Solomon's

Adversaries.

and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land. (19) And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. (20) And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house and Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh. (21) And when Hadad heard in Egypt

away.

a 3 Sam.

dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, 1Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country. (22) Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: how beit let me go in any wise.

(23) And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah (24) and he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, "when David slew them of Zobah:

10. 18.

(18) They arose out of Midian.-The expression is a curious one; for we should have expected the starting-point of the flight to have been described in Edom itself. If the reading of the text is correct, the reference must be either to some branch of the Midianitish tribes settled between Edom and the desert of Paran, or to a city Midian, not far from the Gulf of Elath, of which some ancient authorities speak, and to which the LXX. expressly refers here.

Paran (see Gen. xxi. 21; Num. x. 12, xii. 16, xiii. 3, 26; 1 Sam. xxv. 1) is part of the Sinaitic region, adjacent to the wilderness of Zin, and north of the range now called the El-Tih mountains. It lies to the west of the Edomite territory, and was then evidently inhabited by an independent race, from which the fugitive companions of Hadad enlisted support.

Pharaoh king of Egypt.-The dynasty then reigning in Lower Egypt is that called the twentyfirst, or Tanite, dynasty. Chronological considerations, and perhaps internal probabilities, suggest that this Pharaoh was not the same as the king who became father-in-law to Solomon. But the same policy of alliance with the occupants of Palestine and the neighbourhood is equally exemplified in both cases, though by different methods; and accords well with the apparent decadence of Egyptian power at this time, of which very little record is preserved in the monuments. Jealousy of the growing power of Israel under David and Solomon might prompt this favourable reception of Hadad, as afterwards of Jeroboam. The marriage of Solomon with the daughter of Pharaoh, and the active co-operation of Pharaoh against Gezer (chap. ix. 16), indicate an intervening variation of policy, without, however, any change in the general design of securing Egypt by alliances on the north-east. In this case the intermarriage of Hadad with the royal house, and the inclusion of his son Genubath among the children of Pharaoh, argue an unusual distinction, which could only have been due to a high estimate of the importance of influence over the strong country of Edom, and of the future chances of Hadad's recovery of the throne.

(19) Tahpenes the queen- - a name unknown, either in history or in the Egyptian monuments.

(20) Genubath is similarly unknown. The weaning in the house of Pharaoh, no doubt with the customary festival (comp. Gen. xx. 18), indicated the admittance of the child into the royal family of Egypt.

(21, 22) When Hadad heard.--If (as the text seems to suggest) this took place on the news of the death of

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David and of Joab, the scourge of Edom, it belongs, of course, to the early part of the reign of Solomon, before his power was established. The courteous evasion by the Pharaoh of that time of Hadad's request for permission to return, may probably indicate the beginning of the change of attitude towards the powerful monarchy of Israel, which took effect in the subsequent close alliance of the kingdoms. As the text stands, the record here stops abruptly, and then recurs to Hadad by a curious allusion in verse 25. It can hardly be doubted that there is some omission or dislocation of the text. The LXX. (in the Vatican MS.) introduces after the words "Hadad the Edomite" in verse 14, the words "and Rezon the son of Eliadah . . . all the days of Solomon" from verses 23-25; and then, resuming the story of Hadad, adds, after the record of his request to Pharaoh, and Hadad returned to his land. This is the mischief which Hadad did, and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Edom." Josephus, on the other hand, says that at the time of the original request, Pharaoh refused permission; but that in the declining years of Solomon it was granted, and that Hadad, finding it impossible to excite rebellion in Edom, which was strongly garrisoned, joined Rezon in Syria, and with him established an independent power, and did mischief to Israel. (Ant. viii. 6, 6.) This account is itself probable enough; it accounts, moreover, for the close connection in the history (especially in the LXX. reading) between Hadad and Rezon, and for the insertion of the whole matter in this place; and accords also with the fact that, while Syria seems at once to become independent after the death of Solomon, we hear of no revolt of Edom till the time of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xx.).

(23) Rezon the son of Eliadah.-The name Rezon, which is not unlike the "Rezin" of 2 Kings xvi., appears to signify "prince," and might naturally mark the founder of a new power. In 1 Kings xv. 18 we read of a Hezion, king of Damascus, who would belong to this generation, and may be identical with Rezon. The tradition quoted by Josephus (Ant. vii. 5, 2) from Nicolaus of Damascus, that for ten generations from the days of David, all the kings of Syria bore the name of Hadad, probably means only that the title Hadad was the official title of the monarchy.

(24) When David slew them of Zobah.-The account of this war is found in 2 Sam. viii. 1-13. The kingdom of Zobah was evidently a powerful state at that time, at war with the Syrian kingdom of Hamath,

but holding supremacy over the Syrians of Damascus, and the "Syrians beyond the river" Euphrates; and (as the record shows) accumulating vast treasures of gold, silver, and brass. The establishment of Rezon (and Hadad?) at Damascus must have taken place later; for at the time we find that David "put governors in Damascus," and reduced its inhabitants to a tributary condition. Possibly there may have been some rising early in the reign of Solomon; for in 2 Chron. viii. 3, we find that Solomon had to "go up against Hamathzobah," with which expedition the foundation of Tadmor seems to be connected. But it is probable that the establishment of an independent power in Damascus dated only from the later days of Solomon.

(25) Beside the mischief that Hadad did.The expression, as it stands, is curiously abrupt in its recurrence to Hadad. But the text is doubtful. (See Note on verses 21, 22.) If the general reading of the LXX. be taken, the substitution of Edom for Syria (Aram) (it involves but slight change in the Hebrew) must be accepted; if the explanation of Josephus is correct, then the reading of the text must stand.

(26) Jeroboam the son of Nebat.-The life and character of Jeroboam are given in considerable detail in the history; and it is also remarkable that in some of the MSS. of the LXX. we find inserted after chap. xii. 24 an independent account of his early history (see Note at the end of the chapter), generally of inferior authority, and having several suspicious features, but perhaps preserving some genuine details. As the great rebel against the House of David, the leader of the revolution which divided Israel and destroyed its greatness, the introducer of the idolatry of the temples of Dan and Bethel, and the corrupter of the worship of Jehovah in deference to an astute worldly policy, he stands out in a vividness of portraiture unapproached, till we come to the history of Abab at the close of the book.

An Ephrathite of Zereda. The word "Ephrathite," which mostly means an inhabitant of Ephrata or Bethlehem, is here (as in 1 Sam. i. 1) simply another form of the name Ephraimite. Zereda is mostly supposed to be Zarthan (see vii. 46 and 2 Chron. iv. 17), a town of Ephraim in the Jordan valley. The Vatican MS. of the LXX., by a slight change in the Hebrew, reads Sarira, which is probably a rendering of Zererah or Zererath (Judges vii. 22), and, in the additional record noticed above, makes it a strong fortified place in Mount Ephraim.

The son of a widow woman. This phrase, added to the phrase "Solomon's servant," is evidently

2

and Ahijah.

man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the 3 charge of the house of Joseph. (29) And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field: (30) and Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: (31) and he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for

designed to mark the utterly dependent condition from which Solomon's favour raised the future rebel.

(27) Solomon built Millo.-See chap. ix. 15, 24. This was apparently after he had built the Temple and the palace, some twenty years after his accession, when the delight in magnificence of building apparently grew upon him, and with it the burdens of the people.

(28) A mighty man of valour.-The phrase, like the" mighty valiant man," applied to the young David (1 Sam. xvi. 18), has nothing to do with war, but simply signifies" strong and capable.'

The charge (or in margin "the burden”), is, of course, the taskwork assigned to the levy from the tribe of Ephraim (and possibly Manasseh with it). It is clear from this that the levy for the Temple-perhaps originally exceptional-had served as a precedent for future burdens, not on the subject races only, as at first (ix. 21, 22), but on the Israelites also. The LXX. addition makes Jeroboam build for Solomon “ Sarira in Mount Ephraim” also.

Ahijah the Shilonite.-In the person of Ahijah, prophecy emerges from the abeyance, which seems to overshadow it during the greatness of the monarchy. Even in David's old age, the prophet Nathan himself appears chiefly as a mere counsellor and servant of the king (see chap. i.), and from the day of his coronation of Solomon we hear nothing of any prophetic action. Solomon himself receives the visions of the Lord (iii. 5, ix. 2); upon him, as the Wise Man, rests the special inspiration of God; at the consecration of the Temple he alone is prominent, as the representative and the teacher of the people. Now, however, we find in Ahijah the first of the line of prophets, who resumed a paramount influence like that of Samuel or Nathan, protecting the spirituality of the land and the worship of God, and demanding both from king and people submission to the authority of the Lord Jehovah.

(30) Rent it in twelve pieces. The use of symbolical acts is frequent in subsequent prophecy (especially see Jer. xiii. 1, xix. 1, xxvii. 2; Ezek. iv., v., xii. 1–7, xxiv. 3, 15), often alternating with symbolical visions and symbolical parables or allegories. The object is, of course, to arrest attention, and call out the inquiry (Ezek. xxiv. 19): "Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us? Ahijah's rending of his own new garment is used, like Saul's rending of Samuel's mantle (1 Sam. xv. 27, 28), to symbolise the rending away of the kingdom. (See verses 11-13.)

(31, 39) Take thee ten pieces.-The message delivered by Ahijah first repeats exactly the former warning to Solomon (verses 9-13), marking, by the

(42) Forty years.-The reign of Solomon was thus of the same length as that of his father. (See chap. ii. 11.) The coincidence is curious; but the accurate historical character of the whole narrative forbids the idea that the numbers given are merely round numbers, signifying long duration. Josephus gives eighty yearseither by error in his Hebrew text, or perhaps by confusing together the duration of the two reigns.

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NOTE. The insertion in the LXX. version, found in the Vatican MS. after chap. xii. 24, runs as follows::And there was a man of Mount Ephraim, a servant of Solomon, and his name was Jeroboam; and his mother's name was Sarira, a woman who was a harlot. And Solomon made him taskmaster [literally, "master of the staff," or "scourge"] over the burdens [forced labours] of the house of Joseph; and he built for Solomon Sarira, which is in Mount Ephraim; and he had three hundred chariots. He it was who built the citadel [the "Millo"], by the labours of the house of Ephraim, and completed the fortification of the city of David. And he was exalting himself to seek the kingdom. And Solomon sought to put him to death; so he feared, and stole away to Sousakim [Shishak], king of Egypt, and was with him till the death of Solomon. And Jeroboam heard in Egypt that Solomon was dead, and he spake in the ears of Sousakim, king of Egypt, saying, Send me away, and I will go back to my own land. And Sousakim said to him, Ask of me a request, and I will give it thee. And he gave to Jeroboam Ano, the elder sister of his own wife Thekemina [Tahpenes] to be his wife. She was great among the daughters of the king, and bare to Jeroboam Abias [Abijah] his son. And Jeroboam said to Sousakim, Send me really away, and I will go back. And Jeroboam went forth from Egypt, and came to the land of Sarira, in Mount Ephraim, and there gathered together to him the whole strength of Ephraim. And Jeroboam built there a fortress."

Then follows, with variations of detail, the story of the sickness of Abijah, the visit of Jeroboam's wife to Ahijah, and the message of judgment; corresponding to chap. xiv. 1-18. The narrative then continues thus:

"And Jeroboam went his way to Shechem, in Mount Ephraim, and gathered together there the tribes of Israel; and Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, went up there. And the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the Enlamite, saying, Take to thyself a new garment, which has never been in water, and tear it in ten pieces; and thou shalt give them to Jeroboam, and shalt say to him, Take thee ten pieces, to clothe thyself therewith. And Jeroboam took them; and Shemaiah said, These things saith the Lord, signifying the ten tribes of Israel."

The whole concludes with an account, given with some characteristic variations, of the remonstrance with Rehoboam, the rebellion, and the prohibition by Shemaiah of the intended attack of Rehoboam, corresponding to chap. xii. 1-24.

This half-independent version of the history is interesting, but obviously far inferior in authority to the

CHAPTER XII.-(1) And Rehoboam Went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.

Hebrew text. The incidents fit less naturally into each other; the warning of Ahijah as to the destruction of the house of Jeroboam is obviously out of place; and by the ascription to Shemaiah of the prophecy of Jeroboam's royalty, the striking coincidence of the authorship of the two predictions of prosperity and disaster is lost. The record of Shishak's intercourse with Jeroboam is apparently imitated from the history of Hadad at the court of the earlier Pharaoh; and the circumstances of Jeroboam's assumption of royal pretensions are improbable. Josephus, moreover, ignores this version of the story altogether; nor is it found in any other version. Its origin is unknown, and its growth curious enough. But it does not seem to throw much fresh light on the history.

XII.

The comparatively detailed style of the narrative of the reign of Solomon is continued through chaps. xii., xiii., xiv. In the section chap. xii. 1-25 the record of the Book of Chronicles (2 Chron. x. 1—xi. 4), after omitting the whole description of Solomon's idolatry, and the risings of rebellion against his empire, returns to an almost exact verbal coincidence with the Book of Kings.

The narrative of the great revolution which led to the disruption of the kingdom, illustrates very strikingly the essential characteristic of the Scriptural history, which is to be found, not principally in the miraculous events recorded from time to time as an integral part of the history, but rather in the point of view from which all events alike are regarded. (a) Thus it is clear that the revolution had, in the first place, personal causes in the stolid rashness of Rehoboam, mistaking obstinacy for vigour, and not knowing how and when rightly to yield; and in the character of Jeroboam, bold and active, astute and unscrupulous, the very type of a chief of revolution. (b) Behind these, again, lay social and political causes. The increase of wealth, culture, and civilisation under an enlightened despotism, which by its peaceful character precluded all scope and distraction of popular energies in war, created, as usual, desire and fitness for the exercise of freedom. The division of feeling and interest between the royal tribe of Judah and the rest of the people, headed by the tribe of Ephraim (for so many generations the strongest and the most leading tribe of Israel)—already manifested from time to time, and fostered perhaps by the less absolute allegiance of Israel to the house of David-now gave occasion to rebellion, when the strong hand of Solomon was removed. Perhaps, moreover, the intrigues of Egyptian jealousy may have already begun to divide the Israelite people. (c) But the Scriptural narrative, although it enables us to discover both these causes, dwells on neither. It looks exclusively to moral and spiritual causes: "The thing was from the Lord" -His righteous judgment on the idolatry, the pride, and the despotic self-indulgence of the Court, shared, no doubt, by the princes and people of Jerusalem, perhaps exciting a wholesome reaction of feeling elsewhere. What in other history would be, at most, in

a ch. 11. 40.

(2) And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in "Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt ;) (3) that they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, (4) Thy father made our 'yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. (5) And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come ch.4.7. again to me. And the people departed.

(6) And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? (7) And they spake unto

ferred by conjecture, as underlying more obvious causes, is here placed in the forefront as a matter of course. For the history of Israel, as a history of God's dealings with the chosen people, is the visible and supernatural type of the dealings of His natural Providence with all His creatures.

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(1) All Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.-In the case of David, we find that, when he was made king over Israel, he made a league" with the elders of Israel (2 Sam. v. 3), apparently implying a less absolute royalty than that to which he had been anointed, without conditions, over the house of Judah (2 Sam. ii. 4); and in his restoration after the death of Absalom, there appears to be some recognition of a right of distinct action on the part of the men of Israel in relation to the kingdom (2 Sam. xix. 9, 10, 41—43; 'xx. 1, 2). Even in the coronation of Solomon, we find distinction made between royalty" over all Israel and over Judah." (See chap. i. 35; and comp. chap. iv. 1.) Accordingly, Rehoboam seems to succeed without question to the throne of Judah, but to need to be "made king" by the rest of Israel, with apparently some right on their part to require conditions before acceptance. It is significant, however, that this ceremonial is fixed, not at Jerusalem, but at Shechem, the chief city of Ephraim, of ancient dignity, even from patriarchal times, as of singular beauty and fertility of position, which became, as a matter of course, the capital of the northern kingdom after the disruption. Perhaps, in this arrangement, which seems to have had no precedent, there was some omen of revolution.

(2) For he was filed.-In 2 Chron. x. 2, and in the LXX. version (or, rather versions, for there is variety of reading) of this passage, Jeroboam is made to return from Egypt, on hearing of the death of Solomon, to his own city, and to be "sent for" thence. This is obviously far more probable, and might be read in the Hebrew by a slight alteration of the text.

(4) We will serve thee.-It seems evident from the tone of the narrative, and especially from the absence of all resentment on the part of the king on the presentation of these conditions, that they were acting

Relaxation of the Yoke.

him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.

(8) But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: (9) and he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? (10) And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them,

within their right; and whatever Jeroboam's designs may have been, there is no sign of any general predetermination of rebellion. The imposition of the burdens of heavy taxation and forced labour on the people was against old traditions, and even against the practice of Solomon's earlier years. (See chaps. iv. 20, ix. 2022.) To demand a removal, or alleviation of these, was perfectly compatible with a loyal willingness to "serve" the new king. The demand might naturally be suggested by Jeroboam, who, by his official position, knew well the severity of the burden.

(7) If thou wilt be a servant.-Both the policies suggested show how corrupt and cynical the government of Israel had become. For the advice of the old counsellors has no largeness of policy or depth of wisdom. It is simply the characteristic advice of experienced and crafty politicians-who had seen the gradual development of despotic power, and had still remembrance of the comparative freedom of earlier days-understanding at once the dangerous vehemence of popular excitement, and the facility with which it may be satisfied by temporary concessions, and perhaps desiring to defeat that private ambition, which was making use for its own purposes of the natural sense of grievance. It is to give "good words," and to be for the moment "a servant to the people," with, perhaps, the intention of abolishing certain excessive grievances, but by no means of yielding up substantial power. Whether it was in itself more than superficially prudent, would depend on the seriousness of the grievances, and the social and political condition of the people.

(10) Thus shalt thou speak.-The advice of the young men the spoilt children of a magnificent and luxurious despotism, of which alone they had experience is the language of the arrogant self-confidence, which mistakes obstinacy for vigour, and, blind to all signs of the times, supposes that what once was possible, and perhaps good for the national progress, must last for ever. It is couched in needlessly and absurdly offensive language; but it is, as all history shows-perhaps not least the history of our own Stuart dynasty-a not unfrequent policy in revolutionary times; holding that to yield in one point is to endanger the whole fabric of sovereign power; relying on the prestige of an