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1 Kings 12:27

in 1 Kings 12

If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.

KJV

If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.

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This verse in 1 Kings 12

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Kill me - In case his subjects desired a reconciliation with Rehoboam, Jeroboam’s death would at once facilitate the re-establishment of a single kingdom, and obtain favor with the legitimate monarch. (Compare 2Sa 4:7.)

This site's exposition

Now shall the kingdom return

on 1 Kings 12:26-27

Jeroboam reasons within himself rather than inquiring of the Lord who had just given him the kingdom, and his fear is that pilgrimage to Jerusalem's temple will pull the people's hearts back to Rehoboam and cost him his life. The reasoning is the forfeiture of thread two in real time: at 11:38 the Lord had offered Jeroboam the same sure house built for David, on the condition that he keep the statutes as David did, and here in his own heart he trades that promise for a policy he can control himself. Matthew Henry names the root of it directly: a practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our treacherous departures from him.

This site's exposition

their hearts will return to their lord

Albert Barnes explains the fear of death: killing Jeroboam would reunite the kingdom and win the favor of Rehoboam. He compares 2 Samuel 4:7, where two of Saul's own men killed Ish-bosheth and carried his head to David. Jeroboam fears the same end.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

He was distrustful of the promise of God, could not take his word that, if he would keep close to his duty, God would build him a sure house ( ch. xi. 38 ); but he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our treacherous departures from him.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

But considering God's providence, by which the hearts of all men, and the affairs of all kingdoms are governed, and of which he had lately seen so eminent an instance; it was a foolish, as well as wicked course.
If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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 Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The latter place was the most frequented--for the words (1Ki 12:30) should be rendered, "the people even to Dan went to worship before the one" (Jer 48:13; The innovation was a sin because it was setting up the worship of God by symbols and images and departing from the place where He had chosen to put His name.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

And they shall kill me - He found he had little cause to trust this fickle people; though they had declared for him it was more from caprice, desire of change, and novelty, than from any regular and praiseworthy principle.

The words behind it

25 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • אִֽם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • יַעֲלֶ֣ה׀it will go up

    yaalehH5927 →890 times

  • הָעָ֣םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • הַזֶּ֗ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • לַעֲשׂ֨וֹתto make

    laasotH6213 →2628 times

  • זְבָחִ֤יםsacrifices

    zevachimH2077 →162 times

  • בְּבֵית־in [the] house of

    beveit-H1004 →2046 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • בִּיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םin Jerusalem

    birushalimH3389 →643 times

  • וְ֠שָׁבand it will return

    veshoH7725 →1056 times

  • לֵ֣ב[the] heart of

    levH3820 →595 times

  • הָעָ֤םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • הַזֶּה֙<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אֲדֹ֣נֵיהֶ֔םto lord<s> their

    ʾadoneihemH113 →333 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • רְחַבְעָ֖םRehoboam

    rechavamH7346 →50 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH4428 →2525 times

  • יְהוּדָ֑הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • וַהֲרָגֻ֕נִיand they will kill me

    vaharaguniH2026 →167 times

  • וְשָׁ֖בוּand they will return

    veshavuH7725 →1056 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • רְחַבְעָ֥םRehoboam

    rechavamH7346 →50 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • יְהוּדָֽה׃Judah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

14 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Kings 15:17Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.5 worksDeuteronomy 12:5–7Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.3 worksDeuteronomy 16:6You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.3 worksProverbs 29:25The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.3 worksDeuteronomy 12:14you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.3 works1 Kings 8:29–30May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.2 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Kings 11:32But one tribe will remain for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.2 works1 Corinthians 1:19–20For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”2 worksDeuteronomy 16:2You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.2 works1 Kings 8:44When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,2 worksGenesis 26:7But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”2 worksGenesis 12:12–13and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.2 works2 Chronicles 13:6Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master.2 works2 Chronicles 16:1In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Proverbs 29:25

    The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 118:8

      It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.

    • Luke 12:4

      I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

    • Proverbs 18:10

      The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

    • Psalms 91:14

      “Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.

    • Proverbs 16:20

      Whoever heeds instruction will find success, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 12:14

    you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 12:5

      Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 16:6

    You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same…

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 1:19–20

      but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

    • Hebrews 9:26

      Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 12 →

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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Kings 12 →