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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadGreater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 325. The Divided Kingdom
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The Divided Kingdom
2. In 1Ki_10:1, we are distinctly told that a prophet stirred up in the mind of Jeroboam those thoughts which led him to rise against Solomon. Either Ahijah or Shemaiah met Jeroboam in the way outside Jerusalem, and, leading him to a solitary spot, by the symbolic act of tearing in twelve pieces Jeroboam's new garment, and giving him ten pieces back, showed that he could read the young man's secret ambitions, and predicted that after Solomon's death the kingdom would be divided as a punishment for the king's apostasy, that Jeroboam would reign over ten of the tribes, and that his kingdom would have the promise of continuance, if he himself were loyal to Jehovah. The promise to David, however, could not be entirely broken; his grandson would still have one tribe (counting Judah and Benjamin together)-“that David my servant may have a lamp alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.” Jeroboam apparently could not keep silence about this audacious prophecy, and the news of it came to the ears of Solomon. The aspirant had to flee for his life, and took refuge in Egypt, where he met with a good reception from the Pharaoh Shishak, the Sheshonk who founded the twenty-second dynasty of Manetho. Like his illustrious ancestor Joseph, Jeroboam soon became a favourite, acquired much influence, and ultimately married Ano, the eldest sister of the Egyptian queen.
In the Septuagint there are two accounts of the way in which Jeroboam became king. The first agrees substantially with the Hebrew, when the contradictions of the text of 1Ki_12:1-33 (cf. 1Ki_12:2-3, with 1Ki_12:20) are removed. As soon as Jeroboam heard of the death of Solomon, he returned from Egypt; he did not attend the conference between Rehoboam and the people at Shechem, but he kept within reach, and came when he was sent for. The other account is inserted at 1Ki_12:24. It covers the same ground as the first, but with considerable additions and variations. On hearing of Solomon's death, Jeroboam returned from Egypt, where he had found a patron in Shishak and an Egyptian princess for a wife (1Ki_12:24 c), mustered his tribe at Shechem, and so gave the immediate occasion for the revolt. The most important divergence, however, between the two Greek accounts is found in the prophecies which promise Jeroboam the leadership of the ten tribes. In the first we have the prophecy of Ahijah delivered to Jeroboam at Jerusalem at the time of Solomon; in the second a similar prophecy is put into the mouth of Shemaiah at Shechem in the time of Rehoboam. Both accounts are clearly translated from Hebrew originals, which must have existed when the Septuagint translation was made. The Hebrew text was not fixed, and the tradition was fluctuating; we cannot feel certain as to what was the actual course of events. With regard to Ahijah a similar uncertainty exists. The prophecy in 1Ki_11:29-39 appears to be an interpolation, for it interrupts the account of Jeroboam's rebellion, which is expected after 1Ki_11:28 and implied by 1Ki_11:40. It could not have been Ahijah's prophecy which aroused Solomon's suspicions, for it was a private communication, addressed to Jeroboam alone, as is expressly stated; no third party was aware of it. We find, then, two different traditions of Jeroboam's accession to the sovereignty; the correct history of it must remain uncertain.1 [Note: G. A. Cooke, in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, ii. 582.]
3. The revolt which led to the division of the kingdom and the elevation of Jeroboam was a revolt against the government of Solomon and the heavy burdens which it laid upon the people. The empire of Solomon was too swift in its development, and too ambitious, to last. It is quite likely that Ahijah, in his justifiable antagonism to Solomon's erection of the high places to the gods of his foreign wives, may have urged Jeroboam to rebel against the king. But it is not said or even hinted that Jeroboam felt the horror which Ahijah felt of Solomon's superstition. The king might have worshipped Chemosh and Milcom without exciting any indignation in the son of Nebat. He appears as the spokesman and representative of those who were oppressed by Solomon's exactions for building Millo and repairing the breaches in the city of David. The tyranny grew out of the idolatry. Though Jeroboam might not perceive the root, he could perceive the evil fruit, which deserved to be hated for its own sake; he was therefore qualified to execute Ahijah's prophecy, not merely as a dull instrument, but as one who had, to a certain extent, a righteous purpose.
Jeroboam was a born king and statesman; and both Israel and Egypt, both heaven and earth, confessed it to be so. And if only Jeroboam had tarried the Lord's leisure, and had kept his heart clean and humble, Jeroboam would soon have been king over all Israel, he and his sons, till the Messiah came Himself to sit down on David's undivided throne.1 [Note: Alexander Whyte.]
4. It is impossible to state accurately what occurred immediately after Solomon's death. His son and successor, Rehoboam, was not able to assume the crown at Jerusalem, but had to assemble the tribes at Shechem, the capital of the haughty tribe of Ephraim, and listen to their grievances. They offered him the kingdom if he would pledge himself to abolish, or at any rate to relax, the claim to demand compulsory service from his subjects, so rigidly enforced by Solomon. In all this the guiding hand of the prophets is clearly recognizable. The wise old counsellors of Solomon advised moderation. They said it was a case for concessions; let the king give way gracefully at this juncture and bide his time, and he would be as powerful as ever Solomon had been. But a man who has waited too long for a position of responsibility is sometimes as disqualified to exercise it as the merest youth; and Rehoboam had evidently cherished high ideas of his royal prerogative. His companions advised him to insist upon his rights, and he forsook the counsel of the old men, that had stood before Solomon his father, and at the suggestion of his friends, who knew nothing of the practice of authority, told his petitioners bluntly, “My little finger is thicker than my father's loins. And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” Jeroboam's experiences in the days of Solomon had taught him caution. He returned from Egypt, but did not apparently go to Shechem till he knew how Rehoboam would act. Throughout his career he seems to have shown himself a clever, if unscrupulous, politician. It needed no agitator to increase the effect of Rehoboam's foolish reply to the reasonable demands of his subjects. No sooner was it made than all the tribes save Judah repudiated his authority, and the answer of the delegates at Shechem found an echo throughout the land: “What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel now see to thine own house, David.”
Jeroboam became the champion of the new cause. Rehoboam received the deserts of his mad folly in a speedy defeat. He fled to Jerusalem, to reign over a dismembered country. The kingdom of David and of Solomon was henceforth divided into Israel and Judah, and was never united again. Rehoboam reigned in Jerusalem. Jeroboam set up his throne as king of the land variously spoken of in Scripture as “Israel,” “Samaria,” or “Ephraim.”
The besetting sin of strong minds is despotism; his strength naturally gives the strong man the feeling that he has a right to dominate, but no right in this complex world is absolute; every right demands a qualification from some counter right, besides being subject to the general law of moderation. The moment he forgets this the strong man becomes a despot. Despotism in common parlance is a political word, but there is a despotism of beauty, of generosity, of any strong passion or high ideal, as well as of power, which the more readily masters a strong man because its character is unselfish. Government of men or of beasts must always be with a strong hand first, with a kind hand afterwards, but with a strong hand always in the background.1 [Note: The Day-Book of John Stuart Blackie, 192.]