Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam in Judah
(1 Kings 15:1-8)
1Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah. 2He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.
Civil War against Jeroboam
(Judges 20:18-23; 2 Samuel 2:12-32; Matthew 13:33-33; Luke 13:20-21)
4And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; 5Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? 6Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. 7And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.
8And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. 10But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: 11And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him. 12And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
13But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. 14And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. 15Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand. 17And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers. 19And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.
The Death of Jeroboam
(1 Kings 14:19-20)
20Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.
21But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters. 22And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.
King James Bible
Text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.
Abijah Reigns in Judah
(1 Kings 15:1–8)
1 In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, who were mighty men of valor.
Civil War against Jeroboam
4 Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: 5 Ought you not to know that Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord. 7 There were gathered to him worthless men, base fellows, who strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.
8 “Now you think to withstand the kingdom of Yahweh in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 Haven’t you driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves after the ways of the peoples of other lands? so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, the same may be a priest of those who are no gods. 10 “But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering to Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work: 11 and they burn to Yahweh every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the pure table; and the lampstand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening: for we keep the instruction of Yahweh our God; but you have forsaken him. 12 Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, don’t fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers; for you shall not prosper.”
13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 When Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to Yahweh, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened, that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The children of Israel fled before Judah; and God delivered them into their hand. 17 Abijah and his people killed them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 19 Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with its towns, and Jeshanah with its towns, and Ephron with its towns.
20 Jeroboam didn’t recover strength again in the days of Abijah. Yahweh struck him, and he died.
21 But Abijah grew mighty, and took to himself fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.
Abijah Reigns in Judah
(1 Kings 15:1–8)
1 In the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign, Abijah a became king of Judah, 2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Micaiah b daughter c of Uriel; she was from Gibeah.
And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah went into battle with an army of 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in formation against him with 800,000 chosen and mighty men of valor.
Civil War against Jeroboam
4 Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 5 Do you not know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt d? 6 Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master. 7 Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young, inexperienced, and unable to resist them.
8 And now you think you can resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army, and you have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. 9 But did you not drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites? And did you not make priests for yourselves as do the peoples of other lands? Now whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of things that are not gods.
10 But as for us, the LORD is our God. We have not forsaken Him; the priests who minister to the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. 11 Every morning and every evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the rows of showbread on the ceremonially clean table, and every evening they light the lamps of the gold lampstand. We are carrying out the requirements of the LORD our God, while you have forsaken Him.
12 Now behold, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with their trumpets sound the battle call against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”
13 Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to ambush from the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah, the ambush was behind them. 14 When Judah turned and discovered that the battle was both before and behind them, they cried out to the LORD. Then the priests blew the trumpets, 15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. And when they raised the cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 So the Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. 17 Then Abijah and his people struck them with a mighty blow, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain. 18 Thus the Israelites were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.
19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured some cities from him: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, along with their villages.
20 Jeroboam did not again recover his power during the days of Abijah, and the LORD struck him down and he died.
21 But Abijah grew strong, married fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, along with his ways and his words, are written in the Treatise e of the Prophet Iddo.
Footnotes:
1 a Abijah is a variant of Abijam ; see 1 Kings 14:31.
2 b Hebrew; most LXX manuscripts and Syriac Maacah ; see 2 Chronicles 11:20 and 1 Kings 15:2.
2 c Or granddaughter
5 d That is, a perpetual covenant
22 e Or Exposition or Study
Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam in Judah
(1 Kings 15:1-8)
1In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam -- Abijah reigneth over Judah; 2three years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, (and the name of his mother is Michaiah daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah,) and war hath been between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3And Abijah directeth the war with a force of mighty men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men, and Jeroboam hath set in array with him battle, with eight hundred thousand chosen men, mighty of valour.
Civil War against Jeroboam
(Judges 20:18-23; 2 Samuel 2:12-32; Matthew 13:33-33; Luke 13:20-21)
4And Abijah riseth up on the hill of Zemaraim that is in the hill-country of Ephraim, and saith, 'Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel! 5Is it not for you to know that Jehovah, God of Israel, hath given the kingdom to David over Israel to the age, to him and to his sons -- a covenant of salt? 6and rise up doth Jeroboam, son of Nebat, servant of Solomon son of David, and rebelleth against his lord! 7'And there are gathered unto him vain men, sons of worthlessness, and they strengthen themselves against Rehoboam son of Solomon, and Rehoboam was a youth, and tender of heart, and hath not strengthened himself against them.
8And now, ye are saying to strengthen yourselves before the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David, and ye are a numerous multitude, and with you calves of gold that Jeroboam hath made to you for gods. 9'Have ye not cast out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make to you priests like the peoples of the lands? every one who hath come to fill his hand with a bullock, a son of the herd, and seven rams, even he hath been a priest to No-gods! 10As for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken Him, and priests are ministering to Jehovah, sons of Aaron and the Levites, in the work, 11and are making perfume to Jehovah, burnt-offerings morning by morning, and evening by evening, and perfume of spices, and the arrangement of bread is on the pure table, and the candlestick of gold, and its lamps, to burn evening by evening, for we are keeping the charge of Jehovah our God, and ye -- ye have forsaken Him. 12And lo, with us -- at our head -- is God, and His priests and trumpets of shouting to shout against you; O sons of Israel, do not fight with Jehovah, God of your fathers, for ye do not prosper.'
13And Jeroboam hath brought round the ambush to come in from behind them, and they are before Judah, and the ambush is behind them. 14And Judah turneth, and lo, against them is the battle, before and behind, and they cry to Jehovah, and the priests are blowing with trumpets, 15and the men of Judah shout -- and it cometh to pass, at the shouting of the men of Judah, that God hath smitten Jeroboam, and all Israel, before Abijah and Judah. 16And the sons of Israel flee from the face of Judah, and God giveth them into their hand, 17and Abijah and his people smite among them a great smiting, and there fall wounded of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18And the sons of Israel are humbled at that time, and the sons of Judah are strong, for they have leant on Jehovah, God of their fathers. 19And Abijah pursueth after Jeroboam, and captureth from him cities, Beth-El and its small towns, and Jeshanah and its small towns, and Ephraim and its small towns.
The Death of Jeroboam
(1 Kings 14:19-20)
20And Jeroboam hath not retained power any more in the days of Abijah, and Jehovah smiteth him, and he dieth.
21And Abijah strengtheneth himself, and taketh to him fourteen wives, and begetteth twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters, 22and the rest of the matters of Abijah, and his ways, and his words, are written in the 'Inquiry' of the prophet Iddo.
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