Table of Contents
2 Chronicles 10
2 Chronicles 10
1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all Israel come to make him king.
2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, whither he fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.
3 And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying,
4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
5 And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.
6 And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?
7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.
8 But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him.
9 And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us?
10 And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
11 For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.
13 And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men,
14 And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
15 So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God, that the Lord might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents.
17 But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
18 Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
19 And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
Notes
Cross Reference
Concordance
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king</b> In Shechem, which was Jeroboam’s place, which was in the territory of Ephraim. And Jeroboam was an Ephrathite, and all this was brought about by the Holy One, blessed be He, to fulfill His word, (I Kings 11:11): “I will surely tear the kingdom.”</html>
Verse 2
<html><b>And it was when… heard</b> The meaning is: And it was when he heard - prior to this, when they came to make him [Rehoboam] king in Shechem, when he [Jeroboam] was still in Egypt.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>And they sent and called him, and…came</b> All this was to let us know the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, that even Jeroboam himself came to make Rehoboam king, but the Holy One, blessed be He, reversed his words [i.e., Jeroboam’s intention,] until Jeroboam reigned.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>Your father made our yoke hard</b> because he was a man who toiled at work, and he made it incumbent upon us to sustain his laborers with the tax, as it is written in I Kings (5:27): “And King Solomon raised a levy, etc.”</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>How do you advise</b> - Heb. נוֹעָצִים, [in the passive voice], like יוֹעֲצִים [in the active voice], and so he says from יוֹדְעִים, נוֹדָעִים. יוֹעֲצִים means the future, and נוֹעָצִים means that which they already counseled.</html>
Verse 10
<html><b>My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins</b> My little finger is larger than my father’s loins; i.e., I am stronger than he.</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>burdened</b> - Heb. הֶעֱמִיס, loaded, like (Gen. 44:13): “and each man loaded (וַיַַַַַּעֲמס) his donkey.” <b>with scorpions</b> <i>Brimmen</i> in German, which sting like scorpions.</html>
Verse 15
<html><b>because it was brought about, etc. so that the Lord God might establish His word</b> as is delineated in I Kings (11:31–37), to remove from him the ten tribes and to give them to Jeroboam, and this is the meaning of (Gen. 49:10): “The scepter will not depart from Judah” [meaning that] he will not be banished from his kingdom, “until he comes to Shiloh,” meaning until Judah comes to Shiloh to crown Rehoboam there, and there “peoples will gather to him” to crown him, and there the kingdom was divided, and the reign over the ten tribes was lost. Now Shechem is a small city adjacent to Shiloh, as it is written at the end of Judges (21:19): “Behold, there is a sacrifice before the Lord in Shiloh from time to time, etc. on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beth-El to Shechem,” and it is written in Jeremiah (41:5): “from Shechem (and) from Shiloh,” and in honor of the Tabernacle of Shiloh, they would gather in Shechem, which was fit for the people to assemble in, and it adjoined Shiloh. And when they would assemble in Shechem, the scepter would depart from Judah, for there the kingdom was divided.</html>
Verse 16
<html><b>Each man to your homes, O Israel</b> This refers back to, “What share do we have in David?” Why should we leave our homes and follow him? Not so, but all Israel, return each man to his home. <b>Now see your house, David</b> This refers back to, “And no heritage in Jesse’s son,” i.e., we have no heritage in him, but in the Temple in Jerusalem, where we sacrifice and appear on the three Pilgrimage Festivals. <b>see your house, David</b> We do not need it to go there. Let it be yours alone. (But all this does not appeal to me) but, “See your house, David we have no desire either in you or in your Temple.”</html>
Verse 18
<html><b>Hadoram</b> He is identical with Adoniram (I Kings 4:6), for during Solomon’s time, he enjoyed great eminence, but in Rehoboam’s time his greatness was humbled. Therefore, he was called Hadoram. <b>and the Children of Israel pelted him with stones</b> and because Rehoboam did not know the cause of the rebellion in which they turned away from him, he was slain when he requested the levy that Solomon had levied upon them.</html>
Verse 19
<html><b>And the Israelites rebelled against the house of David</b> - Heb. וַיִפְשְׁעוּ, an expression of rebellion. Examples are (II Kings 1:1): “Moab rebelled (וַיִפְשַׁע) against Israel”; (Prov. 18:19): “A rebellious (נִפְשַׁע) brother”; (below 27:19): “then Libnah rebelled (תִּפְשַׁע).”</html>