Chapter XIII

=1, 2= (= 1 Kings xv. 1, 2).
ABIJAH SUCCEEDS.

¹In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign
over Judah.

=1.= _Abijah_] Called _Abijam_ in 1 Kings (LXX. Ἀβιού, i.e. Abijahu).

²Three years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name
was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war
between Abijah and Jeroboam.

=2.= _Micaiah_] Read with LXX., =Maacah=; compare note on xi. 20. Torrey, however, (_Ezra Studies_, p. 217) suggests that some words have fallen out of the text through similarity of ending. He would read “And his mother’s name was Maacah <daughter of Absalom, and he took to wife> Maacah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah”: the inconsistency as to Maacah’s parentage between this verse and xi. 20 would disappear, and the suggestion that Maacah was _grand_-daughter of Absalom (see xi. 20, note) would be unnecessary.

=3‒20= (no parallel in 1 Kings).
THE BATTLE OF ZEMARAIM.

The account of Abijah’s astonishing triumph over the host of Jeroboam should be compared with xiv. 9‒15 (Asa’s victory) and xx. 1‒30 (Jehoshaphat’s victory; see Introduction pp. xlix f.), passages which like the present are nowhere else recorded, and are essentially unhistorical. No reliance can be placed on the high numbers of the opposing armies (verse 3), on the pious speech ascribed to king Abijah which neatly and forcibly expresses the ecclesiastical view of schismatic Israel held by the Chronicler and his school (verses 4‒12), or on the appalling carnage wrought in the Israelite army (verse 17). The tale, in fact, is of a markedly midrashic character, i.e. a narrative intended to edify and not to be treated as serious history. But in all such cases it is fair to distinguish between the form and the substance: at least the bare substance of the tale. Thus in the present instance the judgement stated above does not preclude the possibility that war took place between Abijah and Jeroboam, and that the former gained a useful success over the more powerful Northern Kingdom. The absence from Kings of any mention of such victory is a serious objection; but it is not fatal, unless we take the view――objected to in the Introduction § 5――that the Chronicler had absolutely no sources, oral or written, of the faintest value for pre-exilic days apart from the canonical writings. Yet it must be admitted that it would be not unnatural to the workings of the Chronicler’s mind to infer that some signal success must have rewarded so near a descendant of David if only to compensate in part for Rehoboam’s disastrous reign and at any rate to punish the glaring iniquity of a schismatic and idolatrous Israel. Judging from the brief account of Abijah in 1 Kings xv. 1‒7, we may conclude that the continued hostility between North and South was a fact, but that it is extremely improbable there was a reliable tradition (if any at all) regarding a _great_ Judean victory in his reign: see note on _Zemaraim_ below.

³And Abijah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war,
even four hundred thousand chosen men: and Jeroboam set the
battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen
men, who were mighty men of valour.

=3.= _four hundred thousand ... eight hundred thousand_] The numbers are of course vastly in excess of any historic possibility; compare the notes on xi. 1, xiv. 8, and especially that on xvii. 14.

⁴And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill
country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel;

=4.= _Abijah stood up_] Abijah attempts conference before beginning civil war, not simply because his was the weaker side numerically but because he had a telling appeal to make to the revolted tribes (verses 8, 12). Jeroboam breaks off the conference after using it to cover his stratagem (verse 13).

_Zemaraim_] A Zemaraim is mentioned in Joshua xviii. 22 as one of the cities of _Benjamin_, whereas here Mount Zemaraim is assigned to _Ephraim_. The natural inference is that the battle took place on the border of the two kingdoms. The tradition that a battle took place here between North and South, and perhaps between Abijah and Jeroboam, may be correct.

⁵ought ye not to know that the LORD, the God of Israel, gave
the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to
his sons by a covenant of salt? ⁶Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled
against his lord.

=5.= _a covenant of salt_] Salt was necessary for the efficacy of a sacrifice (Leviticus ii. 13), so that _Covenant of salt_ became a phrase for a _sure_ covenant (Numbers xviii. 19). The sacredness of the bond which is acknowledged among the Arabs between two persons who have “eaten salt” together as host and guest is common knowledge. It is not, however, necessary that salt should be taken; any food, e.g. milk, will serve (W. R. Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, p. 270).

⁷And there were gathered unto him vain men, sons of Belial¹,
which strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of
Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could
not withstand them. ⁸And now ye think to withstand the kingdom
of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a
great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which
Jeroboam made you for gods.

¹ That is, _worthlessness_.

=7.= _sons of Belial_] margin _sons of worthlessness_. The general sense “worthless persons” or rather “vile scoundrels” (for gross wickedness is implied) is clear, but the precise meaning of _Belial_ has not yet been determined. The etymology of the word is quite obscure, see _Encyclopedia Biblia_ I. 525 f.

_young_] Literally _a child_. If this word is to be literally understood, the statement made is inconsistent with xii. 13, where it is said that Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign. It is possible, however, that the word is used metaphorically to describe one who was _young_ (as indeed his conduct showed) in experience of government; so Solomon (1 Kings iii. 7) calls himself a _little child_, by which he meant simply to express his consciousness of the smallness of his own ability when compared with the greatness of the task which lay before him, compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 1. A similar difficulty arises in regard to the age of Solomon, see _Encyclopedia Britannica_ s.v. _Solomon_.

_tenderhearted_] i.e., according to Hebrew phraseology, _weak in understanding_, the heart being considered to be the seat of the mind. Or we may translate the Hebrew phrase as in Deuteronomy xx. 8, _fainthearted_.

⁹Have ye not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of
Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the
manner of the peoples of _other_ lands? so that whosoever cometh
to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the
same may be a priest of _them that are_ no gods.

=9.= _driven out_] see note on xi. 14.

_after the manner of the peoples of other lands_] i.e. who, unlike Israel, had no special class from which alone their priests were taken. Possibly, following the LXX., we should read =from the people= of the land (i.e. anyone who chose to apply, whether a Levite or not), compare 1 Kings xii. 31, xiii. 33.

_to consecrate himself_] Literally _to fill his hand_. Moses is directed (Exodus xxix. 1 ff.) to ordain Aaron and his sons priests by three ceremonies: (1) by anointing them, (2) by filling their hands, i.e. by presenting them with victims upon which they laid their hands, (3) by hallowing them, i.e. by sprinkling some of the blood of the victim upon them.

_a young bullock and seven rams_] Aaronic priests were consecrated with a young bullock and _two_ rams (Exodus xxix. 1).

¹⁰But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken
him; and _we have_ priests ministering unto the LORD, the sons
of Aaron, and the Levites in their work:

=10.= _in their work_] sc. _ministering unto the LORD_, as above. Part of the ideal of the Priestly Code was that the Levites should be restricted to the duty of helping the priests, and should be prevented from executing priestly functions themselves. With this ideal the Chronicler plainly sympathised, but it could not always be realised.

¹¹and they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening
burnt offerings and sweet incense: the shewbread also _set they_
in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with
the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge
of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.

=11.= _every morning and every evening_] Exodus xxix. 38‒42.

_sweet incense_] Exodus xxx. 7.

_the shewbread also_ set they _in order_] Literally _and an ordering of bread_ [they set in order]. The Hebrew phrase used here for “shewbread” signifies bread arranged as for an offering. Another term is “bread of the presence,” i.e. bread set forth continually before the Lord (Exodus xxv. 30). See 1 Chronicles ix. 32 (note).

_the candlestick_] Exodus xxv. 31 ff., xl. 24, 25.

¹²And, behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with
the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. O children
of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD, the God of your
fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

=12.= _the trumpets of alarm_] (Numbers x. 9). Abijah here threatens his opponents with a _jihād_ or holy war.

¹³But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them:
so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.
¹⁴And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before
and behind them: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests
sounded with the trumpets.

=13.= _Jeroboam caused an ambushment_] While Abijah was endeavouring to shake the fidelity of the Northern army, the Northern leader secures a tactical advantage. The greater the advantages of the Israelites and the more disastrous the position ascribed to the army of Judah, so much the more glorious is the victory which Judah achieves by its reliance on Jehovah.

¹⁵Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah
shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel
before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶And the children of Israel fled
before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.

=15.= _gave a shout_] This shout had the character of a religious function; compare Joshua vi. 10, 16; Judges vii. 20, where the same Hebrew word is used.

_God smote Jeroboam_] Compare xiv. 12. Supernatural aid secures the victory.

¹⁷And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so
there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

=17.= The Chronicler has little or no interest in military matters as such, and is heedless of probability so far as the numbers he mentions are concerned. They must be sufficiently immense to enhance the power of Jehovah and to convey the impression that the days of old were mighty days. Comparison has been made with the phrase “a hundred and twenty thousand _in one day_” (xxviii. 6), and from the absence of the words “in one day,” it has been argued that the present passage refers to the losses of the whole campaign. Even so the figure, 500,000, is an immense exaggeration.

¹⁸Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time,
and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon
the LORD, the God of their fathers.

=18.= _because they relied_] Compare note on xii. 2.

¹⁹And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him,
Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns
thereof,

=19.= _Beth-el_] Beth-el was apparently subsequently recovered by the Northern Kingdom; compare 2 Kings x. 29. But, as it is very doubtful whether this section has any historical basis (see the head-note, xiii. 3), Beth-el may never have come under the rule of Abijah as is here stated. Nothing is said, be it noted, of the capture of the golden calf.

_Jeshanah_] Nothing is certainly known of this place, which is mentioned here only. It has been identified with _Ain Sīnia_, a little to the north of Beth-el.

_Ephron_] so the _Kethīb_, whereas the Authorized Version following the _Ḳerī_ has =Ephrain=. _Ephrain_ is a later form of the name _Ephron_, as _Shamrain_ (Ezra iv. 10, 17) is of _Shomron_ (Samaria). The place has been identified with eṭ-Ṭaiyebeh, a place south-east of Ain Sīnia and north-east of Beitin (Beth-el). It was probably the _city called Ephraim_, to which our Lord retired after the raising of Lazarus (John xi. 54).

²⁰and Ephron¹ with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam
recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD smote
him, and he died.

¹ Another reading is, _Ephrain_.

=20.= _the LORD smote him, and he died_] The same phrase is used of the death of Nabal (1 Samuel xxv. 38); it implies suddenness or some other unusual circumstance (compare Acts xii. 23, the death of Herod Agrippa). 1 Kings xiv. 20 says simply _Jeroboam ... slept with his fathers_.

=21, 22.=
THE EPILOGUE OF ABIJAH’S REIGN.

²¹But Abijah waxed mighty, and took unto himself fourteen wives,
and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

=21.= _fourteen wives_] The many wives are mentioned here as a symbol of the wealth and state of Abijah.

²²And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his
sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.

=22.= _his ways_] The Chronicler takes a much more favourable view of Abijah than Kings, where it is said of him that “he walked in all the sins of his father...” (1 Kings xv. 3), and received favour from Jehovah only on account of the merits of David. Evidently the Chronicler deemed it fitting to fasten on the fact of the favour, perhaps because he felt it imperative that Jeroboam should receive from the next king of Judah the punishment for his sins which Rehoboam could not inflict.

_in the commentary_] Hebrew _Midrash_. See Introduction, § 5, p. xxxi.

_Iddo_] See note on ix. 29.