1 Kings 12


1 Kings 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. 1 Kings 12:1 to 16:14 documents the consolidation of the kingdoms of northern Israel and Judah: this chapter focusses on the reigns of Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and since the 16th century is divided into 33 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is, List of manuscripts from [Qumran Cave 6|6Q4] with extant verses 28–31.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Old Testament references

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Negotiations in Shechem (12:1–20)

Rehoboam took the throne in Judah without opposition, but he required confirmation from the northern kingdom. After Solomon's death, the northern tribes of Israel requested negotiations with the new king in Shechem and when the early negotiation failed, Jeroboam was called upon to lead the petition to reduce the financial burdens imposed by Solomon. Rehoboam seeks advice from 'the older men who had attended his father Solomon' and with 'the young men who had grown up with him and now attended him', representing a political conflict between two generations. The 'undiplomatic arrogance' of Rehoboam's reply based on the advice of the younger advisors triggered what already perceived by the northern tribes that Solomon and his family intended to squeeze the northern Israel hard, in comparison to the tribe of Judah, so the northern tribes decided to separate. Despite the acknowledgment that things happened exactly as the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh had forecast, the author of this passage still regards the separation as a 'perverse rebellion against the legitimate reign of the descendants of David'.

Verse 18

  • "Adoram": Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have "Adoniram.". He was the tax collector in the United Kingdom of Israel for over forty years, from the late years of King David's reign until the early reign of Rehoboam, and was responsible "over the tribute", that is, the levy or forced labor, and in charge of conscripted timber cutters during the building of King Solomon's temple.

Civil war averted (12:21–24)

The separation of northern tribes happened as prophesied by the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh as a divine judgement upon the ruling house of Jerusalem, and confirmed by the prophet Shemaiah in this passage that Rehoboam and the Judeans should not go against God's irreversible decision, especially when it means fighting against their 'kindred'.

State worship in Bethel and Dan (12:25–33)

The record of Jeroboam I of Israel spans from 1 Kings 12:25 to 14:24, but in the Septuagint version of Codex Vaticanus there is an addition before verse 25, numbered as 24a to 24z, which is not present in the Hebrew Bible, but this Greek text often concurs literally with the Hebrew text in 1 Kings 11–14 although containing some significant differences, such as:
  1. Jeroboam was a son of Sarira, a harlot.
  2. Jeroboam, while serving a commander of a chariot unit during Solomon's reign, laid claim to the entire kingdom, so Solomon sought to kill him, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt.
  3. After returning from exile in Egypt, Jeroboam waited in his home town Zereda and fortified the city, where his wife Anot was told by the prophet Ahijah about the sickness and death of Abijah, her son.
  4. Jeroboam was promised ten of the twelve tribes in Shechem by the prophet Shemaiah.
  5. After the failure of negotiations with Rehoboam and the looming civil war, the compromise settlement gave Jeroboam ten tribes and Rehoboam two.
Also, in Greek text, Rehoboam was made king at 16 years of age, and reigned 12 years ; his mother was Naanan, the daughter of Ana, son of Nahash, king of Ammon.
Jeroboam became the founder and quasi-democratically legitimized ruler of northern Israel, but he was always afraid to be dethroned by the same constituents when they still remember the Davidic rule, so he initiated a number of building projects, such as castles in the cis-Jordanian Shechem and in trans-Jordanian Penuel, — and state holy sites in Dan and Bethel, at the sites of long existed worship places. Jeroboam's statue of 'calves' more closely resembled those of bulls, the animal symbolizing Canaan's main gods El and Baal, but he claimed to worship the Israelite YHWH 'who brought you up out of the land of Egypt' , as also evidenced in the archaeological excavations in Tel-Dan, the site of ancient city of Dan, where the seal impressions with Yahwistic names, the architecture of the high place, the artifacts, and the animal bones for sacrifices to YHWH. Nonetheless, this is not in accordance to the main belief that God's temple resides in Zion, so Jeroboam's policy was severely criticized and interpreted as 'the seed of the fall of his dynasty and also the kingdom he founded', in particular, the establishment of holy high places, the appointment of non-Levite priests, and the unauthorized introduction of a religious feast.

Verses 28–29

  • "Dan": Archaeological excavation in the site of ancient city Dan has revealed the high place and location of the golden calf statue.