1 Kings 12:1
in 1 Kings 12Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
KJV
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
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This verse in 1 Kings 12
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The first step taken by the new king was a most judicious one. If anything could have removed the disaffection of the Ephraimites, and caused them to submit to the ascendancy of Judah, it would have been the honor done to their capital by its selection as the scene of the coronation. Shechem (now Nablous) lay on the flank of Mount Gerizim, directly opposite to Mount Ebal, in a position second to none in all Palestine.
This site's exposition
Rehoboam went to Shechem
on 1 Kings 12:1-2
Solomon's son goes not to Jerusalem but to Shechem to be made king, the city where Abraham first built an altar in the land and where Joshua renewed the covenant, and the choice of ground says the tribes still expect a covenant, not merely a coronation. Jeroboam is already back from Egypt before the meeting is announced, which the text records without explaining who sent for him first. He had fled Solomon's court after Ahijah the Shilonite tore a new garment into twelve pieces and gave him ten, the word that stands behind everything the rest of this chapter narrates.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Rehoboam went to Shechem,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
When all Israel came to make him king, it was not to exercise their old right of election (1Sa 10:19-21), for, after God's promise of the perpetual sovereignty to David's posterity, their duty was submission to the authority of the rightful heir; but their object was, when making him king, to renew the conditions and stipulations to which their constitutional kings were subject (1Sa 10:25).
Rehoboam went to Shechem - Rehoboam was probably the only son of Solomon; for although he had a thousand wives, he had not the blessing of a numerous offspring; and although he was the wisest of men himself, his son was a poor, unprincipled fool. Had Solomon kept himself within reasonable bounds in matrimonial affairs, he would probably have had more children; and such as would have had common sense enough to discern the delicacy of their situation, and rule according to reason and religion.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| רְחַבְעָ֖ם | rechavam | Rehoboam | H7346 → | 50 times |
| שְׁכֶ֑ם | shekhem | Shechem | H7927 → | 63 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שְׁכֶ֛ם | shekhem | Shechem | H7927 → | 63 times |
| בָּ֥א | ba' | it had gone | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לְהַמְלִ֥יךְ | lehamlikh | to make king | H4427 → | 348 times |
| אֹתֽוֹ׃ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
וַיֵּ֥לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
רְחַבְעָ֖םRehoboam
rechavamH7346 →50 times
שְׁכֶ֑םShechem
shekhemH7927 →63 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
שְׁכֶ֛םShechem
shekhemH7927 →63 times
בָּ֥אit had gone
ba'H935 →2568 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לְהַמְלִ֥יךְto make king
lehamlikhH4427 →348 times
אֹתֽוֹ׃<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 20:7So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
it leads to
- Joshua 21:11
They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)
- Joshua 21:32
And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.
- Luke 1:39
In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,
- 1 Chronicles 6:76
And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim, together with their pasturelands.
- Joshua 21:11
Through
Psalms 60:6God has spoken from His sanctuary: “I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem and apportion the Valley of Succoth.
it leads to
- Joshua 13:27
and in the valley, Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, with the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon (the territory on the east side of the Jordan up to the edge of…
- Psalms 89:35
Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness— I will not lie to David—
- Genesis 12:6
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.
- Joshua 13:27
Through
1 Kings 11:43And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:10
Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
- 1 Kings 2:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomRehoboamSolomon's son whose refusal of the elders' counsel at Shechem — answering the people with scorpions — tore ten tribes from the hou…
- PlaceCentral hill countryShechemThe city between Ebal and Gerizim where Abram built his first altar in the land, where Joshua set the people to choose whom they w…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.