=1, 2= (= 1 Kings xv. 1, 2).
ABIJAH SUCCEEDS.
¹In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign
over Judah.
=1.= _Abijah_] Called _Abijam_ in 1 Kings (LXX. Ἀβιού, i.e. Abijahu).
²Three years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name
was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war
between Abijah and Jeroboam.
=2.= _Micaiah_] Read with LXX., =Maacah=; compare note on xi. 20.
Torrey, however, (_Ezra Studies_, p. 217) suggests that some words
have fallen out of the text through similarity of ending. He would read
“And his mother’s name was Maacah <daughter of Absalom, and he took to
wife> Maacah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah”: the inconsistency as to
Maacah’s parentage between this verse and xi. 20 would disappear, and
the suggestion that Maacah was _grand_-daughter of Absalom (see xi. 20,
note) would be unnecessary.
=3‒20= (no parallel in 1 Kings).
THE BATTLE OF ZEMARAIM.
The account of Abijah’s astonishing triumph over the host of Jeroboam
should be compared with xiv. 9‒15 (Asa’s victory) and xx. 1‒30
(Jehoshaphat’s victory; see Introduction pp. xlix f.), passages
which like the present are nowhere else recorded, and are essentially
unhistorical. No reliance can be placed on the high numbers of the
opposing armies (verse 3), on the pious speech ascribed to king
Abijah which neatly and forcibly expresses the ecclesiastical view of
schismatic Israel held by the Chronicler and his school (verses 4‒12),
or on the appalling carnage wrought in the Israelite army (verse 17).
The tale, in fact, is of a markedly midrashic character, i.e. a
narrative intended to edify and not to be treated as serious history.
But in all such cases it is fair to distinguish between the form
and the substance: at least the bare substance of the tale. Thus in
the present instance the judgement stated above does not preclude
the possibility that war took place between Abijah and Jeroboam,
and that the former gained a useful success over the more powerful
Northern Kingdom. The absence from Kings of any mention of such
victory is a serious objection; but it is not fatal, unless we take
the view――objected to in the Introduction § 5――that the Chronicler
had absolutely no sources, oral or written, of the faintest value
for pre-exilic days apart from the canonical writings. Yet it must
be admitted that it would be not unnatural to the workings of the
Chronicler’s mind to infer that some signal success must have rewarded
so near a descendant of David if only to compensate in part for
Rehoboam’s disastrous reign and at any rate to punish the glaring
iniquity of a schismatic and idolatrous Israel. Judging from the
brief account of Abijah in 1 Kings xv. 1‒7, we may conclude that the
continued hostility between North and South was a fact, but that it
is extremely improbable there was a reliable tradition (if any at all)
regarding a _great_ Judean victory in his reign: see note on _Zemaraim_
below.
³And 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 valour.
=3.= _four hundred thousand ... eight hundred thousand_] The numbers
are of course vastly in excess of any historic possibility; compare the
notes on xi. 1, xiv. 8, and especially that on xvii. 14.
⁴And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill
country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel;
=4.= _Abijah stood up_] Abijah attempts conference before beginning
civil war, not simply because his was the weaker side numerically but
because he had a telling appeal to make to the revolted tribes (verses
8, 12). Jeroboam breaks off the conference after using it to cover his
stratagem (verse 13).
_Zemaraim_] A Zemaraim is mentioned in Joshua xviii. 22 as one of
the cities of _Benjamin_, whereas here Mount Zemaraim is assigned to
_Ephraim_. The natural inference is that the battle took place on the
border of the two kingdoms. The tradition that a battle took place here
between North and South, and perhaps between Abijah and Jeroboam, may
be correct.
⁵ought ye not to know that the LORD, the 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, rose up, and rebelled
against his lord.
=5.= _a covenant of salt_] Salt was necessary for the efficacy of
a sacrifice (Leviticus ii. 13), so that _Covenant of salt_ became a
phrase for a _sure_ covenant (Numbers xviii. 19). The sacredness of the
bond which is acknowledged among the Arabs between two persons who have
“eaten salt” together as host and guest is common knowledge. It is not,
however, necessary that salt should be taken; any food, e.g. milk, will
serve (W. R. Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, p. 270).
⁷And there were gathered unto him vain men, sons of Belial¹,
which 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 the golden calves which
Jeroboam made you for gods.
¹ That is, _worthlessness_.
=7.= _sons of Belial_] margin _sons of worthlessness_. The general
sense “worthless persons” or rather “vile scoundrels” (for gross
wickedness is implied) is clear, but the precise meaning of _Belial_
has not yet been determined. The etymology of the word is quite obscure,
see _Encyclopedia Biblia_ I. 525 f.
_young_] Literally _a child_. If this word is to be literally
understood, the statement made is inconsistent with xii. 13, where
it is said that Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to
reign. It is possible, however, that the word is used metaphorically
to describe one who was _young_ (as indeed his conduct showed) in
experience of government; so Solomon (1 Kings iii. 7) calls himself a
_little child_, by which he meant simply to express his consciousness
of the smallness of his own ability when compared with the greatness of
the task which lay before him, compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 1. A similar
difficulty arises in regard to the age of Solomon, see _Encyclopedia
Britannica_ s.v. _Solomon_.
_tenderhearted_] i.e., according to Hebrew phraseology, _weak in
understanding_, the heart being considered to be the seat of the mind.
Or we may translate the Hebrew phrase as in Deuteronomy xx. 8,
_fainthearted_.
⁹Have ye not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of
Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the
manner of the peoples 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.
=9.= _driven out_] see note on xi. 14.
_after the manner of the peoples of other lands_] i.e. who, unlike
Israel, had no special class from which alone their priests were taken.
Possibly, following the LXX., we should read =from the people= of the
land (i.e. anyone who chose to apply, whether a Levite or not), compare
1 Kings xii. 31, xiii. 33.
_to consecrate himself_] Literally _to fill his hand_. Moses is
directed (Exodus xxix. 1 ff.) to ordain Aaron and his sons priests by
three ceremonies: (1) by anointing them, (2) by filling their hands,
i.e. by presenting them with victims upon which they laid their hands,
(3) by hallowing them, i.e. by sprinkling some of the blood of the
victim upon them.
_a young bullock and seven rams_] Aaronic priests were consecrated with
a young bullock and _two_ rams (Exodus xxix. 1).
¹⁰But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken
him; and _we have_ priests ministering unto the LORD, the sons
of Aaron, and the Levites in their work:
=10.= _in their work_] sc. _ministering unto the LORD_, as above.
Part of the ideal of the Priestly Code was that the Levites should be
restricted to the duty of helping the priests, and should be prevented
from executing priestly functions themselves. With this ideal the
Chronicler plainly sympathised, but it could not always be realised.
¹¹and they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening
burnt offerings 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.
=11.= _every morning and every evening_] Exodus xxix. 38‒42.
_sweet incense_] Exodus xxx. 7.
_the shewbread also_ set they _in order_] Literally _and an ordering of
bread_ [they set in order]. The Hebrew phrase used here for “shewbread”
signifies bread arranged as for an offering. Another term is “bread of
the presence,” i.e. bread set forth continually before the Lord (Exodus
xxv. 30). See 1 Chronicles ix. 32 (note).
_the candlestick_] Exodus xxv. 31 ff., xl. 24, 25.
¹²And, behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with
the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. O children
of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD, the God of your
fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
=12.= _the trumpets of alarm_] (Numbers x. 9). Abijah here threatens
his opponents with a _jihād_ or holy war.
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 them: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests
sounded with the trumpets.
=13.= _Jeroboam caused an ambushment_] While Abijah was endeavouring
to shake the fidelity of the Northern army, the Northern leader secures
a tactical advantage. The greater the advantages of the Israelites and
the more disastrous the position ascribed to the army of Judah, so much
the more glorious is the victory which Judah achieves by its reliance
on Jehovah.
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.
=15.= _gave a shout_] This shout had the character of a religious
function; compare Joshua vi. 10, 16; Judges vii. 20, where the same
Hebrew word is used.
_God smote Jeroboam_] Compare xiv. 12. Supernatural aid secures the
victory.
¹⁷And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so
there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.
=17.= The Chronicler has little or no interest in military matters as
such, and is heedless of probability so far as the numbers he mentions
are concerned. They must be sufficiently immense to enhance the power
of Jehovah and to convey the impression that the days of old were
mighty days. Comparison has been made with the phrase “a hundred and
twenty thousand _in one day_” (xxviii. 6), and from the absence of the
words “in one day,” it has been argued that the present passage refers
to the losses of the whole campaign. Even so the figure, 500,000, is an
immense exaggeration.
¹⁸Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time,
and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon
the LORD, the God of their fathers.
=18.= _because they relied_] Compare note on xii. 2.
¹⁹And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him,
Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns
thereof,
=19.= _Beth-el_] Beth-el was apparently subsequently recovered by the
Northern Kingdom; compare 2 Kings x. 29. But, as it is very doubtful
whether this section has any historical basis (see the head-note, xiii.
3), Beth-el may never have come under the rule of Abijah as is here
stated. Nothing is said, be it noted, of the capture of the golden calf.
_Jeshanah_] Nothing is certainly known of this place, which is
mentioned here only. It has been identified with _Ain Sīnia_, a little
to the north of Beth-el.
_Ephron_] so the _Kethīb_, whereas the Authorized Version following the
_Ḳerī_ has =Ephrain=. _Ephrain_ is a later form of the name _Ephron_,
as _Shamrain_ (Ezra iv. 10, 17) is of _Shomron_ (Samaria). The place
has been identified with eṭ-Ṭaiyebeh, a place south-east of Ain Sīnia
and north-east of Beitin (Beth-el). It was probably the _city called
Ephraim_, to which our Lord retired after the raising of Lazarus (John
xi. 54).
²⁰and Ephron¹ with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam
recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD smote
him, and he died.
¹ Another reading is, _Ephrain_.
=20.= _the LORD smote him, and he died_] The same phrase is used of the
death of Nabal (1 Samuel xxv. 38); it implies suddenness or some other
unusual circumstance (compare Acts xii. 23, the death of Herod Agrippa).
1 Kings xiv. 20 says simply _Jeroboam ... slept with his fathers_.
=21, 22.=
THE EPILOGUE OF ABIJAH’S REIGN.
²¹But Abijah waxed mighty, and took unto himself fourteen wives,
and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
=21.= _fourteen wives_] The many wives are mentioned here as a symbol
of the wealth and state of Abijah.
²²And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his
sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.
=22.= _his ways_] The Chronicler takes a much more favourable view
of Abijah than Kings, where it is said of him that “he walked in
all the sins of his father...” (1 Kings xv. 3), and received favour
from Jehovah only on account of the merits of David. Evidently the
Chronicler deemed it fitting to fasten on the fact of the favour,
perhaps because he felt it imperative that Jeroboam should receive from
the next king of Judah the punishment for his sins which Rehoboam could
not inflict.
_in the commentary_] Hebrew _Midrash_. See Introduction, § 5, p. xxxi.
_Iddo_] See note on ix. 29.