Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 11:5
And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah.
5. built cities for defence ] This does not mean that all these cities were then built for the first time; certainly Beth-lehem, Tekoa, and Hebron were ancient places. Rebuilding, strengthening, and fortifying are included in the meaning of the Hebrew verb bnh = build. The cities mentioned were situated some in the Hill Country of Judah, some in the Shephelah.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
5 23. The Prosperity of Rehoboam
This section has no corresponding section in 1 Kin. On the other hand the Chronicler omits three important sections of 1Ki 12:25-33 (the setting up of the golden calves), 2Ch 13:1-22 (the episode of the prophet who cried against the altar in Beth-el) and 2Ch 14:1-15 (the death of the son of Jeroboam).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rehoboam was between two dangers: on the north he might be attacked by Jeroboam, on the south by Jeroboams ally, Egypt. From this side was the greater peril, and therefore out of the 15 cities fortified, all but three were on the southern or western frontier, where Egypt would be most likely to attack.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. And built cities for defense in Judah.] He was obliged to strengthen his frontiers against the encroachments of the men of Israel; and Jeroboam did the same thing on his part to prevent the inroads of Judah. See 1Kg 12:25.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Built cities, i.e. repaired, and enlarged, and fortified them; as building is oft used in Scripture, as hath been formerly proved; for these cities, or divers of them, were built before, as appears from Jos 10:10; 12:15; 15:21,33,35,58; 19:42.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5-11. built cities for defence inJudahThis is evidently used as the name of the southernkingdom. Rehoboam, having now a bitter enemy in Israel, deemed itprudent to lose no time in fortifying several cities that lay alongthe frontier of his kingdom. Jeroboam, on his side, took a similarprecaution (1Ki 12:25). Of thefifteen cities named, Aijalon, now Yalo, and Zorah, now Surah,between Jerusalem and Jabneh [ROBINSON],lay within the province of Benjamin. Gath, though a Philistine city,had been subject to Solomon. And Etham, which was on the border ofSimeon, now incorporated with the kingdom of Israel, was fortified torepel danger from that quarter. These fortresses Rehoboam placedunder able commanders and stocked them with provisions and militarystores, sufficient, if necessary, to stand a siege. In the crippledstate of his kingdom, he seems to have been afraid lest it might bemade the prey of some powerful neighbors.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem,…. The metropolis of Judah, and the capital city of his kingdom:
and built cities for defence in Judah; that is, rebuilt, enlarged, and fortified them; for otherwise they were built before, though neglected before the revolt of the ten tribes; but now it became necessary to make them more capacious and strong, to protect his people, and defend himself against Israel; for though he was forbid to act offensively, and therefore contented himself to abide in Jerusalem, and not go forth to war; yet he might lawfully put himself into a condition of defence.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Rehoboam’s measures for the fortifying of his kingdom. – To defend his kingdom against hostile attacks, Rehoboam built cities for defence in Judah. The sing. is used, because the building of cities served for the defence of the kingdom. Judah is the name of the kingdom, for the fifteen fenced cities enumerated in the following verses were situated in the tribal domains of both Benjamin and Judah.
2Ch 11:6 In Judah lay Bethlehem, a small city mentioned as early as in Jacob’s time (Gen 35:19), two hours south of Jerusalem, the birthplace of David and of Christ (Mic 5:1; Mat 2:5, Mat 2:11), now Beit-Lahm; see on Jos 15:59. Etam is not the place bearing the same name which is spoken of in 1Ch 4:32 and Jdg 15:8, and mentioned in the Talmud as the place where, near Solomon’s Pools, the aqueduct which supplied Jerusalem with water commenced (cf. Robins. Pal. sub voce; Tobler, Topogr. v. Jerus. ii. S. 84ff., 855ff.);
(Note: For further information as to the commencement of this aqueduct, see the masterly dissertation of Dr. Herm. Zschokke, “ Die versiegelte Quelle Salomo ‘ s, ” in the Tbingen Theol. Quartalschr. 1867, H. 3, S. 426ff.)
nor is it to be looked for, as Robins. loc. cit., and New Bibl. Researches, maintains, in the present village Urts (Arts), for it has been identified by Tobl., dritte Wand. S. 89, with Ain Attn, a valley south-west from Arts. Not only does the name Attn correspond more than Arts with Etam, but from it the water is conducted to Jerusalem, while according to Tobler’s thorough conviction it could not have been brought from Arts. Tekoa, now Tekua, on the summit of a hill covered with ancient ruins, two hours south of Bethlehem; see on Jos 15:59.
2Ch 11:7 Beth-zur was situated where the ruin Beth-Sur now stands, midway between Urts and Hebron; see on Jos 15:58. Shoko, the present Shuweike in Wady Sumt, 3 1/2 hours south-west from Jerusalem; see on Jos 15:35. Adullam, in Jos 15:35 included among the cities of the hill country, reckoned part of the lowland ( Shephelah), i.e., the slope of the hills, has not yet been discovered. Tobler, dritte Wand. S. 151, conjectures that it is identical with the present Dula, about eight miles to the east of Beit-Jibrin; but this can hardly be correct (see against it, Arnold in Herzog’s Realenc. xiv. S. 723. It is much more probable that its site was that of the present Deir Dubban, two hours to the north of Beit-Jibrin; see on Jos 12:15.
2Ch 11:8 Gath, a royal city of the Philistines, which was first made subject to the Israelites by David (1Ch 18:1), and was under Solomon the seat of its own king, who was subject to the Israelite king (1Ki 2:39), has not yet been certainly discovered; see on Jos 13:3.
(Note: C. Schick, Reise in das Philisterland (in “ Ausland ” 1867, Nr. 7, S. 162), identifies Gath with the present Tel Safieh, “ an isolated conical hill in the plain, like a sentinel of a watchtower or fortress, and on that account there was so much struggling for its possession. ” On the other hand, Konr. Furrer, Wanderungen durch Palstina, Zrich 1865, thinks, S. 133, that he has found the true situation of Gath in the Wady el Gat, northward of the ruins of Askalon.)
Mareshah, the city Marissa, on the road from Hebron to the land of the Philistines, was at a later time very important, and is not represented by the ruin Marash, twenty-four minutes to the south of Beit-Jibrin (Eleutheropolis); see on Jos 15:44, and Tobl. dritte Wand. S. 129, 142f. Ziph is probably the Ziph mentioned in Jos 15:55, in the hill country of Judah, of which ruins yet remain on the hill Ziph, about an hour and a quarter south-east of Hebron; see on Jos 15:55. C. v. Raumer thinks, on the contrary, Pal. S. 222, Anm. 249, that our Ziph, as it is mentioned along with Mareshah and other cities of the lowland, cannot be identified with either of the Ziphs mentioned in Jos 15:24 and Jos 15:55, but is probably Achzib in the lowland mentioned along with Mareshah, Jos 15:44; but this is very improbable.
2Ch 11:9 Adoraim ( in Joseph. Antt. viii. 10. 1), met with in 1 Macc. 13:20 as an Idumean city, , and so also frequently in Josephus, was taken by Hyrcanus, and rebuilt by Gabinius (Jos. Antt. xiii. 15. 4, and xiv. 5. 3) under the name , and often spoken of along with Marissa (s. Reland, Palaest. p. 547). Robinson ( Pal. sub voce) has identified it with the present Dra, a village about 7 1/2 miles to the westward of Hebron. Lachish, situated in the lowland of Judah, as we learn from Jos 15:39, is probably the present Um Lakis, on the road from Gaza to Beit-Jibrin and Hebron, to the left hand, seven hours to the west of Beit-Jibrin, on a circular height covered with ancient walls and marble fragments, and overgrown with thistles and bushes; see on Jos 10:3, and Pressel in Herz.’s Realenc. viii. S. 157f. Azekah, situated in the neighbourhood of Shoco (2Ch 11:7), and, according to 1Sa 17:1, in an oblique direction near Ephes-dammim, i.e., Damm, one hour east to the south of Beit-Nettif,
(Note: Compare the interesting note of Breytenbach ( Reybb. des heil. Landes, i. 134) in Tobler, dritte Wand. S. 463: “ Thence (from Azekah) three miles is the city Zochot-Jude, not far from Nobah, where David slew Goliath. ” )
has not been re-discovered; see on Jos 10:10.
2Ch 11:10 Zorah, Samson’s birthplace, is represented by the ruin Sura, at the south-west end of the ridge, which encloses the Wady es Surar on the north; see on Jos 15:33. To the north of that again lay Ajalon, now the village Jlo, on the verge of the plain Merj ibn Omeir, four leagues to the west of Gibeon; see on Jos 10:12 and Jos 19:42. Finally, Hebron, the ancient city of the patriarchs, now called el Khalil (The friend of God, i.e., Abraham); see on Gen 23:2. All these fenced cities lay in the tribal domain of Judah, with the exception of Zorah and Ajalon, which were assigned to the tribe of Dan (Jos 19:41.). These two were probably afterwards, in the time of the judges, when a part of the Danites emigrated from Zorah and Eshtaol to the north of Palestine (Jdg 18:1), taken possession of by Benjamites, and were afterwards reckoned to the land of Benjamin, and are here named as cities which Rehoboam fortified in Benjamin. If we glance for a moment at the geographical position of the whole fifteen cities, we see that they lay partly to the south of Jerusalem, on the road which went by Hebron to Beersheba and Egypt, partly on the western slopes of the hill country of Judah, on the road by Beit-Jibrin to Gaza, while only a few lay to the north of this road towards the Philistine plain, and there were none to the north to defend the kingdom against invasions from that side. “Rehoboam seems, therefore, to have had much more apprehension of an attack from the south and west, i.e., from the Egyptians, than of a war with the northern kingdom” (Berth.). Hence we may conclude that Rehoboam fortified these cities only after the inroad of the Egyptian king Shishak.
2Ch 11:11-12 “And he made strong the fortresses, and put captains in them,” etc.; i.e., he increased their strength by placing them in a thoroughly efficient condition to defend themselves against attacks, appointing commandants ( ), provisioning them, and (2Ch 11:12) laying up stores of all kinds of arms. In this way he made them exceedingly strong. The last clause, 2Ch 11:12, “And there were to him Judah and Benjamin,” corresponds to the statement, 2Ch 10:19, that Israel revolted from the house of David, and forms the conclusion of the account (vv. 1-17 a) of that which Rehoboam did to establish his power and consolidate his kingdom. There follows hereupon, in
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(b) REHOBOAM STRENGTHENS THE DEFENCES OF HIS KINGDOM (2Ch. 11:5-12).
This section is peculiar to the chronicler.
(5) Dwelt in Jerusalem.As the capital.
Cities for defence.(Arm lmr = ar mr; 2Ch. 8:5), embattled cities; LXX., .
In Judah.Not the territory of the tribe, but the kingdom is intended, for some of the fortresses were in Benjamin (2Ch. 11:10).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Those fenced cities were intended, no doubt, to act upon the defensive, after that he had received command from the Lord.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
III
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE TWO KINGDOMS
1Ki 12:25-15:8
The theme of this section is the beginnings of the two rival kingdoms, or the measures adopted by the rival kings to establish their respective kingdoms. This is a period of twenty-four years and covers the reigns of Jeroboam and his son Nadab) kings of Israel, and of Rehoboam and his son Abijah, kings of Judah.
The initial measure adopted by Jeroboam to establish his kingdom was as follows: First, he built a city at Shechem, where the great popular assembly was held, and which was and had been since Jacob’s time, a holy place. That, he made his capital. Second, as a large part of his territory, including two and a half tribes, was across the Jordan, he built another city and fortified it at Penuel, so as to command the fords of the Jordan, and this secured his kingdom on both sides of this river. Third, he established his residence at Tirzah, first mentioned in the book of Joshua, and in Solomon’s Song we have the expression: “As beautiful as Tirzah.” It was also in the hill country of Ephraim, and it was a beautiful mountain palace.
The initial measure of Rehoboam was to fortify and supply with provisions, garrisons, and munitions of war, fifteen cities on the southern and western frontiers, for a defense mainly against Egypt. A new dynasty had come to the front in Egypt. Shishak was a very formidable and vigorous opponent, not to be compared with the weak dynasty with which Solomon made an alliance by marriage. This Shishak was really a great man. Egypt was the power that Rehoboam and Judah feared.
Other measures of Jeroboam were political expedients in, order to keep the ten tribes from going to Jerusalem to the great feasts. He saw what had been the great power of Jerusalem and its Temple and worship as a unifying force, and he said to himself, “If my people go every year to Jerusalem they will imbibe its spirit, and the result will be that they will ultimately turn back to Rehoboam the king of Judah and will kill me. Now, how am I to stop this annual pilgrimage of my people to Jerusalem?” And these were the expedients that he devised: First, he established calf worship. He had two molten calves put up, viz: one at Dan, in the extreme upper part of his territory and one at Bethel, the place where Jacob was converted and a holy place. It will be remembered that when the tribe of Dan left the territory allotted to them, they migrated to the very northern part of the country, captured the places there, and worshiped the images they had taken there from Micah. There had been, then, ever since the times of the judges, a place of worship at Dan, but it was an image worship.
Second, he established a new order of priesthood. He refused to permit the Levites and their priests, left in the citiesin his territory, to minister for him; he was afraid of them. And so he created a new order of priesthood by taking any man from any tribe that pleased him and making him a priest. Third, he made a new feast to take the place of the Feast of Tabernacles. That feast the Jews generally attended, and millions would go every year, and they would dwell in tents. Now, he determined to have a feast to take the place of the Feast of Tabernacles, and as the season of the year was later in the northern part of the country, he made his feast just one month later than that of Tabernacles, as the record tells us: “He ordained a feast devised in his own heart.” The Feast of Tabernacles was on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and he put his feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just a month later.
Fourth, he established high places for worship of wooden images. In the book of Judges we learn how Gideon cut down the groves, that is, the forest of images. However, Jeroboam established what is called in the Revised Version, “he-goat worship.” What is meant by it? Among the Greeks it was the worship of Pan. Pan is an image with a man’s face and the form of a goat; these he-goats are sometimes called satyrs. These are heathen minor deities, and allusion is made to them in the book of Leviticus. They are sometimes called devils, and that is what they really were, i. e., demons: it was a kind of demon worship. Now, for his priesthood he made houses at Dan and at Bethel, and in all of these high places, and there this he-goat, or demon worship, was carried on. These were his political expedients.
The calf worship that he established was a mixture of calf and Jehovah worship. When Moses stayed up in the mountain so long, the people asked Aaron to mold a calf for them to worship, as a symbol of Jehovah. It was not an entire abandonment of Jehovah worship, but it was the worship of Jehovah under the symbol of a calf, and they said of that calf that Aaron made, “Behold the god that brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” That was an express violation of the commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven or molten image, in the likeness of anything in the heaven above or the earth beneath, and bow down and worship before it.”
This fundamental innovation in religion weakened his kingdom and strengthened Judah. Now, 2Ch 11:16-17 tells us as follows: “And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, strong, three years: for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.”
The priests and the Levites were the teaching forces, as well as the guides in religion. When they banish religious teachers from a kingdom, or expatriate its best men, they do a great harm to that kingdom; they take away those who have the power to keep up the religious idea. That was a tremendous loss to the nation of Israel. These were laymen, too, the best people of the land. As I have already said, one of the peculiarities of the book of Chronicles is to record every secession from Israel back to Judah, and we will come to many a one before we get through, and thus we will see that a remnant of the ten tribes was saved.
Now, it weakened Jeroboam in the following ways: It completely separated his people from God; second, it perpetuated a sin for 253 years that readily ate out the heart of the religious nature of the people and caused their ultimate downfall. Two passages of Scripture show how far-reaching the effect of this sin was. 1Ki 14 , commencing at 1Ki 14:15 reads as follows: “The Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers. . . . And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he hath sinned, and wherewith he has made Israel to sin.” Now, when we come to the end of the period of the divided kingdom, we will find the other passage, 2Ki 17:21-23 . This passage accounts for the downfall of the ten tribes. Commencing at 1Ki 14:21 : “For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam, the son of Nabat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight. . . . So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day.” Now, we cannot overemphasize the magnitude of a sin that destroys a nation, and I do not know any sin but the sin of Adam more far-reaching in its consequences than the sin of Jeroboam.
How often at the end of a reign of an Israelitish king does this refrain come: “He did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin”? We may say that this was the inscription on the tomb of every Israelitish king, not one of them a good man. I used to say that sin is like Bermuda grass, indestructible, and that no man can commit a single sin; that it is a great breeder, it makes other sins. I have used this illustration: A hunter may think that he sees just one quail, but when he flushes him there is always a pair or a covey. And I have used this passage from Longfellow’s “Hiawatha” to show the multiplying power of sin: Never swoops the soaring vulture Oil his quarry in the desert, on some Sick or wounded bison, but another vulture watching From his high aerial lockout Sees the downward plunge and follows. And a third pursues the second; Coming from the invisible ether, first a speck, And then a vulture, till the air is dark with pinions.
All have witnessed the way in which buzzards flock to a car-cass. From these illustrations we get some conception of this multiplying power of sin. And I repeat that aside from the sin of Adam, no sin described in the Bible as I can now recall, has such a long fearful sweep as the sin of Jeroboam. Jehovah announced his displeasure by sending a man out of Judah, a man of God, it does not give his name and he came to Bethel on the day that the worship of the calf was to commence, and came into the presence of Jeroboam who was about to officiate as high priest and used these words (what solemn words they are): “Oh, Altar, Altar, Thus saith the Lord: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall they burn upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.” How long before that was fulfilled? We have to turn forward to the reign of Josiah to find an exact fulfilment of it.
Let us see how Jeroboam received this announcement of the prophet of God. In 1Ki 13:4 we have these words: “And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Beth-el, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him.” And his hand which he put forth toward the prophet became rigid (he could not move it) and it dried up. There he stood with that dried up, shriveled arm. He then begged the prophet to pray for him, and the prophet prayed for him and the hand was healed.
The tragic end of the nameless prophet was as follows: Jeroboam asked this prophet to be his guest. He declined because God had told him not to go into anybody’s house, and not to tarry in that place, but to come straight back when he had delivered his message. The prophet refused to accept the invitation of Jeroboam. But there was an old man in Bethel, who was himself a prophet, there were schools of the prophets established over the land. Now, this prophet heard of the miracles performed by the prophet from Judah and sent after the man of God, urging him to come back and take bread with him. The nameless prophet said, “I have been commanded not to do that.” The other said, “I also am a prophet, and bid you to come back,” and he went back, and then came the warning to him that he should die. On leaving the house a lion met him and smote him from the ass upon which he was riding and killed him. The lion did not eat him he was not mangled but the people found his dead body there.
I shall never forget that when I was a little bit of a child this was the Sunday school lesson, “The Fate of the Disobedient Prophet.” There was a picture of it in the Sunday school book. The old prophet that lived there at Bethel took him and buried him in a secret place, that his bones should not fall under the denunciation he had himself given. The old prophet said to his children, “When I die, bury me by the side of this man of God; I do not want my bones taken up and burned on that altar.”
Jeroboam did not relent in his purpose on the announcement of this prophecy and its marvelous sign, for that very day the altar split wide open and the ashes fell out; and then there was the miracle of staying his hand, but he did not repent and give up his evil purpose. The record says, “After this thing Jeroboam returned not away from his evil ways, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places; whosoever would, he consecrated him that there might be priests of the high places. And this thing became a sin unto the house of Jeroboam,” and he destroyed it off the face of the earth. So this sin not only destroyed the people ultimately, but it destroyed him and all of his house. His policy in the main accompanied his object. The record tells us that the people, the main body of them, quit going to Jerusalem, but joined in this idolatrous worship that Jeroboam had prescribed. The effect on Jeroboam himself was destructive. The record says that the Lord smote him and all of his house perished not a man, woman, or child was left. This is voiced by Jehovah himself, and the occasion of it was that his son was sick, and he told his wife to go to the prophet, Ahijah, who had announced to him that he would get ten tribes in the division of the kingdom. He told his wife to disguise herself, and take presents with her, and go and ask that prophet that the child might live. But the Spirit of God informed the prophet of the disguise before the woman got there, and he met her with this terrible announcement: “And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. Go, tell Jeroboam, that because of this evil I will cut off every man child, him that is shut up and him that is left out, and I will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweepest away refuse, and him that dieth in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the fields shall the fowls eat. The Lord hath spoken. Rise and get thee to thine own house, and when thy feet enter into the city the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family shall come to the grave.” He is the only one of the family that shall ever receive burial. And then he goes on to say that this sin would destroy the entire nation. This is one of the most solemn utterances in the Bible.
The next measure adopted by Jeroboam to establish himself was an alliance with Shishak. It will be remembered that he fled to Egypt in the days of Solomon, and married into the family of this very Shishak. He made an alliance with Shishak to invade Judah, of which we will speak presently. Jeroboam himself reigned twenty-two years; his son reigned after him two years; his dynasty, therefore, lasted twenty-four years. Rehoboam and his son Abijah, and his son Asa, came to the throne before Jeroboam died. The attitude of the two kingdoms toward each other was war continually, all the days of Jeroboam’s life and the life of his son. But Rehoboam prospered three years just as long as the people remained faithful unto God. His sin and the sin of his people we find in 1Ki 14:22-24 , and some of it is awful. Let us look at it: “And Judah did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord;… For they also built them high places on every high hill and under every green tree; and there were also Sodomites in the land: they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord drove out before the children of Israel.”
This sin was punished. The record tells us that Shishak, the king of Egypt, invaded the land with a vast army, with much cavalry and many chariots of war. He easily broke through those fifteen cities of defense and came up to Jerusalem, and as his armies surrounded Jerusalem Rehoboam and all the peopie prayed to God and repented of their sins. Mark this difference between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. And God delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. But Shishak carried away all of those rich treasures that had been gathered by Solomon; the golden shields he took away with him, and made the land tributary to Egypt.
Archeology throws some light on this invasion of Shishak. Not a great while ago, in uncovering the ruins of the temple of Karnak on the Nile, there was found the inscription of Shishak on his return from this invasion. It shows what cities he captured, and how he had taken away the treasures from Jerusalem. But the important light that it throws on the period is this: Among the cities captured it gives the names of the Levitical cities in Israel. He did not destroy any of the cities of Jeroboam, but all the Levitical or Canaanite cities that remained faithful to Judah he captured. That is shown in the inscriptions such of them as are discernible. Is it not strange that after thousands of years the spade keeps turning up proof of the truth of the Bible? When archeology first commenced the radical critics said that it would destroy the Bible. Inscriptions on monuments, deep carvings in rock that the dust of centuries has settled upon, are brought to light and demonstrate that this book does not deal in lies. We need to fear nothing as having the power to destroy the testimony of this book.
The length of Rehoboam’s reign was seventeen years; that of his son was three years. The great event in Abijah’s reign was the war with Jeroboam. He raised an army of 4,000,000 men and went into Ephraim and met Jeroboam with 8,000,000 men, and Jeroboam divided his forces into two parts, to take them on two sides. But before the battle commenced there was a prelude that to me has always been interesting. We find it in 2Ch 13:4-12 , as follows: “And Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel; ought ye not to know that Jehovah the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and his sons by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his Lord. And there were gathered unto him worthless men, base fellows, that strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of Jehovah in the land of the sons of David; and ye are a great multitude) and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods. Have ye not driven out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the people of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. But as for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering unto Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work; and they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense: the shewbread also they set in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of Jehovah our God; but ye have forsaken him. And, behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against Jehovah, the God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.”
That was a very hard message, and in the battle which followed Abijah’s army killed more Israelites than there were in his own army he had only 40,000 men and he killed half a million. The effect of this battle was terrific. The record tells us that Jeroboam never recovered from that battle. But Abijah was a very strong man, yet not as faithful to Jehovah as he boasts to Jeroboam.
The state of affairs at the end of the twenty-four years was as follows: Jeroboam was dead, smitten of God; his son, after an inglorious reign of two years, was murdered by Baasha, and only one of the family of Jeroboam ever received burial; Baasha killed every one of them that was alive. Now, in the other kingdom, Asa, one of the greatest of the kings of Judah, had come to the throne, and that is the way they stand at the end of the twenty-four years.
QUESTIONS
1. What was the time period of this chapter, who were the kings of Israel and Judah and the time each reigned respectively?
2. What were the initial measures adopted by Jeroboam to establish his kingdom?
3. What was the initial measure of Rehoboam and why this particular measure?
4. What other measures, or political expedients, adopted by Jeroboam?
5. What was the calf worship which he established?
6. What was the effect of this fundamental innovation and how do you account for it?
7. What was the sad refrain at the end of the reign of each of the Israelitish kings? Illustrate.
8. How did Jehovah show his displeasure and what was the fulfilment of the prophecy of the “nameless prophet”?
9. How did Jeroboam receive the message and what the result?
10. Relate the tragic story of the nameless prophet.
11. What was the effect of this great demonstration on Jeroboam?
12. Did his policy in the main accomplish his object?
13. What was the effect on Jeroboam himself?
14. How was this voiced by Jehovah and what the occasion of it?
15. What was the next measure adopted by Jeroboam to establish himself?
16. How long did Jeroboam reign, how many kings of Judah during his reign, how long his dynasty and what its end?
17. What was the attitude of the two kingdoms toward each other?
18. How long did Rehoboam prosper?
19. What was his sin and the sin of his people?
20. How was this sin punished?
21. What light does archeology throw on the invasion of Shishak?
22. What was the length of Rehoboam’s reign, how long his son’s reign and what great event of Abijah’s reign?
23. What was the effect of the battle between Abijah and Jeroboam?
24. What were the characteristics of Abijah?
25. What was the state of affairs in each kingdom, respectively, at the end of twenty-four years?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
2Ch 11:5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.
Ver. 5. And Rehoboam dwelt, &c. ] See 1Ki 12:18 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(5-12) These particulars are complementary. App-56.
built = rebuilt.
for defence. Evidently these fifteen cities were for defence against Egypt, because of Jeroboam’s influence there (2Ch 10:2). His fears were well grounded (2Ch 12:2, 2Ch 12:4 and 1Ki 14:25).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2Ch 11:5-12
2Ch 11:5-12
“And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. He built Bethlehem, and Elam, and Tekoa, and Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adumllum, and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, and Zorah, and Aijalon and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities. And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of victuals, and oil and wine. And in every city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong. And Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.”
These verses and through 2Ch 11:17, below, are parallel to 1Ki 12:25-33, where one will find most of our comments. These preparations which Rehoboam made against possible invasion of the greatly weakened southern Israel were a prophecy of the beleaguered nation’s future history. A divided Israel would be unable to dominate the Mid-east as did David and Solomon.
E.M. Zerr:
2Ch 11:5-10. Built the cities denotes the remodeling work that was done. Rehoboam improved and fortified these cities which had already existed. Fenced cities means walled cities, one of the items of fortification.
2Ch 11:11. Strong holds is from METSURAH, and Strong defines it, “a hemming in, i. e. a mound or a rampart, fortification.” These were places adapted for defense by their natural setting. Rehoboam made them stronger and stationed soldiers in them, who were supported by a store of provisions.
2Ch 11:12. Having Judah and Benjamin on My side. By providing each city with strong weapons he made sure his standing with Judah and Benjamin.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
am 3029-3032, bc 975-972
built: 2Ch 8:2-6, 2Ch 14:6, 2Ch 14:7, 2Ch 16:6, 2Ch 17:12, 2Ch 26:6, 2Ch 27:4, Isa 22:8-11
Reciprocal: 1Ki 12:25 – built 2Ch 12:4 – the fenced Jer 34:7 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 11:5. Rehoboam built cities for defence in Judah That is, repaired, enlarged, and fortified them: for these cities, or divers of them, were built before, as appears from Jos 10:10; Jos 12:15; Jos 15:24; Jos 15:33-58; Jos 19:42.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
11:5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and {c} built cities for defence in Judah.
(c) Or, repaired them and made them strong to be more able to resist Jeroboam.