1 Kings 11:26

And Jeroboam the son of Nebat,.... According to some Jewish writers (r), this was Sheba the son of Bichri; but, as Kimchi observes, he was of the tribe of Benjamin, this of Ephraim; and besides, his

And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.

i.e. Rebelled against the king; not now and immediately in the person of Solomon himself, but in his son and successor, Rehoboam.

1 Kings 11:26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’ s servant, whose mother’ s name [was] Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up [his] hand against the king.Ver. 26. And Jeroboam the son of Nebat.] Not of Shimei, whom Solomon slew, as some Rabbis fabled. An Ephrathite,] i.e., Of the tribe of Ephraim, that arrogant and turbulent tribe, co-rival ever with Judah for the government. Solomon’ s servant.] But unthankful and disloyal, such as was Ahithophei to David, Brutus to Caesar, Phocas to Mauritius, Frederick III’ s courtiers and creatures to him, Biron to Henry IV of France. That king had made him, of a common soldier a captain, of a captain a knight, of a knight duke of Biron, marshal of France, governor of Burgundy, &c.; yet all this and more could not keep him from conspiring the death of his king, queen, and prince, that the kingdom might be transferred to others, and the Huguenots rooted out. It appeareth that Jeroboam was not only employed by Solomon, but preferred to be ruler over the whole house of Joseph, where he first talked his pleasure against his master, and then acted against him, in his posterity especially. Epit. Hist. Gallic., 274.

(26) Jeroboam the son of Nebat.—The life and character of Jeroboam are given in considerable detail in the history; and it is also remarkable that in some of the MSS. of the LXX. we find inserted after 1 Kings 12:24 an independent account of his early history (see Note at the end of the chapter), generally of inferior authority, and having several suspicious features, but perhaps preserving some genuine details. As the great rebel against the House of David, the leader of the revolution which divided Israel and destroyed its greatness, the introducer of the idolatry of the temples of Dan and Bethel, and the corrupter of the worship of Jehovah in deference to an astute worldly policy, he stands out in a vividness of portraiture unapproached, till we come to the history of Ahab at the close of the book.An Ephrathite of Zereda.—The word “Ephrathite,” which mostly means an inhabitant of Ephrata or Bethlehem, is here (as in 1 Samuel 1:1) simply another form of the name Ephraimite. Zereda is mostly supposed to be Zarthan (see 7:46 and 2 Chronicles 4:17), a town of Ephraim in the Jordan valley. The Vatican MS. of the LXX., by a slight change in the Hebrew, reads Sarira, which is probably a rendering of Zererah or Zererath (Judges 7:22), and, in the additional record noticed above, makes it a strong fortified place in Mount Ephraim.The son of a widow woman.—This phrase, added to the phrase “Solomon’s servant,” is evidently designed to mark the utterly dependent condition from which Solomon’s favour raised the future rebel.

Verse 26. Jeroboam the son of Nebat] From the context we learn that Jeroboam while a young man was employed by Solomon to superintend the improvements and buildings at Millo, and had so distinguished himself there by his industry and good conduct as to attract general notice, and to induce Solomon to set him over all the labourers employed in that work, belonging to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, called here the house of Joseph. At first it appears that Solomon employed none of the Israelites in any drudgery; but it is likely that, as he grew profane, he grew tyrannical and oppressive: and at the works of Millo he changed his conduct; and there, in all probability, were the seeds of disaffection sown. And Jeroboam, being a clever and enterprising man, knew well how to avail himself of the general discontent.

26–40. Rise of Jeroboam’s hostility to Solomon. Ahijah’s prophetic action and message (Not in Chronicles) 26. Jeroboam the son of Nebat] This is the first mention of him who afterwards is so frequently spoken of as the man ‘who made Israel to sin.’ We know nothing more of his parentage than is told us in this verse. His after life comes before us frequently in the succeeding chapters. an Ephrathite] Better with R.V. an Ephraimite. The word Ephrathite would mean one born at Ephratah, i.e. Bethlehem. This cannot be true of Jeroboam, from the words of the verse before us. A similar change is needed in the A.V. of 1 Samuel 1:1 where Elkanah, though described as ‘a man of the hill country of Ephraim’ is yet subsequently called an ‘Ephrathite.’ of Zereda] The Hebrew spelling requires Zeredah (as R.V.). This place must have been near or in the hill country of Ephraim. It has been thought by some to be the same as Zeredathah, which is given in 2 Chronicles 4:17 instead of Zarthan of 1 Kings 7:46, the place near which the castings of brass were made for Solomon s Temple. The LXX. (Vat.) gives Σαριρὰ as the name, and in a long addition which that version contains after 1 Kings 11:24 of the next chapter Σαριρὰ occurs several times over. It is also given by the LXX. of 1 Kings 14:17 instead of Tirzah, where Jeroboam had his royal residence. That the Greek translators identified this place with some town of great importance will be seen from the note on 1 Kings 12:24 below, but whether their identification can be trusted is somewhat doubtful. Solomon’s servant] i.e. One who had been employed by Solomon. The works were not necessarily unimportant, on which such servants were employed. But it makes the term a little more significant if (with R.V.) we render a servant of Solomon. he lift up his hand against] A phrase indicative of rebellion and very expressive here. For Jeroboam was one of Solomon’s own people, whose hand might be expected to be with him, and not against him. Josephus marks the difference between this adversary and those previously named, when he calls Jeroboam τῶνὁμοφύλωντίς.

Zereda - See Judges 7:22. Lifted up his hand against the king - i. e., “he rebelled.” Compare marginal reference.

26. Jeroboam the son of Nebat — Here we are first introduced to that distinguished person who figures so prominently in the following history as the first king in the kingdom of Israel.