בָּעֵת הַהִיא חָלָה אֲבִיָּה בֶן־יָרָבְעָם׃   14:1

1Kin. 14:1   At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became sick.

וַיֹּאמֶר יָרָבְעָם לְאִשְׁתּוֹ קוּמִי נָא וְהִשְׁתַּנִּית וְלֹא יֵדְעוּ כִּי־ (אַתִּי) [אַתְּ] אֵשֶׁת יָרָבְעָם וְהָלַכְתְּ שִׁלֹה   14:2 הִנֵּה־שָׁם אֲחִיָּה הַנָּבִיא הוּא־דִבֶּר עָלַי לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־הָעָם הַזֶּה׃

1Kin. 14:2   And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, I pray you, and disguise yourself so they will not recognize that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh.  Behold there Achijah, the prophet.  He spoke about me being king over this people.”

The names Abijah and Achijah can mean, respectively, the Lord is my father and the Lord is my brother.  Also, there is an error in the word in parentheses.  It contains an extra yad.  The correction is in the brackets.

וְלָקַחַתְּ בְּיָדֵךְ עֲשָׂרָה לֶחֶם וְנִקֻּדִים וּבַקְבֻּק דְּבַשׁ וּבָאת אֵלָיו הוּא יַגִּיד לָךְ מַה־יִּהְיֶה לַנָּעַר׃   14:3

1Kin. 14:3   “And take in your hand ten loaves of bread and biscuits and bottles of honey and go to him.  He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

וַתַּעַשׂ כֵּן אֵשֶׁת יָרָבְעָם וַתָּקָם וַתֵּלֶךְ שִׁלֹה וַתָּבֹא בֵּית אֲחִיָּה וַאֲחִיָּהוּ לֹא־יָכֹל לִרְאוֹת כִּי קָמוּ עֵינָיו   14:4 מִשֵּׂיבוֹ׃

1Kin. 14:4   And the wife of Jeroboam did so, and she arose and went to Shiloh, and she came to the house of Achijah.  Now Achijah was not able to see, for his eyes were set because of his age.

וַיהוָה אָמַר אֶל־אֲחִיָּהוּ הִנֵּה אֵשֶׁת יָרָבְעָם בָּאָה לִדְרֹשׁ דָּבָר מֵעִמְּךָ אֶל־בְּנָהּ כִּי־חֹלֶה הוּא כָּזֹה   14:5

  וְכָזֶה תְּדַבֵּר אֵלֶיהָ וִיהִי כְבֹאָהּ וְהִיא מִתְנַכֵּרָה׃

1Kin. 14:5   Now the Lord had said to Achijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam has come to ask a question from you about her son, for he is sick.  Like this and like that you shall say to her, as it will be when she comes that she will be disguised.”

וַיְהִי כִשְׁמֹעַ אֲחִיָּהוּ אֶת־קוֹל רַגְלֶיהָ בָּאָה בַפֶּתַח וַיֹּאמֶר בֹּאִי אֵשֶׁת יָרָבְעָם לָמָּה זֶּה אַתְּ מִתְנַכֵּרָה   14:6 וְאָנֹכִי שָׁלוּחַ אֵלַיִךְ קָשָׁה׃

1Kin. 14:6   And it was when Achijah heard the sound of her feet come in the door that he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam.  Why is it you have disguised yourself,  as I am bringing grief to you?”

לְכִי אִמְרִי לְיָרָבְעָם כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַעַן אֲשֶׁר הֲרִימֹתִיךָ מִתּוֹךְ הָעָם וָאֶתֶּנְךָ נָגִיד עַל   14:7 עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃

1Kin. 14:7   “Go say to Jeroboam, “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel:  ‘For the reason that I exalted you from the midst of the people and rendered you a prince over My people Israel,

וָאֶקְרַע אֶת־הַמַּמְלָכָה מִבֵּית דָּוִד וָאֶתְּנֶהָ לָךְ וְלֹא־הָיִיתָ כְּעַבְדִּי דָוִד אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַר מִצְוֺתַי וַאֲשֶׁר־הָלַךְ   14:8 אַחֲרַי בְּכָל־לְבָבוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת רַק הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָי׃

1Kin. 14:8   and rent the kingdom from the house of David and gave it to you, and you have not been like my servant, David, who kept My commandments and who went after Me with all his heart, doing only right in My eyes,

וַתָּרַע לַעֲשׂוֹת מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר־הָיוּ לְפָנֶיךָ וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתַּעֲשֶׂה־לְּךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וּמַסֵּכוֹת לְהַכְעִיסֵנִי וְאֹתִי   14:9 הִשְׁלַכְתָּ אַחֲרֵי גַוֶּךָ׃

1Kin. 14:9   and you were evil, doing more than all who were before you, and you went and made other gods for yourself, and molten images, to provoke Me, and you cast Me behind your back,

לָכֵן הִנְנִי מֵבִיא רָעָה אֶל־בֵּית יָרָבְעָם וְהִכְרַתִּי לְיָרָבְעָם מַשְׁתִּין בְּקִיר עָצוּר וְעָזוּב בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל   14:10

 וּבִעַרְתִּי אַחֲרֵי בֵית־יָרָבְעָם כַּאֲשֶׁר יְבַעֵר הַגָּלָל עַד־תֻּמּוֹ׃

1Kin. 14:10   therefore behold, I am bringing evil to the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off any of Jeroboam's who piss on the wall, closing off and leaving destitute in Israel, and I will put away the rest of the house of Jeroboam as one would put away dung until its end.’”

As I see this message, it is not a threat or promise of punishment.  It is instead a dire prophecy.  Whether God “spoke” the derogatory phrases “any who piss on the wall” and “as one would put away dung” or not, I can’t say, but I seriously doubt it.  I believe it is most likely either the words of Achijah or the scribe who recorded this.

הַמֵּת לְיָרָבְעָם בָּעִיר יֹאכְלוּ הַכְּלָבִים וְהַמֵּת בַּשָּׂדֶה יֹאכְלוּ עוֹף הַשָּׁמָיִם כִּי יְהוָה דִּבֵּר׃   14:11

1Kin. 14:11   “The dogs shall eat the dead of Jeroboam's in the city, and the fowl of the air shall eat the dead in the field.  For the Lord has spoken.”

I believe this is Achijah speaking for himself again, not the Lord.  I assume he is presenting his idea of God’s message.

וְאַתְּ קוּמִי לְכִי לְבֵיתֵךְ בְּבֹאָה רַגְלַיִךְ הָעִירָה וּמֵת הַיָּלֶד׃   14:12

1Kin. 14:12   “So you arise, go to your house.  When your feet enter the city, then the child will die.”

וְסָפְדוּ־לוֹ כָל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְקָבְרוּ אֹתוֹ כִּי־זֶה לְבַדּוֹ יָבֹא לְיָרָבְעָם אֶל־קָבֶר יַעַן נִמְצָא־בוֹ דָּבָר טוֹב   14:13 אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּבֵית יָרָבְעָם׃

1Kin. 14:13   “And all Israel will mourn for him and they will bury him, for only this one of Jeroboam's will come to the grave because a good thing has been found in him in the house of Jeroboam by the Lord, God of Israel.”

From this may I presume that being buried in a grave is because of something good in us?  Or is this an example only for Jeroboam’s kin?

וְהֵקִים יְהוָה לוֹ מֶלֶךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יַכְרִית אֶת־בֵּית יָרָבְעָם זֶה הַיּוֹם וּמֶה גַּם־עָתָּה׃   14:14

1Kin. 14:14   “And the Lord shall raise up a king for Himself over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam.  It is this day, but how even now!”

וְהִכָּה יְהוָה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל כַּאֲשֶׁר יָנוּד הַקָּנֶה בַּמַּיִם וְנָתַשׁ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵעַל הָאֲדָמָה הַטּוֹבָה הַזֹּאת   14:15 אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לַאֲבוֹתֵיהֶם וְזֵרָם מֵעֵבֶר לַנָּהָר יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ אֶת־אֲשֵׁרֵיהֶם מַכְעִיסִים אֶת־יְהוָה׃

1Kin. 14:15   “As the Lord will cast forth Israel as He might make the reed to move in water, and will tear Israel away from this good land that He gave to your fathers and scatter them beyond the river, for the reason that they made their Asherim, provoking the Lord.”

וְיִתֵּן אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּגְלַל חַטֹּאות יָרָבְעָם אֲשֶׁר חָטָא וַאֲשֶׁר הֶחֱטִיא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃   14:16

1Kin. 14:16   “So He will yield Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam that he committed and that he made Israel commit.”

וַתָּקָם אֵשֶׁת יָרָבְעָם וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתָּבֹא תִרְצָתָה הִיא בָּאָה בְסַף־הַבַּיִת וְהַנַּעַר מֵת׃   14:17

1Kin. 14:17   Then the wife of Jeroboam rose and left, and she came to Tirzah. She was entering the gate of the house when the boy died.

וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ וַיִּסְפְּדוּ־לוֹ כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּדְבַר יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר בְּיַד־עַבְדּוֹ אֲחִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא׃   14:18

1Kin. 14:18   And all Israel buried him and mourned for him according to the word of the Lord that He spoke by the hand of His servant, Achijah, the prophet.

וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי יָרָבְעָם אֲשֶׁר נִלְחַם וַאֲשֶׁר מָלָךְ הִנָּם כְּתוּבִים עַל־סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְמַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃   14:19

1Kin. 14:19   And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are being written on the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel.

וְהַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ יָרָבְעָם עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם שָׁנָה וַיִּשְׁכַּב עִם־אֲבֹתָיו וַיִּמְלֹךְ נָדָב בְּנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃   14:20

1Kin. 14:20   And the days that Jeroboam reigned were twenty-two years.  Then he slept with his fathers, and Nadab, his son, reigned in his place.

Yet Jeroboam slept with his fathers!  Can I believe that expression is merely a euphemism for the fact that he died?  Or was he given that respect for the sake of his ancestors?  And how did he die?  Peacefully or in violence?

וּרְחַבְעָם בֶּן־שְׁלֹמֹה מָלַךְ בִּיהוּדָה בֶּן־אַרְבָּעִים וְאַחַת שָׁנָה רְחַבְעָם בְּמָלְכוֹ וּשֲׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה   14:21 מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלִַם הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר־בָּחַר יְהוָה לָשׂוּם אֶת־שְׁמוֹ שָׁם מִכֹּל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ נַעֲמָה הָעַמֹּנִית׃

1Kin. 14:21   And Rechoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah.  Rechoboam was forty-one years of age in his reign, and was king in Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen to set His name from all the tribes of Israel, seventeen years.  And the name of his mother was Naamah, the Ammonitess.

Rechoboam’s birth was the outcome of a sinful relationship by Solomon!

וַיַּעַשׂ יְהוּדָה הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה וַיְקַנְאוּ אֹתוֹ מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ אֲבֹתָם בְּחַטֹּאתָם אֲשֶׁר חָטָאוּ׃   14:22

1Kin. 14:22   And Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord and they made Him more jealous than all that their fathers had done by their sins that they had committed,

וַיִּבְנוּ גַם־הֵמָּה לָהֶם בָּמוֹת וּמַצֵּבוֹת וַאֲשֵׁרִים עַל כָּל־גִּבְעָה גְבֹהָה וְתַחַת כָּל־עֵץ רַעֲנָן׃   14:23

1Kin. 14:23   as they also built for themselves high places and columns and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every green tree.

In v. 14:22 above, I allowed myself to use the most common translation of the sixth Hebrew word, וַיְקַנְאוּ, as “and they made ... jealous,” because all translators assume that’s the correct translation of the word root, קנא.  I have normally translated the word root as “possessive.”  But in this instance that translation doesn’t fit well.

וְגַם־קָדֵשׁ הָיָה בָאָרֶץ עָשׂוּ כְּכֹל הַתּוֹעֲבֹת הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הוֹרִישׁ יְהוָה מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃   14:24

1Kin. 14:24   And even Sodomites were in the land.  They did all the same abominations of the nations that the Lord had driven out from the presence of the children of Israel.

This verse provides support for my conjecture that many commandments in the book of Leviticus were intended to prevent Israel from following the ritual practices of the Canaanites, although, as we see here, it didn’t work.

וַיְהִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַחֲמִישִׁית לַמֶּלֶךְ רְחַבְעָם עָלָה (שׁוּשַׁק) [שִׁישַׁק] מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַיִם עַל־יְרוּשָׁלִָם׃   14:25

1Kin. 14:25   And in the fifth year of the reign of Rechoboam it was the uprising of Shishak, king of Egypt, against Jerusalem.                                                               [Return to 2Chr. 12:2]

The name of the Egyptian king in parentheses is spelled with a vav in place of a yad.  Strictly speaking, this may not be an error, the spelling being an alternate.  However, it shows up only in this one place in the bible whereas the spelling in the brackets appears three more times in 1Kings and 2Chronicles.

וַיִּקַּח אֶת־אֹצְרוֹת בֵּית־יְהוָה וְאֶת־אוֹצְרוֹת בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ וְאֶת־הַכֹּל לָקָח וַיִּקַּח אֶת־כָּל־מָגִנֵּי הַזָּהָב   14:26 אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה שְׁלֹמֹה׃

1Kin. 14:26   And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the house of the king.  And he took everything.  He even took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made.                                                                                [Return to 2Chr. 12:9]

Presumably Shishak also took the ark of the covenant.

וַיַּעַשׂ הַמֶּלֶךְ רְחַבְעָם תַּחְתָּם מָגִנֵּי נְחֹשֶׁת וְהִפְקִיד עַל־יַד שָׂרֵי הָרָצִים הַשֹּׁמְרִים פֶּתַח בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ׃   14:27

1Kin. 14:27   And king Rechoboam made shields of brass in their stead and committed to the custody of the captains of the footmen guarding the door of the house of the king.

וַיְהִי מִדֵּי־בֹא הַמֶּלֶךְ בֵּית יְהוָה יִשָּׂאוּם הָרָצִים וֶהֱשִׁיבוּם אֶל־תָּא הָרָצִים׃   14:28

1Kin. 14:28   And it was whenever the king entered the house of the Lord the guards would bear them, then bring them back to the room of the guards.                       [Return to 2Chr. 12:11]

וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי רְחַבְעָם וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה הֲלֹא־הֵמָּה כְתוּבִים עַל־סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה׃   14:29

1Kin. 14:29   And the rest of the acts of Rechoboam and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Judah?                 [Return to 2Chr. 12:15]

וּמִלְחָמָה הָיְתָה בֵין־רְחַבְעָם וּבֵין יָרָבְעָם כָּל־הַיָּמִים׃   14:30

1Kin. 14:30   And there was war between Rechoboam and Jeroboam all the time.

                                                                                                                     [Return to 1Kin. 15:6]

וַיִּשְׁכַּב רְחַבְעָם עִם־אֲבֹתָיו וַיִּקָּבֵר עִם־אֲבֹתָיו בְּעִיר דָּוִד וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ נַעֲמָה  הָעַמֹּנִית וַיִּמְלֹךְ אֲבִיָּם בְּנוֹ   14:31 תַּחְתָּיו׃

1Kin. 14:31   Then Rechoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David.  And the name of his mother was Naamah, the Ammonitess.  And Abijam, his son, became king in his place.                                                                                       [Return to 2Chr. 12:16]

Rechoboam also slept with his fathers.  Was that true of all the kings of Judah and Israel?

Notice that Jeroboam and Rechoboam were brothers.  They had the same mother, Naamah, the Ammonitess.

 

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