^14:1¹ At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. ^14:2Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise² yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam’s wife. Then go to Shiloh; Ahijah the prophet, who told me I would rule over this nation, lives there.³^14:3Take⁴ ten loaves of bread, some small cakes, and a container of honey and visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

^14:4Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah.⁵ Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age.⁶^14:5But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Look, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her so-and-so.⁷ When she comes, she will be in a disguise.” ^14:6When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news.⁸^14:7Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “I raised you up⁹ from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel. ^14:8I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve.¹⁰^14:9You have sinned more than all who came before you. You went and angered me by making other gods, formed out of metal; you have completely disregarded me.¹¹^14:10So I am ready to bring disaster¹² on the dynasty¹³ of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated.¹⁴ I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed.¹⁵^14:11Dogs will eat the members of your family¹⁶ who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.” ’ Indeed, the Lord has announced it!

^14:12“As for you, get up and go home. When you set foot in the city, the boy will die. ^14:13All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family¹⁷ who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good. ^14:14The Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will cut off Jeroboam’s dynasty.¹⁸ It is ready to happen!¹⁹^14:15The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water.²⁰ He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors²¹ and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River,²² because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles.²³^14:16He will hand Israel over to their enemies²⁴ because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit.”

^14:17So Jeroboam’s wife got up and went back to²⁵ Tirzah. As she crossed the threshold of the house, the boy died. ^14:18All Israel buried him and mourned for him, just as the Lord had predicted²⁶ through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

Jeroboam’s Reign Ends

^14:19The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including the details of his battles and rule, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.²⁷^14:20Jeroboam ruled for twenty-two years; then he passed away.²⁸ His son Nadab replaced him as king.

Rehoboam’s Reign over Judah

^14:21Now Rehoboam son of Solomon ruled in Judah. He²⁹ was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem,³⁰ the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home.³¹ His mother was an Ammonite woman³² named Naamah.

^14:22Judah did evil in the sight of³³ the Lord. They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done.³⁴^14:23They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ^14:24There were also male cultic prostitutes³⁵ in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations³⁶ that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

^14:25In King Rehoboam’s fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. ^14:26He took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including all the golden shields that Solomon had made. ^14:27King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard³⁷ who protected the entrance to the royal palace. ^14:28Whenever the king visited the Lord’s temple, the royal guard carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom.

^14:29The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the

Kings of Judah.³⁸^14:30Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. ^14:31Rehoboam passed away³⁹ and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. His son Abijah⁴⁰ replaced him as king.

Abijah’s Reign over Judah

^15:1In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah¹ became king over Judah. ^15:2He ruled for three years in Jerusalem.² His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.³^15:3He followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been.⁴^15:4Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God maintained his dynasty⁵ in Jerusalem by giving him a son⁶ to succeed him⁷ and by protecting Jerusalem.⁸^15:5He did this⁹ because David had done what he approved¹⁰ and had not disregarded any of his commandments¹¹ his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite. ^15:6Rehoboam¹² and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other throughout Abijah’s¹³ lifetime. ^15:7The rest of the events of Abijah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.¹⁴ Abijah and Jeroboam had been at war with each other. ^15:8Abijah passed away¹⁵ and was buried¹⁶ in the city of David. His son Asa replaced him as king.

Asa’s Reign over Judah

^15:9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became the king of Judah. ^15:10He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem.¹⁷ His grandmother¹⁸ was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. ^15:11Asa did what the Lord approved¹⁹ like his ancestor²⁰ David had done. ^15:12He removed the male cultic prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the disgusting idols²¹ his ancestors²² had made. ^15:13He also removed Maacah his grandmother²³ from her position as queen because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ^15:14The high places were not eliminated, yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime.²⁴^15:15He brought the holy items that he and his father had made into the Lord’s temple, including the silver, gold, and other articles.²⁵

^15:16Now Asa and King Baasha of Israel were continually at war with each other.²⁶^15:17King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah and established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah.²⁷^15:18Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and handed it to his servants. He then told them to deliver it²⁸ to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: ^15:19“I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made.²⁹ See, I have sent you silver and gold as a present. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.”³⁰^15:20Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel.³¹ They conquered³² Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and all the territory of Naphtali, including the region of Kinnereth.³³^15:21When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying³⁴ Ramah and settled down in Tirzah. ^15:22King Asa ordered all the men of Judah (no exemptions were granted) to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah.³⁵ King Asa used the materials to build up³⁶ Geba (in Benjamin) and Mizpah.

^15:23The rest of the events of Asa’s reign, including all his successes and accomplishments, as well as a record of the cities he built, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.³⁷ Yet when he was very old he developed a foot disease.³⁸^15:24Asa passed away³⁹ and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David. His son Jehoshaphat replaced him as king.

Nadab’s Reign over Israel

^15:25In the second year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Jeroboam’s son Nadab became the king of Israel; he ruled Israel for two years. ^15:26He did evil in the sight of⁴⁰ the Lord. He followed in his father’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to sin.⁴¹

^15:27Baasha son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar, conspired against Nadab⁴² and assassinated him in Gibbethon, which was in Philistine territory. This happened while Nadab and all the Israelite army were besieging Gibbethon. ^15:28Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah and replaced him as king. ^15:29When he became king, he executed Jeroboam’s entire family. He wiped out everyone who breathed,⁴³ just as the Lord had predicted⁴⁴ through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. ^15:30This happened because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit. These sins angered the Lord God of Israel.⁴⁵

^15:31The rest of the events of Nadab’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.⁴⁶^15:32Asa and King Nadab of Israel were continually at war with each other.

Baasha’s Reign over Israel

^15:33In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah; he ruled for twenty-four years. ^15:34He did evil in the sight of⁴⁷ the Lord; he followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to sin.⁴⁸

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Footnotes

1 Some of the Old Greek lack vv. 1–20.
2 Heb “Get up, change yourself.”
3 Heb “look, Ahijah the prophet is there, he told me [I would be] king over this nation.”
4 Heb “take in your hand.”
5 Heb “and the wife of Jeroboam did so; she arose and went to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah.”
6 Heb “his eyes were set because of his old age.”
7 Tell her so-and-so. Certainly the Lord gave Ahijah a specific message to give to Jeroboam’s wife (see vv. 6–16), but the author of Kings here condenses the Lord’s message with the words “so-and-so.” For dramatic effect he prefers to have us hear the message from Ahijah’s lips as he speaks to the king’s wife.
8 Heb “I am sent to you [with] a hard [message].”
9 The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 7–11 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 7–9) and the main clause announcing the punishment (vv. 10–11). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
10 Heb “what was right in my eyes.”
11 Heb “you went and you made for yourself other gods, metal [ones], angering me, and you threw me behind your back.”
12 Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, ra’ah) is from the same root as the expression “you have sinned” in v. 9 (וַתָּרַע [vattara’], from רָעַע, [ra’a’]). Jeroboam’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.
13 Heb “house.”
14 Heb “and I will cut off from Jeroboam those who urinate against a wall (including both those who are) restrained and let free (or “abandoned”) in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (’atsur vé’azuv) is uncertain. For various options see עצר 6 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), . The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס [’efes], “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.
15 The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean “burn.” Manure was sometimes used as fuel (see Ezek 4:12, 15). However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר as a homonym meaning “sweep away” ( II בער). In this case one might translate, “I will sweep away the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away manure it is gone” (cf. , , ). Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.
16 The Hebrew text has “belonging to Jeroboam” here.
17 Heb “house.”
18 Heb “house.”
19 Heb “This is the day. What also now?” The precise meaning of the second half of the statement is uncertain.
20 The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the Lord will strike Israel as a reed sways in the water.”
21 Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).
22 Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew this is a typical reference to the Euphrates River. The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
23 Heb “because they made their Asherah poles that anger the Lord”; or “their images of Asherah”; , “their Asherim”; “they set up idols to worship Asherah.” Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
24 Heb “and he will give [up] Israel.”
25 Heb “went and entered.”
26 Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke.”
27 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he ruled, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
28 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
29 Heb “Rehoboam.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
31 Heb “the city where the Lord chose to place his name from all the tribes of Israel.”
32 Heb “an Ammonite”; the word “woman” is implied.
33 Heb “in the eyes of.”
34 Heb “and they made him jealous more than all which their fathers had done by their sins which they sinned.”
35 The Old Greek translation has “a conspiracy” rather than “male cultic prostitutes.”
36 Heb “they did according to all the abominable acts of the nations.”
37 Heb “runners.”
38 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Rehoboam, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
39 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
40 In the Hebrew text the name is spelled “Abijam” here and in 1 Kgs 15:1–8.
1 The Old Greek also has the phrase “the son of Rehoboam.”
2 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
3 Abishalom (also in v. 10) is a variant of the name Absalom (cf. 2 Chr 11:20). The more common form is used by , .
4 Heb “his heart was not complete with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.”
5 Heb “gave him a lamp.”
6 The Old Greek has the plural “his sons.”
7 Heb “by raising up his son after him.”
8 Heb “and by causing Jerusalem to stand firm.”
9 The words “he did this” are added for stylistic reasons.
10 Heb “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”
11 Heb “and had not turned aside from all which he commanded him.”
12 Most Hebrew read “Rehoboam”; a few Hebrew and the read “Abijam” (a variant of Abijah).
13 Heb “his”; the referent (Abijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Abijah, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
15 Heb “lay down with his fathers.” The Old Greek also has these words: “in the twenty-eighth year of Jeroboam.”
16 Heb “and they buried him.”
17 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
18 Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.
19 Heb “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”
20 Heb “father,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.
21 The word used here, גִלּוּלִים [gillulim], is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. 183 גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אֱלִילִים, ’elilim), “vanities” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).
22 Heb “fathers” (also in v. 24).
23 Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.
24 Heb “yet the heart of Asa was complete with the Lord all his days.”
25 Heb “and he brought the holy things of his father and his holy things (into) the house of the Lord, silver, gold, and items.” Instead of “his holy things,” a marginal reading (Qere) in the Hebrew text has “the holy things of [the house of the Lord].”
26 Heb “There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.”
27 Heb “and he built up Ramah so as to not permit going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.”
28 Heb “King Asa sent it.”
29 Heb “[May there be] a covenant between me and you [as there was] between my father and your father.”
30 Heb “so he will go up from upon me.”
31 Heb “and Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of the armies which belonged to him against the cities of Israel.”
32 Heb “he struck down.”
33 Heb “and all Kinnereth together with all the land of Naphtali.”
34 Heb “building.”
35 Heb “and King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, there was no one exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its wood which Baasha had built.”
36 Heb “and King Asa built with them.”
37 Heb “As for the rest of all the events of Asa, and all his strength and all which he did and the cities which he built, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
38 Heb “Yet in the time of his old age he became sick in his feet.”
39 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
40 Heb “in the eyes of.”
41 Heb “and he walked in the way of his father and in his sin which he made Israel sin.”
42 Heb “against him”; the referent (Nadab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
43 Heb “and when he became king, he struck down all the house of Jeroboam; he did not leave any breath to Jeroboam until he destroyed him.”
44 Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke.”
45 Heb “because of Jeroboam which he committed and which he made Israel commit, by his provocation by which he made the Lord God of Israel angry.”
46 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Nadab, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
47 Heb “in the eyes of.”
48 Heb “and he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.”