1 Kings 12:25

_THEN JEROBOAM BUILT SHECHEM IN MOUNT EPHRAIM, AND DWELT THEREIN; AND WENT OUT FROM THENCE, AND BUILT PENUEL._ Jeroboam built Shechem - destroyed by Abimelech (Judges 9:1). It was rebuilt, and perhaps fortified by Jeroboam, as a royal residence. BUILT PENUEL - a ruined city with a tower (Judges 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 secure his frontier on that quarter....

25-33 Jeroboam distrusted the providence of God; he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our departures from him. Though it is probable he meant his worship for Jehovah the God of Israel, it was contrary to the Divine law, and dishonourable to the Divine majesty to be thus represented. The people might be less shocked at worshipping the God of Israel under an image, than if they had at once been asked to worship Baal; but it made way for that idolatry. Blessed Lord, give us grace to reverence thy temple, thine ordinances, thine house of prayer, thy sabbaths, and never more, like Jeroboam, to set up in our hearts any idol of abomination. Be thou to us every thing precious; do thou reign and rule in our hearts, the hope of glory....

BUILT SHECHEM - In the sense of “enlarged and fortified.” See Daniel 4:30. The first intention of Jeroboam seems to have been to make Shechem his capital, and therefore he immediately set about its fortification. So also he seems to have fortified Penuel for the better security of his Trans-Jordanic possessions (marginal reference)....

EXPOSITION THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL, AND THE SCHISM IN THE CHURCH.—The historian, after describing the great rebellion of the Jewish people, proceeds, in the rest of this chapter, to relate the measures which the new king took to secure his position. These were both external and internal. The external means were the erection of fortresses; the internal, the provision of new sanctuaries, priests, and ordinances. 1 KINGS 12:25 THEN JEROBOAM BUILT [_i.e; rebuilt _or _fortified, _בָּנָה_ _naturally has both meanings] SHECHEM [see on...

THEN JEROBOAM BUILT SHECHEM IN MOUNT EPHRAIM, AND DWELT THEREIN,.... Not that this city had lain in ruins from the times of Abimelech, Judges 9:45 for then it would not have been a proper place for the convention of the people, 1 Kings 12:1 but he repaired the walls of it, and fortified it, and built a palace in it for his residence: AND WENT OUT FROM THENCE, AND BUILT PENUEL; a place on the other side Jordan, the tower of which was beaten down by Gideon, Judges 8:17 and might be now rebuilt, or at least the city was repaired by him, and anew fortified, perhaps for the better security of his dominions on that side Jordan; though Fortunatus Scacchus p is of opinion that this was an altar, the same as at Carmel,...

III. THE DIVIDED KINGDOM 1. Rehoboam and the Revolt of the Ten Tribes CHAPTER 12 _ 1. The revolt of the northern tribes (1 Kings 12:1)_ 2. The threatening war averted (1 Kings 12:21) 3. Jeroboam's wicked schemes (1 Kings 12:25) Rehoboam (enlarger of the people) is the only son of Solomon mentioned in the Bible (1 Chronicles 3:10). Ecclesiastes 2:18; Ecclesiastes 4:13 seem to give a h

1 Kings 12:25 to 1 Kings 13:34. THE SIN OF JEROBOAM. THE PROPHET AT BETHEL. The sources cannot be exactly determined. Some (see Cent.B) may belong to the annals of the northern kingdom, but the tone is decidedly Deuteronomic. The prophet's message to Jeroboam is certainly late. Jeroboam's first act as recorded was to build or fortify Shechem (1 Kings 12:25). Then for some reason he transferred his seat of government to the E. of Jordan to Penuel. Possibly he was hard pressed by his former patron Shishak, who invaded Israel in his reign (1 Kings 14:25). There is no proof of this; but Abner after Saul's death set up Ishbosh

BUILT. rebuilt, or repaired. This doubtless included increased fortification (2 Chronicles 11:11). MOUNT. hill-country. PENUEL. On east of Jordan (Genesis 32:30; Judges 8:8),...

On the addition in the LXX. after 1 Kings 12:24 This long passage has many peculiarities not only in the arrangement, which differs considerably from that of the narrative of the Hebrew text, but also in some portions of its contents. It takes up the history at 1 Kings 11:43 with Solomon's death and Rehoboam's accession. But it gives different numbers, both for the age of Rehoboam when he began to reign and for the duration of his reign, from those in the Hebrew text. Instead of 41 years old (as in 1 Kings 14:21) he is here stated to have been 16, and to have reigned 12 and not 17 years. It must be owned that the conduct of Rehoboam is much more like that of a very young man than of one who had passed middle-age. The

JEROBOAM BUILT SHECHEM— 1:e. Rebuilt, enlarged, and beautified it, and made it a royal city....