2 Chronicles 13

2Ch 13:1-20.

ABIJAH,

SUCCEEDING,

MAKES

WAR AGAINST

JEROBOAM, AND

OVERCOMES

HIM.

2. His mother's name also was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel--the

same as Maachah (see on

1Ki 15:2).

She was "the daughter," that is, granddaughter of Absalom

(1Ki 15:2;

compare

2Sa 14:1-33),

mother of Abijah, "mother," that is, grandmother

(1Ki 15:10,

Margin) of Asa.

of Gibeah--probably implies that Uriel was connected with the house of

Saul.

there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam--The occasion of this war

is not recorded (see

1Ki 15:6, 7),

but it may be inferred from the tenor of Abijah's address that it arose

from his youthful ambition to recover the full hereditary dominion of

his ancestors. No prophet now forbade a war with Israel

(2Ch 11:23)

for Jeroboam had forfeited all claim to protection.

3. Abijah set the battle in array--that is, took the field and

opened the campaign.

with . . . four hundred thousand chosen men . . . Jeroboam with eight

hundred thousand--These are, doubtless, large numbers, considering the

smallness of the two kingdoms. It must be borne in mind, however, that

Oriental armies are mere mobs--vast numbers accompanying the camp in

hope of plunder, so that the gross numbers described as going upon an

Asiatic expedition are often far from denoting the exact number of

fighting men. But in accounting for the large number of soldiers

enlisted in the respective armies of Abijah and Jeroboam, there is no

need of resorting to this mode of explanation; for we know by the

census of David the immense number of the population that was capable

of bearing arms

(1Ch 21:5;

compare

2Ch 14:8; 17:14).

4-12. Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim--He had entered the enemy's

territory and was encamped on an eminence near Beth-el

(Jos 18:22).

Jeroboam's army lay at the foot of the hill, and as a pitched battle

was expected, Abijah, according to the singular usage of ancient times,

harangued the enemy. The speakers in such circumstances, while always

extolling their own merits, poured out torrents of invective and

virulent abuse upon the adversary. So did Abijah. He dwelt on the

divine right of the house of David to the throne; and sinking all

reference to the heaven-condemned offenses of Solomon and the divine

appointment of Jeroboam, as well as the divine sanction of the

separation, he upbraided Jeroboam as a usurper, and his subjects as

rebels, who took advantage of the youth and inexperience of Rehoboam.

Then contrasting the religious state of the two kingdoms, he drew a

black picture of the impious innovations and gross idolatry introduced

(2Ch 11:14)

of the Levites. He dwelt with reasonable pride on the pure and regular

observance of the ancient institutions of Moses in his own dominion

[2Ch 13:11]

and concluded with this emphatic appeal: "O children of Israel, fight

ye not against Jehovah, the God of your fathers, for ye shall not

prosper."

13-17. But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind

them--The oration of Abijah, however animating an effect it might

have produced on his own troops, was unheeded by the party to whom it

was addressed; for while he was wasting time in useless words, Jeroboam

had ordered a detachment of his men to move quietly round the base of

the hill, so that when Abijah stopped speaking, he and his followers

found themselves surprised in the rear, while the main body of the

Israelitish forces remained in front. A panic might have ensued, had

not the leaders "cried unto the Lord," and the priests "sounded with

the trumpets"--the pledge of victory

(Nu 10:9; 31:6).

Reassured by the well-known signal, the men of Judah responded with a

war shout, which, echoed by the whole army, was followed by an

impetuous rush against the foe. The shock was resistless. The ranks of

the Israelites were broken, for "God smote Jeroboam and all Israel."

They took to flight, and the merciless slaughter that ensued can be

accounted for only by tracing it to the rancorous passions enkindled by

a civil war.

19. Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him--This

sanguinary action widened the breach between the people of the two

kingdoms. Abijah abandoned his original design of attempting the

subjugation of the ten tribes, contenting himself with the recovery of

a few border towns, which, though lying within Judah or Benjamin, had

been alienated to the new or northern kingdom. Among these was Beth-el,

which, with its sacred associations, he might be strongly desirous to

wrest from profanation.

20. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of

Abijah--The disastrous action at Zemaraim, which caused the loss of

the flower and chivalry of his army, broke his spirits and crippled his

power.

the Lord struck him, and he died--that is, Jeroboam. He lived, indeed,

two years after the death of Abijah

(1Ki 14:20; 15:9).

But he had been threatened with great calamities upon himself and his

house, and it is apparently to the execution of these threatenings,

which issued in his death, that an anticipatory reference is here

made.