion was supported and the government protected or no. All seek their own.
  • III. Rehoboam consulted with those about him concerning the answer he should give to this address. It was prudent to take advice, especially having so weak a head of his own; yet, upon this occasion, it was impolitic to take time himself to consider, for thereby he gave time to the disaffected people to ripen things for a revolt, and his deliberating in so plain a case would be improved as an indication of the little concern he had for the people's ease. They saw what they must expect, and prepared accordingly. Now,
    • 1. The grave experienced men of his council advised him by all means to give the petitioners a kind answer, to give them good words, to promise them fair, and this day, this critical day, to serve them, that is, to tell them that he was their servant, and that he would redress all their grievances and make it his business to please them and make them easy. "Deny thyself (say they) so far as to do this for this once, and they will be thy servants for ever. When the present heat is allayed with a soft answer, and the assembly dismissed, their cooler thoughts will reconcile and fix them to Solomon's family still.' Note, The way to rule is to serve, to do good, and stoop to do it, to become all things to all men and so win their hearts. Those who are in power really sit highest, and easiest, and safest, when they take this method.
    • 2. The young men of his council were hot and haughty, and they advised him to return a severe and threatening answer to the people's demands. It was an instance of Rehoboam's weakness,
      • (1.) That he did not prefer aged counsellors, but had a better opinion of the young men that had grown up with him and with whom he was familiar, v. 8. Days should speak. It was a folly for him to think that, because they had been his agreeable companions in the sports and pleasures of his youth, they were therefore fit to have the management of the affairs of his kingdom. Great wits have not always the most wisdom; nor are those to be relied on as our best friends that know how to make us merry, for that will not make us happy. It is of great consequence to young people, that are setting out in the world, whom they associate with, accommodate themselves to, and depend upon for advice. If they reckon those that feed their pride, gratify their vanity, and further them in their pleasures, their best friends, they are already marked for ruin.
      • (2.) That he did not prefer moderate counsels, but was pleased with those that put him upon harsh and rigorous methods, and advised him to double the taxes, whether there was occasion for so doing or no, and to tell them in plain terms that he would do so, v. 10, 11. These young counsellors thought the old men expressed themselves but dully, v. 7. They affect to be witty in their advice, and value themselves on that. The old men did not undertake to put words into Rehoboam's mouth, only counselled him to speak good words; but the young men will furnish him with very quaint and pretty phrases, with pointed and pert similitudes: My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins, etc. That is not always the best sense that is best worded.
  • IV. He answered the people according to the counsel of the young men, v. 14, 15. He affected to be haughty and imperious, and fancied he could carry all before him with a high hand, and therefore would rather run the risk of losing them than deny himself so far as to give them good words. Note, Many ruin themselves by consulting their humour more than their interest. See,
    • 1. How Rehoboam was infatuated in his counsels. He could not have acted more foolishly and impoliticly.
      • (1.) He owned their reflections upon his father's government to be true: My father made your yoke heavy; and therein he was unjust to his father's memory, which he might easily have vindicated from the imputation.
      • (2.) He fancied himself better able to manage them, and impose upon them, than his father was, not considering that he was vastly inferior to him in capacity. Could he think to support the blemishes of his father's reign who could never pretend to come near the glories of it?
      • (3.) He threatened not only to squeeze them by taxes, but to chastise them by cruel laws and severe executions of them, which should be not as whips only, but as scorpions, whips with rowels in them, that will fetch blood at every lash. In short, he would use them as brute beasts, load them and beat them at his pleasure: not caring whether they loved him or no, he would make them fear him.
      • (4.) He gave this provocation to a people that by long ease and prosperity were made wealthy, and strong, and proud, and would not be trampled upon (as a poor cowed dispirited people may), to a people that were now disposed to revolt, and had one ready to head them. Never, surely, was man so blinded by pride and affectation of arbitrary power, than which nothing is more fatal.
    • 2. How God's counsels were hereby fulfilled. It was from the Lord, v. 15. He left Rehoboam to his own folly, and hid from his eyes the things which belonged to his peace, that the kingdom might be rent from him. Note, God serves his own wise and righteous purposes by the imprudences and iniquities of men, and snares sinners in the work of their own hands. Those that lose the kingdom of heaven throw it away, as Rehoboam did his, by their own wilfulness and folly.

1Ki 12:16-24

We have here the rending of the kingdom of the ten tribes from the house of David, to effect which,

  • I. The people were hold and resolute in their revolt. They highly resented the provocation that Rehoboam had given them, were incensed at his menaces, concluded that that government would in the progress of it be intolerably grievous which in the beginning of it was so very haughty, and therefore immediately came to this resolve, one and all: What portion have we in David? v. 16. They speak here very unbecomingly of David, that great benefactor of their nation, calling him the son of Jesse, no greater a man than his neighbours. How soon are good men, and their good services to the public, forgotten! The rashness of their resolution was also much to be blamed. In time, and with prudent management, they might have settled the original contract with Rehoboam to mutual satisfaction. Had they enquired who gave Rehoboam this advice, and taken a course to remove those evil counsellors from about him, the rupture might have been prevented: otherwise their jealousy for their liberty and property well became that free people. Israel is not a servant, is not a homeborn slave; why should he be spoiled? Jer. 2:14. They are willing to be ruled, but not to be ridden. Protection draws allegiance, but destruction cannot. No marvel that Israel falls away from the house of David (v. 19) if the house of David fall away from the great ends of their advancement, which was to be ministers of God to them for good. But thus to rebel against the seed of David, whom God had advanced to the kingdom (entailing it on his seed), and to set up another king in opposition to that family, was a great sin; see 2 Chr. 13:5-8. To this God refers, Hos. 8:4. They have set up kings, but not by me. And it is here mentioned to the praise of the tribe of Judah that they followed the house of David (v. 17, 20), and, for aught that appears, they found Rehoboam better than his word, nor did he rule with the rigour which at first he threatened.
  • II. Rehoboam was imprudent in the further management of this affair, and more and more infatuated. Having foolishly thrown himself into a quick-sand, he sunk the further in with plunging to get out.
    • 1. He was very unadvised in sending Adoram, who was over the tribute, to treat with them, v. 18. The tribute was the thing, and, for the sake of that, Adoram was the person, they most complained of. The very sight of him, whose name was odious among them, exasperated them, and made them outrageous. He was one to whom they could not so much as give a patient hearing, but stoned him to death in a popular tumult. Rehoboam was now as unhappy in the choice of his ambassador as before of his counsellors.
    • 2. Some think he was also unadvised in quitting his ground, and making so much haste to Jerusalem, for thereby he deserted his friends and gave advantage to his enemies, who had gone to their tents indeed (v. 16) in disgust, but did not offer to make Jeroboam king till Rehoboam had gone, v. 20. See how soon this foolish prince went from one extreme to the other. He hectored and talked big when he thought all was his own, but sneaked and looked very mean when he saw himself in danger. It is common for those that are most haughty in their prosperity to be most abject in adversity.
  • III. God forbade his attempt to recover by the sword what he had lost. What was done was of God, who would not suffer that it should be undone again (as it would be if Rehoboam got the better and reduced the ten tribes), nor that more should be done to the prejudice of the house of David, as would be if Jeroboam got the better and conquered the two tribes. The thing must rest as it is, and therefore God forbids the battle.
    • 1. It was brave in Rehoboam to design the reducing of the revolters by force. His courage came to him when he had come to Jerusalem, v. 21. There he thought himself among his firm friends, who generously adhered to him and appeared for him. Judah and Benjamin (who feared the Lord and the king, and meddled not with those that were given to change) presently raised an army of 180,000 men, for the recovery of their king's right to the ten tribes, and were resolved to stand by him (as we say) with their lives and fortunes, having either not such cause, or rather not such a disposition, to complain, as the rest had.
    • 2. It as more brave in Rehoboam to desist when God, by a prophet, ordered him to lay down his arms. He would not lose a kingdom tamely, for then he would have been unworthy the title of a prince; and yet he would not contend for it in opposition to God, for then he would have been unworthy the title of an Israelite. To proceed in this war would be not only to fight against their brethren (v. 24), whom they ought to love, but to fight against their God, to whom they ought to submit: This thing is from me. These two considerations should reconcile us to our losses and troubles, that God is the author of them and our brethren are the instruments of them; let us not therefore meditate revenge. Rehoboam and his people hearkened to the word of the Lord, disbanded the army, and acquiesced. Though, in human probability, they had a fair prospect of success (for their army was numerous and resolute, Jeroboam's party weak and unsettled), though it would turn to their reproach among their neighbours to lose so much of their strength and never have one push for it, to make a flourish and do nothing, yet,
      • (1.) They regarded the command of God though sent by a poor prophet. When we know God's mind we must submit to it, how much soever it crosses our own mind.
      • (2.) They consulted their own interest, concluding that though they had all the advantages, even that of right, on their side, yet they could not prosper if they fought in disobedience to God; and it was better to sit still than to rise up and fall. In the next reign God allowed them to fight, and gave them victory (2 Chr. 13), but not now.

1Ki 12:25-33

We have here the beginning of the reign of Jeroboam. He built Shechem first and then Penuel-beautified and fortified them, and probably had a palace in each of them for himself (v. 25), the former in Ephraim, the latter in Gad, on the other side Jordan. This might be proper; but he formed another project for the establishing of his kingdom which was fatal to the interests of religion in it.

  • I. That which he designed was by some effectual means to secure those to himself who had now chosen him for their king, and to prevent their return to the house of David, v. 26, 27. It seems,
    • 1. He was jealous of the people, afraid that, some time or other, they would kill him and go again to Rehoboam. Many that have been advanced in one tumult have been hurled down in another. Jeroboam could not put any confidence in the affections of his people, though now they seemed extremely fond of him; for what is got by wrong and usurpation cannot be enjoyed nor kept with any security or satisfaction.
    • 2. He was distrustful of the promise of God, could not take his word that, if he would keep close to his duty, God would build him a sure house (ch. 11:38); but he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our treacherous departures from him.
  • II. The way he took to do this was by keeping the people from going up to Jerusalem to worship. That was the place God had chosen, to put his name there. Solomon's temple was there, which God had, in the sight of all Israel, and in the memory of many now living, taken solemn possession of in a cloud of glory. At the altar there the priest of the Lord attended, there all Israel were to keep the feasts, and thither they were to bring their sacrifices. Now,
    • 1. Jeroboam apprehended that, if the people continued to do this, they would in time return to the house of David, allured by the magnificence both of the court and of the temple. If they cleave to their old religion, they will go back to their old king. We may suppose, if he had treated with Rehoboam for the safe conduct of himself and his people to and from Jerusalem at the times appointed for their solemn feasts, it would not have been denied him; therefore he fears not their being driven back by force, but their going back voluntarily to Rehoboam.
    • 2. He therefore dissuaded them from going up to Jerusalem, pretending to consult their ease: "It is too much for you to go so far to worship God, v. 28. It is a heavy yoke, and it is time to shake it off; you have gone long enough to Jerusalem' (so some read it); "the temple, now that you are used to it, does not appear so glorious and sacred as it did at first' (sensible glories wither by degrees in men's estimation); "you have greed yourselves from other burdens, free yourselves from this: why should we now be tied to one place any more than in Samuel's time?'
    • 3. He provided for the assistance of their devotion at home. Upon consultation with some of his politicians, he came to this resolve, to set up two golden calves, as tokens or signs of the divine presence, and persuade the people that they might as well stay at home and offer sacrifice to those as go to Jerusalem to worship before the ark: and some are so charitable as to think they were made to represent the mercy-seat and the cherubim over the ark; but more probably he adopted the idolatry of the Egyptians, in whose land he had sojourned for some time and who worshipped their god Apis under the similitude of a bull or calf.
      • (1.) He would not be at the charge of building a golden temple, as Solomon had done; two golden calves are the most that he can afford.
      • (2.) He intended, no doubt, by these to represent, or rather make present, not any false god, as Moloch or Chemosh, but the true God only, the God of Israel, the God that brought them up out of the land of Egypt, as he declares, v. 28. So that it was no violation of the first commandment, but the second. And he chose thus to engage the people's devotion because he knew there were many among them so in love with images that for the sake of the calves they would willingly quit God's temple, where all images were forbidden.
      • (3.) He set up two, by degrees to break people off from the belief of the unity of the godhead, which would pave the way to the polytheism of the Pagans. He set up these two at Dan and Beth-el (one the utmost border of his country northward), the other southward, as if they were the guardians and protectors of the kingdom. Beth-el lay close to Judah. He set up one there, to tempt those of Rehoboam's subjects over to him who were inclined to image-worship, in lieu of those of his subjects that would continue to go to Jerusalem. He set up the other at Dan, for the convenience of those that lay most remote, and because Micah's images had been set up there, and great veneration paid to them for many ages, Jdg. 18:30, 31. Beth-el signifies the house of God, which gave some colour to the superstition; but the prophet called it Beth-aven, the house of vanity, or iniquity.
    • 4. The people complied with him herein, and were fond enough of the novelty: They went to worship before the one, even unto Dan (v. 30), to that at Dan first because it was first set up, or even to that at Dan, though it lay such a great way off. Those that thought it much to go to Jerusalem, to worship God according to his institution, made no difficulty of going twice as far, to Dan, to worship him according to their own inventions. Or they are said to go to one of the calves at Dan because Abijah, king of Judah, within twenty years, recovered Beth-el (2 Chr. 13:19), and it is likely removed the golden calf, or forbade the use of it, and then they had only that at Dan to go to. This became a sin; and a great sin it was, against the express letter of the second commandment. God had sometimes dispensed with the law concerning worshipping in one place, but never allowed the worship of him by images. Hereby they justified their fathers in making the calf at Horeb, though God had so fully shown his displeasure against them for it and threatened to visit for it in the day of visitation (Ex. 32:34), so that it was as great a contempt of God's wrath as it was of his law; and thus they added sin to sin. Bishop Patrick quotes a saying of the Jews, That till Jeroboam's time the Israelites sucked but one calf, but from that time they sucked two.
    • 5. Having set up the gods, he fitted up accommodations for them; and wherein he varied from the divine appointment we are here told, which intimates that in other things he imitated what was done in Judah (v. 32) as well as he could. See how one error multiplied into many.
      • (1.) He made a house of high-places, or of altars, one temple at Dan, we may suppose, and another at Beth-el (v. 31), and in each many altars, probably complaining of it as an inconvenience that in the temple at Jerusalem there was but one. The multiplying of altars passed with some for a piece of devotion, but God, by the prophet, puts another construction upon it, Hos. 8:11. Ephraim has made many altars to sin.
      • (2.) He made priests of the lowest of the people; and the lowest of the people were good enough to be priests to his calves, and too good. He made priests from the extremest parts of the people, that is, some out of every corner of the country, whom he ordered to reside among their neighbours, to instruct them in his appointments and reconcile them to them. Thus were they dispersed as the Levites, but were not of the sons of Levi. But the priests of the high-laces, or altars, he ordered to reside in Beth-el, as the priests at Jerusalem (v. 32), to attend the public service.
      • (3.) The feast of tabernacles, which God had appointed on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he adjourned to the fifteenth day of the eighth month (v. 32), the month which he devised of his own heart, to show his power in ecclesiastical matters, v. 33. The passover and pentecost he observed in their proper season, or did not observe them at all, or with little solemnity in comparison with this.
      • (4.) He himself assuming a power to make priests, no marvel if he undertook to do the priests' work with his own hands: He offered upon the altar. This is twice mentioned (v. 32, 33), as also that he burnt incense. This was connived at in him because it was of a piece with the rest of his irregularities; but in king Uzziah it was immediately punished with the plague of leprosy. He did it himself, to make himself look great among the people and to get the reputation of a devout man, also to grace the solemnity of his new festival, with which, it is likely, at this time he joined the feast of the dedication of his altar. And thus,
        • [1.] Jeroboam sinned himself, yet perhaps excused himself to the world and his own conscience with this, that he did not do so ill as Solomon did, who worshipped other gods.
        • [2.] He made Israel to sin, drew them off from the worship of God and entailed idolatry upon their seed. And hereby they were punished for deserting the thrones of the house of David. The learned Mr. Whiston, in his chronology, for the adjusting of the annals of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel, supposes that Jeroboam changed the calculation of the year and made it to contain but eleven months, and that by those years the reigns of the kings of Israel are measured till Jehu's revolution and no longer, so that during this interval eleven years of the annals of Judah answer to twelve in those of Israel.