1 Kings 12
TSK
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:
And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?
And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

I will add

Exodus 1:13,14 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor…

Exodus 5:5-9,18 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and …

1 Samuel 8:18 And you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you …

2 Chronicles 16:10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; …

Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, …

Jeremiah 27:11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king …

Jeremiah 28:13,14 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus said the LORD; You have broken …

but I will chastise Should you rebel or become disaffected, my father's {whip} shall be a {scorpion} in my hand. His was {chastisement}, mine shall be {punishment}. Celsius and Hiller conjecture that {akrabbim} denotes a thorny kind of shrub, whose prickles are of a venomous nature, called by the Arabs {scorpion thorns}, from the exquisite pain which they inflict. But the Chaldee renders it {margenin}, and the Syriac {moragyai}, i.e., () scourges; and in the parallel place of Chronicles the Arabic has {saut, a scourge}. Isidore, and after him Calmet and others, assert that the {scorpion} was a sort of severe {whip}, the lashes of which were armed with knots or points that sunk into and tore the flesh.

scorpions

1 Kings 12:14 And spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My …

Ezekiel 2:6 And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of …

Revelation 9:3-10 And there came out of the smoke locusts on the earth: and to them …

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;
And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

the cause The cause of all this confusion and anarchy was Rehoboam's folly, cruelty, and despotic tyranny, and this was certainly not `from the Lord,' nor does the original text speak this doctrine. See an elucidation of a similar passage at

2 Samuel 24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he …

1 Kings 12:24 Thus said the LORD, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers …

1 Kings 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth …

Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD …

Judges 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that …

2 Chronicles 10:15 So the king listened not to the people: for the cause was of God, …

2 Chronicles 22:7 And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for …

2 Chronicles 25:16,20 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said to …

Psalm 5:10 Destroy you them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast …

Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? …

Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge …

Acts 4:28 For to do whatever your hand and your counsel determined before to be done.

that he might

1 Kings 11:11,29-38 Why the LORD said to Solomon, For as much as this is done of you, …

1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is …

2 Samuel 17:14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai …

2 Kings 9:36 Why they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word …

2 Kings 10:10 Know now that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of …

Isaiah 14:13-17 For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will …

Isaiah 46:10,11 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the …

Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and …

John 19:23,24,28,29,32-37 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, …

Acts 3:17 And now, brothers, I know that through ignorance you did it, as did …

Acts 13:27-29 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not…

So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
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.
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

took counsel

1 Kings 12:8,9 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, …

Exodus 1:10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it …

Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, said the LORD, that take counsel, …

two calves of gold He invented a political religion, and instituted feasts in his own times, different from those appointed by Jehovah; gave the people certain objects of adoration, and pretended to think that it would be both inconvenient and oppressive to them to go up to Jerusalem to worship. These calves were doubtless of the same kind as the calf which was set up by Aaron; and it is remarkable, that in pointing them out to the people he should use the same words that Aaron used on that occasion, when they must have heard what terrible judgments fell upon their forefathers for this idolatry. Solomon's idolatry, however, had prepared the people for Jeroboam's abominations.

Exodus 20:4 You shall not make to you any graven image, or any likeness of any …

Deuteronomy 4:14-18 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments…

2 Kings 10:29 However, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel …

2 Kings 17:16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made …

2 Chronicles 11:15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, …

Hosea 8:4-7 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and …

Hosea 10:5,6 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: …

It is too much

Isaiah 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not …

2 Peter 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants …

behold

Exodus 32:4,8 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a engraving …

And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge by R. A. Torrey [ca. 1880]
Expanded version courtesy INT Bible ©2013, Used by permission

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