1 Kings 14:21

Judah's King Rehoboam

21 Now Rehoboam, Solomon's son, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king; he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name.^[a] Rehoboam's mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.^[b]

1 Kings 14:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 14:21

And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah
Over the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, when Jeroboam reigned over the other ten:

Rehoboam [was] forty one years old when he began to reign;
being born one year before his father Solomon began to reign, and so it might have been expected he would have begun his reign more wisely than he did:

and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem;
not half so long as his father and grandfather, being neither so wise nor so good a prince as either of them:

the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to
put his name there;
to have a temple built for him, and his worship carried on in it; which was an aggravation of the sin of Rehoboam, that he should reign in such a place, and yet be guilty of the crimes he was; the three first years he reigned well, but afterwards forsook the law of the Lord, ( 2 Chronicles 11:17 ) ( 12:1 )

and his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess;
and which is observed again, ( 1 Kings 14:31 ) , she being the instrument of drawing him into idolatry, which it is very probable she practised in the days of Solomon, ( 1 Kings 11:5 1 Kings 11:7 ) .

1 Kings 14:21 In-Context

19 As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam's [reign], how he waged war and how he reigned, note that they are written about in the Historical Record of Israel's Kings.

20 The length of Jeroboam's reign was 22 years. He rested with his fathers, and his son Nadab became king in his place.

21 Now Rehoboam, Solomon's son, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king; he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name. Rehoboam's mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.

22 Judah did what was evil in the Lord's eyes. They provoked Him to jealous anger more than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed.

23 They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree;

Footnotes

• [a]. 1 Kg 9:3; Dt 12:5
• [b]. 2 Ch 12:13