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:
Jehovah made void the counsel of nations, He disallowed the thoughts of the peoples.
and there is not a created thing not manifest before Him, but all things `are' naked and open to His eyes -- with whom is our reckoning.
And Peter said unto her, `How was it agreed by you, to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? lo, the feet of those who did bury thy husband `are' at the door, and they shall carry thee forth;' and she fell down presently at his feet, and expired, and the young men having come in, found her dead, and having carried forth, they buried `her' by her husband;
And Peter said, `Ananias, wherefore did the Adversary fill thy heart, for thee to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back of the price of the place? while it remained, did it not remain thine? and having been sold, in thy authority was it not? why `is' it that thou didst put in thy heart this thing? thou didst not lie to men, but to God;' and Ananias hearing these words, having fallen down, did expire, and great fear came upon all who heard these things,
And, having watched `him', they sent forth liers in wait, feigning themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his word, to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor, and they questioned him, saying, `Teacher, we have known that thou dost say and teach rightly, and dost not accept a person, but in truth the way of God dost teach; Is it lawful to us to give tribute to Caesar or not?' And he, having perceived their craftiness, said unto them, `Why me do ye tempt?
Then hath Daniel answered and said before the king, `Thy gifts be to thyself, and thy fee to another give; nevertheless, the writing I do read to the king, and the interpretation I cause him to know; thou, O king, God Most High, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honour, gave to Nebuchadnezzar thy father: and because of the greatness that He gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him: whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low; and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him, and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses `is' his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it. `And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known; and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand `is' thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured. `Then from before Him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down; and this `is' the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided. This `is' the interpretation of the thing: Numbered -- God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it. Weighed -- Thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking. Divided -- Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.'
`Then Daniel, whose name `is' Belteshazzar, hath been astonished about one hour, and his thoughts do trouble him; the king hath answered and said, O Belteshazzar, let not the dream and its interpretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar hath answered and said, My lord, the dream -- to those hating thee, and its interpretation -- to thine enemies! The tree that thou hast seen, that hath become great and strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to all the land, and its leaves `are' fair, and its budding great, and food for all `is' in it, under it dwell doth the beast of the field, and on its boughs sit do the birds of the heavens. `Thou it `is', O king, for thou hast become great and mighty, and thy greatness hath become great, and hath reached to the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth; and that which the king hath seen -- a sifter, even a holy one, coming down from the heavens, and he hath said, Cut down the tree, and destroy it; but the stump of its roots leave in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and with the dew of the heavens it is wet, and with the beast of the field `is' his portion, till that seven times pass over him. `This `is' the interpretation, O king, and the decree of the Most High it `is' that hath come against my lord the king: and they are driving thee away from men, and with the beast of the field is thy dwelling, and the herb as oxen they do cause thee to eat, and by the dew of the heavens they are wetting thee, and seven times do pass over thee, till that thou knowest that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and to whom He willeth He giveth it.
for every one of the house of Israel, and of the sojourners who doth sojourn in Israel, who is separated from after Me, and doth cause his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath come in unto the prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I, Jehovah, have answered him for Myself; and I have set My face against that man, and made him for a sign, and for similes, and I have cut him off from the midst of My people, and ye have known that I `am' Jehovah.
`Son of man, these men have caused their idols to go up on their heart, and the stumbling-block of their iniquity they have put over-against their faces; am I inquired of at all by them? `Therefore, speak with them, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Every one of the house of Israel who causeth his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath gone in unto the prophet -- I Jehovah have given an answer to him for this, for the abundance of his idols, in order to catch the house of Israel by their heart, in that they have become estranged from off me by their idols -- all of them.
And the sons `are' brazen-faced and hard-hearted to whom I am sending thee, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: and they -- whether they hear, or whether they forbear, for a rebellious house they `are' -- have known that a prophet hath been in their midst.
`Inquire, we pray thee, for us at Jehovah, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath fought against us; perhaps Jehovah doth deal with us according to all His wonders, and doth cause him to go up from off us.' And Jeremiah saith unto them, `Thus do ye say unto Zedekiah, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel: Lo, I am turning round the weapons of battle That `are' in your hand, With which ye do fight the king of Babylon, And the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against you, At the outside of the wall, And I have gathered them into the midst of this city, And I -- I have fought against you, With a stretched-out hand, and with a strong arm, And in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath, And I have smitten the inhabitants of this city, Both man and beast, By a great pestilence do they die. And after this -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I give Zedekiah king of Judah, And his servants, and the people, And those left in this city, From the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, Into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of their enemies, And into the hand of those seeking their life, And he hath smitten them by the mouth of the sword, He hath no pity on them, Nor doth he spare, nor hath he mercy.
And Samuel saith unto Saul, `Desist, and I declare to thee that which Jehovah hath spoken unto me to-night;' and he saith to him, `Speak.'
Capturing the wise in their subtilty, And the counsel of wrestling ones was hastened,
`Rise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who `is' in Samaria, -- lo, in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he hath gone down to possess it, and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Hast thou murdered, and also possessed? and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, do the dogs lick thy blood, even thine.' And Ahab saith unto Elijah, `Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?' and he saith, `I have found -- because of thy selling thyself to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; lo, I am bringing in unto thee evil, and have taken away thy posterity, and cut off to Ahab those sitting on the wall, and restrained, and left, in Israel, and given up thy house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, for the provocation with which thou hast provoked `Me', and dost cause Israel to sin. `And also of Jezebel hath Jehovah spoken, saying, The dogs do eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel; him who dieth of Ahab in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat;
and he saith unto him, `Thus said Jehovah, Because thou hast sent away the man I devoted, out of `thy' hand, even thy life hath been for his life, and thy people for his people;'
`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; 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.
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.'
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;
And it cometh to pass -- they are sitting at the table -- and a word of Jehovah is unto the prophet who brought him back, and he calleth unto the man of God who came from Judah, saying, `Thus said Jehovah, Because that thou hast provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the command that Jehovah thy God charged thee, and turnest back and dost eat bread and drink water in the place of which He said unto thee, Thou dost not eat bread nor drink water -- thy carcase cometh not in unto the burying-place of thy fathers.'
Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, nor didst the fierceness of His anger on Amalek -- therefore this thing hath Jehovah done to thee this day;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 14
Commentary on 1 Kings 14 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 14
This chapter relates the sickness of Jeroboam's son, the application of his wife, at his instance, to the prophet Ahijah, in the child's favour, 1 Kings 14:1, the prophecy of the prophet concerning the ruin of Jeroboam's house, and the death of the child, which came to pass, 1 Kings 14:7, an account of the years of Jeroboam's reign, and also of Rehoboam's, 1 Kings 14:19, and of the evil things done and suffered by the latter in his kingdom, and the calamities that came upon him for it, 1 Kings 14:22 and the conclusion of his reign, 1 Kings 14:29.
At that time Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick. Being smitten of God with some disease, as a punishment of Jeroboam's sin; how long this was after the above things were done cannot be said.
And Jeroboam said to his wife,.... Who she was is not known:
arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself; put off her royal apparel, and clothe herself like a common person, mimic the dress and language of a country woman:
that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam: by any that should see her on the road, or at the city she was to go to, or by the prophet to whom she would be sent:
and get thee to Shiloh; which, according to BuntingF7Travels, &c. p. 161. , was twenty four miles, from Tirzah, where Jeroboam now lived, see 1 Kings 14:17.
behold, there is Ahijah the prophet: called from thence the Shilonite, 1 Kings 11:29,
which told me that I should be king over this people: and this coming to pass, proved him to be a true prophet, and to be credited in what he should say concerning their child. Jeroboam desired his wife to go on this errand, because he did not care it should be known that he applied to any of the prophets of the Lord; nor did he choose it should be known whose child was inquired about, which another must have told, whereas his wife could speak of it as her own; and she was the fittest person to give an account of the child's illness, and would ask the most proper and pertinent questions, and bring him back a faithful report; and he would have her be disguised, lest the prophet, who bore no good will to him because of his apostasy, should refuse to give any answer at all, or else give a very rough and disagreeable one.
And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him,.... It being usual to carry a present to a prophet when he was inquired of on any account, see 1 Samuel 9:7 and this being a plain present, and of such things as the country afforded, she might be taken for a plain countrywoman, and not for such a personage as she was: the ten loaves could not be large for a woman to carry, most probably made of wheat; the cracknels, according to the Greek version in Drusius, were for the prophet's children; they very likely were spiced, or were sweetened with honey, and might be somewhat like our simnels; they seem to have their name in Hebrew from having points and pricks in them for the sake of ornament; such as PlautusF8Prolog. Poenulo, ver. 43. calls "scribilitae", because as TurnebusF9Adversar. l. 23. c. 10. says, they were marked and pricked, and seemed as if they were written:
he shall tell thee what shall become of the child; whether it should live or die, for that was all he wanted to know; he did not desire to know what should be done to the child for its recovery, nor to request the prophet's prayers for it.
And Jeroboam's wife did so, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Abijah,.... Disguised herself, and took this long journey, and found the prophet's house; which she did partly in obedience to her husband, and partly from affection to her child: but Abijah could not see; her or anybody else that came into the room to him:
for his eyes were set by reason of his age; or "stood" fixed and immovable, as the eyes of blind men are; or the nerves and muscles of his eyes stood within the holes thereof, so that he could not see objects.
And the Lord said unto Abijah,.... Either in a dream, or by an impulse upon his mind, before Jeroboam's wife came in:
behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son, for he is sick; to know whether he will recover or not:
thus and thus shall thou say unto her; as after expressed in some following verses:
for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself another woman; to the people that let her in, and introduce her to the prophet, and to the prophet himself; pretend herself to be a countrywoman come to ask a question of the prophet concerning her son that was ill of a disease.
And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door,.... Of the room where the prophet was:
that he said, come in, thou wife of Jeroboam, why feignest thou thyself to be another? which must greatly surprise and confound her, as well as lay open to her the folly of her and her husband to imagine that she could be secreted from God, and a prophet of his; or that a prophet could tell her what was future, and yet not know her that was present; and this might serve to assure her, and so her husband, that what the prophet after delivered would certainly come to pass:
for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings; or hard things, such as would be very disagreeable to her and her husband.
Go tell Jeroboam,.... Thy husband:
thus saith the Lord God of Israel; so he continued to be, though they had revolted from him:
forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people; the common people, from a low estate in which he was:
and made thee prince over my people Israel; so they were when he made them king over them; and there were some among them still that loved the Lord, served and feared him, of which the prophet himself, now speaking, was an instance.
And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee,.... Even ten parts out of twelve:
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; who never was guilty of idolatry, but always constantly and cordially attended the pure worship of God, and was careful to do everything in that according to the will of God, whatever else he might be deficient in.
But hast done evil above all that were before thee,.... Not only above David, but above Saul, who never gave into idolatry, yea, even above Solomon, who, though he connived at idolatry, and might be guilty of it in some instances, yet did not attempt to draw his people into it; and if this was the latter end of Jeroboam's reign, which is probable, Rehoboam and Abijam might be both dead; and though they were blameworthy in some things, yet not so bad as Jeroboam; though perhaps this may respect only such who had been kings of Israel before him:
for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger; the two calves of gold; for however he might colour things over, and pretend he did not look upon these as gods, but as representations of God, and that he did not worship them, but God by them, yet the Lord considered it as idolatry, than which nothing is more provoking to him:
and hast cast me behind thy back; as unworthy of his regard; or my worship, as the Targum, which he neglected, and showed no concern for.
Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam,.... Calamities, destruction, and ruin:
and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall; not leave a dog of his, or rather a male, see 1 Samuel 25:22.
and him that is shut up and left in Israel; in garrisons or in prisons, in cities or in fields, or in whatsoever situation or circumstances they may be. Some interpret it of wealth and substance; it signifies an entire destruction it may be of men and goods, see Deuteronomy 32:36.
and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone; signifying that Jeroboam's family was as loathsome and abominable to the Lord as dung is to men; and that he would make as clean a riddance of them as men do of dung when they sweep it out, and will not leave the least scrap behind.
Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat,.... The meaning is, that they should have no burial:
for the Lord hath spoken it; and therefore shall be fulfilled, for what he hath said he will do, Numbers 23:19.
Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house,.... With all haste, as soon as she could:
and when thy feet enter the city; the city of Tirzah, very probably the king's palace stood at the entry of it, see 1 Kings 14:17,
the child shall die; this is an answer to the question she was to ask, and at the same time a token of the sure and certain fulfilment of all the prophet had spoken in the name of the Lord.
And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him,.... Give him an honourable interment, and follow him to the grave with lamentation, because he was the heir apparent to the throne, and an hopeful prince, of whom they had raised expectations; that when he came to the throne things would take a different turn, especially in matters of religion, and they might fear, he being removed, things would grow worse instead of better:
for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave; or be buried, the rest should be devoured by dogs or fowls:
because in him there is found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam; the principles of grace were implanted, and seeds of piety and religion sown in his heart; and there appeared a disposition of mind, and desires in him to the name of God, and the remembrance of it; or to his pure worship and service; it might be discerned that he had a dislike of idolatry, and a desire to have true religion restored. The Jews sayF11T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 28. 2. that this good thing in him was, that he was the means of removing the watch or guards that were placed in the way to hinder the Israelites from going up to the feasts of the Lord.
Moreover the Lord shall raise up a king over Israel,.... Baasha is meant, 1 Kings 15:29.
who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day; immediately, as soon as on the throne, he should destroy his whole family, as he did, 1 Kings 15:29,
but what? even now; shall it be that day? yes; even at that very time, and which will be very quickly from this time; for as it may be supposed this was said at the latter end of Jeroboam's reign, and his son and successor reigned but two years ere this prophecy was accomplished. The Targum is,
"who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam, him that is living today, and shall be from henceforward.'
And the Lord shall smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water,.... Either by the wind or by the stream; and may signify the fluctuating and uncertain condition Israel should be in future reigns, through civil wars, and the translation of the kingdom into different families; so that there was continually disquietude and uneasiness, and no settled peace and tranquillity:
and he shall root up Israel out this good land he gave to their fathers; which was brought about, first by Tiglathpileser, and then by Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria, that carried them captives from hence:
and shall scatter them beyond the river; the river Euphrates, as the Targum: or, as others, the river Gozan, 2 Kings 17:6.
because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger: in which groves they placed idols, and worshipped them, which was highly provoking to the Lord, and the cause of their dispersion.
And he shall give Israel up,.... Into the hands of their enemies:
because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin; by his devices and stratagems, by his example and edicts, and by the methods he took to prevent Israel from worshipping in the manner and place he directed to.
And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, Upon this speech of the prophet's to her:
and came to Tirzah; where Jeroboam now had his court, and where their son now was; it was a royal city in the time of the Canaanites, and is commonly placed in the tribe of Manasseh, and was a very pleasant one, as its name signifies, to which there is an allusion, Song of Solomon 6:4; see Gill on Joshua 12:24,
and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died: just as she was about to step over the threshold of the royal palace, which seems to have been at the entering of the city of Tirzah, 1 Kings 14:12.
And they buried him,.... In an honourable manner, suitable to his rank and pedigree:
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, 1 Kings 14:13.
And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred,.... As he did with Rehoboam, 1 Kings 14:30, and with Abijam his son, who was an more than a match for him, see 2 Chronicles 13:1.
and how he reigned; over the people of Israel, whether wisely, and justly, and in clemency, or not:
behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel; not in that canonical book of Scripture, so called, for in that there is very little account of the reign of Jeroboam; but in the annals and diaries of the kings of Israel, written by persons appointed for that purpose, and out of which it is generally thought that inspired writers, by divine direction, took what was thought proper to be transmitted to future times. So with the Romans, from their very beginning to the times of Mutius, all the events of every year were committed to writing by the order of the Pontifex Maximus, and lay open to be read by the people in common; and these, as TullyF12De Oratore, l. 2. c. 34. says, were what are called annals.
And the days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty two years,.... So that he outlived Rehoboam five years, and lived to the second year of the reign of his grandson Asa:
and he slept with his fathers; or died as they did:
and Nadab his son reigned in his stead; who perhaps was younger than Abijah, whose sickness and death are before related.
And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah,.... Over the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, when Jeroboam reigned over the other ten:
Rehoboam was forty one years old when he began to reign; being born one year before his father Solomon began to reign, and so it might have been expected he would have begun his reign more wisely than he did:
and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem; not half so long as his father and grandfather, being neither so wise nor so good a prince as either of them:
the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there; to have a temple built for him, and his worship carried on in it; which was an aggravation of the sin of Rehoboam, that he should reign in such a place, and yet be guilty of the crimes he was; the three first years he reigned well, but afterwards forsook the law of the Lord, 2 Chronicles 11:17.
and his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess; and which is observed again, 1 Kings 14:31, she being the instrument of drawing him into idolatry, which it is very probable she practised in the days of Solomon, 1 Kings 11:5.
And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... At the end of three years, from the beginning of the reign of Rehoboam:
and they provoked him to jealousy, with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done; that is, with their idolatries; for they were the sins which moved the Lord to jealousy, and provoked the eyes of his glory; in which they had outdone not the ten tribes, but their fathers, in the times of Moses, Joshua, and the judges, and of their kings before their separation, Saul, David, and Solomon.
For they also built them high places,.... Which, though allowed of, or at least connived at, before the temple was built, and when the tabernacle was unfixed, yet afterwards unlawful; and the tribe of Judah could have no excuse for them, who had the temple in their tribe:
and images; contrary to the express command of God, Exodus 20:4,
and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree; that is, set up idols, and temples for idols, amidst groves of trees, and under all green trees; as was the custom of the Heathens, who sacrificed on the heights of hills and tops of mountains, as was particularly the custom of the Persians, as both HerodotusF13Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 131. and XenophonF14Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 45. relate; and with the Getae, a people in Thrace, was a mountain they reckoned sacredF15Strabo Geograph. l. 7. p. 206. .
And there were also Sodomites in the land, Such as were addicted to unnatural lusts between men and men, which the men of Sodom were guilty of, from whence they had their name: Jarchi interprets the word adultery and some versions render it whoremongers; and filthy actions of this nature, both by men and women, usually attended idolatrous practices among the heathens; in their temples and groves such wickednesses were privately perpetrated:
and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel; the Canaanites, of whose uncleannesses, incests, and bestialities, see Leviticus 18:1.
And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam,.... Two years after he and his people fell into the above wicked practices:
that Shishak, king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; of whom see 1 Kings 11:40, this was suffered as a chastisement from the Lord for their abominations.
And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord,.... Which perhaps Jeroboam had informed him of, and for the sake of which he came, as well as to make a diversion in favour of Jeroboam, who had contracted an intimacy with him when in Egypt; and who might have no regard for Rehoboam, who was not a son of Pharaoh's daughter, and so no relation to him: these were the treasures which David had left to his son Solomon, and had dedicated for the temple, even gold, silver, and vessels, which he put among the treasures of the house of the Lord, and perhaps added to them, 1 Kings 7:51, and the treasures of the king's house; the riches, gold, silver, and jewels, whatever of worth and value he had in his chests and cabinets:
he even took away all: that he could find and come at; for that there were some left is plain from 1 Kings 15:18,
and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made; and which were put in the house of the forest of Lebanon, 1 Kings 10:16.
And King Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields,.... For the king of Egypt had so stripped him of his gold, that he was not able to replace golden ones:
and committed them into the hands of the chief of the guard; or "runners"F16הרצים "cursorum", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. , that went before the king, or attended him as his bodyguard when he went abroad:
which kept the door of the king's house; which kept guard night and day in their turns.
And it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord,.... The temple; for though he had fallen into idolatry, he had not wholly forsaken the worship of God in the temple, and perhaps by the late humbling providence he might be stirred up to attend there more frequently:
that the guard bare them: before him, partly for pomp and grandeur, and partly to keep in awe such as were inclined to mutiny and sedition:
and brought them back into the guard chamber; when the king returned, the place where the guard lodged and slept by turns.
Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did,.... In the course of his reign, that was memorable:
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? who had annalists or historiographers to write for them, as the kings of Israel had, 1 Kings 14:19, in the writing of which, especially with respect to genealogies, Shemaiah the prophet, and Iddo the seer, were concerned, 2 Chronicles 12:15.
And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. For though Rehoboam did not enter into an offensive war, and attack the children of Israel, being dissuaded from it by Shemaiah the prophet in the name of the Lord, yet he might maintain a defensive war; and though there were no pitched battles between them as afterwards, in his son's time, yet there might be skirmishes and bickerings on the borders of their countries.
And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David,.... Where David and Solomon were buried, 1 Kings 2:10 and his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess; which is repeated, that it might be observed as what was the leading step to his idolatry, and the means of his continuing in it:
and Abijam his son reigned in his stead; of whom there is a further account in the following chapter.