5¶ Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and A. C. 970. to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

6 Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous.

7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my Or, a little wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand while. of Shishak.

8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the

countries.

9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

10 Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house.

11 And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber.

12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: + and also in Judah things went well.

k ch. ix. 15.

tor, and yet

in Judah there

were good

things.

21.

13 So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years 11 Kings xiv. old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

14 And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart Or, fired. to seek the LORD.

15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not

written in the § book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo Heb. words. the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars be

tween Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

2 CHRONICLES X.

1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all Israel come to m 1 Kings xii. 1, &c. make him king.

A. C. 970.

*Heb. laded.

2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.

3 And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying,

4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

5 And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.

6 And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?

7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.

8 But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him. ..9 And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us?

10 And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

11 For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.

13 And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men,

14 And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto : my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

15 So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God, n1 Kings xi. that the LORD might perform his word, which he spake by the " hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

29.

+ Heb.

strengthened himself.

16¶ And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents.

17 But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

18 Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam † made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

19 And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

2 CHRONICLES XI. ver. 1—5.

1 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of A. C. 970. Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which o 1 Kings xii. were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to 21, &c. Rehoboam.

2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel

in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

4 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

And they obeyed

1 KINGS XIV. PART OF Ver. 21, and ver. 25, to the end.

21 And he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold P which Solomon had made.

pch. x. 16.

27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's Heb. runhouse.

ners.

28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

29¶ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

CHAPTER I.

PART II.

Events in the Kingdom of Israel, contemporary with the Reign of Rehoboam King of Judah.

SECTION I.

Idolatry of the golden Calves.

1 KINGS XII. VER. 25 TO THE END.

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:

974.

A. C. 974.

27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.

1

28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two

1 Few subjects seem, at first sight, to be attended with more difficulties than the scriptural history of the idolatry of the golden calf. Immediately after the exodus, while the impression of the stupendous miracles, which had delivered the Israelites from Egypt, was still fresh in their remembrance, they worshipped an Egyptian idol; and, in the history of the revolt of the ten tribes, we are informed that Jeroboam, to perpetuate the rebellion of the people, and to prevent their returning to their legitimate sovereign, set up, at the opposite end of his dominions, two calves of gold. He professed to do this to save them the unnecessary trouble of going up to Jerusalem to worship. "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." The people submitted to the new mode of worship, although they had, only the week before their rebellion, acknowledged the exclusive worship of Jehovah. They suddenly change their faith, contrary to every known principle of action, without scruple, without hesitation, without any apparent consciousness of inconsistency, or impiety.

To account for this extraordinary conduct, we must observe how skilfully the rebellious Jeroboam adapted his innovation to the received opinions of the people. The new worship which he was desirous of establishing, was a studied imitation of the regular service at Jerusalem. Priests were consecrated, and the great festivals observed; sacrifices were offered, and the worship of Jehovah professedly continued. Some alterations were indeed made, in conformity to those erroneous notions which the Israelites had imbibed from the surrounding idolaters, and from which they were never entirely emancipated till after the Babylonish captivity.

Within the sanctuary, in the temple at Jerusalem, were the figures of the cherubim. These figures were a combination of the forms of a man, a bull, a lion, and an eagle, in one body, in which the form of the bull predominated. It is generally affirmed, therefore, that the two calves which Jeroboam set up, were intended to represent these cherubim. They were either the complete figure of the cherubim, or the form of an ox or calf only, or, as is sometimes supposed, the head alone of a calf. Had Jeroboam been contented with this innovation, he would have been guilty only of schism, not of idolatry. But he had no sooner set up the golden calves, than he gave them the names of the Egyptian idols; he declared the cherubim to be the bulls Apis and Mnevis; he pronounced them the deliverers of Israel from Egypt, and worshipped them with the same rites with which Jehovah was worshipped in the temple at Jerusalem. That this was the sin of Jeroboam, who is so repeatedly said "to have made Israel to sin," may be collected from Scripture itself. Hosea styles the idols of Jeroboam"the calves of Beth-aven." Aven was the same as the Egyptian deity Aun or On. The letters of the two words in Hebrew are the same; the apparent difference between them is made only by the Masoretic punctuation. Aven, Aun, or On, was the Sun, the same as Osiris; the worship of the calves therefore must have been, substantially, the worship of the Sun.

calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you A. C. 974. to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.

30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

a Ex. xxxii.

4, 8.

32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in or, went up Beth-el, + sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: tot and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which for, to sacri. · he had made.

to the altar,

fice.

to the altar,

33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in ‡ Or, went up Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth mouth, 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.

SECTION II.

History of the Prophet of Beth-el.

1 KINGS XIII.

1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

b

Heb. to burn incense.

|| Or, to offer.

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 b2 Kings name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high xxiii. 15, 16. 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 that are upon it shall be poured out.

By this insidious stratagem, we find that Jeroboam contrived to retain in his dominions, a great number of the nominal worshippers of Jehovah; and, at the same time, strengthened his government by the adherence of many thousands of those who had long been attached, particularly in the northen parts of Judea, to the idolatries of the surrounding pagans.-Vide Selden's de Diis Syr. p. 51, Amsterdam, edit. 1680; Pfeiffer, Diff. loc. SS. p. 247; Bishop Patrick; Faber, Orig. of Pagan Idolatry, book ii. chap. vi. p. 434: Horsley, Bib. Crit. vol. iii' p. 241; Witsius, Egyptiaca, p. 63.