1 Kings 15:6
in 1 Kings 15And there was war between the houses of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
KJV
And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
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This verse in 1 Kings 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. Not the days of Rehoboam, though that was true, and is observed, 1Ki 14:30, but all the days of Abijam, before he came to the throne, and in which, when a young man, he was concerned, and which still continued between him and Jeroboam; though some think he is called by his father's name, as Rehoboam is called David, 1Ki 12:16.
This site's exposition
war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam
on 1 Kings 15:6-8
Verse 6 repeats, almost word for word, the notice already given of Rehoboam and Jeroboam at 14:30, and verse 7 restates the same standing war now under Abijam's own name; Keil and Barnes read the first as the old notice still running under the new king rather than a copying error, since 2 Chronicles 13 records Abijam's own major campaign against Jeroboam by name. Abijam's death and burial close his three years with the book's standard formula, and Asa succeeds him, the reign that fills the rest of the chapter.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah," and under his rule the Jews obtained a magnificent victory over the Israelites in a battle, which was greater than all those fought before in their civil wars. …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
War between, &c. - Upon Jeroboam's invading him with a great army: acting then in his own defense, he totally routed Jeroboam, so that he was quiet the rest of his reign.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam - This was mentioned in the preceding chapter, 1Ki 14:30, and it can mean no more than this: there was a continual spirit of hostility kept up between the two kingdoms, and no doubt frequent skirmishing between bordering parties; but it never broke out into open war, for this was particularly forbidden. See 1Ki 12:24. Hostility did exist, and no doubt frequent skirmishes; but open war and pitched battles there were none. But why is this circumstance repeated, and the history of Abijam interrupted by the repetition?
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The writer repeats what he had said in 1Ki 14:30, in order to remind the reader that Abijam inherited this war from his father. Abijam’s war is described in marginal reference That the author of Kings gives none of its details is agreeable to his common practice in mere military matters. Thus he gives no details of Shishak’s expedition, and omits Zerah’s expedition altogether.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמִלְחָמָ֨ה | umilchamah | and war | H4421 → | 320 times |
| הָיְתָ֧ה | hayetah | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בֵין־ | vein- | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| רְחַבְעָ֛ם | rechavam | Rehoboam | H7346 → | 50 times |
| וּבֵ֥ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| יָרָבְעָ֖ם | yaraveam | Jeroboam | H3379 → | 104 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יְמֵ֥י | yemei | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| חַיָּֽיו׃ | chaiyav | life his | H2416 → | 498 times |
וּמִלְחָמָ֨הand war
umilchamahH4421 →320 times
הָיְתָ֧הit was
hayetahH1961 →3559 times
בֵין־between
vein-H996 →407 times
רְחַבְעָ֛םRehoboam
rechavamH7346 →50 times
וּבֵ֥יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
יָרָבְעָ֖םJeroboam
yaraveamH3379 →104 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יְמֵ֥י[the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
חַיָּֽיו׃life his
chaiyavH2416 →498 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
4 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 14:30There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 12:21
And when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of…
- 1 Kings 12:24
that 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…
- 1 Kings 15:6–7
And there was war between the houses of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life.
- 2 Chronicles 12:15
Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the Prophet and of Iddo the Seer concerning the genealogies? There was war between Rehoboam and…
- 1 Kings 12:21
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 15:1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil, The Books of the Kings.