Chapter 62

11:2. Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel: You shall not go in unto them, neither shall any of them come into yours: for they will most certainly turn away your hearts to follow their gods. And to these was Solomon joined with a most ardent love.

11:3. And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart.

11:4. And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.

11:5. But Solomon worshipped Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites.

11:6. And Solomon did that which was not pleasing before the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as David, his father.

11:7. Then Solomon built a temple for Chamos, the idol of Moab, on the hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch, the idol of the children of Ammon.

11:8. And he did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers, who burnt incense, and offered sacrifice to their gods.

11:9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice;

11:10. And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow strange gods: but he kept not the things which the Lord commanded him.

11:11. The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy servant.

11:12. Nevertheless, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

11:13. Neither will I take away the whole kingdom; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for the sake of David, my servant, and Jerusalem, which I have chosen.

One tribe... Besides that of Juda, his own native tribe.

11:14. And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Adad, the Edomite, of the king's seed, in Edom.

11:15. For when David was in Edom, and Joab, the general of the army, was gone up to bury them that were slain, and had killed every male in Edom,

11:16. (For Joab remained there six months with all Israel, till he had slain every male in Edom,)

11:17. Then Adad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants, with him, to go into Egypt: and Adad was then a little boy.

11:18. And they arose out of Madian, and came into Pharan, and they took men with them from Pharan, and went into Egypt, to Pharao, the king of Egypt: who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and assigned him land.

11:19. And Adad found great favour before Pharao, insomuch that he gave him to wife the own sister of his wife, Taphnes, the queen.

11:20. And the sister of Taphnes bore him his son, Genubath; and Taphnes brought him up in the house of Pharao: and Genubath dwelt with Pharao among his children.

11:21. And when Adad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab, the general of the army, was dead, he said to Pharao: Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.

11:22. And Pharao said to him: Why, what is wanting to thee with me, that thou seekest to go to thy own country? But he answered: Nothing; yet I beseech thee to let me go.

11:23. God also raised up against him an adversary, Razon, the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Adarezer, the king of Soba.

11:24. And he gathered men against him, and he became a captain of robbers, when David slew them of Soba: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt there, and they made him king in Damascus.

11:25. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon: and this is the evil of Adad, and his hatred against Israel; and he reigned in Syria.

11:26. Jeroboam also, the son of Nabat, an Ephrathite, of Sareda, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was named Sarua, a widow woman, lifted up his hand against the king.

11:27. And this is the cause of his rebellion against him; for Solomon built Mello, and filled up the breach of the city of David, his father.

11:28. And Jeroboam was a valiant and mighty man: and Solomon seeing him a young man ingenious and industrious, made him chief over the tributes of all the house of Joseph.

11:29. So it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahias, the Silonite, clad with a new garment, found him in the way: and they two were alone in the field.

11:30. And Ahias taking his new garment, wherewith he was clad, divided it into twelve parts:

11:31. And he said to Jeroboam: Take to thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes.

11:32. But one tribe shall remain to him for the sake of my servant, David, and Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:

11:33. Because he hath forsaken me, and hath adored Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chamos, the god of Moab, and Moloch, the god of the children of Ammon: and hath not walked in my ways, to do justice before me, and to keep my precepts, and judgments, as did David, his father.

11:34. Yet I will not take away all the kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, who kept my commandments, and my precepts.

11:35. But I will take away the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give thee ten tribes:

11:36. And to his son I will give one tribe, that there may remain a lamp for my servant, David, before me always in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen, that my name might be there.

11:37. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel.

11:38. If then thou wilt hearken to all that I shall command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right before me, keeping my commandments and my precepts, as David, my servant, did: I will be with thee, and will build thee up a faithful house, as I built a house for David, and I will deliver Israel to thee:

11:39. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but yet not for ever.

11:40. Solomon, therefore, sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose, and fled into Egypt, to Sesac, the king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till the death of Solomon.

11:41. And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did and his wisdom: behold they are all written in the book of the words of the days of Solomon.

The book of the words, etc... This book is lost, with divers others mentioned in holy writ.

11:42. And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, were forty years.

11:43. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David, his father; and Roboam, his son, reigned in his stead.

Solomon slept, etc... That is, died. He was then about fifty-eight years of age, having reigned forty years.

3 Kings Chapter 12

Roboam, following the counsel of young men alienateth from him the minds of the people. They make Jeroboam king over ten tribes: he setteth up idolatry.

12:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come together to make him king.

12:2. But Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who was yet in Egypt, a fugitive from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned out of Egypt.

12:3. And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:

12:4. Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now, therefore, do thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

12:5. And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone,

12:6. King Roboam took counsel with the old men, that stood before Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and he said: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people?

12:7. They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people to day, and condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle words to them, they will be thy servants always.

12:8. But he left the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that had been brought up with him, and stood before him.

12:9. And he said to them: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people, who have said to me: Make the yoke, which thy father put upon us, lighter?

12:10. And the young men that had been brought up with him, said: Thus shalt thou speak to this people, who have spoken to thee, saying: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease us. Thou shalt say to them: My little finger is thicker than the back of my father.

12:11. And now my father put a heavy yoke upon you, but I will add to your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.

12:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people, came to Roboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third day.

12:13. And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,

12:14. And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying: My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.

12:15. And the king condescended not to the people: for the Lord was turned away from him, to make good his word, which he had spoken in the hand of Ahias, the Silonite, to Jeroboam, the son of Nabat.

12:16. Then the people, seeing that the king would not hearken to them, answered him, saying: What portion have we in David? or what inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel: now, David, look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their dwellings.

12:17. But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda, Roboam reigned over them.

12:18. Then king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tribute: and all Israel stoned him, and he died. Wherefore king Roboam made haste to get him up into his chariot, and he fled to Jerusalem:

12:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.

12:20. And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they gathered an assembly, and sent and called him, and made him king over all Israel, and there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Juda only.

Juda only... Benjamin was a small tribe, and so intermixed with the tribe of Juda, (the very city of Jerusalem being partly in Juda, partly in Benjamin,) that they are here counted but as one tribe.

12:21. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred fourscore thousand chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel, and to bring the kingdom again under Roboam, the son of Solomon.

12:22. But the word of the Lord came to Semeias, the man of God, saying:

12:23. Speak to Roboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Juda, and to all the house of Juda, and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying:

12:24. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the children of Israel: let every man return to his house, for this thing is from me. They hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned from their journey, as the Lord had commanded them.

12:25. And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there, and going out from thence, he built Phanuel.

12:26. And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David,

12:27. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem: and the heart of this people will turn to their lord Roboam, the king of Juda, and they will kill me, and return to him.

12:28. And finding out a device, he made two golden calves, and said to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

Golden calves... It is likely, by making his gods in this form, he mimicked the Egyptians, among whom he had sojourned, who worshipped their Apis and their Osiris under the form of a bullock.

12:29. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan:

Bethel and Dan... Bethel was a city of the tribe of Ephraim in the southern part of the dominions of Jeroboam, about six leagues from Jerusalem; Dan was in the extremity of his dominions to the north in the confines of Syria.

12:30. And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan.

12:31. And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

12:32. And he appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, after the manner of the feast that was celebrated in Juda. And going up to the altar, he did in like manner in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves, which he had made: and he placed in Bethel priests of the high places, which he had made.

12:33. And he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and went up on the altar to burn incense.

3 Kings Chapter 13

A prophet sent from Juda to Bethel foretelleth the birth of Josias, and the destruction of Jeroboam's altar. Jeroboam's hand offering violence to the prophet withereth, but is restored by the prophet's prayer: the same prophet is deceived by another prophet, and slain by a lion.

13:1. And behold there came a man of God out of Juda, by the word of the Lord, to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing upon the altar, and burning incense.

13:2. And he cried out against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said: O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold a child shall be born to the house of David, Josias by name, and he shall immolate upon thee the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon thee, and he shall burn men's bones upon thee.

13:3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying: This shall be the sign, that the Lord hath spoken: Behold the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it, shall be poured out.

13:4. And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying: Lay hold on him. And his hand which he stretched forth against him, withered: and he was not able to draw it back again to him.

13:5. The altar also was rent, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given before in the word of the Lord.

13:6. And the king said to the man of God: Entreat the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God besought the face of the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before.

13:7. And the king said to the man of God: Come home with me to dine, and I will make thee presents.

13:8. And the man of God answered the king: If thou wouldst give me half thy house, I will not go with thee, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place:

13:9. For so it was enjoined me by the word of the Lord commanding me: Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way that thou camest.

13:10. So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way that he came into Bethel.

13:11. Now a certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came to him, and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: and they told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

13:12. And their father said to them: What way went he? His sons shewed him the way by which the man of God went, who came out of Juda.

13:13. And he said to his sons: Saddle me the ass. And when they had saddled it, he got up,

13:14. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a turpentine tree: and he said to him: Art thou the man of God who camest from Juda? He answered: I am.

13:15. And he said to him: Come home with me to eat bread.

13:16. But he said: I must not return, nor go with thee, neither will I eat bread, or drink water in this place:

13:17. Because the Lord spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying: Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there, nor return by the way thou wentest.

13:18. He said to him: I also am a prophet like unto thee: and an angel spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived him,

An angel spoke to me, etc... This old man of Bethel was indeed a prophet, but he sinned in thus deceiving the man of God; the more because he pretended a revelation for what he did.

13:19. And brought him back with him: so he ate bread, and drank water in his house.

13:20. And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back:

13:21. And he cried out to the man of God who came out of Juda, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast not been obedient to the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

13:22. And hast returned, and eaten bread, and drunk water in the place wherein he commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread, nor drink water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre of thy fathers.

13:23. And when he had eaten and drunk, he saddled his ass for the prophet, whom he had brought back.

13:24. And when he was gone, a lion found him in the way, and killed him, and his body was cast in the way: and the ass stood by him, and the lion stood by the dead body.

Killed him... Thus the Lord often punishes his servants here, that he may spare them hereafter. For the generality of divines are of opinion, that the sin of this prophet, considered with all its circumstances, was not mortal.

13:25. And behold, men passing by, saw the dead body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city, wherein that old prophet dwelt.

13:26. And when that prophet, who had brought him back out of the way, heard of it, he said: It is the man of God, that was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and the Lord hath delivered him to the lion, and he hath torn him, and killed him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.

13:27. And he said to his sons: Saddle me an ass. And when they had saddled it,

13:28. And he was gone, he found the dead body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten of the dead body, nor hurt the ass.

13:29. And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and going back brought it into the city of the old prophet, to mourn for him.

13:30. And he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre: and they mourned over him, saying: Alas! alas, my brother.

13:31. And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones.

13:32. For assuredly the word shall come to pass which he hath foretold in the word of the Lord, against the altar that is in Bethel: and against all the temples of the high places, that are in the cities of Samaria.

13:33. After these words, Jeroboam came not back from his wicked way: but on the contrary, he made of the meanest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he filled his hand, and he was made a priest of the high places.

13:34. And for this cause did the house of Jeroboam sin, and was cut off, and destroyed from the face of the earth.

3 Kings Chapter 14

Ahias prophesieth the destruction of the family of Jeroboam. He dieth, and is succeeded by his son Nadab. The king of Egypt taketh and pillageth Jerusalem. Roboam dieth and his son Abiam succeedeth.

14:1. At that time Abia, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick.

14:2. And Jeroboam said to his wife: Arise, and change thy dress, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Silo, where Ahias, the prophet is, who told me that I should reign over this people.

14:3. Take also with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a pot of honey, and go to him: for he will tell thee what will become of this child.

14:4. Jeroboam's wife did as he told her: and rising up, went to Silo, and came to the house of Ahias; but he could not see, for his eyes were dim by reason of his age.

14:5. And the Lord said to Ahias: Behold the wife of Jeroboam cometh in, to consult thee concerning her son, that is sick: thus and thus shalt thou speak to her. So when she was coming in, and made as if she were another woman,

14:6. Ahias heard the sound of her feet, coming in at the door, and said: Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why dost thou feign thyself to be another? But I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

14:7. Go, and tell Jeroboam: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: For as much as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel;

14:8. And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to thee, and thou hast not been as my servant, David, who kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing that which was well pleasing in my sight:

14:9. But hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast made thee strange gods, and molten gods, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

14:10. Therefore, behold I will bring evils upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel: and I will sweep away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as dung is swept away till all be clean.

14:11. Them that shall die of Jeroboam in the city, the dogs shall eat: and them that shall die in the field, the birds of the air shall devour: for the Lord hath spoken it.

14:12. Arise thou, therefore, and go to thy house: and when thy feet shall be entering into the city, the child shall die,

14:13. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and shall bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall be laid in a sepulchre, because in his regard there is found a good word from the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

14:14. And the Lord hath appointed himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam in this day, and in this time:

14:15. And the Lord God shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water: and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river: because they have made to themselves groves, to provoke the Lord.

14:16. And the Lord shall give up Israel for the sins of Jeroboam, who hath sinned, and made Israel to sin.

14:17. And the wife of Jeroboam arose, and departed, and came to Thersa: and when she was coming in to the threshold of the house, the child died,

14:18. And they buried him. And all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahias, the prophet.

14:19. And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.

The book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel... This book, which is often mentioned in the Book of Kings, is long since lost. For as to the books of Paralipomenon, or Chronicles, (which the Hebrews call the words of the days,) they were certainly written after the Book of Kings, since they frequently refer to them.

14:20. And the days that Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers: and Nadab, his son, reigned in his stead.