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Nach YomiI Kings · מלכים א׳Chapter 12

I Kings 12

מלכים א׳ פרק י״ב

Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: I Kings | Chapter: 12 of 22 | Day: 112 of 742

Date: June 3, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

I Kings 12 is one of the great political and theological hinges of the entire Tanakh. In a single chapter the united monarchy that David built and Solomon perfected is fractured beyond recovery, ten tribes are torn from the House of David, and the new northern kingdom is steered within weeks of its founding into the catastrophic religious innovation that will define and ultimately destroy it. The narrative is told with extraordinary economy and a relentless theological undertow: every human calculation in the chapter is shadowed by the prophetic word of Achiyah HaShiloni from chapter 11, and the verse כי היתה סבה מעם ה’ (12:15) frames the whole affair as the unfolding of divine decree even as the characters experience themselves as free agents.

The first half of the chapter (vv. 1–24) is a study in royal mismanagement that has become a paradigmatic teaching of Chazal on leadership. Rechavam arrives at Shechem — a place Radak notes is repeatedly מזומן לפורענות (predisposed to calamity) in Israel’s history, the site of Dinah’s tragedy, the sale of Yosef, and now the schism itself — and is confronted by the assembly of Israel with a reasonable petition: lighten the heavy yoke of Solomon’s building projects and military requisitions. The elders who had served Solomon advise the wisdom of the moment: be a servant today and the people will be servants forever. The young men who grew up with Rechavam — his peers, not his teachers — counsel imperial swagger: my little finger is thicker than my father’s loins; I will discipline you not with whips but with scorpions. Rechavam, in a fateful display of insecurity masquerading as strength, follows the youths. The result is immediate and irrevocable. The cry that follows — מה לנו חלק בדוד ולא נחלה בבן ישי, לאהליך ישראל (16) — is the formal renunciation of Davidic kingship over ten of the twelve tribes, and the chronicler’s parenthesis that GOD had brought about this turn (15) makes clear that the wisdom of leadership and the providence of history are converging in a single sentence.

The narrative’s structural climax comes in the lynching of Adoram, Solomon’s officer over forced labor, whom Rechavam sends out — Radak suggests to negotiate, the Metzudat David suggests to soften with gentle words. The people stone him to death, and the king flees in his chariot for Jerusalem. Civil war is averted only by the intervention of the prophet Shemayah, whose word from God to Rechavam is the same word the chapter has been silently announcing throughout: כי מאתי נהיה הדבר הזה (24). The 180,000 soldiers Rechavam has mustered turn around and go home. The schism is now sealed by prophetic ratification.

The second half of the chapter (vv. 25–33) shifts to the new king Yarov’am and is far more disturbing. He fortifies Shechem and Penuel as royal centers, but his real anxiety is religious: he reasons (the text is careful to say בלבו, “in his heart”) that if his subjects continue going up to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festivals, their hearts will return to the House of David and they will kill him. His response is the founding act of northern apostasy — two golden calves, one at Beit El and one at Dan, with the chilling formula אלה אלהיך ישראל אשר העלוך מארץ מצרים, deliberately echoing the catastrophe of the wilderness calf in Shemot 32. Radak offers the most subtle reading: Yarov’am’s original intention was not idolatry but a substitute for the absent Shechinah, a calf-throne for God in the mode of Aharon’s intent at Sinai. But the text’s verdict in verse 30 is unsparing — ויהי הדבר הזה לחטאת, “this thing became a sin” — and the slide it set in motion was inexorable. He compounds the calves with cult-platforms, non-Levitical priests drawn מקצות העם, and a counter-festival on the fifteenth of the eighth month, אשר בדא מלבו, which he had fabricated from his own mind. Rashi reads בדא as a word of pure falsehood. The chapter ends with Yarov’am himself ascending the altar at Beit El to offer incense — an image deliberately staged to set up the dramatic confrontation with the איש האלהים from Yehudah that opens chapter 13. The two halves of the chapter rhyme: a king who refused to bend to wise counsel, and a king who replaced God’s house with one he had built himself.

פרק י״ב · Chapter 12

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ רְחַבְעָ֖ם שְׁכֶ֑ם כִּ֥י שְׁכֶ֛ם בָּ֥א כׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לְהַמְלִ֥יךְ אֹתֽוֹ׃

English:

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to acclaim him as king.

Rechavam travels to Shechem rather than convening the assembly in Jerusalem — Radak reads this as a tactical demand by the northern tribes (the prophecy of Achiyah HaShiloni regarding Yarov'am of Ephraim had already become known), forcing the new king onto Ephraimite territory. Radak also preserves the midrashic observation that Shechem is מזומן לפורענות — the site of Dinah's defilement and Yosef's sale becomes the site of the kingdom's split.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֞י כִּשְׁמֹ֣עַ ׀ יָרׇבְעָ֣ם בֶּן־נְבָ֗ט וְהוּא֙ עוֹדֶ֣נּוּ בְמִצְרַ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֣ר בָּרַ֔ח מִפְּנֵ֖י הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֑ה וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב יָרׇבְעָ֖ם בְּמִצְרָֽיִם׃

English:

Jeroboam son of Nebat learned of it while he was still in Egypt; for Jeroboam had fled from King Solomon, and had settled in Egypt.aand had settled in Egypt Cf. 2 Chron. 10.2 “and Jeroboam returned from Egypt.”

Yarov'am, still in his Egyptian exile to which he had fled from Shlomo (recall 11:40), hears of Shlomo's death. Metzudat David notes the careful wording 'and Yarov'am dwelt in Egypt' — he did not return on his own initiative but waited to be summoned, suggesting either caution or a calculated posture as the people's reluctant savior.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וַֽיִּשְׁלְחוּ֙ וַיִּקְרְאוּ־ל֔וֹ (ויבאו) [וַיָּבֹ֥א] יָרׇבְעָ֖ם וְכׇל־קְהַ֣ל יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַֽיְדַבְּר֔וּ אֶל־רְחַבְעָ֖ם לֵאמֹֽר׃

English:

They sent for him; and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam as follows:

The elders of the assembly summon Yarov'am from Egypt to be their spokesman before Rechavam — Metzudat David notes that they specifically wanted him as ראש המדברים, knowing he had already demonstrated the courage to raise a hand against Shlomo. The petition is framed conditionally: they will accept Rechavam as king if he lightens the yoke.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

אָבִ֖יךָ הִקְשָׁ֣ה אֶת־עֻלֵּ֑נוּ וְאַתָּ֡ה עַתָּ֣ה הָקֵל֩ מֵעֲבֹדַ֨ת אָבִ֜יךָ הַקָּשָׁ֗ה וּמֵעֻלּ֧וֹ הַכָּבֵ֛ד אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥ן עָלֵ֖ינוּ וְנַעַבְדֶֽךָּ׃

English:

“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke that your father laid on us, and we will serve you.”

The people's complaint: Shlomo's heavy yoke — taxation, building corvée, the upkeep of his enormous court and his thousands of horses. Metzudat David sharpens the argument: since Rechavam will not match his father's international prestige, he hardly needs the same retinue. Radak adds a crucial theological note: the burden under Shlomo had been bearable in his lifetime because of national peace and prosperity; this grievance is really an עלילה (pretext) divinely arranged to detach the tribes from the House of David.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם לְכוּ־עֹ֛ד שְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה יָמִ֖ים וְשׁ֣וּבוּ אֵלָ֑י וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ הָעָֽם׃

English:

He answered them, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

Rechavam buys himself three days to consult — Metzudat David clarifies he sent the people back to their tents to wait. The pause that follows is the most consequential delay in Israelite history: in those three days, the kingdom is lost in the king's heart.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וַיִּוָּעַ֞ץ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ רְחַבְעָ֗ם אֶת־הַזְּקֵנִים֙ אֲשֶׁר־הָי֣וּ עֹמְדִ֗ים אֶת־פְּנֵי֙ שְׁלֹמֹ֣ה אָבִ֔יו בִּֽהְיֹת֥וֹ חַ֖י לֵאמֹ֑ר אֵ֚יךְ אַתֶּ֣ם נוֹעָצִ֔ים לְהָשִׁ֥יב אֶת־הָעָם־הַזֶּ֖ה דָּבָֽר׃

English:

King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. He said, “What answer do you advise [me] to give to this people?”

Rechavam first consults the elders who had served Shlomo. Radak notices the seemingly redundant phrase 'while he was alive' — it teaches that even after Shlomo's death, these elders carried themselves as still standing in his service, advising his son with the same integrity they had brought to the father.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

(וידבר) [וַיְדַבְּר֨וּ] אֵלָ֜יו לֵאמֹ֗ר אִם־הַ֠יּ֠וֹם תִּֽהְיֶה־עֶ֜בֶד לָעָ֤ם הַזֶּה֙ וַעֲבַדְתָּ֔ם וַעֲנִיתָ֕ם וְדִבַּרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם דְּבָרִ֣ים טוֹבִ֑ים וְהָי֥וּ לְךָ֛ עֲבָדִ֖ים כׇּל־הַיָּמִֽים׃

English:

They answered him, “If you will be a servant to those people today and serve them, and if you respond to them with kind words, they will be your servants always.”

The classic counsel of statecraft: be their servant today and they will be your servants forever. Both Metzudat David and Radak read 'serve them' not as material concession but as bearing in humble speech (תהיה נכנע להם) and answering their petition with gracious words — even saying more good than was asked. The elders understood what Rechavam did not: that a king's strength is the people's love, and love is purchased with humility at the moment of weakness.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וַֽיַּעֲזֹ֛ב אֶת־עֲצַ֥ת הַזְּקֵנִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר יְעָצֻ֑הוּ וַיִּוָּעַ֗ץ אֶת־הַיְלָדִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר גָּדְל֣וּ אִתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָעֹמְדִ֖ים לְפָנָֽיו׃

English:

But he ignored the advice that the elders gave him, and took counsel with the young menbthe young men Lit. “the children.” who had grown up with him and were serving him.

The fateful turn: Rechavam abandons the elders' advice and consults instead the ילדים who grew up alongside him. Radak draws a pointed structural contrast — he forsook the elders who had stood before his father and took up the counsel of the young men who stood before him. The generational swap is also a swap of seasoned wisdom for peer flattery.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם מָ֚ה אַתֶּ֣ם נֽוֹעָצִ֔ים וְנָשִׁ֥יב דָּבָ֖ר אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבְּר֤וּ אֵלַי֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הָקֵל֙ ��ִן־הָעֹ֔ל אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥ן אָבִ֖יךָ עָלֵֽינוּ׃

English:

“What,” he asked, “do you advise that we reply to the people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father placed upon us’?”

Rechavam repeats the people's request to his young peers, framing it neutrally as a question about how to 'reply.' The verse is a study in how the way a question is asked already presupposes its answer — having sought out advisors who think like he does, the king is no longer consulting but soliciting permission to do what he already wants.

פסוק י״ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַיְדַבְּר֣וּ אֵלָ֗יו הַיְלָדִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר גָּדְל֣וּ אִתּוֹ֮ לֵאמֹר֒ כֹּה־תֹאמַ֣ר לָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֡ה אֲשֶׁר֩ דִּבְּר֨וּ אֵלֶ֜יךָ לֵאמֹ֗ר אָבִ֙יךָ֙ הִכְבִּ֣יד אֶת־עֻלֵּ֔נוּ וְאַתָּ֖ה הָקֵ֣ל מֵעָלֵ֑ינוּ כֹּ֚ה תְּדַבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם קׇטׇנִּ֥י עָבָ֖ה מִמׇּתְנֵ֥י אָבִֽי׃

English:

And the young men who had grown up with him answered, “Speak thus to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us.’ Say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.

The young men craft the infamous reply: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins.' Rashi explains קטני simply as 'my little finger,' while Metzudat David and Radak both read the boast as a claim of superior strength — 'I am even greater in stature than my father.' The phrase is calculated swagger, scripted by the youths to project dominance precisely where the elders had counseled humility.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
קָטָנִּי עָבָה. אֶצְבַּע קְטַנָּה שֶׁלִּי.
My little finger is thicker. My little finger.1the beginning of his reign, Rechovom was 41 years old [See below 14:21], but Shlomo was only 12 years old when he became king [See above 3:7 and Rashi there].—Ralbag

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וְעַתָּ֗ה אָבִי֙ הֶעְמִ֤יס עֲלֵיכֶם֙ עֹ֣ל כָּבֵ֔ד וַאֲנִ֖י אוֹסִ֣יף עַֽל־עֻלְּכֶ֑ם אָבִ֗י יִסַּ֤ר אֶתְכֶם֙ בַּשּׁוֹטִ֔ים וַאֲנִ֕י אֲיַסֵּ֥ר אֶתְכֶ֖ם בָּעַקְרַבִּֽים׃

English:

My father imposed a heavy yoke on you, and I will add to your yoke; my father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.’”

The threat sharpens to its climax: 'my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.' Rashi explains עקרבים as thorny rose-branches that sting like a scorpion's bite; Radak adds that they are more painful than whips because of the barbs they bear. The escalation is rhetorical theater — a son who needs to prove he is tougher than his father by promising harsher cruelty.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
עַקְרַבִּים. אשגלנטי"ר בְּלַעַ"ז (עֵץ וֶרֶד–הַבָּר שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ קוֹצִים), שֶׁעוֹקְצִין כְּעַקְרָב.
Thorns. Aiguillon, in O.F., That sting like scorpions.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וַיָּב֨וֹ יָרׇבְעָ֧ם וְכׇל־הָעָ֛ם אֶל־רְחַבְעָ֖ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֑י כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר שׁ֥וּבוּ אֵלַ֖י בַּיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִֽׁי׃

English:

Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, since the king had told them: “Come back on the third day.”

The three-day pause ends. Yarov'am and the assembled people return at the appointed time, just as Rechavam had instructed. The narrative deliberately reminds us that the king himself set this hour — what follows cannot be blamed on faulty timing or surprise.

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֧עַן הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ אֶת־הָעָ֖ם קָשָׁ֑ה וַֽיַּעֲזֹ֛ב אֶת־עֲצַ֥ת הַזְּקֵנִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְעָצֻֽהוּ׃

English:

The king answered the people harshly, ignoring the advice that the elders had given him.

The verb ויען is paired with קשה — Rechavam answered harshly, and the verse names his choice explicitly: he forsook the elders' counsel. The text refuses to let this be passive or accidental; the formal repetition of ויעזב את עצת הזקנים marks an active, deliberate rejection.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם כַּעֲצַ֤ת הַיְלָדִים֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר אָבִי֙ הִכְבִּ֣יד אֶֽת־עֻלְּכֶ֔ם וַאֲנִ֖י אֹסִ֣יף עַֽל־עֻלְּכֶ֑ם אָבִ֗י יִסַּ֤ר אֶתְכֶם֙ בַּשּׁוֹטִ֔ים וַאֲנִ֕י אֲיַסֵּ֥ר אֶתְכֶ֖ם בָּעַקְרַבִּֽים׃

English:

He spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, and said, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.”

Rechavam delivers the youths' script verbatim. The narrative repeats the cruel words a second time so that the reader hears them as the people heard them — out loud, in public, irrevocable. He drops only the 'little finger' boast, perhaps even he could not say it; everything else is faithfully reproduced.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וְלֹא־שָׁמַ֥ע הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶל־הָעָ֑ם כִּֽי־הָיְתָ֤ה סִבָּה֙ מֵעִ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה לְמַ֜עַן הָקִ֣ים אֶת־דְּבָר֗וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ בְּיַד֙ אֲחִיָּ֣ה הַשִּֽׁילֹנִ֔י אֶל־יָרׇבְעָ֖ם בֶּן־נְבָֽט׃

English:

(The king did not listen to the people; for GOD had brought it about in order to fulfill the promise that GOD had made through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.)

The decisive theological gloss. Metzudat David spells out what the verse is doing: do not think Rechavam's reply came from sheer foolishness — it came מאת ה׳, in order to fulfill the prophecy delivered through Achiyah HaShiloni in chapter 11. Human agency and divine decree coexist throughout the chapter; this verse is where the text lets the reader see the seam.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֣רְא כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כִּ֠י לֹא־שָׁמַ֣ע הַמֶּ֘לֶךְ֮ אֲלֵהֶם֒ וַיָּשִׁ֣בוּ הָעָ֣ם אֶת־הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ ׀ דָּבָ֣ר ׀ לֵאמֹ֡ר מַה־לָּ֩נוּ֩ חֵ֨לֶק בְּדָוִ֜ד וְלֹא־נַחֲלָ֣ה בְּבֶן־יִשַׁ֗י לְאֹהָלֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַתָּ֕ה רְאֵ֥ה בֵיתְךָ֖ דָּוִ֑ד וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לְאֹהָלָֽיו׃

English:

When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered the king:“We have no portion in David,No share in Jesse’s son!To your tents, O Israel!Now look to your own House, O David.”So the Israelites returned to their homes.chomes Lit. “tents.”

The formal cry of secession — מה לנו חלק בדוד, ולא נחלה בבן ישי, לאהליך ישראל. Metzudat David parses it as four distinct declarations: we have no share in David's dynasty, no inheritance in the son of Yishai's line; Israel, go home; and you, Rechavam — descended from David — manage your private household as one of the common people, with no business in kingship. Rashi (citing the midrashic reading) takes 'see to your house' as the Beit HaMikdash itself: the Temple Rechavam's father built will now be his alone.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
רְאֵה בֵיתְךָ. בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ שֶׁבָּנִיתָ, לְךָ לְבַדְּךָ יִהְיֶה.
Look after your house. The Beis Hamikdosh that you built, will be for you alone.2Alternatively, "see who is left with you," and rule over them, for you will not reign over Yisroel as a whole.—Radak

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַיֹּשְׁבִ֖ים בְּעָרֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֑ה וַיִּמְלֹ֥ךְ עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם רְחַבְעָֽם׃ {פ}

English:

But Rehoboam continued to reign over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.

A quiet, contracting verse. Rechavam still reigns — but now only over those Israelites who happen to live in the towns of Yehudah. The empire David and Shlomo built across all twelve tribes has shrunk in a single sentence to the territory of one (with Binyamin attached, as Radak notes on verse 20).

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁלַ֞ח הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ רְחַבְעָ֗ם אֶת־אֲדֹרָם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עַל־הַמַּ֔ס וַיִּרְגְּמ֨וּ כׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל בּ֛וֹ אֶ֖בֶן וַיָּמֹ֑ת וְהַמֶּ֣לֶךְ רְחַבְעָ֗ם הִתְאַמֵּץ֙ לַעֲל֣וֹת בַּמֶּרְכָּבָ֔ה לָנ֖וּס יְרֽוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

English:

King Rehoboam sent Adoram,dAdoram Elsewhere called Adoniram; cf. 2 Sam. 20.24 and note. who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel pelted him to death with stones. Thereupon King Rehoboam hurriedly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.

A desperate, fatal misstep: Rechavam dispatches Adoram, his minister of the corvée — Rashi identifies him as Adoniram from earlier chapters. Metzudat David and Radak diverge on the mission: Metzudat David says he was sent to recall the people gently, Radak that he was sent to demand they accept Rechavam as king. Either way, sending the very officer who symbolized the heavy yoke is a gross misreading of the moment. The people stone him to death, and Rechavam — now understanding the rebellion is total — flees in his chariot for Jerusalem.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אֲדוֹרָם. הוּא אֲדוֹנִירָם.
Adoram. He was Adoniram.3Who is mentioned in 4:6 and 5:28 above. See II Shmuel 20:24. Rechovom sent Adoram to speak gently to the people and to calm their anger.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

וַיִּפְשְׁע֤וּ יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ בְּבֵ֣ית דָּוִ֔ד עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃ {ס}        

English:

Thus Israel revolted against the House of David, as is still the case.

The narrator's authorial summation: Israel rebelled against the House of David — and the phrase עד היום הזה (still the case) marks the schism as permanent in the historical memory of the text's audience. The northern ten tribes will never return to Davidic kingship.

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֞י כִּשְׁמֹ֤עַ כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ כִּֽי־שָׁ֣ב יָרׇבְעָ֔ם וַֽיִּשְׁלְח֗וּ וַיִּקְרְא֤וּ אֹתוֹ֙ אֶל־הָ֣עֵדָ֔ה וַיַּמְלִ֥יכוּ אֹת֖וֹ עַל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לֹ֤א הָיָה֙ אַחֲרֵ֣י בֵית־דָּוִ֔ד זוּלָתִ֥י שֵׁבֶט־יְהוּדָ֖ה לְבַדּֽוֹ׃

English:

When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent messengers and summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David.

Yarov'am, having returned from Egypt, is summoned by the wider assembly (not just the elders' delegation that initially recruited him) and crowned king over all Israel. Metzudat David notes that until now only the elders knew of his return; the public coronation makes it national. Both commentators emphasize that שבט יהודה לבדו includes Binyamin as a junior partner, since Jerusalem straddled their joint territory.

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

(ויבאו) [וַיָּבֹ֣א] רְחַבְעָם֮ יְרוּשָׁלַ֒͏ִם֒ וַיַּקְהֵל֩ אֶת־כׇּל־בֵּ֨ית יְהוּדָ֜ה וְאֶת־שֵׁ֣בֶט בִּנְיָמִ֗ן מֵאָ֨ה וּשְׁמֹנִ֥ים אֶ֛לֶף בָּח֖וּר עֹשֵׂ֣ה מִלְחָמָ֑ה לְהִלָּחֵם֙ עִם־בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְהָשִׁיב֙ אֶת־הַמְּלוּכָ֔ה לִרְחַבְעָ֖ם בֶּן־שְׁלֹמֹֽה׃ {פ}

English:

On his return to Jerusalem, Rehoboam mustered all the House of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 of the best warriors, to fight against the House of Israel, in order to restore the kingship to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

Rechavam musters an enormous force — 180,000 chosen warriors from Yehudah and Binyamin — to reconquer the breakaway tribes. Rashi explains why Binyamin specifically joined: their territory bordered Yehudah's, so the war would inevitably be fought on their land. The numbers are staggering, the determination total — and yet, as the next verses will show, this entire mobilization will be reversed by a single prophetic word.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְאֶת שֵׁבֶט בִּנְיָמִן. הָעוֹמְדִים עַל הַגְּבוּל, שֶׁיְּהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִין הָיָה גְּבוּלָם סָמוּךְ זֶה לָזֶה.
And the tribe of Binyomin. Who were situated on the border, because the boundaries of Yehudah and Binyomin were adjacent.

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וַֽיְהִי֙ דְּבַ֣ר הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶל־שְׁמַֽעְיָ֥ה אִישׁ־הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵאמֹֽר׃

English:

But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the agent of God:

The single word ויהי introduces the verse that halts the war. The prophet Shemayah איש האלהים enters the story unannounced, a figure not previously named, sent to intervene at the exact moment when the schism could have been resealed in blood. The Tanakh repeatedly uses prophets to break sequences of escalation; here, one such moment.

פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23

Hebrew:

אֱמֹ֗ר אֶל־רְחַבְעָ֤ם בֶּן־שְׁלֹמֹה֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יְהוּדָ֔ה וְאֶל־כׇּל־בֵּ֥ית יְהוּדָ֖ה וּבִנְיָמִ֑ין וְיֶ֥תֶר הָעָ֖ם לֵאמֹֽר׃

English:

“Say to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all the House of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people:

The recipients of the prophetic message are widened beyond the king and the army: Rechavam, all the House of Yehudah and Binyamin, and 'the rest of the people.' Metzudat David explains יתר העם as members of other tribes who had settled within Yehudah and Binyamin's borders — the address is not narrow but national.

פסוק כ״ד · Verse 24

Hebrew:

כֹּ֣ה אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֡ה לֹא־תַעֲלוּ֩ וְלֹא־תִלָּ֨חֲמ֜וּן עִם־אֲחֵיכֶ֣ם בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל שׁ֚וּבוּ אִ֣ישׁ לְבֵית֔וֹ כִּ֧י מֵאִתִּ֛י נִֽהְיָ֖ה הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַֽיִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶת־דְּבַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה וַיָּשֻׁ֥בוּ לָלֶ֖כֶת כִּדְבַ֥ר יְ��ֹוָֽה׃ {ס}        

English:

Thus said GOD: You shall not set out to make war on your kindred the Israelites. Return to your homes, for this thing has been brought about by Me.” They heeded the word of GOD and turned back, in accordance with the word of GOD.

The divine word stops the war: do not march, do not fight against your brothers, return home — for this thing is from Me. Metzudat David sharpens מאתי as a statement of providence: the schism was not chance but design. Remarkably, the people obey. Rechavam stands down a force of 180,000 because one prophet has spoken in God's name.

פסוק כ״ה · Verse 25

Hebrew:

וַיִּ֨בֶן יָרׇבְעָ֧ם אֶת־שְׁכֶ֛ם בְּהַ֥ר אֶפְרַ֖יִם וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב בָּ֑הּ וַיֵּצֵ֣א מִשָּׁ֔ם וַיִּ֖בֶן אֶת־פְּנוּאֵֽל׃

English:

Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and resided there; he moved out from there and fortified Penuel.

The chapter pivots to Yarov'am. He 'builds' Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim as his royal seat, and then Penuel across the Jordan. Radak clarifies that ויבן does not mean reconstruction of a ruined city — Shechem was clearly inhabited (the tribes had just assembled there) — but rather fortification, including the construction of a royal palace. Yarov'am is preparing for the war he assumes will come.

פסוק כ״ו · Verse 26

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יָרׇבְעָ֖ם בְּלִבּ֑וֹ עַתָּ֛ה תָּשׁ֥וּב הַמַּמְלָכָ֖ה לְבֵ֥ית דָּוִֽד׃

English:

Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom may well return to the House of David.

The Tanakh enters Yarov'am's interior monologue — ויאמר ירבעם בלבו. He fears the kingdom will return to the House of David. Metzudat David glosses עתה as 'quickly, in short order' — Yarov'am calculates not in years but in pilgrimage cycles. The next verse will reveal exactly what threat he projects.

פסוק כ״ז · Verse 27

Hebrew:

אִֽם־יַעֲלֶ֣ה ׀ הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֗ה לַעֲשׂ֨וֹת זְבָחִ֤ים בְּבֵית־יְהֹוָה֙ בִּיר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם וְ֠שָׁ֠ב לֵ֣ב הָעָ֤ם הַזֶּה֙ אֶל־אֲדֹ֣נֵיהֶ֔ם אֶל־רְחַבְעָ֖ם מֶ֣לֶךְ יְהוּדָ֑ה וַהֲרָגֻ֕נִי וְשָׁ֖בוּ אֶל־רְחַבְעָ֥ם מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָֽה׃

English:

If these people still go up to offer sacrifices at the House of GOD in Jerusalem, the heart of these people will turn back to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and go back to King Rehoboam of Judah.”

The fear made explicit: if his subjects keep going up to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festivals, their hearts will return to their previous master, they will kill him, and they will go back to Rechavam. Rashi (drawing on Sanhedrin 101b) supplies the specific halachic anxiety: only Davidic kings may SIT in the Temple courtyard; Yarov'am would have to stand while Rechavam sat, and at the Hakhel ceremony (the year after Shemittah), Rechavam — as king of his province — would read the king's portion while Yarov'am stood among the common people. Yarov'am's calculation is a study in how political insecurity becomes the engine of religious innovation.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אִם יַעֲלֶה הָעָם הַזֶּה וְגוֹ'. אֵין יְשִׁיבָה בָּעֲזָרָה אֶלָּא לְמַלְכֵי בֵּית דָּוִד בִּלְבַד, וְיִהְיֶה הוּא יוֹשֵׁב וַאֲנִי עוֹמֵד, וּבְמוֹצָאֵי שְׁבִיעִית בִּזְמַן הַקְהֵל, יִקְרָא אֶת פָּרָשַׁת הַמֶּלֶךְ, שֶׁהוּא רֹאשׁ בִּמְדִינָתוֹ, וַאֲנִי כִּשְׁאָר הָעָם, נִמְצֵאתִי בָּזוּי.
If this people will go up, etc. Sitting in the Temple court is not permitted only for kings of the house of Dovid, therefore, he will be sitting and I will be standing. Moreover, [during Succos] following the Sabbatical Year, at the time of the Assembly, he [is the one who] will read the section [in Devarim] relating to the king,4See Mishnayos Sotah 7:8. for he is the king of his province, whereas I will be [standing] like the rest of the people, and I will, therefore, be degraded.5Maseches Sanhedrin 101b.

פסוק כ״ח · Verse 28

Hebrew:

וַיִּוָּעַ֣ץ הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וַיַּ֕עַשׂ שְׁנֵ֖י עֶגְלֵ֣י זָהָ֑ב וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם רַב־לָכֶם֙ מֵעֲל֣וֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם הִנֵּ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶעֱל֖וּךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃

English:

So the king took counsel and made two golden calves. He said to the people,ethe people Heb. “them.” “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”

The founding act of northern apostasy: Yarov'am takes counsel and makes two golden calves, declaring 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt' — the exact words of the wilderness calf episode (Shemot 32:8). Metzudat David explains רב לכם as 'the journey is too far.' Radak offers a sophisticated psychological reading: Yarov'am rationalized that since God Himself had divided the kingdom against the House of David, God must also have rejected Jerusalem, so a substitute is needed. The calf, in this reading, was originally intended (in Yarov'am's mind) not as idolatry but as a Shechinah-throne in the mode of Aharon's calf — though, as the next verses make clear, the people quickly took it for what it actually was.
▶Commentaries (1)
רד״קRadak
ויועץ המלך. שאל עצה היאך יעשה והסכימה עצתו עם היועצים אותו שיעשה שני עגלים ולמה עגלים פתה אותם בדברים אמר להם הלא ידעתם כי המלכות נחלקה ברצון האל כמו שאמר לי אחיה השלוני הנביא אם כן האל לא רצה במלכות בית דוד ולא רצה ג"כ בירושלם שהוא מלכות בית דוד אם כן נעשה מקום אחר שתבואו ותזבחו שם ולמה עגל אמר להם הלא אהרן עשה לישראל עגל להשרות השכינה בו במקום משה שלא היה להם גם אתם עתה שאין לכם מקום השכינה שהוא ירושלם נעשה עגל במקומו להשרות שכינה בו לפיכך אמר אלה אלהיך ישראל אשר העלוך מארץ מצרים כמו שאמר בעגל המדבר כי לא היתה כוונתו לעבודת גילולים ולמה עשה שנים כדי שלא להטריח ישראל שיבאו כלם למקום אחד:
So the king took counsel: He asked for counsel about what he should do, and his [own] counsel was in agreement with that of those who advised him: That he should make two golden calves. But why calves? He seduced them with words, saying to them, "Did you not know that the kingdom was divided by the will of God, like the prophet, Achiyah the Shilonite said to me? If so, God did not desire the monarchy of the House of David, and He also did not want Jerusalem, since it is [the seat of] the monarchy of the House of David. If so, let us make a place to which you can come and sacrifice." But why a calf? He said to them, "Did not Aharon make a calf for the Jewish people, in order to have the Divine Presence dwell within it, in place of Moshe who they [no longer] had? You too, now that you do not have a place of the Divine Presence - which is Jerusalem - let us make a calf in its place to have the Divine Presence dwell within it." That is why he said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt," just like [the Jews] said with the calf in the desert. For his intention was not for idolatry. And why did he make two? In order not to burden the Jewish people that they should all need to come to one place.

פסוק כ״ט · Verse 29

Hebrew:

וַיָּ֥שֶׂם אֶת־הָאֶחָ֖ד בְּבֵֽית־אֵ֑ל וְאֶת־הָאֶחָ֖ד נָתַ֥ן בְּדָֽן׃

English:

He set up one in Bethel and placed the other in Dan.

The two calves are placed strategically: one at Beit El, one at Dan. Radak explains the choice: Beit El was sold to the people as 'this place too was chosen' (citing Yaakov's vow that the place would be בית אלהים), while Dan was at the northernmost border of the land — together they spanned and substituted for Jerusalem. Beit El catered to those who would have come up to Jerusalem from the south; Dan to those who would have come from the north.

פסוק ל׳ · Verse 30

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֛י הַדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּ֖ה לְחַטָּ֑את וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ הָעָ֛ם לִפְנֵ֥י הָאֶחָ֖ד עַד־דָּֽן׃

English:

That proved to be a cause of guilt, for the people went to worship [the calf at Bethel and] the one at Dan.

The narrator's blunt verdict: ויהי הדבר הזה לחטאת — 'this thing became a sin.' Both Metzudat David and Radak acknowledge Yarov'am's original intent may not have been outright idolatry, but with time the calves were taken as gods themselves. The verse pointedly notes that the people went all the way to Dan to worship — exposing the lie of 'too far to Jerusalem': those who wanted to make a pilgrimage made one, just to the wrong altar. Rashi notes Dan was at the very edge of the land, and Metzudat David sharpens the irony — Yarov'am had marketed the calves as a convenience against the burden of distance, yet his subjects gladly traveled the whole length of the country for them.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
עַד דָּן. בְּסוֹף גְּבוּל הָאָרֶץ.
Even as far as Dan. At the end of the boundary of the land.6They were so attached to idol worship that they made the long pilgrimage from one end of the land all the way to the altar in Dan in the northernmost part of Yisroel.

פסוק ל״א · Verse 31

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֖עַשׂ אֶת־בֵּ֣ית בָּמ֑וֹת וַיַּ֤עַשׂ כֹּֽהֲנִים֙ מִקְצ֣וֹת הָעָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־הָי֖וּ מִבְּנֵ֥י לֵוִֽי׃

English:

He also made cult places and appointed priests from the ranks of the people who were not of Levite descent.

The apostasy expands: Yarov'am builds cult-platforms (בית במות) and improvises a new priesthood drawn מקצות העם — 'from the edges of the people,' i.e., whoever was willing, with no requirement of Levite descent. Radak explains the omission: the Levites refused to participate, as they had refused at the wilderness calf, so Yarov'am drove them out of his territory entirely. Chronicles records (II Chron 11:13-14) that the displaced Levites fled south to Yehudah, strengthening Rechavam's kingdom — a movement of the priestly class that further hardened the religious split.

פסוק ל״ב · Verse 32

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֣עַשׂ יָרׇבְעָ֣ם ׀ חָ֡ג בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַשְּׁמִינִ֣י בַחֲמִשָּֽׁה־עָשָׂר֩ י֨וֹם ׀ לַחֹ֜דֶשׁ כֶּחָ֣ג ׀ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּיהוּדָ֗ה וַיַּ֙עַל֙ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ כֵּ֤ן עָשָׂה֙ בְּבֵֽית־אֵ֔ל לְזַבֵּ֖חַ לָעֲגָלִ֣ים אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֑ה וְהֶֽעֱמִיד֙ בְּבֵ֣ית אֵ֔ל אֶת־כֹּהֲנֵ֥י הַבָּמ֖וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃

English:

He stationed at Bethel the priests of the shrines that he had appointed to sacrifice to the calves that he had made. And Jeroboam established a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month; in imitation of the festival in Judah, he established one at Bethel, and he ascended the altar [there].

Yarov'am invents a parallel festival — on the fifteenth of the EIGHTH month, modeled on the festival in Yehudah (Sukkot, which falls on the fifteenth of the seventh). Radak gives the strategic reading: he shifted the calendar by one month so that even Israelites who insisted on going up to Jerusalem for Sukkot would still be drawn back to Beit El a month later, never quite breaking free of his orbit. The verse also notes that Yarov'am ascended his altar in person — a king-priest fusion the Davidic line had never claimed.

פסוק ל״ג · Verse 33

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֜עַל עַֽל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֣חַ ׀ אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֣ה בְּבֵֽית־אֵ֗ל בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֨ה עָשָׂ֥ר יוֹם֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַשְּׁמִינִ֔י בַּחֹ֖דֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־בָּדָ֣א (מלבד) [מִלִּבּ֑וֹ] וַיַּ֤עַשׂ חָג֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיַּ֥עַל עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ לְהַקְטִֽיר׃ {פ}

English:

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month—the month in which he had contrived of his own mind to establish a festival for the Israelites—Jeroboam ascended the altar that he had made in Bethel.As he ascended the altar to present an offering,

The chapter closes with Yarov'am personally ascending the altar at Beit El on his fabricated festival — the fifteenth of the eighth month, אשר בדא מלבו, 'which he had contrived of his own mind.' Rashi sharpens this as a word of falsehood, and notes that Yarov'am justified the eighth-month timing to his people by claiming it was the harvest season and thus the 'true' time for a festival. Metzudat David notes that Yarov'am himself offered the incense, taking on a priestly act forbidden to a non-Aaronid — the king-priest fusion is now total. This scene of Yarov'am ascending his own altar is the precise setup for the dramatic confrontation with the איש האלהים מיהודה that opens chapter 13.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁמִינִי. דָּרַשׁ לָהֶם הוּא חֹדֶשׁ הָאָסִיף, וּבוֹ רָאוּי הֶחָג לִהְיוֹת. בָּדָא מִלִּבּוֹ. לְשׁוֹן כָּזָב, קונטרובי"ר בְּלַעַ"ז:
Of the eighth month. He expounded to them that this was the month of the harvest, and was, therefore, the proper time for the festival to be. He thought up out of his own heart. An expression of falsehood, controver, in O.F.

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