John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 7. And there are gathered unto him vain men , etc.] Void of the fear of God, and all that is good: the children of Belial : men unprofitable, good for nothing, or that had cast off the yoke of the law of God, were lawless and abandoned persons: And have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon : rejected his government of them; went into a strong opposition to him, and set up another king over them: when Rehoboam was young and tender hearted, and could not withstand them ; not that he was young in years, for he was forty one years of age when he began to reign; though Joshua is called a young man when he is supposed to be between fifty and sixty years of age ( Exodus 33:11), and though “adolescentia” and “juventus” are both used in Latin writers for “youth”, yet Varro distinguishes them, and makes the former to begin at the year fifteen, and continue to the year thirty, and the latter to begin at thirty, and end at forty five; so that, according to this, Rehoboam was then in his stage of youth; but perhaps the meaning here is, that he was young in the kingdom, scarcely settled on his throne, and the advantage of that was taken; not was he cowardly and fearful; and if Abijah meant that by “tender heartedness”, he not only reproached but belied his father; for he would have fought with Israel in order to have reduced them to obedience, but was forbidden by the Lord; if by “tender hearted”, he means that he had a tender regard to the command of God, it is true; but that seems not to be his sense, but the former.
Matthew Henry Commentary
- Abijah overcomes Jeroboam. --Jeroboam and his people, by apostacy and idolatry, merited the sever punishment Abijah was permitted to execute upon them. It appears from the character of Abijah, 1Ki 15:3, that he was not himself trul religious, yet he encouraged himself from the religion of his people It is common for those that deny the power of godliness, to boast of the form of it. Many that have little religion themselves, value it is others. But it was true that there were numbers of pious worshippers in Judah, and that theirs was the more righteous cause. In their distress when danger was on every side, which way should they look for deliverance unless upward? It is an unspeakable comfort, that our wa thither is always open. They cried unto the Lord. Earnest prayer is crying. To the cry of prayer they added the shout of faith, and becam more than conquerors. Jeroboam escaped the sword of Abijah, but God struck him; there is no escaping his sword _________________________________________________
Original Hebrew ויקבצו6908 עליו5921 אנשׁים582 רקים7386 בני1121 בליעל1100 ויתאמצו553 על5921 רחבעם7346 בן1121 שׁלמה8010 ורחבעם7346 היה1961 נער5288 ורך7390 לבב3824 ולא3808 התחזק2388 לפניהם׃6440
