1 Kings 14 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter concludes the story of how the kingdom of David and Solomon was split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. It tells what happened during the rest of the reigns of the first king of Israel, Jeroboam, and the first king of Judah, Rehoboam. 1. Ahijah prophesies that Jeroboam’s son will die (14:1–18) 2. Conclusion of the reign of Jeroboam (14:19–20) 3. Rehoboam introduces foreign worship, and his kingdom is diminished (14:21–28) 4. Conclusion of the reign of Rehoboam (14:29–31)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Phrases that the author uses to introduce accounts of kings’ reigns

In 14:21, the author tells how old Rehoboam was when he began to reign as king of Judah. He says who Rehoboam’s father and mother were, how long he reigned, and in what city. This is the first instance in the book of these phrases that the author will use regularly to introduce the account of a king’s reign. So that your readers will appreciate their role, be careful to translate these phrases consistently in each of their occurrences.

Long quotation within quotation

The prophet Ahijah speaks a long message from Yahweh to Jeroboam’s wife in 14:7–16. Most of it is a quotation within a quotation, in which Ahijah tells his wife what to say to him. That long part of the message contains a further quotation of a specific warning in Yahweh’s own words. If it would be clearer in your language, you could translate this so that there are not quotations within quotations. For example, Ahijah tells Jeroboam’s wife in 14:7, “Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Because I raised you up from the midst of the people and made you a leader over my people Israel …”’” You could translate this as, “Go and tell Jeroboam that Yahweh, the God of Israel, says that because he raised him up from the midst of the people and made him a leader over his people Israel ….” You can continue to translate the message that way in subsequent verses. For example, in 14:8, Ahijah continues, “and I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and I gave it to you, but you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and who walked after me with all of his heart, to do only the right in my eyes.” You could translate that as, “and he tore the kingdom away from the house of David and he gave it to him, but he are not like his servant David, who kept his commandments and who walked after him with all of his heart, to do only the right in his eyes.” (See: figs-quotesinquotes)

Was Rehoboam’s son named Abijam or Abijah?

In [14:31](../14/31.md), the author describes how Rehoboam’s son succeeded him as king after he died. The author gives Abijam as this son’s name. However, in the parallel passage in [2 Chronicles 12:16](../2ch/12/16.md), this kings name is given as “Abijah,” and that is what he is called throughout the account of his reign in 2 Chronicles 13. To make clear that this is the same king, some versions use the name Abijam here in 1 Kings as well. However, we do not recommend that you change the name either here or in 2 Chronicles to make the accounts in both books match. The reason for the difference in spelling is not clear, but we recommend that you simply translate the names as they appear in each text and not try to harmonize them. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could explain in a footnote that Abijam of 1 Kings is the same man as Abijah of 2 Chronicles.