And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he
warred
As he did with Rehoboam, ( 1 Kings
14:30 ) , and with Abijam his son, who was an more than a
match for him, see ( 2
Chronicles 13:1-22 )
and how he reigned;
over the people of Israel, whether wisely, and justly, and in
clemency, or not:
behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of
Israel;
not in that canonical book of Scripture, so called, for in that
there is very little account of the reign of Jeroboam; but in the
annals and diaries of the kings of Israel, written by persons
appointed for that purpose, and out of which it is generally
thought that inspired writers, by divine direction, took what was
thought proper to be transmitted to future times. So with the
Romans, from their very beginning to the times of Mutius, all the
events of every year were committed to writing by the order of
the Pontifex Maximus, and lay open to be read by the people in
common; and these, as Tully F12 says, were what are called
annals.
F12 De Oratore, l. 2. c. 34.