2 Chronicles 11

2 Chronicles 11:18-23 . HIS WIVES AND CHILDREN.

18. Rehoboam took Mahalath--The names of her father and mother are given. Jerimoth, the father, must have been the son of one of David's concubines ( 1 Chronicles 3:9 ). Abihail was, of course, his cousin, previous to their marriage.

20. after her he took Maachah . . . daughter--that is, granddaughter ( 2 Samuel 14:27 ) of Absalom, Tamar being, according to JOSEPHUS, her mother. (Compare 2 Samuel 18:18 ).

21. he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines--This royal harem, though far smaller than his father's, was equally in violation of the law, which forbade a king to "multiply wives unto himself" [ Deuteronomy 17:17 ].

22. made Abijah . . . chief . . . ruler among his brethren--This preference seems to have been given to Abijah solely from the king's doting fondness for his mother and through her influence over him. It is plainly implied that Abijah was not the oldest of the family. In destining a younger son for the kingdom, without a divine warrant, as in Solomon's case, Rehoboam acted in violation of the law ( Deuteronomy 21:15 ).

23. he dealt wisely--that is, with deep and calculating policy ( Exodus 1:10 ).
and dispersed of all his children . . . unto every fenced city--The circumstance of twenty-eight sons of the king being made governors of fortresses would, in our quarter of the world, produce jealousy and dissatisfaction. But Eastern monarchs ensure peace and tranquillity to their kingdom by bestowing government offices on their sons and grandsons. They obtain an independent provision, and being kept apart, are not likely to cabal in their father's lifetime. Rehoboam acted thus, and his sagacity will appear still greater if the wives he desired for them belonged to the cities where each son was located. These connections would bind them more closely to their respective places. In the modern countries of the East, particularly Persia and Turkey, younger princes were, till very lately, shut up in the harem during their father's lifetime; and, to prevent competition, they were blinded or killed when their brother ascended the throne. In the former country the old practice of dispersing them through the country as Rehoboam did, has been again revived.