1 Kings 12:25
in 1 Kings 12Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and he went out from thence, and built Penuel.
KJV
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
⋯
This verse in 1 Kings 12
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWe have learned in the books of Kings that under Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, made a division among the people and led ten tribes into Samaria. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, however, remained under the rule of Rehoboam; and many likewise from the tribe of Levi who were dwelling in Jerusalem as priests and Levites—as it is written in Paralipomenon—returned to the temple of God, that is, to Jerusalem.
This site's exposition
built Shechem in mount Ephraim
Jeroboam fortifies Shechem for his capital and then Penuel, on the far side of Jordan, to secure his eastern frontier. Penuel carries its own history: Jacob named the place Peniel, the face of God, after wrestling there and seeing God face to face and living, and it is Penuel by the next verse of that same account in Genesis. The king who is about to invent a religion of his own fortifies the very spot where an ancestor once met the true God directly, and the text lets the location speak without comment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The Scriptures tell us that God chose a certain nation on the earth, which they call by several names. For the whole of this nation is termed Israel and also Jacob. And when it was divided in the times of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the ten tribes subject to him were called Israel, while the remaining two, along with the tribe of Levi, being ruled over by the de¬scendants of David, were named Judah. And the whole of the territory which the people of this nation inhabited, being given to them by God, received the name of Judea, the metropolis of which is Jerusalem—a metropolis, namely, of numerous cities, the names of which lie scattered about in many other passages of Scripture but which are enumerated together in the book of Joshua the son of Nun. Such, then, being the case, the apostle, elevating our power of discernment above the letter, says some¬where, "Behold Israel according to the flesh," as if there were an Israel "according to the Spirit." And in another place he says, "For they who are the children of the flesh are not the children of God" nor are "they all Israel who are descended from Israel."
The people were divided in those times into the kingdom of ten tribes under Jeroboam and the kingdom of two tribes under Rehoboam. And those under Jeroboam were called Israel, and those under Rehoboam Judah. And the division of the people persisted, according to the history, until today. For we know of nothing in the history that united Israel and Judah "into the same nation." Then Israel first, under Jeroboam and under his successors, sinned excessively, and Israel sinned so much beyond Judah that they were sentenced by Providence to become captives "to the Assyrians until the sign," as the Scripture says. After this, the sons of Judah also sinned, and as captives they were sentenced to Babylon, not until a sign, as Israel, but for "seventy years," which Jeremiah prophesied and Daniel also mentioned.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Shechem - He repaired, and enlarged, and fortified it; for it had been ruined long since, Judg. ix, 45. He might chuse it as a place both auspicious, because here the foundation of his monarchy was laid; and commodious, as being near the frontiers of his kingdom.
), the former in Ephraim, the latter in Gad, on the other side Jordan. This might be proper; but he formed another project for the establishing of his kingdom which was fatal to the interests of religion in it. That which he designed was by some effectual means to secure those to himself who had now chosen him for their king, and to prevent their return to the house of David,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Sin is a bad way of building up a family. Rehoboam was the son of the wisest of men, yet did not inherit his father's wisdom, and then it stood him in little stead to inherit his father's throne. Neither wisdom nor grace runs in the blood.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Built Shechem - In the sense of “enlarged and fortified.” See Dan 4:30. The first intention of Jeroboam seems to have been to make Shechem his capital, and therefore he immediately set about its fortification. So also he seems to have fortified Penuel for the better security of his Trans-Jordanic possessions (marginal reference).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It was rebuilt, and perhaps fortified, by Jeroboam, as a royal residence. built Penuel--a ruined city with a tower (Jud 8:9), east of Jordan, on the north bank of the Jabbok. It was an object of importance to restore this fortress (as it lay on the caravan road from Gilead to Damascus and Palmyra) and to secure his frontier on that quarter.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּ֨בֶן | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| יָרָבְעָ֧ם | yaraveam | Jeroboam | H3379 → | 104 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁכֶ֛ם | shekhem | Shechem | H7927 → | 63 times |
| בְּהַ֥ר | behar | in [the] hill country of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| אֶפְרַ֖יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | |
| וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב | vaiyeshev | and he dwelt | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָּ֑הּ | bah | in it | ||
| וַיֵּצֵ֣א | vaiyetze' | and he went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִשָּׁ֔ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| וַיִּ֖בֶן | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פְּנוּאֵֽל׃ | penuel | Penuel | H6439 → |
וַיִּ֨בֶןand he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
יָרָבְעָ֧םJeroboam
yaraveamH3379 →104 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁכֶ֛םShechem
shekhemH7927 →63 times
בְּהַ֥רin [the] hill country of
beharH2022 →546 times
אֶפְרַ֖יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →
וַיֵּ֣שֶׁבand he dwelt
vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times
בָּ֑הּin it
bah
וַיֵּצֵ֣אand he went out
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
מִשָּׁ֔םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
וַיִּ֖בֶןand he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פְּנוּאֵֽל׃Penuel
penuelH6439 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 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
Judges 9:1Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,
it leads to
- Judges 8:31
His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.
- Psalms 83:2–4
See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads.
- 1 Kings 12:3
So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said,
- Genesis 34:2
When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.
- Jeremiah 18:18
Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us…
- Judges 8:31
Through
Judges 8:8From there he went up to Penuel and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.
it leads to
- Genesis 32:30–31
So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
- Genesis 32:30–31
Through
Judges 8:17He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
it leads to
- Judges 8:9
So Gideon told the men of Penuel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower!”
- Judges 8:9
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.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 11 (PS 77 [78]); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 4.1.20-21 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 4.2.