1Rechabeám šel do Šekemu, neboť do Šekemu přišel celý Izrael, aby ho ustanovili králem. 2Když se to Jarobeám, syn Nebatův, doslechl, byl ještě v Egyptě, kam utekl před králem Šalomounem. Jarobeám se totiž usadil v Egyptě. 3Poslali pro něj a zavolali ho. Jarobeám přišel s celým shromážděním Izraele a promluvili k Rechabeámovi: 4Tvůj otec učinil naše jho těžkým. Ty nyní ulehči tvrdou otročinu svého otce a těžké jho, které na nás vložil, a budeme ti sloužit. 5Odpověděl jim: Odejděte na tři dny a pak se ke mně vraťte. Nato lid odešel. 6Král Rechabeám se radil se staršími, kteří sloužili jeho otci Šalomounovi, dokud byl živ: Co radíte odpovědět tomuto lidu? 7Řekli mu: Jestliže dnes budeš služebníkem tomuto lidu a budeš jim sloužit, odpovíš jim a promluvíš k nim laskavá slova, budou po celou dobu tvými otroky. 8Nedbal na radu, kterou mu dali starci, a radil se s mladíky, kteří s ním vyrůstali a sloužili mu. 9Zeptal se jich: Co vy radíte, abychom odpověděli tomuto lidu, který mi řekl: Ulehči jho, které na nás vložil tvůj otec? 10Mladíci, kteří s ním vyrůstali, mu odpověděli: Toto pověz tomuto lidu, který ti řekl: Tvůj otec učinil naše jho těžkým, ty nám ulehči — takto k nim promluv: Můj malík je tlustší nežli bedra mého otce. 11Nuže, můj otec na vás naložil těžké jho, a já k jeho jhu přidám. Můj otec vás káznil biči, já vás budu káznit důtkami. 12Jarobeám a všechen lid přišel k Rechabeámovi třetího dne, tak jak král řekl: Třetího dne se ke mně vraťte. 13Král odpověděl lidu tvrdě a nedbal na radu, kterou mu dali starci. 14Promluvil k nim podle rady mladíků: Můj otec učinil vaše jho těžkým, a já k vašemu jhu přidám. Můj otec vás káznil biči, já vás budu káznit důtkami. 15Král nevyslyšel lid, neboť nastal zvrat od Hospodina, aby naplnil své slovo, které Hospodin promluvil prostřednictvím Achijáše Šíloského k Jarobeámovi, synu Nebatovu. 16Když celý Izrael viděl, že je král nevyslyšel, lid odpověděl králi slovy: Jaký máme podíl v Davidovi? Nemáme dědictví v synu Jišajovu! Ke svým stanům, Izraeli! Nyní si hleď svého domu, Davide! A Izrael šel ke svým stanům. 17Nad syny Izraele, kteří sídlili v judských městech, však kraloval Rechabeám. 18Král Rechabeám poslal Adoráma, který byl nad nucenými pracemi, ale celý Izrael na něj házel kamení, takže zemřel. Král Rechabeám honem vystoupil na vůz a utekl do Jeruzaléma. 19Tak se Izrael vzbouřil proti domu Davidovu, jak je tomu až dodnes. 20Když uslyšel celý Izrael, že se Jarobeám vrátil, poslali pro něj, pozvali ho do shromáždění a ustanovili ho králem nad celým Izraelem. Za domem Davidovým nešel nikdo, jenom sám kmen Juda. 21Když přišel Rechabeám do Jeruzaléma, shromáždil celý dům judský a kmen Benjamín, sto osmdesát tisíc vybraných bojovníků, aby bojovali s domem izraelským a navrátili království Rechabeámovi, synu Šalomounovu. 22I stalo se Boží slovo k Šemajášovi, muži Božímu: 23Řekni judskému králi Rechabeámovi, synu Šalomounovu, a celému domu judskému i Benjamínovi a ostatnímu lidu toto: 24Toto praví Hospodin: Netáhněte a nebojujte se svými bratry, syny Izraele. Vraťte se všichni domů, neboť tato věc se stala ode mne. Poslechli Hospodinovo slovo, vrátili se a šli podle Hospodinova slova. 25Jarobeám postavil Šekem v Efrajimském pohoří a sídlil v něm. Odtud vyšel a postavil Penúel. 26Jarobeám si v srdci řekl: Takto by se království mohlo vrátit k domu Davidovu. 27Když bude tento lid přicházet konat oběti do Hospodinova domu v Jeruzalémě, vrátí se srdce tohoto lidu k jejich pánu, k judskému králi Rechabeámovi. Zabijí mě a vrátí se k judskému králi Rechabeámovi. 28Král se poradil, udělal dvě zlatá telata a řekl lidu: Dost dlouho jste chodili do Jeruzaléma. Hle, toto jsou tvoji bohové, Izraeli, kteří tě vyvedli z egyptské země. 29Jedno umístil do Bét-elu a druhé dal do Danu. 30To se stalo hříchem, neboť lid chodil k jednomu až do Danu. 31Na návrších udělal svatyně a ze spodiny lidu ustanovil kněze, kteří nebyli ze synů Léviho. 32Jarobeám ustanovil svátek v osmém měsíci, patnáctého dne toho měsíce, jako je svátek v Judsku a přicházel k oltáři. Tak činil v Bét-elu a obětoval telatům, která udělal, a ustanovil v Bét-elu kněze na návrší, která udělal. 33Přišel k oltáři, který udělal v Bét-elu, patnáctého dne osmého měsíce, v měsíci, který si sám vymyslel. Ustanovil svátek pro syny Izraele a přišel k oltáři, aby pálil kadidlo.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 REFUSING THE OLD MEN'S COUNSEL. (
1Kgs 12:1-5)
Rehoboam went to Shechem--He was the oldest, and perhaps the only son of Solomon, and had been, doubtless, designated by his father heir to the throne, as Solomon had been by David. The incident here related took place after the funeral obsequies of the late king and the period for public mourning had past. When all Israel came to make him king, it was not to exercise their old right of election (
1Sam 10:19-21), for, after God's promise of the perpetual sovereignty to David's posterity, their duty was submission to the authority of the rightful heir; but their object was, when making him king, to renew the conditions and stipulations to which their constitutional kings were subject (
1Sam 10:25). To the omission of such rehearsing which, under the peculiar circumstances in which Solomon was made king, they were disposed to ascribe the absolutism of his government.
Shechem--This ancient, venerable, and central town was the place of convocation; and it is evident, if not from the appointment of that place, at least from the tenor of their language, and the concerted presence of Jeroboam [
1Kgs 12:3], that the people were determined on revolt.
4 Thy father made our yoke grievous--The splendor of Solomon's court and the magnitude of his undertakings being such, that neither the tribute of dependent states, nor the presents of foreign princes, nor the profits of his commercial enterprises, were adequate to carry them on, he had been obliged, for obtaining the necessary revenue, to begin a system of heavy taxation. The people looked only to the burdens, not to the benefits they derived from Solomon's peaceful and prosperous reign--and the evils from which they demanded deliverance were civil oppressions, not idolatry, to which they appear to have been indifferent or approving.
5 he said . . . Depart yet for three days--It was prudent to take the people's demand into calm and deliberate consideration. Whether, had the advice of the sage and experienced counsellors been followed, any good result would have followed, it is impossible to say. It would at least have removed all pretext for the separation. [See on
2Chr 10:7.] But he preferred the counsel of his young companions (not in age, for they were all about forty-one, but inexperienced), who recommended prompt and decisive measures to quell the malcontents.
11 whips . . . scorpions--The latter [instruments], as contrasted with the former, are supposed to mean thongs thickly set with sharp iron points, used in the castigation of slaves.
15 the king hearkened not unto the people, for the cause was from the Lord--That was the overruling cause. Rehoboam's weakness (
Eccl 2:18-
Eccl 2:19) and inexperience in public affairs has given rise to the probable conjecture, that, like many other princes in the East, he had been kept secluded in the harem till the period of his accession (
Eccl 4:14), his father being either afraid of his aspiring to the sovereignty, like the two sons of David, or, which is more probable, afraid of prematurely exposing his imbecility. The king's haughty and violent answer to a people already filled with a spirit of discontent and exasperation, indicated so great an incapacity to appreciate the gravity of the crisis, so utter a want of common sense, as to create a belief that he was struck with judicial blindness. It was received with mingled scorn and derision. The revolt was accomplished, and yet so quietly, that Rehoboam remained in Shechem, fancying himself the sovereign of a united kingdom, until his chief tax gatherer, who had been most imprudently sent to treat with the people, had been stoned to death. This opened his eyes, and he fled for security to Jerusalem.
20 JEROBOAM MADE KING OVER THEM. (
1Kgs 12:20-33)
when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again--This verse closes the parenthetical narrative begun at
1Kgs 12:2, and
1Kgs 12:21-24 resume the history from
1Kgs 12:1. Rehoboam determined to assert his authority by leading a large force into the disaffected provinces. But the revolt of the ten tribes was completed when the prophet Shemaiah ordered, in the Lord's name, an abandonment of any hostile measures against the revolutionists. The army, overawed by the divine prohibition, dispersed, and the king was obliged to submit.
25 Jeroboam built Shechem--destroyed by Abimelech (Jdg. 9:1-49). It was rebuilt, and perhaps fortified, by Jeroboam, as a royal residence.
built Penuel--a ruined city with a tower (
Judg 8:9), east of Jordan, on the north bank of the Jabbok. It was an object of importance to restore this fortress (as it lay on the caravan road from Gilead to Damascus and Palmyra) and to secure his frontier on that quarter.
26 Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David--Having received the kingdom from God, he should have relied on the divine protection. But he did not. With a view to withdraw the people from the temple and destroy the sacred associations connected with Jerusalem, he made serious and unwarranted innovations on the religious observances of the country, on pretext of saving the people the trouble and expense of a distant journey. First, he erected two golden calves--the young bulls, Apis and Mnevis, as symbols (in the Egyptian fashion) of the true God, and the nearest, according to his fancy, to the figures of the cherubim. The one was placed at Dan, in the northern part of his kingdom; the other at Beth-el, the southern extremity, in sight of Jerusalem, and in which place he probably thought God was as likely to manifest Himself as at Jerusalem (Gen. 32:1-32;
2Kgs 2:2). The latter place was the most frequented--for the words (
1Kgs 12:30) should be rendered, "the people even to Dan went to worship before the one" (
Jer 48:13;
Amos 4:4-
Amos 4:5;
Amos 5:5;
Hos 5:8;
Hos 10:8). The innovation was a sin because it was setting up the worship of God by symbols and images and departing from the place where He had chosen to put His name. Secondly, he changed the feast of tabernacles from the fifteenth of the seventh to the fifteenth of the eighth month. The ostensible reason might be, that the ingathering or harvest was later in the northern parts of the kingdom; but the real reason was to eradicate the old association with this, the most welcome and joyous festival of the year.
31 made priests of the lowest of the people--literally, "out of all the people," the Levites refusing to act. He himself assumed to himself the functions of the high priest, at least, at the great festival, probably from seeing the king of Egypt conjoin the royal and sacred offices, and deeming the office of the high priest too great to be vested in a subject.
