1 Kings 14:20

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 14:20. Jeroboam reigned two and twenty years — So he lived till the second year of Asa, chap. 15. He slept with his fathers — He died as his fathers did, or perhaps the expression also implies, that he was buried with his ancestors. Their sepulchre, however, may appear too mean for a great king. It is probable that he died soon after his son: and we read, (2 Chronicles 13:20,) The Lord struck him; probably with some sudden and sore disease, which soon cut him off. He left his crown to Nadab his son, who lost it, and his life too, and the lives of all his family, within ten years after. The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment, Job 20:5.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:7-20 Whether we keep an account of God's mercies to us or not, he does; and he will set them in order before us, if we are ungrateful, to our greater confusion. Ahijah foretells the speedy death of the child then sick, in mercy to him. He only in the house of Jeroboam had affection for the true worship of God, and disliked the worship of the calves. To show the power and sovereignty of his grace, God saves some out of the worst families, in whom there is some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel. The righteous are removed from the evil to come in this world, to the good to come in a better world. It is often a bad sign for a family, when the best in it are buried out of it. Yet their death never can be a loss to themselves. It was a present affliction to the family and kingdom, by which both ought to have been instructed. God also tells the judgments which should come upon the people of Israel, for conforming to the worship Jeroboam established. After they left the house of David, the government never continued long in one family, but one undermined and destroyed another. Families and kingdoms are ruined by sin. If great men do wickedly, they draw many others, both into the guilt and punishment. The condemnation of those will be severest, who must answer, not only for their own sins, but for sins others have been drawn into, and kept in, by them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The wars of Jeroboam may be divided into:

(1) his wars with Rehoboam (see 1 Kings 14:25, 1 Kings 14:30); and

(2) his war with Abijam (see the marginal reference).

The book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel - (of Judah, 1 Kings 14:29). See the Introduction.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. the rest of the acts of Jeroboam—None of the threatenings denounced against this family produced any change in his policy or government.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

So he lived till Asa’s second year, 1 Kings 15:25.

He slept with his fathers; either, first, He was buried with his ancestors. But their sepulchre seems to be too mean and improper for a great king; and kings used to be buried in peculiar sepulchres. Or, secondly, He died, as his fathers did.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty two years,.... So that he outlived Rehoboam five years, and lived to the second year of the reign of his grandson Asa:

and he slept with his fathers; or died as they did:

and Nadab his son reigned in his stead; who perhaps was younger than Abijah, whose sickness and death are before related.

Geneva Study Bible

And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he {o} slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

(o) The Lord smote him and he died, 2Ch 13:20.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. two and twenty years] So that Jeroboam’s death occurred in the second year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah. Cf. 1 Kings 15:9; 1 Kings 15:25. It appears from 2 Chronicles 13:20 to have been by some sudden visitation. ‘The Lord struck him, and he died.’

Nadab his son] We have only Abijah and Nadab mentioned of Jeroboam’s family, but perhaps we may infer from the language of 1 Kings 15:29, that these were not the whole of his children.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years [Bahr remarks that the exploits of this long reign find no mention in Scripture; the historian dwells exclusively on the sin, the consequences of which were of so much greater moment]: and he slept with his fathers [Jeroboam's end would appear to have been untimely. After his defeat by Abijah, we are told, "the Lord struck him, and he died," which may either mean that he died by a lingering disease (2 Chronicles 21:18, 19) or more suddenly (2 Samuel 12:15), but which certainly implies that he died "by the visitation of God." I have suggested elsewhere (Homil. Quart. IV., p. 257) that the "stroke" was not improbably his son's death, which was at once so tragical and such a bitter foretaste of judgment to come. He may have "warred and reigned" (ver. 19) after this event. He may also have steadily drooped to his grave], and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

CHAPTER 14:21-31. THE REIGN OF REHOBOAM. - 1 Kings 14:20

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

End of Jeroboam's reign. Of the wars, which were described in the annals of the kings, the war with Abijam of Judah is the only one of which we have any account (2 Chronicles 13:2.). See also the Comm. on 1 Kings 14:30. He was followed on the throne by his son Nadab.