Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
Show the surrounding paragraph
1 Kings 15:1-2 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless for David’s sake, Yahweh his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem; because David did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, and didn’t turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in David’s city; and Asa his son reigned in his place.
Parallel Translations
-
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.
He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
-
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.
Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
Show all 3 translations
-
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat began Abijam to reign over Judah.
Three years reigned he in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (5)
- 2 Chronicles 13:2 (v2) He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and…
- 1 Kings 14:31 (v1) Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David’s city. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his…
- 1 Kings 15:13 (v2) He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and…
- 2 Chronicles 11:20-22 (v2) After her, he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter…
- 2 Chronicles 13:1-22 (v1) In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v2 Some think that this was Absalom Solomon’s son.
Some think that this was Absalom Solomon’s son.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–2 1Ki 15:1 Now in the eighteenth year of king…
1Ki 15:1 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.
Ver. 1. Reigned Abijam.] Called also Abijah. {2Ch 12:16} Abijah signifieth, The Lord is my father: so his father called him, likely, with respect to that promise made to David; {2Sa 7:14} but because he walked not in the ways of David, therefore is Abijah called Abijam, which signifieth, My father is a sea. Indeed, Rehoboam was inconstant in good, wavering "like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed." {Jas 1:6}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–2 Object. How can this be, when he reigned three…
Object. How can this be, when he reigned three years, 1Ki 15:2, and Asa his successor began his reign in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, 1Ki 15:9?
Answ. Parts of years are commonly called and accounted years, both in the Old and New Testament, and in profane writers. So his reign began with Jeroboam’s eighteenth year, and continued his whole nineteenth year, and ended within his twentieth year, in which also Asa’s reign began. And thus one and the same year may well be, as it frequently is, attributed to two several persons.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 We have here a short account of the short…
We have here a short account of the short reign of Abijam the son of Rehoboam king of Judah. He makes a better figure, 2 Chr. 13, where we have an account of his war with Jeroboam, the speech which he made before the armies engaged, and the wonderful victory he obtained by the help of God. There he is called Abijah - My father is the Lord, because no wickedness is there laid to his charge. But here, where we are told of his faults, Jah, the name of God, is, in disgrace to him, taken away from his name, and he is called Abijam. See Jer 22:24.
I. Few particulars are related concerning him. 1. Here began his reign in the beginning of Jeroboam's eighteenth year; for Rehoboam reigned but seventeen, Kg1 14:21. Jeroboam indeed survived Rehoboam, but Rehoboam's Abijah lived to succeed him and to be a terror to Jeroboam, while Jeroboam's Abijah (whom we read of Kg1 14:1) died before him. 2. He reigned scarcely three years, for he died before the end of Jeroboam's twentieth year, Kg1 15:9. Being made proud and secure by his great victory over Jeroboam (Ch2 13:21), God cut him off, to make way for his son Asa, who would be a better man. 3. His mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom, that is, Absalom, David's son, as I am the rather inclined to think because two other of Rehoboam's wives were his near relations (Ch2 11:18), one the daughter of Jerimoth, David's son, and another the daughter of Eliab, David's brother. He took warning by his father not to marry strangers; yet thought it below him to marry his subjects, except they were of the royal family. 4. He carried on his father's wars with Jeroboam. As there was continual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, not set battles (these were forbidden, Kg1 12:24), but frequent encounters, especially upon the borders, one making incursions and reprisals on the other, so there was between Abijam and Jeroboam (Kg1 15:7), till Jeroboam, with a great army, invaded him, and then Abijam, not being forbidden to act in his own defence, routed him, and weakened him, so that he compelled him to be quiet during the rest of his reign, Ch2 13:20.
Read full note →
II. But, in general, we are told, 1. That he was not like David, had no hearty affection for the ordinances of God, though, to serve his purpose against Jeroboam, he pleaded his possession of the temple and priesthood, as that upon which he valued himself, Ch2 13:10-12. Many boast of their profession of godliness who are strangers to the power of it, and plead the truth of their religion who yet are not true to it. His heart was not perfect with the Lord his God. He seemed to have zeal, but he wanted sincerity; he began pretty well, but he fell off, and walked in all the sins of his father, followed his bad example, though he had seen the bad consequences of it. He that was all his days in war ought to have been so wise as to make and keep his peace with God, and not to make him his enemy, especially having found him so good a friend in his war with Jeroboam, Ch2 13:18. Let favour be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness, Isa 26:10. 2. That yet it was for David's sake that he was advanced, and continued upon the throne; it was for his sake (Kg1 15:4, Kg1 15:5) that God thus set up his son after him; not for his own sake, nor for the sake of his father, in whose steps he trod, but for the sake of David, whose example he would not follow. Note, It aggravates the sin of a degenerate seed that they fare the better for the piety of their ancestors and owe their blessings to it, and yet will not imitate it. They stand upon that ground, and yet despise it, and trample upon it, and unreasonably ridicule and oppose that which they enjoy the benefit of. The kingdom of Judah was supported, (1.) That David might have a lamp, pursuant to the divine ordination of a lamp for his anointed, Psa 132:17. (2.) That Jerusalem might be established, not only that the honours put upon it in David's and Solomon's time might be preserved to it, but that it might be reserved to the honours designed for it in after-times. The character here given of David is very great - that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord; but the exception is very remarkable - save only in the matter of Uriah, including both his murder and the debauching of his wife. That was a bad matter; it was a remaining blot upon his name, a bar in his escutcheon, and the reproach of it was not wiped away, though the guilt was. David was guilty of other faults, but they were nothing in comparison of that; yet even that being repented of, though it be mentioned for warning to others, did not prevail to throw him out of the covenant, nor to cut off the entail of the promise upon his seed.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–2 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the…
Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah. That is, began to reign; and by this it appears that Rehoboam was in the eighteenth year of his reign when he died, for he and Jeroboam began their reign at the same time.
Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah. That is, began to reign; and by this it appears that Rehoboam was in the eighteenth year of his reign when he died, for he and Jeroboam began their reign at the same time.
Read full note →
1 Kings 15:2
kg1 15:2
kg1 15:2
kg1 15:2Three years reigned he in Jerusalem,.... And three only; his reign was short, and indeed not three full years, only one whole year and part of two others; for Asa his son began to reign in the twentieth of Jeroboam, Kg1 15:9 so that he reigned part of his eighteenth, this whole nineteenth, and part of his twentieth:
and his mother's name was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom; called Absalom, Ch2 11:20, generally supposed by the Jews to be Absalom the son of David, and which may seem not improbable, since his other two wives were of his father's family, Ch2 11:18. Josephus says (q) she was the daughter of Tamar the daughter of Absalom, and so his granddaughter; and which may account for her being called Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, Ch2 13:2 since the difference between Maachah and Michaiah is not very great; and Uriel might he the name of Tamar's husband; though it is most likely that both father and daughter had two names; she seems to be mentioned here, to observe that she was the cause and means of her son's disagreeable walk, as follows, see Kg1 15:13.
(q) Antiqu. l. 8. c. 10. sect. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–2 The reigns of Abijam and Asa over Judah, ver.…
The reigns of Abijam and Asa over Judah, ver. 1-24. Of Nadab and Baasha over Israel, ver. 25-34.
Abijam reigned - So his reign began with Jeroboam's eighteenth year, continued his whole nineteenth year, and ended within his twentieth year, in which also Asa's reign began. And thus one and the same year may be attributed to two several persons.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v1 Abijam's wicked reign, and death, 1-8.
CHAPTER XV
Abijam's wicked reign, and death, 1-8.
Read full note →
Asa succeeds him in the kingdom of Judah, and rules well, 9-15.
He makes a league with the king of Syria against Baasha king of
Israel, who is obliged to desist in his attempts against Judah,
16-22.
He is diseased in his feet and dies, and is succeeded by his
son Jehoshaphat, 23-25.
Nadab, son of Jeroboam, reigns over Israel; but is slain by
Baasha, who reigns in ha stead, 26-28.
Baasha destroys all the house of Jeroboam, according to the
prediction of Ahijah, 29, 30.
Baasha continues the idolatry of Jeroboam, 31-34.
NOTES ON CHAP. XV
Verse 1. Reigned Abijam over Judah.] Of this son of Rehoboam, of his brethren, and of Rehoboam's family in general, see 2 Chron. 12, where many particulars are added.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v1 1Ki 15:1-2. Reigned Abijam over Judah — So his…
1Ki 15:1-2. Reigned Abijam over Judah — So his reign began with Jeroboam’s eighteenth year, continued his whole nineteenth year, and ended within his twentieth year, in which also Asa’s reign began; and thus one and the same year may be attributed to two several persons. Three years reigned he, &c. — That is, part of three years. The daughter of Abishalom — Or, of Absalom, as he is called 2Ch 11:21; and because he is here mentioned as a known person, without any addition of his kindred or quality, some conceive that this was Absalom’s daughter, called properly Tamar, (2Sa 14:27,) and from her royal grandmother, (2Sa 3:3,) Maacah.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v2 Three years - More strictly, not much more than…
Three years - More strictly, not much more than two years (compare 1Ki 15:1, 1Ki 15:9). Any part of a year may, however, in Jewish reckoning, be taken as a year.
His mother’s name was Maachah - Or Michaiah, according to the present reading of marginal reference.
Read full note →
The daughter of Abishalom - Absalom seems to have had but one daughter, Tamar 2Sa 14:27, so that Maachah must have been, not his daughter, but his grand-daughter. Her father (see the margin) was Uriel of Gibeah whom, therefore, Tamar married. Maachah took her name from her great-grandmother 2Sa 3:3.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v2 Years, wanting some months. Maacha. She is called elsewhere,…
Years, wanting some months. Maacha. She is called elsewhere, Michaia, daughter of Uriel; but is was a common thing, in those days, for a person to have two names. (Challoner) --- Abessalom and Absalom, the son of David are the same, 2 Paralipomenon xi. 21. (Calmet) --- St. Jerome (Trad.) is of a different opinion. (Menochius) --- Josephus ([Antiquities?] viii. 10.) intimates that Maacha was the daughter of Thamar. The eldest daughter, in the kingdom of Gessur, seems to have been usually styled Maacha, ver. 10. (Tirinus)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 B.—The reigns of Abijam and Asa
B.—The reigns of Abijam and Asa
1Ki_15:1-24 (2 Chronicles 13, 14)
Read full note →
1Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned 2Abijam1 over Judah. Three2 years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. 3And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with 4the Lord [Jehovah] his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless, for David’s sake did the Lord [Jehovah] his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him,3 and to establish Jerusalem: 5because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord [Jehovah], and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life,4 save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6And there was war between Rehoboam5 and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8And Abijam slept with his fathers6; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
9And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah. 10And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah,7 the daughter of Abishalom. 11And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. 12And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove8; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook [in the valley of] Kidron. 14But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord [Jehovah] all his days. 15And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated,9 into the house of the Lord [Jehovah], silver, and gold, and vessels. 16And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. And 17Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 18Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left10 in the treasures of the house of the Lord [Jehovah], and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son 19of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; come and break thy league with 20Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah. 22Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted11: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.12 23The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.
Exegetical and Critical
1Ki_15:1-5. Abijam king of Judah. Instead of אֲבִיָּם Chronicles has always אֲבִיָה (2Ch_13:1 sq.), ’Αβιά in the Sept. The latter seems to be the right and original name, composed of אבי and יה, which mean אֲבִיאֵל (1Sa_9:1), not, therefore, father of the sea, vir maritimus (Gesenius), but whose father (benefactor) is God. According to 2Ch_11:20 sq. Abijam was the eldest son of Rehoboam’s second wife Maacha, who was his favorite, for which reason he set Abijam above his brothers, and appointed him for his successor. As there is no mention made of an Absalom except of him known as the son of David, בַּת must mean the granddaughter here, as אָב means grandfather in 1Ki_15:3. Maacha must then have been the daughter of Tamar (2Sa_14:27), as Absalom had no sons (2Sa_18:18). The same name is no doubt meant in 2Ch_13:2, where Abijam’s mother מִיכָיָהוּ is called a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah; see on 1Ki_15:13. In all the sins, &c, is not to be taken in a universal sense, but of all the sins which Rehoboam committed regarding the service of Jehovah; in these he followed the example of his father (לְפָנָיו). He was in his own person Jehovah’s servant, but he did not oppose the idol-worship; he permitted it, and therefore in no respect resembled his great-grandfather David, who therefore for all kings continued to be the pattern and model of right conduct towards Jehovah. Thenius thinks that 1Ki_15:4-5 are the addition of an “elaborator”; they are certainly not useless, but stand in a very proper connection. Abijam was the third king on David’s throne who allowed idol-worship to exist side by side with that of Jehovah. Such kings had, in fact, deserved to lose their land and throne, because they had not acted as servants of the true king of Israel; but for David’s sake, to whom God had promised that a descendant of his should always reign in Jerusalem (for נִיר see on 1Ki_11:36), Jehovah suffered even such kings of the house of David, who, like this one, were not wholly and undividedly devoted to Him. The sin of David against Uriah was great indeed (2 Samuel 11, 12), but apart from the fact that he repented of it bitterly, it was not one which broke the fundamental law of the theocracy, the covenant and its chief commandment, and it did not therefore undermine the foundation of the Israelite nationality. 1Ki_15:4-5 serve, then, to explain 1Ki_15:3, and in a certain measure to justify what is said there.
1Ki_15:6-8. And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, &c. 1Ki_15:6 says the same that was previously said in 1Ki_14:30, only with this difference, that there the concluding words כָּל־הַיָּמִים are changed to כָּל־יְמֵי חַיָּיו here, from which it follows, at least, that this verse is not, as Thenius thinks, a mere repetition arising from the carelessness of a copyist. Instead of “Rehoboam,” the Syrian, Arabic, and several manuscripts have “Abijam;” but this would make the conclusion of 1Ki_15:7 a mere repetition of our verse, which is even less tenable than the repetition from 1Ki_14:30. As the words stand they can scarcely be understood in connection with 1Ki_15:7 otherwise than as Schulz, Maurer, and Keil take them; they give their meaning to be this: that the hostile feeling which existed between Rehoboam and Jeroboam during the entire lifetime of the former, also lasted during the lifetime of his son Abijam. This interpretation is certainly rather forced, and it is very possible that the text is no longer the original one; happily, however, the substance of the narrative is in no wise affected by it, but it remains the same, howsoever those words may be read or explained.
1Ki_15:9-11. In the twentieth year of Jeroboam, &c. 1Ki_15:9 sq. If Abijam became king in the eighteenth and Asa in the twentieth year of Jeroboam (1Ki_15:1; 1Ki_15:9), Abijam could not have reigned three full years (1Ki_15:2). The incomplete years are here, as elsewhere (see on 1Ki_15:25), reckoned as if complete, in statements of the length of the reigns. Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom, is named in 1Ki_15:2 as the mother of Abijam, and as the mother of Asa in 1Ki_15:10, but she could not, of course, have been the mother of both father and son at the same time. It has therefore been supposed “that Maachah, Abijam’s mother, was in the position of queen-mother or הַגְּבירָה, i. e., sultana Walida, under Asa, until Asa deposed her on account of her idolatrous worship (1Ki_15:13), and that she had been such because, perhaps, Asa’s mother had died early” (Keil and Ewald after the Rabbins). אֵם (1Ki_15:10) would then stand for grandmother, which is very questionable for the reason that, often as the name of the mother of a king is given, his grandmother is never meant thereby; besides, the mother alone, and never the grandmother of a king, had the dignity and position of the Gebirah, the name given to Asa’s mother, 1Ki_15:13 and 2Ch_15:16. Other commentators, who are not insensible to these considerations, think that Maachah, the mother of Abijam, was indeed, as is said in 1Ki_15:2, and 2Ch_11:20-21, a daughter of Abishalom, but that Maachah, the mother of Asa, was the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. They think that the Chronicler (2 1Ki_13:2) committed an oversight when he mentioned the latter (whom he names Michaiah) as the mother of Abijam instead of Asa, whilst, inversely, our author names the daughter of Abishalom (1Ki_15:10) instead of the daughter of Uriel, as the mother of Asa (Thenius, Bertheau). This much is certain, that the mother of Asa, as well as the mother of Abijam, was called Maachah.
1Ki_15:12-15. All the idols. 1Ki_15:12. The designation גִּלּוּלִים for idols, includes, confessedly, the idea of something contemptible, as appears from the many passages in Ezekiel where it occurs. The Rabbins, whom several commentators follow, have derived the word from גָּלָל or גֵּלֶל, i. e., mud drained off, and translated it Dei stercorei, mudgods, which Thenius thinks the most correct interpretation. But in the Pentateuch, where the word first occurs, גָּלָל, mud, is not used, but גל, גלים, stone-heaps, masses of stone (Gen_31:46; Gen_31:48; Gen_31:51-52), hence Hävernick (Comm. über Ezechiel, s. 75) understands it to mean stone monuments, with the additional notion of what was dead and lifeless (cf. Ezr_5:8; Ezr_6:4); which translation seems better than: lumps (Keil). Cf. also Deu_29:16; Lev_26:30. For גְּבִירָה see on 1Ki_11:19. מִפְלֶצֶת means horrendum, and no doubt refers to a phallus-image, which was something terrible and detestable to the Hebrews. The Vulgate gives in sacris Priapi for it. The statue of the male and generative power in nature was placed next that of the female power (Astarte). That the former was of wood, like the latter, appears from the “burning in the valley of Kidron;” the ashes were thrown into the brook, which carried them quite away. The בָּמוֹת, 1Ki_15:14, mean here such as were dedicated to Jehovah, as in 1Ki_3:2 therefore, and not as in 1Ki_11:7, and 2Ch_14:2. These, to which the people were accustomed from ancient times, Asa did not destroy, perhaps because doing so might have given offence to many even of the true servants of Jehovah. This was the only unlawful thing he permitted; in everything else he adhered perfectly, as long as he lived, to the worship of Jehovah as enjoined in the law. He even began to fill again the treasure chambers of the Temple, which had been plundered by Shishak; to fill them partly with what his father Abijam had taken (cf. 2Ch_13:19), partly with the plunder he himself had seized (2Ch_14:12; 2Ch_15:18).
1Ki_15:16. And there was war between Asa.… all their days. 1Ki_15:16. The account of Chronicles does not agree with this, if the former be only understood in the sense as given above, 1Ki_14:30. For, according to 2Ch_14:1 (1Ki_13:23) the land had rest ten years under Asa; according to 2Ch_15:19, “there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa,” and in 1Ki_16:1 it says that Baasha did not make war on Judah till the six and thirtieth year. But these numbers cannot possibly be correct, for according to our chapter 1Ki_15:33, Baasha became king of Israel in the third year of Asa, and only reigned four-and-twenty years, therefore he could not have made war against Asa in the six-and-thirtieth year of the latter. The number ten is also too great, and was used probably because the numeral sign ו was shortened to י. Judah had rest before Baasha’s accession to the throne of Israel, and also two years afterwards, but then, when he was properly prepared for war, Baasha undertook the invasion; this occurred, therefore, in the fifth or sixth year of Asa’s reign. The numeral sign ל = 30 of the Chronicles may very well have been taken out of the לְמַלְכוּת. Cf. Thenius and Bertheau on the same passages. The supposition of older commentators and of Keil, that the five-and-thirty, that is, the six-and-thirty years dated from the time of the separation of the two kingdoms, is not admissible, because the text in 2Ch_16:1 says quite positively: “in the six-and-thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.”
1Ki_15:17. Ramah (1Ki_15:17) was not in the mountains of Ephraim (1Sa_10:2) but in the tribe of Benjamin (Jos_18:25; Jdg_19:3), somewhat more than two hours’ distance from Jerusalem: it is the modern Er-Ram. The fortification of Ramah presupposes that Baasha had recovered the towns that belonged to the kingdom of Israel (2Ch_13:19) which had been taken by Abijam. The conjectural reading הֱיוֹת instead of תֵּת (Thenius) is unnecessary; it is literally: “to the end that one should not give (or send) any one coming in or going out, to Asa” (Bertheau) i. e., ut non posset quispiam egredi vel ingredi de parte Asœ (Vulg.). As the principal road from Jerusalem to the north passed through Ramah, Baasha wished to cut off all traffic, and in fact to blockade Jerusalem completely. The הַנּוֹתָרִים, 1Ki_15:18, does not mean here, in the strict sense of the word, the remainder, for Shishak had taken all (1Ki_14:26); Asa, after his victories and those of his father, filled the treasure chambers again with the plunder he took (1Ki_15:5), and this, when compared with the former treasure, was the remainder. The Sept., therefore, gives τὸ εὑρεθὲν, i. e., what he then found.
1Ki_15:18-22. Benhadad (1Ki_15:18) means “son of the sun,” for the sun received divine honors from the Syrians, under the name of Adad (Macrob. Saturn. i. 23). Three kings of Damascene-Syria bore this name; the one named here was the first of them, and he who is mentioned in 1Ki_20:1 sq.34 was his son. The name could scarcely have been a general royal title (Keil), for the name Tabrimmon is certainly the name of a person, but it is, in composition, like “good is Rimmon” (2Ki_5:18). Thenius identifies Hezion with the Rezon mentioned in 1Ki_11:23, who was called so originally (?). The phrase “king of Syria” is certainly in opposition with Benhadad. There is a league, &c. (1Ki_15:19), i. e., as between our fathers there was a league, let it continue between us also. Syria must have increased rapidly in power since the days of Solomon; for both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, sought its friendship, although it was the natural foe of both. There is no doubt that Benhadad was induced to break his league with Baasha by the larger sum that Asa offered him. The Syrian army, which came from the north, overran the whole land of Naphtali to the lake of Genesareth; the towns which it laid waste lay in a line from north to south. Ijon was the most northern, and is nowhere else named, except in the parallel passage 2Ch_16:4; according to Robinson (Researches, &c. II. p. 438), it is situated in the well-watered district of Merj Ayun. Dan could not have been far south of it. Abel-beth-maachah (2Ch_16:4; Abel-maim) is the same town as that mentioned in 2Sa_20:14; 2Sa_20:18, and was situated at the mouth of the Merj Ayun; it is the modern Abil el Kamh (see Thenius on the place). Cinneroth, “evidently a district, not a town; it was the basin which stretches from the lake of Merom to the head of the lake of Genesareth” (the same). Although then Benhadad only disturbed the northern parts of the kingdom, Baasha saw himself induced to obey the demand to leave Judah (probably made to him) in order to prevent further losses. He left off building the fortifications of Ramah which he had begun, and returned to his residence Tirzah (1Ki_14:17) without disturbing Asa any more. The latter now had the building materials at Ramah removed, and he fortified Geba of Benjamin and Mizpeh with them; the former was one-half mile [two and a quarter Eng. miles] from Ramah, and the latter about three miles [thirteen and a half Eng.]. These two fortresses overlooked each side of the road that led northwards from Jerusalem.
1Ki_15:23-24. His might and … the cities.גְּבוּרָה, not so much potestas as deeds of might, i. e., brave deeds, as appears from chap, 16, 27; 1Ki_22:46. Besides Geba and Mizpah, Asa erected other fortresses in Judah (2Ch_14:5-6), which were probably designed to protect the southern part of his kingdom. He was on the whole prosperous, “only in his old age” he suffered much, and did not show a right trust in God (2Ch_16:12). It is uncertain if his disease were gout (Thenius). Chron. says that he had caused his tomb to be hewn out in the city of David; probably the place of sepulture hitherto used was not large enough.
Historical and Ethical
1. Chronicles gives not only more extended accounts of king Abijam, but some also which recent criticism declares to be utterly irreconcilable with the representation here. “According to the earlier narrative,” says Winer (R.-W.-B. I. s. 6), “Abijam walked in the footsteps of his idolatrous father (1Ki_15:3); according to the later one, he appears to be a very zealous guardian of the worship of Jehovah and of the levitical system (2Ch_13:8 sq.). We must bear in mind that the Chronicler elsewhere endeavors to acquit the Judah-state from idol-worship, as much as possible.” De Wette, Thenius, and others hold similar views. But against this we remark, that the presupposition that Rehoboam was addicted to idolatry, and that Abijam followed in his ways, is erroneous, and Winer contradicts himself, for (in the work already cited, II. s. 312, note) he himself declares, that “the older (i. e., our) narative says nothing of the personal participation of Rehoboam with the untheocratic worship, rather, see 1Ki_15:28.” Now we have already proved above that Chron. does not accuse him of it. Ewald therefore justly says (Gesch. Isr. III. s. 460 sq.): “Rehoboam indeed permitted or encouraged the exercise of foreign forms of worship, from his own predilections,” and in this respect “Abijam walked completely in Rehoboam’s footsteps; he shared his father’s religious views and principles.” It is no contradiction when in Chron. he is represented as a worshipper of Jehovah, for this he really was. The words he uttered before the beginning of hostilities to the opposite host of “all Israel” were not merely edifying and “exceedingly pious expressions” (Thenius), they quite correspond with the political and theocratic stand-point which Abijam took as king of Judah. He reproaches the ten tribes with their revolt from the house of David, and at the same time with all that Jeroboam had done, out of his own mind, against the divine fundamental law, given to the whole people. The evident purpose of the entire discourse was to win over Israel again to the house of David, to attach those who, being faithful to Jehovah, had already left the other tribes and settled in Judah, and also to attract and encourage such as still remained in Israel. Abijam had probably observed that his best support in a war with Israel was not to be found in the idolaters of his kingdom, but in the faithful servants of Jehovah. His very brief reign did not allow him any larger experience in this respect.
2. The long reign of king Asa, which lasted forty-one years, is treated with great brevity by our author; but the Chronicler devotes three whole chapters to it (2 Chronicles 14, 15, 16). The former, however, lays especial emphasis on what is most important to the history of the theocracy, and what the Chronicler also esteems the principal thing, namely, that Asa energetically and sternly put down the idol-worship, which had been suffered to remain side by side with that of Jehovah since Solomon’s time, together with all the abominations the former included, and that he even deprived his idolatrous mother of her dignity as the Gebirah. How it happened that he entered with such decision on an entirely different course, immediately after his accession, is not told in either of the narratives; we can only form suppositions on the subject. After the separation of the ten tribes from Judah, the latter must have plainly perceived the injurious results of the religious liberty, which had been granted from political motives (see above, Histor. and Eth. on chap. 11). This already small kingdom lacked unity, and therefore a firm bond. The more that danger threatened it from Israel under Jeroboam, through the continual wars that went on, the more people must have become convinced of the necessity of making an end of the schism which had arisen from the various forms of idolatry, of restoring the lost unity, and of thus giving full sway to the theocratic fundamental law through which Judah had become great and strong, and so making the kingdom firm, both in its internal and external relations. Besides this, the number of those who, from true affection to the divine law, emigrated from all the other tribes to Judah, increased (2Ch_15:9), and all these abhorred the idol-worship which still existed in juxtaposition with that of Jehovah. Besides, some powerful and influential prophets were not wanting, who exhorted the king and the people to be faithful to Jehovah, and not to forsake the God of Israel, who had always helped His people (2Ch_15:1 sq.; 1Ki_16:7 sq.). These circumstances may have convinced Asa that nothing could secure stability and permanence for his kingdom but the return to the fundamental law and firm adherence to the same; and the great victory which the Lord had given him over Zerah the Ethiopian must have tended not a little to strengthen him in that conviction (2Ch_14:7 sq.). From Asa’s subsequent conduct, it seems very uncertain whether his strict proceedings against the idol-worship were really the result of genuine conversion to Jehovah and of true piety, as might appear from his prayer (2Ch_14:10); political motives, if not principally, no doubt partially, influenced him. The Chron., which has been accused of giving a too partial and favorable view of Asa’s character, lays especial stress on some facts which do not seem to show a true conversion and godly mind, such as David had. For instance, Asa took away the Temple-treasures that were consecrated to Jehovah, and had been lately gathered anew (this our author also mentions), and sent them to the king of Syria (who was growing continually more dangerous to both kingdoms) in order to induce him to break his league with Baasha. Also that when the prophet Hanani reproved him for doing so he threw the latter into prison, which no king of Judah had yet ventured to do to a prophet; and he even punished others who took the prophet’s part; finally, that he showed no resignation to the will of the Lord or trust in Him during his last sickness (2Ch_16:10; 2Ch_16:12). How completely different was David’s conduct after the report of the prophet Nathan, and a short time before his end (2Sa_12:13; 2Sa_23:1 sq.)! When, notwithstanding all this, both narratives say that Asa’s heart was שָׁלֵם עִם־יְהוָֹה, it follows that this often repeated expression only means: he never wavered between God’s service and that of idols or images, but was unreservedly devoted to the lawful worship of Jehovah, which was an exclusive one; and by being so he rendered his people a great service.
Homiletical and Practical
1Ki_15:1-8. The fruit falls not far from the tree. What the old sing, the young chirp (Was die Alten sungen, das zwitschern die Jungen). The parental house is, for the child, the preparatory school of life; what he there sees and hears is never forgotten through life. No example is so weighty and important as that of the parents: how great, then, is their responsibility. Abijam followed not after the example of David, great and glorious as it was, but after that of his father Rehoboam, which he saw immediately before him.
1Ki_15:4. The blessing of pious, God-fearing fore-fathers often falls to the advantage of even degenerate children, through the mercy of God.
1Ki_15:5. No human example, however glorious it may be, is perfect, for even the greatest and best are wanting in the sight of God, and miserable sinners. Therefore we are referred to the example of Him who alone is sinless, and out of whose mouth proceeds no guile. He alone can say: He who follows me, walketh not in darkness, but has the light of life (1Pe_2:21; Joh_8:12). The children of this world often quote and excuse their sins by citing the example of good and holy men who have fallen, but never take pattern after their repentance and humiliation, and refuse to know anything of the wrung and smitten heart of a David (Psa_51:19), or of the tears of a Peter (Mat_26:75).
1Ki_15:6-8. The enmity, strife, and war between the sister-kingdoms was the result of their broken covenant with the Lord God. Wheresoever, be it amid a nation, a community, or a family, the fear of the living God, and the bond of union with Him is destroyed, there will ever be strife and discord; peace is only to be found where the God of peace reigns in the heart (Col_3:15). To go out of the world at enmity is not a blessed death.
1Ki_15:9-24. The reign of Asa the king, (a) in its religious aspect (1Ki_15:9-15); (b) in its political aspect (1Ki_15:16-24).
1Ki_15:11. It is to be regarded as a merciful providence of God, when a son who has grown up with evil surroundings, and the bad example of a father and mother, yet holds steadily to His word and commandments, and resists firmly all ungodly influences.
1Ki_15:12-13. Against sins of licentiousness no authority can be powerful enough, for where this evil has crept in, there comes a moral corruption which works destructively upon all relations of life. Authority being ordained of God, as the Apostle says, its duty and task is to oppose with severity all godless conduct, without fear or favor of man, and to vindicate the eternal divine laws. Therefore it is that we have the church prayer for those in authority.
1Ki_15:13. Calw. B.: Thus it is: A man must first cleanse his own house if he would be an example to others. Therefore says the Apostle, “if a man know not how to rule his own house he cannot take care of the church of God” (1Ti_3:5). Where the honor of God or the salvation of the soul comes in question, there even a mother must not prevail. I am come, says our Lord (Mat_10:35 sq.), to set at variance, &c.
1Ki_15:14. To remove deep-rooted and long-standing evils suddenly and completely is impossible, even for a well-intentioned and powerful ruler; for in that case he would bring about resistance to the good rather than further it.
1Ki_15:15. Hence noble and pious princes should bethink themselves of using their gold and silver not only for worldly objects, but to enrich churches and schools, necessary to the accomplishment of godly designs.
1Ki_15:16 sq. The enemies who rise up against us, and bring us into straits, must often serve, in the hand of God, to try and prove whether our faith is rooted in the deepest soil of the heart, and our zeal in religious things no fleshly one, but a high and holy one.
1Ki_15:17-18. What is bestowed in faith must be regarded as sacred, and under no pretext must it be diverted to worldly purposes. Nothing but a rude power, knowing neither fear nor awe of God, could commit such a robbery, and no blessing can ever rest upon it. He who gives with one hand and takes back with the other, has his just recompense therein.
1Ki_15:19. This is the curse resting upon the strife of brethren—each forms a league with the common enemy rather than resolve upon peace with each other. The least reliable friend and companion in need is he who can be bought with gold, and is always at the disposal of the highest bidder. He who persuades another to break faith must be prepared to find that he will not maintain the word given to him. In every strait, seek first the support and aid of thy God, without whom no man can help thee. Asa was indeed right believing, but he was not right believing.
1Ki_15:20 sq. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him (Pro_26:27). Baasha wished to become possessed of an additional city, and thus lost a series of his own cities; with the same stones with which he purposed to strengthen Ramah, Asa built two strong cities.
1Ki_15:24. Sickness in old age, previous to death, is a divine chastisement and trial, to wean men from the world and ripen them for eternity. How many men would die unconverted if God did not visit them before death with sickness! Well is it for all who through such visitations turn unto the Lord, as did Asa in 2Ch_16:12.
Footnotes:
[1]1Ki_15:1.—[Many MSS. and Ed. read throughout this narrative אֲבִיָּה instead of אֲבִיָּם as in 2Ch_11:22; 2Ch_13:1, &c. (Cf. 2Ch_13:20 אֲבִיּהוּ) and so the Sept. Αβιού, and the Syr.
[2]1Ki_15:2.—[The Alex. Sept. makes his reign sixteen years.
[3]1Ki_15:4.—[In the author’s translation the name Rehoboam is inserted in brackets as explanitory of the pronoun him. The natural reference to Abijam may, however, as well be preserved.
[4]1Ki_15:5.—[The Vat. Sept. omits the mention of this exception, and also omits the following verse.
[5]1Ki_15:6.—[For Rehoboam eight MSS., followed by the Syr. and Arab., substitute Abijah. The Alex. Sept. puts the last pronoun of 1Ki_15:6 in the plural—a variation in the opposite direction.
[6]1Ki_15:8.—[The Vat. Sept. adds, “in the twenty-fourth year of Jeroboam,” and in 1Ki_15:9 changes the number to correspond—a manifest error.
[7]1Ki_15:10.—[The Vat. Sept. escapes the difficulty connected with the queen-mother’s name, here and in 1Ki_15:13, by substituting Ana for Maachah. The Arab. omits the name here, but gives Maachah in 1Ki_15:13.
[8]1Ki_15:13.—[מִפְלֶצֶת לַאֲשֵׁרָה. The meaning of these words has been much discussed and is variously given in the VV.—The most probable sense seems to be “an idol of Asherah.” See Exeg. Com.
[9]1Ki_15:15.—For וקדשו must be read with 2Ch_15:18 וְקָדָשָׁיו. [The k’ri is קדשי, which Kiel says “is a bad emendation for the above correct קדשו, which is to be read קָדְשׁוֹ, or more correctly perhaps קָדְשָׁו.]
[10]1Ki_15:18.—[The Sept. in translating by τὀ εὑρεθέν give the sense as expressed in the Exeg. Com. All the other VV., like the A.V. translate literally.
[11]1Ki_15:22.—[The adverbial use of אֵין נָקִי = nemine immuni i. e., excepto is peculiar to this passage. Keil refers for its source to such passages as Deu_24:5; Num_32:22. The Sept., not understanding the phrase, has rendered it as a proper name, εἰς ’Ενακίμ (Alex. ’Αννακείμ.)
[12]1Ki_15:22.—[The Sept. has undertaken to translate the names Geba and Mizpah as common nouns, πᾶν βουνὸν Βενιαμὶν καὶ τὴν σκοπιάν.—F. G.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v2 Three years reigned he--(compare Kg1 15:1 with Kg1 15:9).…
Three years reigned he--(compare Kg1 15:1 with Kg1 15:9). Parts of years are often counted in Scripture as whole years. The reign began in Jeroboam's eighteenth year, continued till the nineteenth, and ended in the course of the twentieth.
his mother's name was Maachah--or Michaiah (Ch2 13:2), probably altered from the one to the other on her becoming queen, as was very common under a change of circumstances. She is called the daughter of Abishalom, or Absalom (Ch2 11:21), of Uriel (Ch2 13:2). Hence, it has been thought probable that Tamar, the daughter of Absalom (Sa2 14:27; Sa2 18:18), had been married to Uriel, and that Maachah was their daughter.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v1 ABIJAM’S REIGN, 1Ki_15:1-9.
ABIJAM’S REIGN, 1Ki_15:1-9.
2. Three years — As Abijam began to reign in the eighteenth and his son in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, (compare 1Ki_15:1; 1Ki_15:9,) his reign must have been less than three full years. But it was common with the Hebrews thus to speak of periods of time; as when Jesus is said to have been in the grave three days, though in fact it was but one whole day and part of two others.
Read full note →
Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom — She was the favourite wife of Rehoboam, and he took special care to make her son his successor. 2Ch_11:21-22. According to Josephus, she was the daughter of Absalom by Tamar, that is, a granddaughter of Absalom through his daughter Ta-mar, (2Sa_14:27,) who probably married Uriel of Gibeah. See 2Ch_13:2.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–2 Ch. 1Ki_15:1-8. Abijam, king of Judah (2Ch_13:1-2)
Ch. 1Ki_15:1-8. Abijam, king of Judah (2Ch_13:1-2)
1. reigned Abijam over Judah] Better, with R.V. began Abijam to reign. This is the sense of the verb here, though in the next verse it must be simply ‘reigned.’ The A.V. renders it ‘began to reign’ in 1Ki_15:25 of this chapter, and elsewhere.
Read full note →
Abijam] The LXX. adds ‘son of Rehoboam.’ The name is Abijah in 2 Chron., and, comparing with other names of like formation, that appears the more correct.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–2 (1) Abijam.—The form of the name given in 2…
(1) Abijam.—The form of the name given in 2 Chronicles 13, “Abijah,” is probably correct, as having a more distinct significance. The variation here, if not (as some think) a mere false reading, may have been made for the sake of distinction from the son of Jeroboam.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–2 The Reign of Abijam.
THE REIGNS OF ABIJAM AND ASA, KINGS OF JUDAH.
The Reign of Abijam.
Read full note →
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, reigned Abijam see note on 1Ki_14:31. It is implied in 2Ch_11:20-22 that he was not the firstborn among Rehoboam"s twenty-eight sons, but the eldest son of the favourite wife. As he left behind him thirty-eight children (2Ch_13:21) at his decease, some three years later, he must have been of considerable age at his accession. This consideration rather favours the idea that Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign" (2Ch_12:13) over Judah.
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD. Vers. 1-8.
The succession of Abijam
to the throne of Judah appears to have had one limiting principle, viz., that the successor should be of the house and lineage of David. (see 2Ch_13:8) Within this limit it seems
I IT WAS DETERMINED BY THE WILL OF THE REIGNING KING.
1. The principle of primogeniture was not considered.
(1) Else Abijam could not have ascended the throne: for he had elder brothers, sons of Mahalath and Abihail, and we know not how many besides. (see 2Ch_11:18-21)
(2) These were deliberately set aside by the choice of the king. The reason given for that choice is arbitrary. Rehoboam "loved Maachah, the daughter of Absalom, above all his wives," and therefore he "made Abijah, the son of Maachah, the chief ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king". (2Ch_11:22, 2Ch_11:23)
(3) For this he had precedent. We have no proof that Rehoboam was not the only son of Solomon; but Solomon was a younger son of David, (see 2Sa_3:2-5 2Sa_13:13, 2Sa_13:14) and was preferred before his elder brethren upon the designation of his father. (see 2Ch 1 13, 32-35)
2. Abijam represented Rehoboam by walking in his sins.
(1) He recognized the God of Israel. This he did formally in his address to Jeroboam before engaging him in battle. (see 2Ch_13:4-12) So did Rehoboam recognize the God of Israel (see 2Ch_12:10-12.
(2) "But his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father." David never followed idols; but Rehoboam forsook not the sins of Solomon, and Abijam forsook not the sins of Rehoboam.
(3) Their mixed worship was like that of the Samaritans of later times, who "feared the Lord and served their own gods". (2Ki_17:32) If this was not worshipping other gods before the Lord," it was worshipping them beside Him". (see 2Co_6:16) Yet
II THE CHOICE OF REHOBOAM HAD THE DIVINE SANCTION (ver. 4).
1. Primogeniture, therefore, cannot plead Divine right.
(1) Else would not God have set aside the choice of Rehoboam in favour of his elder son, or rather, of the representative of the elder son of David?
(2) David himself was a younger son in the family of Jesse. And if we go back to earlier times, Judah, a younger son, was preferred before Reuben, in the family of Jacob. Jacob himself was chosen to the prejudice of Esau, and Isaac before him to the prejudice of Ishmael.
(3) God had His own reasons for confirming the election of Rehoboam, which, however, were different from those which moved the king.
3. God had respect to His servant David.
(1) "Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord." He had no complicity with idolatry, but worshipped the one true God with pure delight. When away from the courts of the Lord he longed for them with vehement desire. What a worthy example! How it rebukes the half day worshippers of modem times!
(2) He failed only "in the matter of Uriah." That was a foul blot. How sad so grand a life should have been so darkly blurred!
(3) Yet "his heart was perfect with the Lord his God." For he heartily repented of that sin, and was forgiven (see 2Sa_12:18; Ps 32) God giveth liberally and upbraideth not.
3. Therefore for David"s sake Abijam reigned.
(1) "That he might always have a lamp a man of his line. Abijam was a son of David by an unbroken male descent, and also by a female descent. "His mother"s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom." Abishalom is written "Absalom" in 2Ch_11:21. Maachah was the daughter of Absalom as Abijam was the son of David, viz., as being descended from him. Her father"s name was "Uriel of Gibeah," who appeared to have married a daughter of Absalom, who left no son. (2Ch_13:2) She bore the name of her grandmother, who was" Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur". (2Sa_3:3)
(2) Christ is the true lamp of David. (see Psa_132:17) For His sake the line of David must be preserved.
(3) The lamp, too, must shine in Jerusalem. "God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up a son after him, and to establish Jerusalem." The Redeemer must come to Zion, there to turn away iniquity from Jacob. So before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, and the family of David had lost their genealogies, Jesus came and became an expiatory sacrifice for sin. J.A.M.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART Vers. 1-8.
Beloved for the father"s sake.
I THE STORY OF A MISUSED OPPORTUNITY. Even in a three years" reign much might have been done. Israel had its troubles, the past its lessons of wisdom; but there was no ear to hear the one, and no heart to attempt redress of the other.
1. The secret of failure.
(1) He was content with things as he found them. It is not said that he introduced any new idolatries: "He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him." The sin and responsibility of those who continue to walk in the paths of sinful, though general and time-honoured, customs, and who do not forsake the idolatries and iniquities of their fathers.
(2) His love was not set upon God. The worship of Jehovah was still continued. Abijah had experienced the signal mercy of God. (2Ch 13) His heart might have been won, but it "was not perfect with the Lord his God as the heart of David his father." There was no thirsting after God, no delight in the sense of the favour which is life, and the loving-kindness which is better than life. The love of God the only source of work for God.
1. The sinful was also a troubled reign: "there was war," etc., and it was war with brethren.
2. The opportunity was soon ended: "he reigned three years." Opportunities abused may be soon removed. The life which sin has marred death may swiftly seal.
II A RIGHTEOUS LIFE AN UNDYING POWER WITH GOD. "For David"s sake did the Lord his God give him," etc. Our good does not die with us or with our generation. The memory of it dwells, and prevails, with God.
1. The sinful king has a son to succeed him, and one whom God directsand blesses.
2. The city is preserved and the flood of evil driven back establishJerusalem." God"s promises, our prayers, and our purposes are alike remembered. They bloom amid our dust. Our love and loyalty to God will fall in blessing upon ages yet to come.
III SIN LEAVES ITS STAIN ON THE FAIR RECORD OF A RIGHTEOUS LIFE. "Save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." God will not wink at or cloak our iniquity. Is there any matter of which thou and all will hear when the books are opened? If there be, is it not a call for humiliation and for prayer? J.U.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 1Ki_15:1. Abijam—Original form of his name was Abijah (2Ch_12:16),…
THE REIGNS OF ABIJAM, ASA, NADAB, AND BAASHA
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
Read full note →
1Ki_15:1. Abijam—Original form of his name was Abijah (2Ch_12:16), the sacred terminal “jah” being connected therewith. But, probably on account of his evil reign, his name was altered to Abijam.
1Ki_15:2. Maachah, daughter of Abishalom—i.e., Michaiah, daughter of Absalom; more properly, granddaughter of Absalom, by Uriel and Tamar, who was Absalom’s daughter (vide 2Ch_13:2).
1Ki_15:4. Give him a lamp in Jerusalem—An Oriental figure of speech. Having a lamp in the house indicates the continuance of the family name.
1Ki_15:6. And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, &c.—i.e., rancorous rivalry, and consequent frequent border skirmishes. A mistake to think that “Rehoboam” is a scribe’s blunder for Abijam, as given in end of 1Ki_15:7. The feudal autagonism is reasserted here, having been already stated in chap. 1Ki_14:20. The two records respecting Rehoboam (1Ki_15:6) and Abijam (1Ki_15:7) simply denote that the hostile feeling between Israel and Judah continued through the reigns of both father and son.
HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_15:1-8
THE PERMANENT INFLUENCE OF A GOOD EXAMPLE
1Ki_15:1. That a good example is acquired by a life of obedience to the Divine commandments. “David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life” (1Ki_15:5). David became the pattern and model to all kings of right conduct towards Jehovah. Great and many as were his defects and failures, he was never guilty of idolatry, nor did he permit it to exist under his rule. A good example is not formed by aiming at it as a distinct object, but by quietly and faithfully doing the duty of the moment, without reference to ulterior results. The beautiful is unconscious of its own beauty, the sublime knows not its own sublimity; so the obedient and the good are unconscious of the impressions made by their upright example. It is always safest and best to obey God.
1Ki_15:2. That a good example may be marred by serious blemishes. “Save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1Ki_15:6). This was David’s great crying offence, which drew down on him the judgments of God, and is ever mentioned to his shame. But he was guilty of other sins: as the neglect to properly disciplining his sons, the primal cause of Absalom’s and Adonijah’s ruin; his falsehoods before Achish (1Sa_27:10); and his fin in numbering the people (2Sa_24:10). But all these are, in comparison with his guilt in adultery with Bathsheba and in the murder of Uriah, as sins of infirmity and ignorance. Lange points out’ that “the sin of David against Uriah was great indeed, but, apart from the fact that he repented of it bitterly, it was not one which broke the fundamental law of the theocracy, the covenant and its chief commandment, and it did not, therefore, undermine the foundation of the Israelite nationality.” David is not held up as a perfect example of goodness; it is only the Sinless One who can be so considered. How often does it happen that in great natures, great virtues and great vices are unhappily commingled! Their sins are beacons to warn; their virtues indicate the possibilities of goodness to which human nature may rise.
III. That a good example is not always imitated.
1. Because of the feebleness of the religious principle. His heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father (1Ki_15:3). Yet Abijam prepared precious offerings for the temple service (1Ki_15:15), probably to replace vessels which Shishak had carried off, and in his war with Jeroboam professed himself a faithful servant of Jehovah (2Ch_13:10; 2Ch_13:12). Many boast of their profession of godliness who are strangers to the power of it, and plead the truth of their religion who yet are not true to it. He seemed to have zeal for the worship of Jehovah, but he lacked sincerity: he still sanctioned idolatry. In order to have the courage to follow a good example, we must have deep and forceful religious convictions: these are to the soul what the ballast and the driving power are to the steamship. What is wanted is a strong, deep, faith-compelling conviction of the awful truth and saving power of the Divine Word.
2. Because of the demoralizing influence of a bad example. “He walked in all the sins of his father which he had done before him” (1Ki_15:3). It is easier to copy a bad example than a good one, especially when bad examples are abundant and are continually before us, and when good examples are so rare. Amid the prevalent idolatry of Israel there was only one Abijah in whom was “found some good toward the Lord God of Israel.” Iniquity is a common weed: goodness is an exotic. One evil example has many imitators, and its pernicious influence is long continued. It aggravates the sin of a degenerate seed that they fare the better for the piety of their ancestors, and owe their blessings to it, and yet will not imitate it.
IV. That the influence of a good example is a permanent blessing to a nation (1Ki_15:4, comp. with 1Ki_11:36). For David’s sake, Jehovah did not utterly abandon Jerusalem, but, from time to time, provided a successor to the throne who should be as a light in the midst of surrounding darkness. Asa, the immediate successor of Abijam, was such a light. It was a promise made to David that his house should be made a perpetual light (Psa_18:28; Psa_132:17); and the history of God’s people records the fulfilment of the promise, notwithstanding much individual unfaithfulness and sin. The influence of a good man is immortal.
LESSONS:—
1. Every facility is provided for living a holy life.
2. A pious ancestry entails great blessing and great responsibility.
3. A good example does not always restrain from flagrant sins.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_15:1-8. The fruit falls not far from the tree. What the old sing, the young chirp. The parental house is, for the child, the preparatory school of life; what he there sees and hears is never forgotten through life. No example is so weighty and important as that of the parents. How great, then, is their responsibility! Abijam followed not after the example of David, great and glorious as it was; but after that of his father Rehoboam, which he saw immediately before him.—Lange.
The throne of David oft changeth the possessors, and more complaineth of their iniquity than their remove. Abijam inherits the sins of his father Rehoboam, no less than his crown; and so spends his three years as if he had been no whit of kin to his grandfather’s virtues. It is no news that grace is not traduced, while vice is: therefore is his reign short, because it is wicked. It was a sad case when both the kings of Judah and Israel, though enemies, yet conspired in sin. Rehoboam, like his father Solomon, began graciously, but fell to idolatry; as he followed his father, so his son, so his people, followed him. Oh! what a face of a church was here when Israel worshipped Jeroboam’s calves, when Judah built them high places, and images, and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree! On both hands God is forsaken, His temple neglected, His worship adulterate, and this not for some short brunt, but during the succession of two kings: for, after the first three years, Rehoboam changed his father’s religion, as his shields, from gold to brass; the rest of his seventeen years were led in impiety. His son Abijam trod in the same miry steps, and Judah with them both. If there were any (and doubtless there were some) faithful hearts yet remaining in both kingdoms during these heavy times, what a corrosive it must needs have been to them to see so deplored and miserable a depravation!—Bp. Hall.
1Ki_15:4. The idolatry of Abijam deserved the same punishment as that of Jeroboam (1Ki_14:10-14), of Baasha (1Ki_16:2-4), or of Zimri (ib. 1Ki_15:19), the cutting off of his seed and transfer of the crown to another family. That these consequences do not follow in the kingdom of Judah is owing to the faithfulness of David, which brings a blessing on his posterity. Certainly, few things are more remarkable and more difficult to account for, or more ground of human reason, than the stability of the succession in Judah, and its excessive instability in the sister kingdom. One family in Judah holds the throne from first to last, during a space but little short of four centuries; while in Israel there are nine changes of dynasty within two hundred and fifty years.—Speaker’s Comm.
—The blessing of pious, God-fearing forefathers often falls to the advantage of even degenerate children, through the mercy of God.
1Ki_15:5. No human example, however glorious it may be, is perfect, for even the greatest and best are wanting in the sight of God, and miserable sinners. Therefore, we are referred to the example of Him who alone is sinless, and out of whose mouth proceeds no guile. He alone can say: “He who follows Me walketh not in darkness, but has the Light of Life” (1Pe_2:21; Joh_8:12). The children of this world often quote and excuse their sins by citing the example of good and holy men who have fallen, but never take pattern after their repentance and humiliation, and refuse to know anything of the wrong and smitten heart of a David (Psa_51:19), or of the tears of a Peter (Mat_26:75).—Lange.
1Ki_15:6-8. The enmity, strife, and war between the sister-kingdoms was the result of their broken covenant with the Lord God. Wheresoever, be it amid a nation, a community, or a family, the fear of the living God and the bond of union with Him is destroyed, there will ever be strife and discord; peace is only to be found where the God of peace reigns in the heart (Col_3:15). To go out of the world at enmity is not a blessed death.—Ibid.
1Ki_15:7. Sharp wars by a just hand of God upon both those kingdoms for their idolatry. And for like cause the dissensions between England and Scotland consumed more Christian blood, wrought more spoil and destruction, and continued longer than ever quarrel we read of did between any two people of the world.—Trapp.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Reigns of Abijam and Asa, Nadab and Baasha
The Reigns of Abijam and Asa, Nadab and Baasha
2. Abishalom] i.e. Absalom. In 2Ch_13:2 his mother is called Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel, and if this is correct, Absalom was probably her grandfather, and her mother the Tamar mentioned in 2Sa_14:27.
Read full note →
4. A lamp] see on 1Ki_11:36. The divine promise made to David prevented Abijam's sins from being punished by the transfer of the throne to another line.
6. There was war.. life] a repetition of 1Ki_14:30. 2Ch_13:2 has 'between Abijah and Jeroboam.'
7. The rest of the acts] In 2Ch_13:3. there is described a great battle between Judah and Israel. Before the engagement Abijah (Abijam) contrasted the worship of the calves and the expulsion of the Levitical priests by Jeroboam with the different practices followed by the kings of Judah. Jeroboam laid an ambush for the Judeæans, but the latter called upon the Lord, who delivered them, and Israel was not only defeated but lost several cities.
10. Maachah] If the Maachah of 1Ki_15:2 is meant, mother must mean 'grandmother.'
13. From being queen] i.e. from being queen dowager: see on 1Ki_2:19. An idol in a grove] better, 'an abominable image for Asherah.' The term Asherah here seems to mean not an emblem but a goddess: cp. 1Ki_18:19; 2Ki_21:7. By the brook Kidron] better, 'in the torrent valley of the Kidron,' i.e. the ravine E. of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives (mod. Wâdy Sitti Maryam).
14. The high places were not removed] The same condition of things continued until the reign of Hezekiah: see 1Ki_22:43; 2Ki_12:3; 2Ki_18:4
15. Brought in.. of the Lord] to replace the losses sustained in the invasion of Shishak (1Ki_14:26).
17. Ramah] the modern er Râm, on the S. frontier of the kingdom, some 5 m. N. of Jerusalem, which it menaced.
18. Sent them to Ben-hadad] Asa's appeal to Syria illustrates how far the Jewish kingdom had declined since Solomon's time. Probably three kings of this name are mentioned in OT.: see 1Ki_20:1; 2Ki_13:24.
19. There is a league, etc.] Asa, as the descendant of David, to whom the Syrians had submitted (2Sa_8:6), urged that Syria's connexion with the royal house of Judah was of longer standing than its connexion with the house of Baasha; but he ignored the revolt of Damascus in the reign of Solomon. Break thy league] As Israel cut Syria off from the sea, Benhadad would be the more willing to accept Asa's overtures. In 2Ch_16:7-10; Asa's conduct is represented as being condemned by the seer Hanani.
20. Ijon, Dan, etc.] localities in the neighbourhood of Lake Merom and the Sea of Galilee. Cinneroth is the Gennesaret of the NT.
21. Left off.. Ramah] The invasion in the N. prevented further operations in the S.
Dwelt in Tirzah] LXX has 'returned to Tirzah,' which suits the context better.
22. Geba.. Mizpah] fortresses N. of Jerusalem.
23. The rest of all the acts of Asa] see 2Ch_14:9. The chief incidents added by Chronicles are the defeat of an invasion by the Ethiopian Zerah, the making of a national covenant with the Lord, the king's punishment of the seer Hanani for censuring his alliance with Syria, and his oppression of his people.
27. Gibbethon] within the territory assigned to Dan (Jos_19:44). The Philistines, who had been crushed by David, now that the Hebrew kingdoms were in conflict, once more began to move.
29. The saying of the Lord] see 1Ki_14:7-11. The personal ambition of Baasha was the agency through which the Lord punished the house of Jeroboam for the sins of its founder. The decay of spiritual religion in N. Israel was accompanied by the weakening of moral restraints, and none of the dynasties that successively occupied the throne lasted longer than four generations.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 Called Abijah, 2Ch 13:1.
Abbijam
Called Abijah, 2Ch 13:1.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 3. Abijam and Asa, Kings of Judah
3. Abijam and Asa, Kings of Judah
CHAPTER 15
Read full note →
1. Abijam of Judah (1Ki 15:1-8; 2 Chronicles 13)
2. Asa of Judah (1Ki 15:9-24; 2 Chronicles 14-16)
Abijam is called in Chronicles Abijah; in 2Ch 13:21 he is called Abijahu. Abijam was undoubtedly the older form. It is possible that on account of his great address of rebuke to Jeroboam (2Ch 13:4-12) they may have called him Abijah (Jehovah is my father). He ascended the throne in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign and was king for three years. Here we find the statement that he walked in all the sins of his father and that his heart was not perfect with the Lord as the heart of David his father. The statement in chapter 11:36 is repeated, that for David’s sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem. It was a custom (and is still so among the Fellaheen in Palestine) to keep a lamp constantly burning in the tent. The extinction of the lamp signified the removal of the family. The Lord remembered the house of David and his covenant and on account of that covenant the deserved judgment was held back. The war he fought with Jeroboam is not given in Kings but in Chronicles. We shall follow his history with the text in Chronicles.
Then his son Asa (who will heal), a mere boy, began to reign. During the first ten years of his reign the land had rest (2Ch 14:1). He is the first King of Judah of whom it is said, he did right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. A great reformation took place. The Sodomites with their abominations, the result of idolatry, he ended; the idols were removed. His grandmother, Maachah, was removed by him from being a queen because she had made an idol, which Asa destroyed and burnt. (Most likely on account of his youth Maachah was regent during Asa’s minority.) And in Chronicles we read more of his good work. He was faithful to Jehovah, though he also failed in the end. The war with Zerah the Ethiopian is recorded in 2 Chronicles 14, as well as other deeply interesting events during his reign. We do not touch those at this time. Our book here only records the war with Baasha, King of Israel, and Asa’s strange alliance with Ben-hadad, King of Syria, to whom he presented the silver and gold which Shishak had left in the house of the LORD, and also the treasures of the King’s house. Baasha had fortified Ramah, which meant the complete isolation and domination of Jerusalem. Asa, forgetful of his experience with Zerah and the manner of getting the victory (see his beautiful prayer, 2Ch 14:11), and that the Lord who had smitten Zerah could also smite Baasha, feared the rival king and renewed the God-dishonoring league with Syria which his father Abijah had made. What followed after this league, the divine exhortation and judgment delivered through Hanani the prophet and Asa’s end, we shall follow in Chronicles. Asa’s sin and failure consisted in not trusting the Lord wholly, but using other means for deliverance. Hanani told him “thou hast relied on the King of Syria, and not on the LORD thy God,... For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars” (2Ch 16:7-9). Then Asa imprisoned the faithful messenger. Alas! how often the failure of Asa has been repeated among God’s people! Many begin well but lose the freshness of their faith. In our own days we behold on all sides Asa-movements, no perfect confidence in the Lord, but reliance upon all kinds of world schemes and alliances which make it impossible for the Lord to manifest the fullness of His power.
4. Kings of Israel
CHAPTERS 15:25-16
1. Nadab, King of Israel (1Ki 15:25-32)
2. Baasha, King of Israel (1Ki 15:34; 1Ki 16:1-7)
3. Elah, King of Israel (1Ki 16:8-14)
4. Zimri, King of Israel (1Ki 16:15-20)
5. Divisions (1Ki 16:21-22)
6. Omri, King of Israel (1Ki 16:23-28)
7. Ahab (1Ki 16:29-34)
Six kings of Israel are now mentioned. Asa saw them all ascending the throne of Israel. The first mentioned is Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, who followed in his father’s footsteps. His reign was cut short by an uprising of one of the house of Issachar, Baasha. He smote Nadab at Gibbethon (Jos 19:44; Jos 21:23). Baasha then smote all the house of Jeroboam. Thus was the prediction of Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh, fulfilled. “Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.” God’s predicted judgments never fail in the end. The judgments written over against our own age, this evil age, will some day be executed by the Lord as all other judgments which were threatened against Israel.
The new dynasty headed by Baasha began in the third year of Asa’s reign. Baasha reigned twenty-four years. He sinned as Jeroboam did, though he had been the executer of God’s judgment upon the descendants of the wicked king. He had not heard Jehovah’s voice speaking in the events of the past. Then came the message of the Lord to Baasha through Jehu, the son of Hanani (2Ch 19:2; 2Ch 20:34). He reminds him that the Lord had raised him out of the dust (his family was unknown) and He had made him prince over Israel. He followed Jeroboam and Rehoboam’s fate, and the fate of his house would now also be the fate of Baasha, who had executed the divine sentence. “I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.” Such is divine justice.
Elah his son followed. His rule lasted not quite two years. He was in Tirzah. While the army was away fighting the Philistines, Elah in the house of his steward Arza (“earthliness”) became drunk and was killed by his captain, Zimri, who at once began to reign in his place. He only reigned seven days and the only deed mentioned, besides his awful death, is the slaying of all the house of Baasha “according to the Word of the LORD, which He spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet.” Omri was made king by all Israel and with him began another dynasty. His first act was to besiege Tirzah where Zimri was, who set the king’s palace on fire and perished in the flames. A division followed, but Omri prevailed. In all these sad records the fruits of the departure from God and from His Word are seen. They can easily be traced in the history of other nations down to our own times, the days which have brought the most awful bloodshed in the world’s blood drenched history. It is all the result of sin. And Omri was worse than all that were before him, and his son Ahab was the climax of all wickedness in the Kingdom of Israel. There was no improvement, but a steady decline till God’s hand smote them in judgment. Ahab introduced Baal-worship in Israel. This was the result of his marriage to Jezebel (dunghill), the daughter of Ethbaal (with Baal), King of Zidonians. “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the Kings of Israel that were before him.” The last verse of this chapter records a presumptuous action. Hiel (God liveth) built Jericho. He found out that the word of God spoken 500 years before (Jos 6:26) was true.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Rule of Abijam in Judah
The Rule of Abijam in Judah
v. 1. Now, in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, about four years before his death, reigned Abijam (or Abijah) over Judah.
Read full note →
v. 2. Three years, a very short period, reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom, a granddaughter of Absalom, the son of David, and the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, who had evidently married Tamar, the daughter of Absalom.
v. 3. And he, Abijam, walked in all the sins of his father which he had done before him, patterning after the wickedness of Rehoboam; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord, his God, it was not on the side of Jehovah in undivided allegiance, as the heart of David, his father.
v. 4. Nevertheless, for David’s sake did the Lord, his God, give him a lamp in Jerusalem, keeping his descendants on the throne of Judah, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem, 1Ki 11:13-36;
v. 5. because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, he observed the demands of the covenant relation, and turned not aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. While David’s fall was very great and grievous, it did not break the covenant of Jehovah with Israel, it did not remove the foundations of God’s relation toward Israel, as the idolatry of later years did. While Abijam outwardly maintained and observed the rites of Jehovah worship, it was not a matter of real belief of the heart with him, but a case of dead orthodoxy, combined with a tolerance of idol worship in his country.
v. 6. And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life, this condition continuing under Abijam.
v. 7. Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
v. 8. And Abijam, after his short reign, slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa, his son, reigned in his stead. In this case also it is true that apostasy is often followed by various misfortunes, for God will not be mocked.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of…
In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat
This refers to the eighteenth year of Jeroboam's reign. AT: "After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost eighteen years" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Read full note →
In the eighteenth year
"In year 18" (See: Numbers)
He walked in all the sins
Walking represents living, and walking in sins represents committing those sins. AT: "Abijah continued to practice all the sins" (See: Metaphor)
that his father had committed before his time
Since these verses refer to several kings, it may help to include the name of Abijah's father. This information can be made clear. AT "that his father, Rehoboam, had committed before Abijah's time" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
his time
This phrase represents the time that he was king. The meaning of this can be made clear. AT: "before Abijah was king" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
his heart was not devoted ... as the heart of David
The heart represents the whole person. AT: "Abijah was not devoted ... as David" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
king
Jeroboam
Abijah
reign
kingdom of Judah
Jerusalem
walk
sin
heart
Yahweh
God
David
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–2 15:1-8 The author of 1 & 2 Kings describes…
15:1-8 The author of 1 & 2 Kings describes the reign of each king of Judah in a typical pattern: the date of his accession in chronological relationship to the current king of the other kingdom (15:1), the length of his reign, the name of his mother (15:2), a spiritual evaluation of his character (15:3-5), details of his reign (15:6-7), sources where further data about him could be found (15:7), where he was buried, and his successor’s name (15:8).
15:1 Abijam (see study note on 2 Chr 13:1) reigned from 913 to 910 BC.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.