1 Kings 14:31

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:21-31 Here is no good said of Rehoboam, and much said to the disadvantage of his subjects. The abounding of the worst crimes, of the worst of the heathen, in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen for his temple and his worship, shows that nothing can mend the hearts of fallen men but the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. On this alone may we depend; for this let us daily pray, in behalf of ourselves and all around us. The splendour of their temple, the pomp of their priesthood, and all the advantages with which their religion was attended, could not prevail to keep them close to it; nothing less than the pouring out the Spirit will keep God's Israel in their allegiance to him. Sin exposes, makes poor, and weakens any people. Shishak, king of Egypt, came and took away the treasures. Sin makes the gold become dim, changes the most fine gold, and turns it into brass.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Slept with his fathers and was buried ... - Compare 1 Kings 11:43. The expression is a sort of formula, and is used with respect to all the kings of Judah, except two or three. The writer probably regards the fact, which he records so carefully, as a continuation of God's mercy to David.

His mother's name ... - The mention of the queen-mother so regularly in the account of the kings of Judah is thought to indicate that she had an important position in the state. There are, however, only two instances where such a person seems to have exercised any power 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 11:1-20.

Abijam - Abijah (see the marginal reference) was probably his real name, while Abijam is a form due to the religious feeling of the Jews, who would not allow the word JAH to be retained as an element in the name of so bad a king. Instances of a similar feeling are the change of Bethel" into Beth-aven in Hosea 1 Kings Hosea 4:15, and perhaps of Jehoahaz into Ahaz (2 Kings 15:38 note).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

30. there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam—The former was prohibited from entering on an aggressive war; but as the two kingdoms kept up a jealous rivalry, he might be forced into vigilant measures of defense, and frequent skirmishes would take place on the borders.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess; this is repeated as a thing very observable. See Poole "1 Kings 14:21".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David,.... Where David and Solomon were buried, 1 Kings 2:10 and his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess; which is repeated, that it might be observed as what was the leading step to his idolatry, and the means of his continuing in it:

and Abijam his son reigned in his stead; of whom there is a further account in the following chapter.

Geneva Study Bible

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an {t} Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

(t) Whose idolatry Rehoboam her son followed.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

31. and his mother’s name—Ammonitess] These words, which are identical with the closing paragraph of 1 Kings 14:21 are omitted, by the LXX. (Vat.). Their occurrence twice so close together seems to shew that the compiler of 1 Kings was drawing from several sources, and that he copied 1 Kings 14:21-24 from one narrative just as they stood, and 1 Kings 14:25-31 from another, which both contained the same piece of information about Rehoboam’s mother. Here as in 1 Kings 14:21 we should render ‘the Ammonitess.’ In the long passage which the LXX. inserts after 1 Kings 14:24 of chap. 12. (see additional note thereon) she is called Ναανὰν θυγάτηρ Ἄνα υἱοῦ Ναὰς βασιλέως υἱῶν Ἀμμών. The king intended by these words is probably Hanun, the son of Nahash, of whom we hear something in 2 Samuel 10. If Hanun became reconciled to David after the events there related, the marriage of Solomon with his daughter might have been one item in their treaty of friendship. But the authority of the addition in the LXX. is not very great.

Abijam his son] Called in 2 Chronicles 12:16, and elsewhere, Abijah.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 31. - And Rehoboam slept with his fathers [The same formula as in 1 Kings 2:10; 1 Kings 11:43; 1 Kings 15:8, 24, etc. It is used of nearly all the kings of Judah], and was buried with his fathers [These words go to prove, against Gesenius, that the phrase "slept (lit. lay down) with his fathers" is not to be interpreted of Sheol, but of the grave; see on 1 Kings 2:10] in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. [Same words as in ver. 21. The repetition can hardly be, as Bahr, Wordsworth, al., imagine, designed, in order to show that the worship of Moloch was brought by her to Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7), and that she exercised a sinister influence upon her son. As she is twice called "the Ammonitess" it can hardly be doubted that she was one of the "Ammonitesses" (1 Kings 11:1, Hebrews) who turned away Solomon's heart; and it is also certain that Rehoboam did not inherit his folly from his father. At the same time these words are more easily accounted for on the supposition that the historian found them in this position in one or more of the documents from which he compiled his history. It is also to be remembered that some of these chronological statements are manifestly by a later hand, and have been transferred from the margin to the text. See on 1 Kings 6:1.] And Abijam [elsewhere called Abijah (2 Chronicles 12:16; 2 Chronicles 13:1), or Abijahu (2 Chronicles 13:21, Hebrews) Some MSS. have Abijah here. The variation is not easily accounted for except as a clerical error. The supposition of Lightfoot that the name was designedly altered by the historian to avoid the incorporation of the sacred JAH into the name of a bad man is too fanciful, the more so as Abijam was by no means an exceptionally bad king. It is, however, approved by Bahr and Rawlinson. But it is as little probable that Abijam is the original form of the name (Keil). The form Abijahu, the LXX. Ἀβιού, and the analogy of Abiel (1 Samuel 9:1) all make against this idea. On the whole, it is more likely that Abijam results from an error of transcription, ה and the final ם being easily confounded] his son reigned in his stead.



1 Kings 14:31

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Death and burial of Rehoboam: as in the case of Solomon (1 Kings 11:43). The name of the queen-mother has already been given in 1 Kings 14:21, and the repetition of it here may be explained on the supposition that in the original sources employed by the author of our books it stood in this position. The son and successor of Rehoboam upon the throne is called Abijam (אביּם) in the account before us; whereas in the Chronicles he is always called Abijah (אביּה, 2 Chronicles 12:16; 2 Chronicles 13:1, etc., or אביּהוּ, 2 Chronicles 13:21). אביּם, i.e., father of the sea, is unquestionably the older form of the name, which was reduced to אביּה, and then identified with the formation from אבי and יה equals יהוּ (from יהוה).