Jeroboam builds Shechem, B. C. 975. B. C. 975. A. M. 3029. this thing is from me. They heark- || house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then A. M. 3029. ened therefore to the word of the shall the heart of this people turn LORD, and returned to depart, according to the again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam word of the LORD. king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 25 ¶ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the 8 Deut. xii. 5, 6. 4 Judges ix. 45. Judges viii. 17.J to distinguish him from others of that name, (see Neh. vi. 10; Jer. xxix. 31,) and partly to add more weight to his words. It appears this prophet was very well known in the reign of Rehoboam, whose annals he is supposed to have written. Of what authority he was in Judah, we may learn from this passage, in which he is represented as prevailing with the king, and a hundred and fourscore thousand men, to lay down their arms, and return home, instead of proceeding to make war on their brethren as they had intended, merely by declaring that the division which had happened was by the order and appointment of God.-Calmet. This thing is from me―This event is from my counsel and providence, to punish Solomon's apostacy. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord -Either from a conscientious regard to their duty, or because they durst not oppose so potent an adversary. Verse 25. Jeroboam built Shechem-He repaired, enlarged, and fortified it; for it had been ruined long since, Judg. ix. 45. He might choose it as a place both auspicious, because here the foundation of his monarchy was laid; and commodious, as being near the frontiers of his kingdom. And built Penuel-A place beyond Jordan; to secure that part of his dominions. | Verse 26. Jeroboam said in his heart-Reasoned within himself. The sacred historian shows, by this phrase, the fountain of his error, that he did not consult God, who had given him the kingdom, as in all reason, and justice, and gratitude, he ought to have done; nor believed in and relied on God's promises, chap. xi. 38, but on his own carnal policy. God had told him he would build him a sure house, if he would walk in his ways and keep his statutes, yet he could not depend on this, but, agreeably to the propensity of his fallen nature, studied to establish his throne by his own wisdom, and so brought evil upon himself, and introduced an idolatry into his kingdom which in the end proved its ruin. Verse 27. If this people go up to do sacrifice at Jerusalem, &c.--All the people of Israel being bound, at the three great feasts, to go up to Jerusalem; and on other solemn occasions devout persons being used to go thither to offer gifts and sacrifices; he was afraid lest, if they should continue to go, they should be so taken with the magnificence of the temple and the royal city, and should so recall 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and * made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: " behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Exod. xxxii. 4, 8. t2 Kings x. 29; xvii. 16.to mind the famous acts of David and Solomon who were buried there, as, by degrees, to be alienated from him, and brought back to their former allegiance to the family of David. And he the rather feared this, because their going to Jerusalem, and attending divine worship there, would have afforded to Rehoboam many occasions of showing them kindness and winning their affections; and to the priests and Levites, the sure and faithful friends of David's house, many opportunities of soliciting them to unite themselves again to Judah, which tribe must have appeared to them to have the better cause, because it had the temple in possession in which God dwelt. But whatever reasons there might have been for his conjectures and apprehensions, and whatever prudence and policy may appear in his contrivance, considering the providence of God, by which the hearts of all men, and the affairs of all kingdoms are governed, and of which he had lately seen so eminent an instance, the course he took was foolish as well as wicked. Verse 28. The king took counsel, and made two calves--In imitation of Aaron's golden calf, and of the worship of the Egyptians, from whose country he had lately come. These calves were of the same matter with Aaron's, and made for the same reason: his because Moses, the minister of God and medium of divine communication, was absent, and these because the holy city, where the temple, altar, and priests of God were, was distant, and could not be visited with safety. It is not improbable but, as some learned men have conjectured, it was in imitation of the Egyptians that he made two calves, and was not content with forming one. For they had a couple of oxen which they worshipped, namely, Apis at Memphis, the metropolis of the upper Egypt, and Mnevis at Hierapolis, which was the chief city of the lower. Jeroboam probably the rather presumed to make these images, because he knew the people of Israel were generally prone to idolatry; and that Solomon's example had exceedingly strengthened those inclinations; and therefore that they were prepared for such an attempt, especially when his proposition tended to their own ease, and safety, and profit, which he knew was much dearer to them, as well as to himself, than their religion. It is too much for you to go to Jeru salem-Too great a trouble and charge, and neither necessary nor safe as things now stand. Behold I The people worship A. M. 3029. 1. KINGS. the golden calves. 29 And he set the one in Beth-el, || people went to worship before the A. M. 3029. and the other put he in y Dan. one, even unto Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin: for the B. C. 975. 31 And he made a house of high places, 2 Chap. xiii. 34; 2 Kings xvii. 21.- Chap. xiii. 32. * Gen. xxviii. 19; Hos. iv. 15.—y Judges xviii. 29. thy gods, O Israel!-Not as if he thought to persuade is called sin by way of eminence; nor only of the the people that these calves were that very God of worship of the calves, wherein they pretended to Israel who brought them out of Egypt: which was worship the true God; but also of the worship of so monstrously absurd and ridiculous, that no Israel- Baal, and of the utter desertion of the true God; ite in his right senses could have believed it, and to and of all sorts of impiety. The people went to have intimated it would have been so far from satis- || worship before the one even unto Dan--Which is fying the people, that it would have made him both not here mentioned exclusively, for they went also hateful and contemptible to them; but his mean- to Beth-el, (verses 32, 33;) but for other reasons, either ing was, that these images were visible representa- because that of Dan was first made, the people in tions, by which he designed to worship the true those parts having been long leavened with idolaGod of Israel. This appears, partly from that pa- try, or to show the people's readiness and zeal for rallel place, Exod. xxxii. 4; partly, because the priests idols; that those who lived in or near Beth-el, had and worshippers of the calves are said to worship not patience to stay till that calf was finished, but Jehovah, and upon that account are distinguished all of them were forward to go as far as Dan, which from those belonging to Baal, 1 Kings xviii. 21, and was in the utmost borders of the land, to worship xxii. 6, 7; and partly, from Jeroboam's design in an idol there; when it was thought too much for this work, which was, to quiet the people's minds, them to go to Jerusalem to worship God in the and remove their scruples about going to Jerusalem manner he had prescribed. The reader will easily to worship their God in that place, as they were observe here, as we have already intimated, that the commanded. This he endeavoured to do by signi- sin of Jeroboam and the people did not consist in fying to them that he did not intend any alteration worshipping strange and false gods, but in setting in the substance of their religion, nor to draw them up images, or representations of the true God, and from the worship of the true God, to the worship worshipping him under the similitude of a corpoof any of those Baals which were set up by Solo- real form, which he had himself expressly forbidmon; but to worship that self-same God whom they den, (Exod. xx. 4,) and had severely punished in the worshipped in Jerusalem, even the true God who case of Aaron; so that the people did not offend brought them out of Egypt: only to vary a circum- through ignorance, because their sacred records instance; and that, as they worshipped God at Jeru- formed them of the terrible punishment which God salem, before one visible sign, even the ark and the|| had inflicted before for the like offence, whereby sacred cherubim there, so his subjects should wor- he made it evident how displeasing it was to him. ship God by another visible sign, even that of the calves, in other places. And as for the change of the place, he might suggest to them that God was present in all places, where men with honest minds called upon him; that before the temple was built, the best of kings, and prophets, and people, did pray and sacrifice to God, in divers high places, without any scruple: and that God would dispense with them also in that matter: because going to Jerusalem was dangerous to them at this time, and God would have mercy rather than sacrifice. Verse 31. And he made a house of high placesThat is, saith Abarbinel, he made a house or temple at Dan, wherein there was not one altar only, as there was at Jerusalem, but a great many altars or high places, probably complaining of it as an inconvenience, that in the temple at Jerusalem there was but one. The multiplying of altars passed with some as a piece of devotion; but God, by the prophet, puts another construction upon it, Hosea viii. 11, Ephraim has made many altars to sin. And made priests of the lowest of the people"And the lowest of the people," says Henry, "were good enough, and too good, to be priests to his calves." They who understand the words in this Verse 29. He set the one in Beth-el, &c.-Which two places he chose for the people's convenience, Beth-el being in the southern, and Dan in the northern part of his kingdom. Add to this, that as Beth-sense suppose he did this, either, 1st, Because the el was in every body's opinion a sacred place, having been consecrated by God's appearing there more than once to Jacob; so Dan had been famous for the teraphim of Micah, unto which there had been great resort for a long time, Judg. xviii. 30.|| For such reasons as these it is likely he waived his royal city, which was Shechem, and chose these two places for the worship of the Divine Majesty, whom he pretended he did not forsake, but worshipped by these symbols of his presence. Verse 30. This thing became a sin--An occa-|| sion of great wickedness, not only of idolatry, which better sort refused the office as below their quality; or, 2d, Because such would be satisfied with mean allowances or small wages; and so he could put into his own purse a great part of the revenues of the Levites, which doubtless he seized upon when they forsook him and went to Jerusalem, (2 Chron. xi. 13 ;) or, 3d, Because mean persons would depend upon his favour, and therefore be pliable to his humour and firm to his interest. But it must be obmeketsoth hagnam, properly signify, from the ends of the people, and may be rendered, out of all the people, מקצות העם served here, that the words Jeroboam sacrifices to CHAPTER XIII. the golden calves. A. M. 3029 and made priests of the lowest of || and he placed in Beth-el-the priests of A. M. 3029. the people, which were not of the the high places which he had made. B. C. 975. sons of Levi. that is, promiscuously out of every tribe: an exposition which Bochart hath justified by a great many examples, showing that the same words are used in this sense in divers other places. Indeed, this exposition seems to be confirmed by the following clause, added to explain these words, which were not of the sons of Levi-Though they were not of the tribe of Levi, to whom the office of the priesthood was confined by God's express command. So that Jeroboam's sin, as to this particular, was not that he chose mean persons, for many of the Levites were such; and his sin would not have been the less if he had chosen the noblest and greatest persons; as we see in the example of Uzziah: but in that he chose men of other tribes, contrary to God's appointment, which restrained that office to that tribe. Thus, as he transferred the kingdom from the house of David, so he transferred the priesthood from the family of Aaron; and left it open, that any body might be admitted to that honourable employment; which was a very popular thing, and ingratiated him, no doubt, with the people. B. C. 975. 33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense. manner commanded all the people to go up to Jerusalem on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, if he should require their attendance to celebrate the feast elsewhere at the same time: and, 2d, That by appointing his feast to be kept a month after that at Jerusalem was past, he might give those of the people of Judah an opportunity of attending it, whose curiosity might lead them so to do; and thereby might ensure the presence of a greater concourse of people to honour his institution. On the fifteenth day-And so forward till the seven days were ended. Like that in Judah-From whence he took his pattern, to show that he worshipped the same God, and professed the same religion, for substance, which they did, however he differed in circumstances. He offered upon the altar-With his own hands, as appears from chap. xiii. 1-4, which he did to give the more countenance to his newlydevised solemnity. And it is no marvel, that he, who assumed a power to make priests, should undertake to do the priests' work with his own hands. So he (Jeroboam) did in Beth-el-Sacrificing there also, as well as in Dan, to the calves that he had made-Or, to Jehovah, as he pretended, under the image of these calves. And he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places-Having built a house or temple there also, as well as in Dan, and set up many altars in it where these priests officiated, as was done in other high places. Verse 32. Jeroboam ordained a feast on the eighth month, &c.-The feast of tabernacles; which by the law was to be celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. His chief intention in this change, no doubt, was to alienate the people from the rites observed at Jerusalem. "Some suppose, with Mr. Locke, that as this feast was appointed by God to be observed after the gathering in of the fruits, which might be sooner ripe about Jerusalem than in the northern parts of the country; so Jeroboam might pretend that the eighth month would be a better time for it than the seventh, because then they would everywhere be gathered." Add to this, he might possibly have two other reasons for making this alteration: 1st, Lest he should seem directly to oppose the God of Israel, who had in a special || office. Verse 33. Which he had devised of his own heart -Out of his own will and pleasure, against the express ordinance of God. And ordained a feast— To be observed, it is likely, every year in Beth-el, as well as in Dan, as the feast of tabernacles was at Jerusalem, like which it also lasted many days. And he offered upon the altar, and burned incenseThus performing the highest part of the priest's CHAPTER XIII. A prophet threatens Jeroboam's altar, and gives a sign, which immediately comes to pass, 1-5. He restores Jeroboam's withered hand, and leaves Beth-el, 6-10. The old prophet deceives and entertains him, 11-19. He is threatened with death, 20-23. Slain by a lion and buried, 24-32. Jeroboam is hardened in his idolatry, 33, 34. ND behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: band Jeroboam stood by the altar 1to burn incense. C 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O 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 offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3 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 against Jeroboam's altar. that are upon it shall be poured A. M. 3029. out. B. C. 975. 4 And it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 And the king answered and said unto the © 2 Kings xxiii. 15.—d Isa. vii. 14; John ii. 18; 1 Cor. i. 22. be blasphemy to assert. Upon it shall he offer the priests-The meaning is not that he should offer or burn the priests alive, but that he should slay the priests of the high places, and then burn their bones, as he did the bones of those that had been buried, and thereby should defile this altar. How bold was the man that durst thus attack the king in his pride, and interrupt the solemnity in which he gloried! Those who are sent on God's errand, must not fear the faces of men. Although it was so many ages ere this prophecy was to be fulfilled, the time is spoken of as sure and nigh at hand. For a thousand years are with God as one day. Verse 3. He gave a sign the same day-That is, he then wrought a miracle to assure them of the truth of his prophecy. Saying, this is the sign, &c. self. The altar shall be rent, &c.-This could not be effected but by the power of God, who hereby demonstrated that he had sent this prophet to speak these words which were presently fulfilled. NOTES ON CHAPTER XIII. Verse 1. Behold, there came a man of God—A|| holy prophet; for none are called men of God in the Old Testament, but prophets. By the word of the Lord-By divine inspiration and command. "There is no foundation for so much as conjecture who this prophet was. His prophecy, however, is one of the most remarkable which we have in sacred writ. It foretels an action that exactly came to pass above three hundred and forty years afterward. It describes the circumstances of the action; and specifies the very name of the person who was to do it; and therefore every considerate Jew, who lived in the time of its accomplishment, must have been convinced of the divine authority of a religion founded on such prophecies as this; since none but God could foresee, and consequently none but God could fore--A proof that I speak from God, and not from mytel events at such a distance."-Le Clerc, Calmet, and Dodd. Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense-Upon the feast day which he had instituted. Verse 2. He cried against the altar-And consequently against all the worship performed at it. 0 altar, altar-He directs his speech against the altar, because the following signs were to be wrought upon it. Behold, a child shall be born, &c.-This prophecy is the more wonderful, because it foretels of what family the child should spring, and what should be his name; and in the accomplishment of it we see the absolute certainty of God's providence and foreknowledge, even in the most contingent things. For the particulars here mentioned, namely, the having a child, and the giving it this name, were in themselves things as uncertain, dependant on man's will, and contingent as any events can be: and yet God exactly foretold them, and they came to pass accordingly. God therefore can foresee how the will of man, and of numbers of men, whose wills are dependant on each other, will be influenced in all possible circumstances, and that for ages to come; or, he can certainly and effectually, and yet without infringing or violating man's liberty, overrule his will which way he pleaseth; otherwise it was possible this prediction might have been false, which it would Verses 4, 5. He put forth his hand-To point out the man on whom he would have the people to lay hands. From the altar-Where he stood, and where his hand was employed in offering something upon it. And his hand dried up—Or withered, the muscles and sinews, the instruments of motion, shrinking up or becoming relaxed. This God did, not only to give another token, besides those which the man of God had mentioned, that his words would be fulfilled; but also to chastise Jeroboam for offering violence to the Lord's prophet; to secure the prophet against further violence; and that in this example God might show how highly he resents the injuries done to his ministers for the faithful discharge of their office. The altar also was rent, &c.-This train of miracles, instantly wrought, and confirming so evidently the prophet's mission, so amazed all the people, that we do not find any of them attempted to lay hold on him. And Jeroboam himself, for the present, was astonished and confounded at the sight of the effects produced by God's miraculous power. Verse 6. The king said, Entreat now the face of excuse. the Lord thy God-Of him who hath manifested the danger of being infected by their idolatry. God himself to be thy God and friend in a singular man- also intended hereby to teach his people in all ages ner; and therefore will hear thy prayers for me, to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of though he will not regard mine, because I have for- darkness, lest they should either give encouragement saken him and his worship. The man of God be- to, or receive infection from, them. Nor turn again sought the Lord-This he did to assure Jeroboam by the same way thou camest-That by avoiding the that what he had said was not from ill-will to him, way that led him to Beth-el as execrable, although and that he heartily desired his reformation, not his he went by God's special command, he might teach rain. And the king's hand was restored-God all others how much they ought to abhor that way, showed him this mercy, 1st, Because he repented of and all thoughts of going to that place, or to such the violence intended against the prophet, for which idolatrous people, upon any unnecessary occasion. his hand had been dried up: 2d, To assure him that Verse 11. There dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el the stroke was from God: and, 3d, That this good--One to whom and by whom God did sometimes ness of God to him might lead him to repentance, or reveal his will, as is manifest from verses 20, 21; if he continued impenitent, might leave him without and one who had a respect to God's holy prophets, and gave credit to their predictions. But that he was not a truly and uniformly good and pious man is certain, because we here find him guilty of a downright lie, verse 18. And, although a holy prophet, who had lived there before, might possibly have continued in the kingdom of Israel after its separation from Judah, and defection from the true worship of God; yet such a one would not have chosen to reside at Beth-el, the chief seat of idolatry, unless with a design to preach against it: this, it is evident, he did not; for his sons, it appears, were present when Jeroboam stood at the altar, and therefore joined in that idolatrous worship, and yet their father was too timorous to reprove them. He was probably somewhat like the famous Balaam, who was commissioned to utter divers true prophecies, but nevertheless loved the wages of unrighteousness, and was a wicked man. Verses 7-9. I will give thee a reward-He desires to requite the instrument, but takes no notice of God, the chief cause and author of this wonderful mercy. The man of God said, I will not go in with thee, &c.-In obedience to God, he refuses to eat, or drink, or have any familiar society with him, against whom he had pronounced God's indignation. For so it as charged me-My refusal of thy favour is not from any contempt or hatred of thy person, but in compliance with the just command of my God, who hath forbidden me all further converse or communication with thee. Saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water-Namely, in that place, or with that people. Hereby God showed his detestation of their idolatry, not because it was as bad as that of the heathen, but because they were vile apostates from the true God, and embraced this idol-worship against the light of their own consciences, merely to comply with the king's humour and command; and because their vicinity and relation to Judah, exposed that tribe to Verse 14. And found him sitting under an oak— Being faint and weary with his journey, and possibly with the heat also, (which made him choose to |