1 Kings 12:1

1 Forsooth Rehoboam came into Shechem; for all Israel was gathered thither to make him king.

1 Kings 12:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 12:1

And Rehoboam went to Shechem
After the death and internment of his father:

for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king:
as was pretended, though in reality it was to seek occasion against him, and make Jeroboam king; it is very probable they knew of the prophecy of Ahijah, and therefore would not go to Jerusalem, but to Shechem, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, of which Jeroboam was, and where he had sowed the seeds of sedition when ruler there; and this place they chose, partly because they could more freely speak what they had in their minds, and partly for the safety of Jeroboam they had sent for on this occasion; so that Rehoboam went thither not of choice, but of necessity. The Jews

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 observe that this place was very ominous; here Dinah was ravished, Joseph was sold, Abimelech exercised tyranny, and here now the kingdom was divided.

F3 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 102. 1.

1 Kings 12:1 In-Context

1 Forsooth Rehoboam came into Shechem; for all Israel was gathered thither to make him king.

2 And soothly Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, when he was yet in Egypt, and fled from the face of king Solomon, turned again from Egypt, for the death of Solomon was heard; (And Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, when he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon, heard of Solomon's death, and returned from Egypt;)

3 and they sent, and called him. Therefore Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spake to Rehoboam, and said,

4 Thy father putted the most hard yoke upon us, therefore abate thou a little now of the hardest commandment of thy father, and of the full grievous yoke that he hath put upon us, and we shall serve to thee. (Thy father put the hardest yoke upon us, but now, if thou abate a little thy father's hardest commands, and the most grievous yoke that he hath put upon us, then we shall serve thee.)

5 And Rehoboam said to them, Go ye till to the third day, and turn ye again to me (Go ye away until the third day, and then return ye here). And when the people had gone,