13 16. | | AN D it came to paſs when Rehoboam had eſtabli- ſhed the kingdom, and had ſtrengthened himſelf, * he forſook the law of the LORD, and * all Iſrael Weglornca: with him. ; $ 28:19, 2 And it came to paſs, that in the fifth year « of king Rehoboam, Shiſhak king of Egypt came up againſt *;Kin14. Jeruſalem ( * becauſe they had tranſgreſled againit the 24-25- LORD) s Preſently after the Apoſtacy of the King and People, which was in his fourth year, by comparing this with chap: 11: 17.
With twelve hundred chariots, and threeſcore thouſand horſemen : and the people were without num- ber that came with him out of Egypt,the Lubims 6, the Sukkiims c, and the Ethiopians d.
b A People of 4fica bordering upon Egypt : of whom ſee chap:16. 8. Dan:1i:43- Nah.3.9. c A People living in Tents, as the Word ſignifies ; and ſuch there were nor far from-Egypr,both in Afics and in Arabia» d Either thoſe beyond Egypr, or the Arabians.
4 And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Tudah, and came to Jeruſalem.
s Thea came Shemajah the prophet to Rehoboam, and fo the princes of Judah,that were gathered together to Jeruſalem becauſe of Shiſhak, and ſaid unto chem, Thus ſaith the LORD, Ye have forſaken me,and there- fore have I alſo left you in the hand of Shilbak,
6 Whereupon the princes of Ifrael, and the king humbled themſelves, and they ſaid, The LORD is righteous. ,
7 And when the LORD ſaw that they bumbled themſelves e, the word of the LORD came to Shema Jah, ſaying, They have humbled themſelves, therefore i
_ Þ Or,a7iz- will not deftroy them, but I will grant them || {ome de- zle while. Jiverance,and my wrath ſhall not be poured out f upo:; Jeruſalem by the hand of Shilbak.
e Which though they did not forcedly, yet God was pleiſed {c far to regard it, as to mitigate their Calamity. f I will give ſcme ſtop to the courſe of my Wrath, which was ready to be poured
forth upon them to their urter Deſtruction
8 Nevertheleſs, they ſhall be his ſervants ; that they may know my ſervice,end the ſervice of the kingdoms of the countries g.
£ That they may experimentally know and feel the difference between my Yoke and the Yoke of a Forreign and Idolatrous Prince, and what Miſchief they have done to themſelves by for- ſaking me and my Service.
9 So Shiſhak king of Egypt came up againſt Jeruſa- lem, and took away the treaſures of che houſe of the LORD, and the treaſures of the kings houſe þ, he took all : he carried away alſo the ſhields of gold, which So- lomon had * made.
þ Upon which condition,and Rehoboam's Submiſſion to him he de- livered up to him the fenced Cities of Ju4ab,which he had taken, v, 4+ But of this, and the two next verſes, ſee on i King: 14: 26, &c.
To 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 kings houſe
j 1x And when the king entred into the houſe of the LORD. the guard came and fet them,and brought them again into the guard-chamber.
12 And when he humbled himſelf, the wrath of the D turned from him, that he would not deſtroy
t Heb, a ulitude pf wives,
* 1 King.
14: 22+
| Or, and get im Tu- dah there
21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of |
N ITC LL B-$
; Heb. There were good things. The meaning 15 either 1: Though there were many Corruptions in Judah, yet there were alſo divers good things there, which were not in Jael, as the Word and Ordi- nances, and pure worſhip of God, Prophets and Miniſters of Gods Inſtitution,and divers true Religious People. And fo this is an ad. ditional Reaſon why God would not deſtroy them. Or, 2, Notwith. ſtanding this loſs, they began to recruit themſelves,and to regain ſome degree of their former Proſperity. Whence it follows, v: i: So, there being ſome reſpite given, and Peace being reſtored, Rehge boam ſtrengthened himſelf, &c.
13 So king Rehoboam ftrengthned himſelf in Jery-
falem and reigned : for * Rehoboam was one and forty * 1 King; years old when he began to reign, and he reigneq '* 2. 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 mothers name was Naamah
an Ammonitels. |
14 And he did evil, becauſe he |] prepared not & his! Or.fre, heart to ſeek the LORD. IDame7.3,
k Or, direfed not : or, ſettled not, &c. i. e. Although he humbleg himſelf, and ſeemed penitent for a ſeaſon, and profeſſed the True Religion and Worthip of God ;yet he quickly relapſed into his for. mer Sins,becauſe he was not ſincere nor ſerious in his Aions,and his heart was not right with God.
15 Now the Ads of Rehoboam, firſt and laft, are they not written in the + book of Shemajah the pro- + Hey. phet, and of Iddo the ſeer, concerning genealogies / 2 wn, And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam
continually.
{ In an Hiſtorical Account written by him of the Genealogics and Actions of the Kings of Judah.
16 And Rehoboam ſlept with his fathers, and was
buried in the city of David ; And Abijah his ſon reig-
ned in his ſtead. CHAP. XIL Abijah Warreth againſt Jeroboam king of Iſrael, 1-73. Declareth the right of his cauſe, 4—»—— 12. Truſteth in God ; overcometh Feroboam, 13----20. Hi wives and children, 21, 22. OW * in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam *1Kin;; began Abijah to reign over Judah. i, &, . 2 He reigned three years in Jeruſalem * (his mothers name alſo was Micajah the daughter of Uriel 2 of Gibeah ) and there was war between Abijah and Jero-
boam.
a Called Maachah the Daughter of Abſalim, 1 King: 15. 2. She might be Daughter to one, and Grand-davghier to the otherzor the pro- per and natural Daughter of the one, and the others by Adoption; of which there are Inſtances in Scripture: or the ſame Perſon might be called Uriel and Abſalom. See 1 Kings 15: 2.
3 And Abijah + ſec the battel in aray c, with an ar- +11; my of valiant men of war, eve» four hundred thouſand nd choſen men : Jeroboam alſo ſet the battel in aray a- 8%" gainft him wich eight hundred thouſand men, being
mighty men of valour.
c Againſt Ferobogm. We need not ſcrupulouſly enquire into the Lawfulneſs of this War for this Abijah, though here he makes a fair Flouriſh and maintained the better Cauſe, yet was indeed an Ungodly Man, King-15:3. and therefore minded not the ſatisfaction of his Conſcience, but only the Recovery of his Parents Ancient Dominions. ;
4 And Abjjah ſtood up upon mount Zemaraim &, which zs in mount Ephraim, and {aid, Hear me, thou