Chapter XI.
1–4 (= 1 Kings xii. 21–24).
Shemaiah forbids Civil War.
The Chronicler here omits the elevation of Jeroboam to be king over Israel (1 Kings xii. 20).
¹And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.
1. an hundred and fourscore thousand] The number is small compared with the Judean armies mentioned in xiii. 3, xiv. 7, xvii. 14; yet it is far greater than is credible. The word rendered thousand may originally have been used to denote a tribal division, thus including women and children and old men. If so, the actual warriors represented by 180 such “thousands” would be about 30,000, a very large number for so small a state, yet not impossible. But, however that may be for the early days, there is little or no doubt that the Chronicler understood the word in its strict sense: a literal thousand. See the note on xvii. 14.
²But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
2. Shemaiah] See xii. 5, 15.
³Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they hearkened unto the words of the Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
3. to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin] The Chronicler does not hesitate to use the term “Israel” in speaking of Judah. Thus the princes of the Southern Kingdom are called “the princes of Israel” (xii. 6, xxi. 4), the populace as a whole is called “Israel” (xii. 1, xv. 17), Jehoshaphat and Ahaz are each called “king of Israel” (xxi. 2, xxviii. 19), and the sepulchres of the kings at Jerusalem are called the “sepulchres of the kings of Israel” (xxviii. 27). Israel in Chronicles then = the covenant-people. In Kings, on the contrary, Israel generally means the Northern Kingdom.
5–23.
The Prosperity of Rehoboam.
These verses have no corresponding section in 1 Kings On the other hand, the Chronicler omits three important sections of 1 Kings, viz. xii. 25–33 (the setting up of the golden calves), xiii. 1–32 (the episode of the prophet who cried against the altar in Beth-el) and xiv. 1–18 (the death of the son of Jeroboam).
⁵And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.
5. built cities for defence] This does not mean that all these cities were then built for the first time; certainly Beth-lehem, Tekoa, and Hebron were ancient places. Rebuilding, strengthening, and fortifying are included in the meaning of the Hebrew verb bānāh = build. The cities mentioned were situated some in the hill country of Judah, some in the Shephelah. It is probable that they were strengthened as a measure of defence against Egypt. Less likely is the suggestion that they were fortified chiefly to prevent or suppress insurrection against Rehoboam in Judah. See also Introduction § 7, p. xlviii.
⁶He built even Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
6. Etam] Probably represented by some ruins a little to the south-west of Beth-lehem, by which is a spring called Ain ‘Atān. Compare 1 Chronicles iv. 3. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 109.
⁷and Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam,
7. Beth-zur] Represented by the ruin Burj Ṣūr to the north of Hebron. Compare Joshua xv. 58. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 112.
Soco] The cities hitherto mentioned were situated in the hill country, but the position of the Soco here mentioned and Adullam is uncertain. Two places bore the name Soco or Socoh, one situated in the Shephelah (Joshua xv. 35; 1 Samuel xvii. 1, Revised Version), and one in the hill country (“the mountains,” Joshua xv. 48)—see note 1 Chronicles iv. 18. For Adullam compare Joshua xv. 35; 1 Chronicles xi. 15 (note on the cave of Adullam).
⁸and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
8. Gath] compare 1 Chronicles xviii. 1.
Mareshah] In the Shephelah south of the modern Beit Jibrin. Compare xiv. 9, xx. 37.
Ziph] Probably Tell Zif south of Hebron.
⁹and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,
9. Adoraim] The modern Dora west of Hebron.
Azekah] In the Shephelah, mentioned along with Socoh in Joshua xv. 35.
¹⁰and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fenced cities. ¹¹And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and oil and wine.
10. Zorah] Joshua xv. 33 (Revised Version). It was situated in the Shephelah.
Aijalon] The modern Yalo, a little north of the Jaffa road about midway between Ramleh and Jerusalem. It is an ancient place mentioned in the Tell el-Amarna letters. Compare xxviii. 18 and 1 Chronicles vi. 69; also Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land pp. 210–213.
and in Benjamin] None of the fifteen cities seems to have been in Benjamin. Zorah and Aijalon were in Dan (Joshua xix. 41, 42, Revised Version), while the remaining thirteen were in Judah. Compare verse 5.
Benjamin, in reality, belonged to the Northern Kingdom until, after the fall of Samaria, its territory was included in the Judean kingdom (see 1 Kings xii. 20). Later, the idea prevailed that it had been one with the Southern Kingdom from the beginning—as appears here, and apparently in 1 Kings xi. 31. At any rate the phrase, Judah and Benjamin, came to be used as a general expression denoting the Southern Kingdom. How long any sense of its partial inaccuracy remained is uncertain.
¹²And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong. And Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.
12. And Judah and Benjamin belonged to him] If the view, discussed in the note on verse 5, that Rehoboam’s military precautions were carried through to suppress or prevent rebellion in Judah, then this phrase should be rendered And so Judah and Benjamin became his.
¹³And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border.
13. resorted to him] Literally took their stand by him.
¹⁴For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office unto the Lord:
14. suburbs] See note on 1 Chronicles v. 16.
cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office unto the Lord] The point is in the concluding words “unto the Lord” (i.e. Jehovah). Jeroboam did not abandon the worship of Jehovah, although later generations thought so and could not conceive that the famous “calves wherewith he made Israel to sin” were images symbolic of Jehovah. The Chronicler regards him as having lapsed into gross idolatry (see verse 15) and as having ejected all the Levites from his kingdom. A less stringent opinion as to his treatment of the priests of Jehovah is expressed in 1 Kings xii. 31, xiii. 33 where it is not said that Jeroboam rejected the tribe of Levi, but only that he allowed men of any tribe to become priests; “he ... made priests from among all the people” (Revised Version). Comparison of Kings and Chronicles is here very valuable as an illustration of the care with which the history in Chronicles has been adapted to indicate that the Northern Kingdom was wholly wicked and apostate from the start. The Chronicler’s hostility to the North is really directed against the Samaritans: see Introduction § 6.
¹⁵and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the he-goats¹, and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord, the God of their fathers.
15. the he-goats] The heathen Arabs believed in the existence of demons (called jinn) having various animal forms and inhabiting deserted places, and this belief was shared by the Hebrews (compare Isaiah xiii. 21). In this verse and in Leviticus xvii. 7, the writers seem to identify the gods worshipped by the heathen with these demons. (Compare W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites², pp. 120 ff.)
the calves] Not previously mentioned in Chronicles; 1 Kings xii. 28.
¹⁷So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.
17. three years] There were three years of prosperity, in the fourth year Judah fell away into idolatry, and in the fifth year chastisement overtook them by the hand of Shishak (xii. 1–3). For the significance of this, see the note on xii. 14.
of David and Solomon] The Chronicler here as elsewhere ignores the fall of Solomon. In 1 Kings xi. 4–6 an express distinction is made between the way of David and the way of Solomon.
¹⁸And Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail¹ the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; ¹⁹and she bare him sons; Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham.
18. Jerimoth] Nothing is known regarding a son of David of this name. He may have been the son of a concubine (1 Chronicles iii. 9).
and of Abihail] i.e. Mahalath’s father was Jerimoth, her mother Abihail. The Authorized Version “and Abihail” wrongly implies that Abihail was, like Mahalath, a wife of Rehoboam.
Eliab] David’s eldest brother; 1 Samuel xvi. 6, xvii. 13.
²⁰And after her he took Maacah¹ the daughter of Absalom; and she bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines, and begat twenty and eight sons and threescore daughters.) ²²And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brethren: for he was minded to make him king.
20. Maacah] Perhaps the grand-daughter of Absalom, since she is called the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah in xiii. 2 (where, with LXX., read “Maacah” for “Michaiah”; and see the note there). According to 2 Samuel xviii. 18 Absalom had “no son to keep his name in remembrance” but he may have had a daughter who married Uriel and became the mother of this Maacah; and further in 2 Samuel xiv. 27 it is said that Absalom had three sons and a daughter named Tamar. These sons may all have died young, but perhaps xiv. 27 is another tradition differing from xviii. 18.
Abijah] Called “Abijam” 1 Kings xv. 1.
²³And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he sought for them many wives¹.
23. all the lands] i.e. the territory of Judah; compare 1 Chronicles xiii. 2 (margin).
And he sought for them many wives] More exactly, as margin, And he sought a multitude of wives. It is difficult to say whether or not the Chronicler has Deuteronomy xvii. 17 in his mind and is implicitly blaming the king. In any case he goes on in the next verse to say that Rehoboam forsook the law of the Lord. It is however probable that there is a slight error in the Hebrew and that the text ran originally thus, And he took for them (i.e. for his sons) a multitude of wives. Rehoboam’s own conjugal affairs have been already described in verse 21.
Chapter XII.
1–12 (compare 1 Kings xiv. 22, 25–28).
The Invasion of Shishak.
¹And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
1. all Israel] i.e. all the Southern Kingdom; compare note on xi. 3. The details of Judah’s apostasy are given in 1 Kings xiv. 22–24.
²And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against the Lord,
2. Shishak] The Egyptian king has commemorated this expedition in a pictorial inscription on the wall of the temple of Karnak. It appears that the Northern Kingdom suffered as well as the Southern; much spoil was carried off, but no permanent conquest of Canaan was attempted. (Breasted, History of Egypt, pp. 529 f.)
because they had trespassed] A touch characteristic of the Chronicler; compare xiii. 18, xxi. 10, xxiv. 24, xxv. 20, xxvii. 6, xxviii. 19; and 1 Chronicles x. 13, 14. The Chronicler sees the working of temporal rewards and of temporal punishments everywhere.
³with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.
3. with twelve hundred chariots] The details given in this verse are absent from 1 Kings.
Lubim] i.e. the Libyans of North Africa. Shishak was a leader of Libyan mercenaries. He made himself master of Egypt circa 950 B.C., and is known as the founder of the XXIInd dynasty.
Sukkiim] LXX. Τρωγλοδύται, i.e. the cave dwellers of the mountains which fringe the west coast of the Red Sea. But whether these are really meant here is doubtful.
⁴And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came unto Jerusalem.
4. the fenced cities] Compare xi. 5.
⁵Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.
5. Now Shemaiah the prophet came] This intervention of Shemaiah is not mentioned in 1 Kings For an earlier appearance of the prophet see xi. 2 ff. = 1 Kings xii. 22 ff.
have I also left you in the hand] Rather, I also have forsaken you and delivered you into the hand.
⁶Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous.
6. princes of Israel] Called “princes of Judah” in verse 5; compare note on xi. 3.
humbled themselves] i.e. they fasted and put on sackcloth; compare 1 Kings xxi. 27, 29.
The Lord is righteous] Compare Pharaoh’s confession (Exodus ix. 27), and the Psalmist’s address to God, “That thou mayest be justified (literally ‘mayest be righteous’) when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalms li. 4). The “righteousness” of God is made known to man in His judgement, whether the judgement be of condemnation (as here) or of acquittal (as 1 John i. 9, Revised Version).
⁷And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them: but I will grant them some deliverance¹, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
7. some deliverance] Render, as margin, deliverance within a little while.
⁸Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.
8. that they may know my service, etc.] i.e. that they may learn the difference between my service and other service.
⁹So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all away: he took away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
9. he took all away] Shishak was bought off with a heavy present from attacking Jerusalem; compare the case of Sennacherib (2 Kings xviii. 13–16).
shields] Rather, targets, i.e. small shields; compare note on ix. 15.
¹⁰And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard¹, that kept the door of the king’s house. ¹¹And it was so, that as oft as the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.
10. the guard] margin (more literally) the runners. These derived their name from the duty of running before the king’s chariot to clear the way for him; compare 2 Samuel xv. 1; 1 Kings i. 5.
¹²And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.
12. in Judah were good things found] i.e. piety, compare xix. 3. This is said as giving an additional reason for the mercy which God had showed (verse 7). Doubtless it is also intended to emphasise the religious superiority of the South over the North; compare the note on xi. 20.
13–16 (compare 1 Kings xiv. 21, 29–31).
Summary of Rehoboam’s Reign.
¹³So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.
13. strengthened himself] See note on i. 1. The immediate reference is to a recovery of strength after the departure of Shishak; the further reference is to xi. 5.
forty and one years old ... and he reigned seventeen years] So read both the Hebrew and LXX. here and in 1 Kings xiv. 21, but in the additional passage which follows 1 Kings xii. 24 in LXX. (B, not A) we read, sixteen years old ... and twelve years he reigned. No importance however can be attached to this variation, for the passage which contains it is plainly midrashic in character.
the city which the Lord had chosen] Though the Ten Tribes were lost to the house of David, the Lord kept his oath to David by securing to his seed the possession of the one holy city of Israel.
¹⁴And he did that which was evil, because he set not his heart to seek the Lord.
14. he set not his heart] The phrase implies steady purpose. The Chronicler concludes that Rehoboam must be classed as a king who was good but not entirely so. The considerations which chiefly influenced him in determining the character of this reign were perhaps two: on the one hand the invasion of Shishak was felt to be a fixed point, a disaster only to be accounted for in the Chronicler’s view by some falling away from assiduous worship of Jehovah; and on the other hand it seemed incredible that the second direct descendant of David on the throne of Israel should have been seriously corrupt. The situation was met by representing Rehoboam as having been three years faithful (and therefore prosperous), and one year faithless (and therefore assailed by Shishak in the fifth year). The favourable aspect of his reign was further emphasised by the statement of verse 16, and by the suppression of the three damaging passages in Kings, referred to in the head-note to xi. 5–23. It is very obvious that the resultant picture of the king is much less true to historical reality than the account in Kings; but it serves excellently to illustrate the Chronicler’s contention that virtue prospers and vice is punished. And once more we may insist that the value of this writer for us lies supremely in the energy and the conviction with which he seeks to drive home this great moral and spiritual belief.
¹⁵Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the histories¹ of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the manner of genealogies²? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ¹⁶And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.
15. in the histories of ...] See Introduction § 5.
Iddo] compare xiii. 22, and see note on ix. 29.
after the manner of genealogies] margin in reckoning the genealogies; but literally “to enrol themselves.” This most obscure phrase is perhaps a meaningless fragment due to textual corruption. Another suggestion is that it has been misplaced and should be read at the end of xi. 16.