29 And he set H7760 the one H259 in Bethel, H1008 and the other H259 put H5414 he in Dan. H1835
And he called H7121 the name H8034 of that place H4725 Bethel: H1008 but H199 the name H8034 of that city H5892 was called Luz H3870 at the first. H7223
And he removed H6275 from thence unto a mountain H2022 on the east H6924 of Bethel, H1008 and pitched H5186 his tent, H168 having Bethel H1008 on the west, H3220 and Hai H5857 on the east: H6924 and there he builded H1129 an altar H4196 unto the LORD, H3068 and called H7121 upon the name H8034 of the LORD. H3068
And God H430 said H559 unto Jacob, H3290 Arise, H6965 go up H5927 to Bethel, H1008 and dwell H3427 there: and make H6213 there an altar H4196 unto God, H410 that appeared H7200 unto thee when thou fleddest H1272 from the face H6440 of Esau H6215 thy brother. H251
And Moses H4872 went up H5927 from the plains H6160 of Moab H4124 unto the mountain H2022 of Nebo, H5015 to the top H7218 of Pisgah, H6449 that is over against H6440 Jericho. H3405 And the LORD H3068 shewed H7200 him all the land H776 of Gilead, H1568 unto Dan, H1835
And they took H3947 the things which Micah H4318 had made, H6213 and the priest H3548 which he had, and came H935 unto Laish, H3919 unto a people H5971 that were at quiet H8252 and secure: H982 and they smote H5221 them with the edge H6310 of the sword, H2719 and burnt H8313 the city H5892 with fire. H784 And there was no deliverer, H5337 because it was far H7350 from Zidon, H6721 and they had no business H1697 with any man; H120 and it was in the valley H6010 that lieth by Bethrehob. H1050 And they built H1129 a city, H5892 and dwelt H3427 therein. And they called H7121 the name H8034 of the city H5892 Dan, H1835 after the name H8034 of Dan H1835 their father, H1 who was born H3205 unto Israel: H3478 howbeit H199 the name H8034 of the city H5892 was Laish H3919 at the first. H7223 And the children H1121 of Dan H1835 set up H6965 the graven image: H6459 and Jonathan, H3083 the son H1121 of Gershom, H1647 the son H1121 of Manasseh, H4519 he and his sons H1121 were priests H3548 to the tribe H7626 of Dan H1839 until the day H3117 of the captivity H1540 of the land. H776 And they set them up H7760 Micah's H4318 graven image, H6459 which he made, H6213 all the time H3117 that the house H1004 of God H430 was in Shiloh. H7887
Then all the children H1121 of Israel H3478 went out, H3318 and the congregation H5712 was gathered together H6950 as one H259 man, H376 from Dan H1835 even to Beersheba, H884 with the land H776 of Gilead, H1568 unto the LORD H3068 in Mizpeh. H4709
Howbeit from the sins H2399 of Jeroboam H3379 the son H1121 of Nebat, H5028 who made Israel H3478 to sin, H2398 Jehu H3058 departed H5493 not from after H310 them, to wit, the golden H2091 calves H5695 that were in Bethel, H1008 and that were in Dan. H1835
The snorting H5170 of his horses H5483 was heard H8085 from Dan: H1835 the whole land H776 trembled H7493 at the sound H6963 of the neighing H4684 of his strong ones; H47 for they are come, H935 and have devoured H398 the land, H776 and all H4393 that is in it; the city, H5892 and those that dwell H3427 therein.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 12
Commentary on 1 Kings 12 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 12
1Ki 12:1-5. Refusing the Old Men's Counsel.
1. Rehoboam went to Shechem—He was the oldest, and perhaps the only son of Solomon, and had been, doubtless, designated by his father heir to the throne, as Solomon had been by David. The incident here related took place after the funeral obsequies of the late king and the period for public mourning had past. When all Israel came to make him king, it was not to exercise their old right of election (1Sa 10:19-21), for, after God's promise of the perpetual sovereignty to David's posterity, their duty was submission to the authority of the rightful heir; but their object was, when making him king, to renew the conditions and stipulations to which their constitutional kings were subject (1Sa 10:25). To the omission of such rehearsing which, under the peculiar circumstances in which Solomon was made king, they were disposed to ascribe the absolutism of his government.
Shechem—This ancient, venerable, and central town was the place of convocation; and it is evident, if not from the appointment of that place, at least from the tenor of their language, and the concerted presence of Jeroboam [1Ki 12:3], that the people were determined on revolt.
4. Thy father made our yoke grievous—The splendor of Solomon's court and the magnitude of his undertakings being such, that neither the tribute of dependent states, nor the presents of foreign princes, nor the profits of his commercial enterprises, were adequate to carry them on, he had been obliged, for obtaining the necessary revenue, to begin a system of heavy taxation. The people looked only to the burdens, not to the benefits they derived from Solomon's peaceful and prosperous reign—and the evils from which they demanded deliverance were civil oppressions, not idolatry, to which they appear to have been indifferent or approving.
5-8. he said … Depart yet for three days—It was prudent to take the people's demand into calm and deliberate consideration. Whether, had the advice of the sage and experienced counsellors been followed, any good result would have followed, it is impossible to say. It would at least have removed all pretext for the separation. [See on 2Ch 10:7.] But he preferred the counsel of his young companions (not in age, for they were all about forty-one, but inexperienced), who recommended prompt and decisive measures to quell the malcontents.
11. whips … scorpions—The latter [instruments], as contrasted with the former, are supposed to mean thongs thickly set with sharp iron points, used in the castigation of slaves.
15-18. the king hearkened not unto the people, for the cause was from the Lord—That was the overruling cause. Rehoboam's weakness (Ec 2:18, 19) and inexperience in public affairs has given rise to the probable conjecture, that, like many other princes in the East, he had been kept secluded in the harem till the period of his accession (Ec 4:14), his father being either afraid of his aspiring to the sovereignty, like the two sons of David, or, which is more probable, afraid of prematurely exposing his imbecility. The king's haughty and violent answer to a people already filled with a spirit of discontent and exasperation, indicated so great an incapacity to appreciate the gravity of the crisis, so utter a want of common sense, as to create a belief that he was struck with judicial blindness. It was received with mingled scorn and derision. The revolt was accomplished, and yet so quietly, that Rehoboam remained in Shechem, fancying himself the sovereign of a united kingdom, until his chief tax gatherer, who had been most imprudently sent to treat with the people, had been stoned to death. This opened his eyes, and he fled for security to Jerusalem.
1Ki 12:20-33. Jeroboam Made King over Them.
20-24. when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again—This verse closes the parenthetical narrative begun at 1Ki 12:2, and 1Ki 12:21-24 resume the history from 1Ki 12:1. Rehoboam determined to assert his authority by leading a large force into the disaffected provinces. But the revolt of the ten tribes was completed when the prophet Shemaiah ordered, in the Lord's name, an abandonment of any hostile measures against the revolutionists. The army, overawed by the divine prohibition, dispersed, and the king was obliged to submit.
25. Jeroboam built Shechem—destroyed by Abimelech (Jud 9:1-49). It was rebuilt, and perhaps fortified, by Jeroboam, as a royal residence.
built Penuel—a ruined city with a tower (Jud 8:9), east of Jordan, on the north bank of the Jabbok. It was an object of importance to restore this fortress (as it lay on the caravan road from Gilead to Damascus and Palmyra) and to secure his frontier on that quarter.
26-32. Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David—Having received the kingdom from God, he should have relied on the divine protection. But he did not. With a view to withdraw the people from the temple and destroy the sacred associations connected with Jerusalem, he made serious and unwarranted innovations on the religious observances of the country, on pretext of saving the people the trouble and expense of a distant journey. First, he erected two golden calves—the young bulls, Apis and Mnevis, as symbols (in the Egyptian fashion) of the true God, and the nearest, according to his fancy, to the figures of the cherubim. The one was placed at Dan, in the northern part of his kingdom; the other at Beth-el, the southern extremity, in sight of Jerusalem, and in which place he probably thought God was as likely to manifest Himself as at Jerusalem (Ge 32:1-32; 2Ki 2:2). The latter place was the most frequented—for the words (1Ki 12:30) should be rendered, "the people even to Dan went to worship before the one" (Jer 48:13; Am 4:4, 5; 5:5; Ho 5:8; 10:8). The innovation was a sin because it was setting up the worship of God by symbols and images and departing from the place where He had chosen to put His name. Secondly, he changed the feast of tabernacles from the fifteenth of the seventh to the fifteenth of the eighth month. The ostensible reason might be, that the ingathering or harvest was later in the northern parts of the kingdom; but the real reason was to eradicate the old association with this, the most welcome and joyous festival of the year.
31. made priests of the lowest of the people—literally, "out of all the people," the Levites refusing to act. He himself assumed to himself the functions of the high priest, at least, at the great festival, probably from seeing the king of Egypt conjoin the royal and sacred offices, and deeming the office of the high priest too great to be vested in a subject.