I Kings 14, Reigns of Rehoboam and Jeroboam

A prophet has confronted Jeroboam. Yet Jeroboam (king of the ten northern tribes of Israel) continues to do evil.

I Kings 14: 1-3, King's son is ill

At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, and Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go, disguise yourself, so you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there--the one who told me I would be king over this people. Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy."

Abijah sends his wife to see Abijah to ask about the future of her son. (Abijah is the prophet who first told Jeroboam the kingdom would be his in 1 Kings 11: 29-39.)

Commentators Patterson and Austel argue that the Hebrew word for jar, baqbuq, is onomatopoeic, representing the gurgling sound of liquid being poured from a jar.

I Kings 14: 4-6, Visit to Ahijah

So Jeroboam's wife did what he said and went to Ahijah's house in Shiloh. Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age.

But the LORD had told Ahijah, "Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else."

So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news.

 

Ahijah is blind but still, guided by YHWH, outs the queen.

I Kings 14: 7-11, Disaster to the house of Jeroboam

Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `I raised you up from among the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have provoked me to anger and thrust me behind your back.

"`Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel--slave or free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone. Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country. The LORD has spoken!'

Ahijah's prophecy is destruction of the house of Jeroboam, because of the idolatry of the king of Israel.

The Hebrew phrase in verse 10, translated "every last male" by the NIV, involves a crude phrase that appeared earlier in 1 Samuel 25: 22.  The word for male is literally "one who pisseth against the wall", as translated in the King James Version. This expression appears six times in the Old Testament: here and in 1 Samuel 25: 22, also in 1 Samuel 25: 34, 1 Kings 16:11, 1 Kings 21: 21,and 2 Kings 9: 8. In each case, it describes males who are about to be killed. (The website gotquestions.org has this article on the phrase.) Since dogs also urinate against the side of a building, this phrase may suggest that the men about to be killed are dogs, not real humans. We note that the phrase here is followed by a statement about dogs eat the corpses.

I Kings 14: 12-16, Son to die

"As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the LORD, the God of Israel, has found anything good.

"The LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Yes, even now. And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their forefathers and scatter them beyond the River, because they provoked the LORD to anger by making Asherah poles. And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit."

The poor mother is to go home, being told that her son will die. But the son will be the only one to be buried.

I Kings 14: 17-18, Death of son

Then Jeroboam's wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the LORD had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

All happens as has been prophesied.

Tirzah will soon be the capital of the northern kingdom, explicitly described that way in 1 Kings 16: 8 during the short reign of Elah, son of Baasha.

I Kings 14: 19-20, End of Jeroboam's reign

The other events of Jeroboam's reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his fathers. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.

Jeroboam, king of Israel, dies.  His son, Nadab, succeeds him as king of the ten tribes.

We now move on to the history of the southern kingdom.

I Kings 14: 21-24, Rehoboam and idols

Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.

Judah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than their fathers had done. They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree.

There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

Even Solomon's son does not follow YHWH. Instead, he follows other gods, possibly influenced by his pagan mother. (Hubbard says that the Hebrew translated "male shrine prostitutes" probably referred to both male and female prostitutes.)

I Kings 14: 25-28, Jerusalem sacked

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.

So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

Jerusalem is sacked by a king of Egypt. The marvelous riches of Solomon's palace and temple, described in earlier chapters, are gone within five years of Solomon's death.

Both the commentary by Patterson and Austel and the commentary by Hubbard identify the king Shishak as Shoshenq 1, founder of the Twenty-Second Dynasty in Egypt, and the successor to the pharaoh of 1 Kings 3: 1, whose daughter Solomon married.

I Kings 14: 29-31, Rehoboam then Abijah

As for the other events of Rehoboam's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.

When Rehoboam finally dies, his son, Abijah becomes king. One notices that both Rehoboam and Jeroboam have sons named Abijah.