1 Kings 15:26

And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) Did evil in the sight of the Lord.—This constantly-recurring phrase signifies (as, indeed, the context here shows) perseverance in the idolatrous system introduced by Jeroboam.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:25-34 During the single reign of Asa in Judah, the government of Israel was in six or seven different hands. Observe the ruin of the family of Jeroboam; no word of God shall fall to the ground. Divine threatenings are not designed merely to terrify. Ungodly men execute the just judgments of God upon each other. But in the midst of dreadful sins and this apparent confusion, the Lord carries on his own plan: when it is fully completed, the glorious justice, wisdom, truth, and mercy therein displayed, shall be admired and adored through all the ages of eternity.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The sacred historian now gives an account of the contemporary kings of Israel, beginning with Nadab, who ascended the throne in Asa's second year, and concluding with Ahab, in whose fourth year Asa died. This narrative occupies him almost to the close of the first Book of Kings.

Chronology of Kingdoms Year of the Divided Kingdom Kings of Judah Years of Reign Kings of Israel Years of Reign 1 Rehoboam 17 Jeroboam 22 5 (Invasion of Shishak) 18 Abijam 3 20 Asa 41 22 Nadab 2 23 Baasha 21 31 (Invasion of Zerah) 34 (Great Feast at Jerusalem) 46 Elah 2 47 Zimri

Omri 12 58 Ahab 22 61 (Last year of Asa) (4th year of Ahab)

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ki 15:25-34. Nadab's Wicked Reign.

25. Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign—No record is given of him, except his close adherence to the bad policy of his father.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

i.e. In the worship of the calves which his father had made.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Committed idolatry, than which nothing is a greater evil in his sight:

and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin: in making and worshipping of golden calves.

Geneva Study Bible

And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26. he did evil] R.V. (as always for this definite expression) he did that which was evil. Nadab followed the same worship of the calves which his father had introduced. This was a most insidious fashion of idolatry, for it did not disown Jehovah, only acted against His law in making a representation for purposes of worship.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 26. - And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father [Jeroboam begat all his sons, save one, "in his own likeness"], and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. [I.e., not the rebellion, but the schism (1 Kings 12:30; 1 Kings 14:16; cf. vers. 30, 34; 16:2, 13, 19, etc.; see Homiletics, p. 274). All the successors of Jeroboam it is clear, either thought themselves compelled, by the exigencies of their position, to adhere to his ecclesiastical policy, or found themselves more and more entangled in its toils.] 1 Kings 15:26

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

He walked in the ways of his father (Jeroboam) and in his sin, i.e., in the calf-worship introduced by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28). When Nadab in the second year of his reign besieged Gibbethon, which the Philistines and occupied, Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house, I the family or tribe, of Issachar, conspired against him and slew him, and after he became king exterminated the whole house of Jeroboam, without leaving a single soul, whereby the prediction of the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 14:10.) was fulfilled. Gibbethon, which was allotted to the Danites (Joshua 19:44), has not yet been discovered. It probably stood close to the Philistian border, and was taken by the Philistines, from whom the Israelites attempted to wrest it by siege under both Nadab and Baasha (1 Kings 16:16), though apparently without success. לא השׁאיר כּל־נשׁמה as in Joshua 11:14 (see the Comm. on Deuteronomy 20:16).