Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 11:18
And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, [and] Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;
18. Jerimoth ] Nothing is known regarding a son of David of this name. He may have been the son of a concubine (1Ch 3:9).
and Abihail ] R.V. and of Abihail. The verse accordingly speaks of one wife only, Mahalath, whose parents were Jerimoth and Abihail. The verb in 2Ch 11:19 is in the singular; cp. 2Ch 11:20 ( after her).
Eliab ] David’s eldest brother; 1Sa 16:6; 1Sa 17:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This is probably an extract from the genealogies of Iddo 2Ch 12:15.
As Jerimoth is not mentioned among the legitimate sons of David 1Ch 3:1-8; 1Ch 14:4-7, he must have been the child of a concubine.
Abihail was probably the grand-daughter, not daughter, of Eliab 1Sa 16:6; 1Sa 17:13; 1Ch 2:13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Took him Mahalath] By marrying thus in the family of David, he strengthened his right to the Jewish throne.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
18. Rehoboam took MahalathThenames of her father and mother are given. Jerimoth, the father, musthave been the son of one of David’s concubines (1Ch3:9). Abihail was, of course, his cousin, previous to theirmarriage.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Rehoboam took him Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David, to wife,…. Of which son of David we nowhere else read; perhaps he might be the son of one of his concubines, or he might have two names:
and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; who was David’s eldest brother. 1Sa 17:13. She must be a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of his.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2Ch 11:18-23, information as to Rehoboam’s family relationships. – 2Ch 11:18. Instead of we must read, with the Keri, many MSS, lxx, and Vulg., : Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David. Among the sons of David (1Ch 3:1-8) no Jerimoth is found. If this name be not another form of , 1Ch 3:3, Jerimoth must have been a son of one of David’s concubines. Before the name , must have been dropped out, and is to be supplied; so that Mahalath’s father and mother are both named: the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, i.e., David’s eldest brother (1Ch 2:13; 1Sa 17:13). For Abihail cannot be held to be a second wife of Rehoboam, because 2Ch 11:19, “and she bore,” and 2Ch 11:20, “and after her,” show that in 2Ch 11:18 only one wife is named. She bare him three sons, whose names occur only here (2Ch 11:19).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
House of Rehoboam, 2Ch 11:18-23
Rehoboam had some of the characteristics as his father, as indicated in the last statement of this passage, “And he desired many wives.” As a matter of fact he acquired many wives, though not nearly as many as Solomon. This was no doubt due to his far lesser fame as well as a depleting fortune. Yet eighteen wives and sixty concubines are an ample number to correspond with the statement of his desire.
Rehoboam married his cousins in three instances, princesses,
who seem to have been favored among the many. His first wife, Mahalath, was the daughter of David’s son, Jerimoth, about whom nothing more is known. Abihail, the second, was the daughter of Eliab, the elder brother of David, (though it is probable a grand-daughter is meant, since the time is several generations removed from that of Eliab). She was the mother of three of his sons. The third wife, and Rehoboam’s favorite, was Maachah, the daughter of Absalom. She was the mother of four of his sons, including Abijah, the crown prince. In all Rehoboam was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
Rehoboam also evidenced a trait of wisdom with regard to his sons. He dispersed them into the cities which he had fortified, evidently providing each of them with military training and preventing them from becoming play-boys as he had evidently been. Rehoboam made Abijah the chief of all his sons and groomed him to be king after him. Rehoboam gave them a good allowance, indicated by “victual in abundance.”
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
PARTICULAES CONCERNING REHOBOAMS FAMILY
(2Ch. 11:18-23).
This record also is wanting in the Book of Kings. It appears to have been derived from the sources designated in 2Ch. 12:15.
(18) The daughter.So rightly, LXX., Vulg., and many Hebrew MSS. for the ordinary reading son.
Of Jerimoth the son of DavidJerimoth does not occur in the list of Davids sons (1Ch. 3:1-8), unless we suppose the name to be a corruption of Ithream. Probably he was one of the sons of the concubines (1Ch. 3:9).
And Abihail.The and is not in the present Hebrew text, but is supplied by the LXX. And of Abihail is probably the meaning, so that both of Mahalaths parents are named. The LXX. and Vulg. make Abihail a second wife of Rehoboam; but 2Ch. 11:19-20, as well as the construction of the sentence, make it evident that only one wife is mentioned here. A daughter of Davids eldest brother could hardly become the wife of Davids grandson.
Eliab the son of Jesse.1Sa. 17:13; 1Ch. 2:13.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Jerimoth the son of David Since Jerimoth is nowhere else mentioned among the sons of David, he is generally supposed to have been a son of one of David’s concubines.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ch 11:18 And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, [and] Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;
Ver. 18. The daughter of Jerimoth the son of David. ] By some concubine likely. See 1Ch 3:9 .
The daughter of Eliab.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 11:18-23
2Ch 11:18-23
REHOBOAM’S SIXTY CONCUBINES AND EIGHTEEN WIVES
“And Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; and she bare him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. And after her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Zizi, and Shelomith. And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines (for he took eighteen wives and threescore concubines), and begat twenty and eight sons and threescore daughters. And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brethren; for he was minded to make him king. And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fortified city: and he gave them victuals in abundance. And he sought for them many wives.”
There is no parallel passage with this in Kings; and we are thankful for this intimate glimpse of what life must have been like in the harems of Jewish kings. One may only imagine the intrigues, jealousies, outright hatreds, and bitter rivalries that resulted from a large compound filled with a total of seventy-eight women competing with each other for their husband’s affections, and secretly hating the king for his partiality, first to one, and then to another.
There was no spiritual compatibility whatever with such an arrangement as that revealed here; and by the Chronicler’s placement of this paragraph just prior to the mention of Rehoboam’s shameful apostasy, he might indeed have considered this as contributory to that apostasy. Indeed, it could hardly have been otherwise.
E.M. Zerr:
2Ch 11:18-21. The account of these several wives which Rehoboam took is not given as a criticism. Plurality of wives was suffered at that time and Rehoboam was not any worse than the others. But his numerous offspring helped him to be strong in the execution of his office. Loved Maachah above is like the case of Solomon who really loved the daughter of Pharaoh. A man can love only one woman as a husband is expected to love his wife. But they took a plurality of women for the purposes of mere fleshly gratification, and for advantages in the social and political world.
2Ch 11:22. The rule of succession was for the oldest son to be king after his father. But Rehoboam loved his wife Maachah and that caused him to feel partial toward her son Abijah. Accordingly, he prepared for the succession by making him his chief among the brethren, having a rule over them under his father.
2Ch 11:23. This wise distribution of his children among the provinces of his kingdom is what was meant by my comments on 2Ch 11:18-21. And because there was such an advantage in having many of his own flesh and blood offspring to be stationed in places of importance, he desired many wives.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
am 3029-3046, bc 975-958
daughter: Eliab was David’s eldest brother; and more than eighty years had elapsed since David, at the age of thirty, began to reign: Abigail must therefore have been grand-daughter to Eliab; and this shows the latitude in which the words son and daughter are used in Scripture.
Eliab: 1Sa 16:6, 1Sa 17:13, 1Sa 17:28, 1Ch 2:13, 1Ch 27:18, Elihu
Reciprocal: 2Sa 5:13 – General