Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 15:3
And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
3. And he walked in all the sins of his father ] The LXX. omits ‘all.’ For an account of the sins of Rehoboam see above 1Ki 14:22-24.
as the heart of David his father ] The LXX. omits ‘David.’ The word ‘perfect’ as here applied to David, does not mean that he did not offend, but that he aimed at keeping the law of God, and was deeply penitent for his sin when he fell into it. It was this prompt repentance, and return to what was right, which made David to differ from most of the kings who came after him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He walked in all the sins of his father – 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 Yahweh 2Ch 13:10-12.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. His heart was not perfect] He was an idolater, or did not support the worship of the true God. This appears to be the general meaning of the heart not being perfect with God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In all the sins of his father; which his father lived in; either, first, Before his humiliation. Or rather, secondly, After his deliverance from Shishak, when, though he did not openly renounce the worship of God, he seems to have relapsed into his former sins; which otherwise would not have been remembered against him; as Davids name and memory is never loaded with the shame of his sins, because he truly repented of them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. his heart was not perfect withthe Lord . . . , as the heart of David his father(Compare1Ki 11:4; 1Ki 14:22).He was not positively bad at first, for it appears that he had donesomething to restore the pillaged treasures of the temple (1Ki15:15). This phrase contains a comparative reference to David’sheart. His doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord (1Ki15:5) is frequently used in speaking of the kings of Judah, andmeans only that they did or did not do that which, in the generalcourse and tendency of their government, was acceptable to God. Itfurnishes no evidence as to the lawfulness or piety of one specificact.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him,…. Having such bad examples as both parents to copy after; it chiefly respects idolatrous practices, see 1Ki 14:23,
and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God; he did profess the true God, and worshipped him, but not wholly, and only, and sincerely; he worshipped other gods besides him: and so his heart was not
as the heart of David his father; who was a sole and sincere worshipper of God, never departed from him and his service.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Abijam walked as king in the footsteps of his father. Although he made presents to the temple (1Ki 15:15), his heart was not , wholly or undividedly given to the Lord, like the heart of David (cf., 1Ki 11:4); but ( , after a previous negative) for David’s sake Jehovah had left him a light in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to let Jerusalem stand, because ( ) David had done right in the eyes of God, etc., i.e., so that it was only for David’s sake that Jehovah did not reject him, and allowed the throne to pass to his son. For the fact itself compare 1Ki 11:13, 1Ki 11:36; and for the words, “except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite,” see 2 Sam 11 and 12.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(3) Walked in all the sins of his father.This adoption of the idolatries of Rehoboam did not prevent Abijam (see 2Ch. 13:4-12) from representing himself as the champion of the Temple and the priesthood against the rival worship of Jeroboam, and dedicating treasuresperhaps the spoils of his victoryin the house of the Lord. From the qualified phrase his heart was not perfect before God, however, it may be inferred that, like Solomon and Rehoboam, he professed to worship Jehovah only as the supreme God of his Pantheon; and it is a curious irony of circumstance that he should be recorded as inveighing against the degradation of His worship in Israel, while he himself countenanced or connived at the worse sin of the worship of rival gods in Judah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. In all the sins of his father The writer of Chronicles makes no mention of Abijah’s sins, though he dwells on other facts of his history in far greater detail than the writer of Kings.
Not perfect See note at 1Ki 11:4.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 15:3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
Ver. 3. And he walked in all the sins. ] Though at first he seemed to be somewhat good, 2Ch 13:12 yet soon after he showed himself in his colours.
Which he had done before him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
father. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6, for ancestor.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
all the sins: 1Ki 14:21, 1Ki 14:22
and his heart: 1Ki 3:14, 1Ki 11:4, 1Ki 11:33, 2Ki 20:3, 2Ch 25:2, 2Ch 31:20, 2Ch 31:21, Psa 119:80
Reciprocal: 1Ki 3:3 – walking 1Ki 8:61 – perfect 1Ki 14:31 – Rehoboam 1Ki 15:5 – David 1Ki 15:11 – Asa 1Ki 15:12 – all the idols 1Ki 15:14 – was perfect 2Ki 13:6 – walked 2Ki 14:3 – he did 2Ki 16:2 – did not 2Ki 17:7 – the Lord 2Ch 17:3 – he walked Psa 51:10 – right Act 13:22 – I have Heb 10:22 – a true Rev 3:2 – thy works