1 Kings 12:24
in 1 Kings 12that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this word is from Me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they hearkened unto the word of Jehovah, and returned and went their way, according to the word of Jehovah.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.
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This verse in 1 Kings 12
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor this thing is from me - That is, the separation of the ten tribes from the house of David. They - returned to depart - This was great deference, both in Rehoboam and his officers, to relinquish, at the demand of the prophet, a war which they thought they had good grounds to undertake. The remnant of the people heard the Divine command gratefully, for the mass of mankind are averse from war. No nations would ever rise up against each other, were they not instigated to it or compelled by the rulers.
This site's exposition
an hundred and fourscore thousand
on 1 Kings 12:21-24
Rehoboam raises Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to force the ten tribes back under him by the sword, and civil war stands one march away from beginning. Shemaiah the man of God stops it with a single sentence carrying the Lord's own name on it, this thing is from me, and Rehoboam obeys a prophet's word over a standing army's advantage. The word is the same one already announced at verse 15, now spoken directly to the king rather than narrated about him, and Judah's whole host turns for home without a battle fought.
This site's exposition
fight against your brothers, the Israelites
The LORD calls the ten tribes brothers, the same people Rehoboam had raised 180,000 warriors to crush. Adam Clarke notes how much it cost the king and his officers to drop a war they thought just, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown record the army scattering home. War came later, at 14:30.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), whom they ought to love, but to fight against their God, to whom they ought to submit: This thing is from me. These two considerations should reconcile us to our losses and troubles, that God is the author of them and our brethren are the instruments of them; let us not therefore meditate revenge.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Thus saith the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Rehoboam determined to assert his authority by leading a large force into the disaffected provinces. But the revolt of the ten tribes was completed when the prophet Shemaiah ordered, in the Lord's name, an abandonment of any hostile measures against the revolutionists. The army, overawed by the divine prohibition, dispersed, and the king was obliged to submit.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2476: “"This Thing Is From Me"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IT is very delightful to read a history in which God is made prominent. How sadly deficient we are of such histories of our own English nation! Yet surely there is no story that is more full of God than the record of the doings of our British race. Cowper, in one of his poems, shows the parallel between us and the house of Israel. He dwells upon various special incidents in our history and draws valuable lessons from them.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2476: “"This Thing Is From Me"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IT is very delightful to read a history in which God is made prominent. How sadly deficient we are of such histories of our own English nation! Yet surely there is no story that is more full of God than the record of the doings of our British race. Cowper, in one of his poems, shows the parallel between us and the house of Israel. He dwells upon various special incidents in our history and draws valuable lessons from them. God's wisdom and power have been conspicuous from the time when this now, full-grown nation, was but like a nursing child. He has nursed and watched over it, protecting it against gigantic foes and made it to be the defender of His Truth, the favored abode of His people. Oh, for a historian who could dip his pen in thoughts of God and who, from beginning to end of his history, would not be showing us the crafty policy of kings and cabinets, but the finger of God! We need, nowadays, to have history written in some such style as appears in these Books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles—then might history become almost like a new Bible to us! We would find that, as the Book of Revelation agrees with the Book of Creation, so does the book of Divine Providence in human history agree with both of them, for the same God is the Author of all these works! If we cannot get anybody to write such histories, yet let us continually amend the errors and add appendices to such records as we have, for God is God, and God is everywhere, and blessed is the man who learns to spy Him out! Notice, next, what I pointed out to you in our reading, what power was possessed by God's Prophets under the Old Testament. Here is one Shemaiah—some of you never heard of him before—perhaps you will never hear of him again.
The words behind it
27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֣ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֡ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲלוּ֩ | taalu | you must go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִלָּ֨חֲמ֜וּן | tilachamun | you must do battle ! | H3898 → | 177 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֲחֵיכֶ֣ם | ʾacheikhem | countrymen your | H251 → | 630 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| שׁ֚וּבוּ | shuvu | return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לְבֵית֔וֹ | leveito | to own house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| כִּ֧י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מֵאִתִּ֛י | meiti | from with <the> me | H854 → | 929 times |
| נִהְיָ֖ה | nihyah | it has occurred | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַדָּבָ֣ר | hadavar | the thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ | vaiyishmeu | and they listened to | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּבַ֣ר | devar | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיָּשֻׁ֥בוּ | vaiyashuvu | and they turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לָלֶ֖כֶת | lalekhet | to go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| כִּדְבַ֥ר | kidvar | according to [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ ס | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
כֹּ֣הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֡הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲלוּ֩you must go up
taaluH5927 →890 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִלָּ֨חֲמ֜וּןyou must do battle !
tilachamunH3898 →177 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
אֲחֵיכֶ֣םcountrymen your
ʾacheikhemH251 →630 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] people of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
שׁ֚וּבוּreturn
shuvuH7725 →1056 times
אִ֣ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לְבֵית֔וֹto own house his
leveitoH1004 →2046 times
כִּ֧יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מֵאִתִּ֛יfrom with <the> me
meitiH854 →929 times
נִהְיָ֖הit has occurred
nihyahH1961 →3559 times
הַדָּבָ֣רthe thing
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ֙and they listened to
vaiyishmeuH8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּבַ֣ר[the] word of
devarH1697 →1440 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיָּשֻׁ֥בוּand they turned back
vaiyashuvuH7725 →1056 times
לָלֶ֖כֶתto go
lalekhetH1980 →1546 times
כִּדְבַ֥רaccording to [the] word of
kidvarH1697 →1440 times
יְהוָֽה׃ סYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
1 Kings 12:15So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 11:29–38
During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was going out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 2:30
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as…
- Judges 14:4
(Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.)
- 2 Chronicles 25:20
But Amaziah would not listen, for this had come from God in order to deliver them into the hand of Jehoash, because they had sought the gods of Edom.
- 2 Chronicles 10:15
So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from God, in order that the LORD might fulfill the word that He had spoken through Ahijah the…
- 1 Kings 11:29–38
Through
2 Chronicles 11:4that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers. Each of you must return home, for this word is from Me.’” So they listened to…
it leads to
- Genesis 50:20
As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- 2 Chronicles 28:8–15
Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their kinsmen—women, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a great deal of plunder and brought it to Samaria.
- Genesis 50:20
Through
Numbers 14:42Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:42
But the LORD said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.”
- Deuteronomy 1:42
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2476: “"This Thing Is From Me"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.