Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 14:15
For 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 shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
15. as a reed is shaken ] For this figure of entire instability, cf. Mat 11:7 ‘a reed shaken with the wind’. And here the root is planted amid the water, which will make it more tottering still.
beyond the river ] i.e. The River, par excellence, the Euphrates.
their groves ] R.V. their Ashrim. This is a plural form of the word Ashrah, which is the name of a goddess worshipped with rites similar to those of Baal-worship. The plural probably denotes the wooden images of the goddess, which are mentioned as early as Exo 34:13, and the worship of which was common in the time of the Judges (cf. 1Ki 3:7), and then for some interval laid aside, but revived under the kings.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The general prophecy of Moses Deu 29:28, that the disobedient Israelites would be rooted up out of their land, and cast into another land, is here for the first time repeated, and is definitively applied to the ten tribes, which are to be removed beyond the river (the Euphrates, 1Ki 4:21, 1Ki 4:24), and scattered. On the fulfillment of this prophecy, and especially on the scattering of the ten tribes, see 2Ki 17:6 note.
Groves – See Exo 34:13 note. The grove or, asherah-) worship, adopted from the Canaanite nations, appears to have died away after the fierce onslaught which Gideon made upon it Jdg 6:25-31. It now revived, and became one of the most popular of the idolatries both in Israel and Judah (1Ki 14:23, and compare the marginal references).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. For the Lord shall smite Israel] See this prophecy fulfilled, 1Kg 15:28-30, when Baasha destroyed all the house and posterity of Jeroboam.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord shall smite Israel, because they obeyed Jeroboams wicked command of worshipping the calves, and that willingly, Hos 5:11.
As a reed is shaken in the water; easily and variously, hither and thither, with every wind; so shall the kingdom and people of Israel be always in an unquiet and unsettled posture, tossed to and fro by foreign invasions and civil wars, by opposite kings and factions, and by the dissensions of the people. See 2Ki 17:18.
Beyond the river, to wit, Euphrates, oft so called by way of eminency, as Gen 15:18; 31:21; 1Ki 4:21,24. This was accomplished in part, 2Ki 15:29, and more fully 2Ki 17:6.
Because they have made their groves, for the worship of their idols, Exo 34:13; Deu 16:21. God having before condemned the making and worshipping of the calves, by which they designed or pretended to worship the true God; he now takes notice that they were not contented with the calves, but (as it is the nature of idolatry, and all sin, to proceed from evil to worse) were many of them fallen into another and a worse kind of idolatry, even their worship of the heathenish Baals, which they commonly exercised in groves. See Poole “1Ki 18:19“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the Lord shall smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water,…. Either by the wind or by the stream; and may signify the fluctuating and uncertain condition Israel should be in future reigns, through civil wars, and the translation of the kingdom into different families; so that there was continually disquietude and uneasiness, and no settled peace and tranquillity:
and he shall root up Israel out this good land he gave to their fathers; which was brought about, first by Tiglathpileser, and then by Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria, that carried them captives from hence:
and shall scatter them beyond the river; the river Euphrates, as the Targum: or, as others, the river Gozan, 2Ki 17:6
because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger: in which groves they placed idols, and worshipped them, which was highly provoking to the Lord, and the cause of their dispersion.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(15) And he shall root up Israel.The first prophecy of future captivity, and that beyond the river (Euphrates), is here pronounced against the kingdom of Israel, on account of their share in the idolatry of Jeroboam, and in the worse abominations of the groves. Of all such utterances we must remember the express declaration of Jer. 18:7-8 : At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation . . . to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy; if that nation . . . turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. The prophecy uttered does not foreclose the probation of future ages. This is, after all, only one illustration of the great truth thathowever impossible it is for us to comprehend the mysterythe foreknowledge of God does not preclude the freedom and responsibility of man.
The metaphor is of the reed shaken to and fro in the river, till at last it is rooted up, swept down the stream, and cast up on some distant shore.
Their groves.The word rendered grove is properly Asherah, an idol: apparently the straight stem of a tree, surmounted by an emblem of the goddess represented (whence, perhaps, the wrong translation which, from the LXX. and Vulgate, has made its way into our version). (See Exo. 34:13; Deu. 7:5; Deu. 12:2; Jdg. 3:7; Jdg. 6:25; Jdg. 6:28, &c.) It is thought to have been an image of some deity like Astarte; and Gesenius infers from the derivation of the name that it was dedicated to her, as the goddess of good fortune. But the worship dates from a far earlier time than the introduction of the worship of the Tyrian Astarte, and the word itself is etymologically distinct from Ashtoreth or Ashtaroth. It is notable that in 2Ki. 23:15 Josiah is said not only to have destroyed the altar and high places at Bethel, but to have burned the Asherah; whence it may probably be concluded that (as is perhaps implied in this passage) the old worship of the Asherah, with all its superstitious and profligate accompaniments, grew up under the very shadow of the newer idolatry. From the worship of images as emblems to superstitious veneration of the images themselves, and thence to worship of many gods, the transition is unhappily only too easy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Smite Israel root up Israel scatter them beyond the river Here is the first positive announcement of the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles as a punishment of Israel’s sins. Already, in earlier times, had a rooting up and scattering of the people been threatened in case of disobedience, (Deu 28:63; Deu 29:27; Jos 23:16,) but Ahijah is the first of that long line of prophets that hold up exile beyond the river Euphrates as a certainly coming woe.
Groves Thus our version, after the Septuagint and Vulgate, renders . Other versions render it, a wooden pillar or a tree. The word, however, is the proper name of a heathen goddess, Asherah. Compare Jdg 3:7; and 1Ki 18:19. It is another form for Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians. Asherah was their female, as Baal was their male divinity. In the plural, as here, and often elsewhere, it seems to be used in the more general sense of idols, or images of false gods, and may well be rendered simply idols; that is, the image-pillars of Asherah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“ For YHWH will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking YHWH to anger.”
What was more, in coming days YHWH would smite Israel in the same way as a reed bends before the wind in the water, and would root them out of their good land and scatter them Beyond The River (in Mesopotamia). And He would do this because they had made their Asherah-images, thus provoking YHWH to anger. To be scattered ‘beyond the River’ was to be cast out of the land which YHWH had given to His people (Exo 23:31; Deu 11:24; Jos 1:4; etc.). This was the fate which YHWH had constantly warned them about (Lev 18:28; Lev 20:22; Lev 26:33; Lev 26:38-39; Deu 28:64-65; Deu 29:27). It was simply taking God at His word.
The Asherah may have been images of the fertility goddess, or wooden poles which represented her, which were found in every syncretistic high place. Either way the fact that they were found in the sanctuaries of Israel demonstrated how far worship of the Canaanite gods and goddesses had been introduced (see Exo 34:13; Deu 7:5; Deu 12:3 where such things were to be destroyed).
The idea of being scattered in Mesopotamia also presented the horrifying picture of being taken so far away from their land that they would never return. Local prisoners of war, or those taken captives as slaves by neighbouring countries, always had a hope of restoration in one way or another, especially as it was part of YHWH’s future inheritance, but at this stage of history being taken Beyond the River meant going somewhere where there was no hope of release at the hands of an unknown people. They would be away from God’s inheritance. It was seen as the worst fate imaginable. The point behind this was that because they themselves had involved themselves in the Canaanite religion, they would be treated like the Canaanites should have been and driven from the land into a place from which they would not return. No particular foe was necessarily in mind, but no doubt news of the powerful states to the north had reached Israel through traders, and it would bring back to mind the examples from their own history when such a thing had happened. They knew from their history stories of the kings who had invaded from Beyond the River in the time of Abraham, kings who had taken captive slaves with them, and they further knew of the invasion by Cushan-rishathaim in Jdg 3:8-11 which had troubled their land for so long. They therefore had something to go on.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Ki 14:15. The river The river Euphrates.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ki 14:15 For 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 shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
Ver. 15. As a reed is shaken in the water. ] That never resteth, being in continual motion by wind and water, see 1Sa 25:29 ; the soul of a wicked man is “in a sling,” violently tossed with infinite turmoils and restless.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
smite Israel, [shaking him] as a reed is shaken, &c. The Figure of speech Ellipsis (App-6) to be thus supplied.
this good land. Occurs only here and Jos 23:13, Jos 23:15. the river: i.e. the Euphrates.
groves = ‘Asherim.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Lord: 1Sa 12:25, 2Ki 17:6, 2Ki 17:7
as a reed: Mat 11:7, Luk 7:24
root up Israel: Deu 29:28, Psa 52:5, Pro 2:22, Amo 2:9, Zep 2:4, Mat 15:13
this good land: Lev 26:32-34, Lev 26:43, Deu 4:26, Deu 4:27, Deu 28:36, Deu 28:63-68, Deu 29:24-28, Jos 23:15, Jos 23:16
shall scatter: 2Ki 15:29, 2Ki 17:6, 2Ki 17:23, 2Ki 18:11, 2Ki 18:12, Amo 5:27, Act 7:43
beyond the river: i.e. Beyond the river Euphrates, because. Exo 34:13, Exo 34:14, Deu 12:3, Deu 12:4, Isa 1:28, Isa 1:29
provoking: 1Ki 14:9, 1Ki 14:23, 1Ki 14:24
Reciprocal: Deu 16:21 – General 2Ki 17:16 – a grove 2Ki 21:16 – beside his sin Hos 9:17 – because
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 14:15-16. For the Lord shall smite Israel For consenting to that idolatrous worship which Jeroboam set up. As a reed is shaken in the water Hither and thither, with every wind. So shall the kingdom and people of Israel be always in an unquiet and unsettled state, tossed to and fro by foreign invasions and civil wars; by opposite kings and factions, and by the dissensions of the people. The emblem expresses very forcibly the ease with which God could punish the Israelites and overturn their state, notwithstanding all their greatness, even as easily as a reed is shaken with the wind. He shall root up Israel out of this good land Which God began to do first by Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, 2Ki 15:29; and then finished it by Shalmaneser, 2Ki 17:5-6, &c. And shall scatter them beyond the river That is, Euphrates, so called by way of eminence, they being carried, as the forenamed places tell us, into the country of the Medes. Because they have made their groves For the worship of their idols. God having before condemned the making and worshipping of the calves, by which they pretended to worship the true God; he now takes notice that they were not contented with the calves, but (as it is in the nature of idolatry, and all sin, to proceed from evil to worse) were many of them fallen into a worse kind of idolatry, even their worship of the heathenish Baals, which they commonly exercised in groves. Who made Israel to sin By his invention, and making the occasion of their sin, the calves; by his example, encouraging those and only those that worshipped the calves; and by his authority requiring and compelling them to do it. This is mentioned as a monstrous aggravation of his wickedness, that he was not content to sin himself, but was a great author of drawing others into sin, and of corrupting and undoing the whole kingdom; which therefore God would never forgive him, but upon all occasions mentions him with this eternal brand of infamy upon him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
14:15 For 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 shall scatter them beyond the {m} river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
(m) Meaning the Euphrates.