1 Kings 14

17. Tirzah--a place of pre-eminent beauty ( Solomon 6:4 ), three hours' travelling east of Samaria, chosen when Israel became a separate kingdom, by the first monarch, and used during three short reigns as a residence of the royal house. The fertile plains and wooded hills in that part of the territory of Ephraim gave an opening to the formation of parks and pleasure-grounds similar to those which were the "paradises" of Assyrian and Persian monarchs [STANLEY]. Its site is occupied by the large village of Taltise [ROBINSON]. As soon as the queen reached the gate of the palace, she received the intelligence that her son was dying, according to the prophet's prediction [ 1 Kings 14:12 ].

19. the rest of the acts of Jeroboam--None of the threatenings denounced against this family produced any change in his policy or government.

1 Kings 14:21-24 . REHOBOAM'S WICKED REIGN.

21. he reigned . . . in Jerusalem--Its particular designation as "the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there," seems given here, both as a reflection on the apostasy of the ten tribes, and as a proof of the aggravated wickedness of introducing idolatry and its attendant vices there.
his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess--Her heathen extraction and her influence as queen mother are stated to account for Rehoboam's tendency to depart from the true religion. Led by the warning of the prophet ( 1 Kings 12:23 ), as well as by the large immigration of Israelites into his kingdom ( 1 Kings 12:17 , 2 Chronicles 11:16 ), he continued for the first three years of his reign a faithful patron of true religion ( 2 Chronicles 11:17 ). But afterwards he began and encouraged a general apostasy; idolatry became the prevailing form of worship, and the religious state of the kingdom in his reign is described by the high places, the idolatrous statues, the groves and impure rites that with unchecked license were observed in them. The description is suited to the character of the Canaanitish worship.

1 Kings 14:25-31 . SHISHAK SPOILS JERUSALEM.

25, 26. Shishak king of Egypt came up--He was the instrument in the hand of Providence for punishing the national defection. Even though this king had been Solomon's father-in-law, he was no relation of Rehoboam's; but there is a strong probability that he belonged to Egyptian monuments, who is depicted on a bas-relief at Karnak, as dragging captives, who, from their peculiar physiognomy, are universally admitted to be Jews.

29. Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam . . ., are they not written in the book of the chronicles?--not the book so called and comprehended in the sacred canon, but the national archives of Judah.

30. there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam--The former was prohibited from entering on an aggressive war; but as the two kingdoms kept up a jealous rivalry, he might be forced into vigilant measures of defense, and frequent skirmishes would take place on the borders.