1 Raja-raja 15:1-6

Abijah’s Reign over Judah

15:1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah ¹  became king over Judah. 15:2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. ²  His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. ³  15:3 He followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been. ⁴  15:4 Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God maintained his dynasty ⁵  in Jerusalem by giving him a son ⁶  to succeed him ⁷  and by protecting Jerusalem. ⁸  15:5 He did this ⁹  because David had done what he approved ¹⁰  and had not disregarded any of his commandments ¹¹  his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite. 15:6 Rehoboam ¹²  and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other throughout Abijah’s ¹³  lifetime.

[15:1]  ¹ tc The Old Greek also has the phrase “the son of Rehoboam.”

[15:2]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ³ sn Abishalom (also in v. 10) is a variant of the name Absalom (cf. 2 Chr 11:20). The more common form is used by TEV, NLT.

[15:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “his heart was not complete with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.”

[15:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “gave him a lamp.”

[15:4]  ⁶ tc The Old Greek has the plural “his sons.”

[15:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “by raising up his son after him.”

[15:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and by causing Jerusalem to stand firm.”

[15:5]  ⁹ tn The words “he did this” are added for stylistic reasons.

[15:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”

[15:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and had not turned aside from all which he commanded him.”

[15:6]  ¹² tc Most Hebrew mss read “Rehoboam”; a few Hebrew mss and the Syriac read “Abijam” (a variant of Abijah).

[15:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Abijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.