2 Chronicles 13 · a question people ask
Abijah says Jeroboam rebelled. Hadn't the LORD given him the ten tribes?
Abijah says, "Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord" (13:6), and that worthless men "strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender hearted, and could not withstand them" (13:7). Earlier chapters tell it in other words. Through Ahijah the LORD had said to Jeroboam, "Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you" (1 Kings 11:31). When Rehoboam would not listen to the people, "it was brought about by God, that the LORD might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat" (10:15). And the LORD told Rehoboam through Shemaiah, "You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers! Every man return to his house; for this thing is of me" (11:4). 2 Chronicles also says, in its own voice, "So Israel rebelled against David’s house to this day" (10:19), with a different Hebrew verb from Abijah's rebelled in 13:6. Of Rehoboam's age, 2 Chronicles says, "Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign" (12:13). These are Abijah's words, spoken to Jeroboam and all Israel (13:4). The chapter doesn't weigh them against 10:15, 10:19, 11:4 or 12:13, and these notes don't either.
The verses
“Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:”
“Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord. Worthless men were gathered to him, wicked fellows who strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender hearted, and could not withstand them.”
“He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces; for the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you”
“So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was brought about by God, that the LORD might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.”