Chapter 14 of Melachim A is the chapter in which the sentence begins to fall upon Yerovam. Until now we heard the prophecy about the house of Yerovam in general terms, and here the text tells how things begin to take shape in practice, starting with the illness of his son. Later in the chapter the prophet turns to describe the kingdom of Yehuda in the days of Rechavam, and this opens the method that will accompany us throughout the entire book: moving back and forth between the kingdom of Yisrael and the kingdom of Yehuda.
בָּעֵת הַהִיא חָלָה אֲבִיָּה בֶן־יָרׇבְעָם׃ וַיֹּאמֶר יָרׇבְעָם לְאִשְׁתּוֹ קוּמִי נָא וְהִשְׁתַּנִּית וְלֹא יֵדְעוּ כִּי־אַתְּ אֵשֶׁת יָרׇבְעָם וְהָלַכְתְּ שִׁלֹה הִנֵּה־שָׁם אֲחִיָּה הַנָּבִיא הוּא־דִבֶּר עָלַי לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־הָעָם הַזֶּה׃ - At that time Aviyah son of Yerovam fell ill. And Yerovam said to his wife: Arise now and disguise yourself, so that they will not know that you are the wife of Yerovam, and go to Shilo. Behold, there is Achiyah the prophet, who spoke about me that I would be king over this people.
Yerovam asks his wife to disguise herself and hide her identity. This is deeply puzzling: she is going to Achiyah HaShiloni, to a prophet. A prophet surely knows everything. He does not need your name or your identification number. Shaul comes to Shmuel without saying who he is, and Shmuel informs him that he is destined for kingship. If so, what is the point of sending his wife in disguise, and would that change anything?
The simple meaning, says the Radak, is that Yerovam knew Achiyah hated him. Achiyah was the one who appointed him as king, and Yerovam not only failed to fulfill the expectations but went and angered Hashem. Therefore he told her: disguise yourself, for if you come as the wife of Yerovam he will interpret things against you for the worse. Yet the matter is still astonishing, for the prophet will say only what Hashem tells him, and Hashem will presumably reveal to him who this woman is as well.
The Malbim explains that there were two disguisings here. The first disguising was before the people. If they were to see that the wife of Yerovam is going to a prophet of Hashem, this would harm the "good name" of Yerovam. They would say: Look at Yerovam, suddenly he starts going to rabbis and seeking out righteous men and prophets? All along he had the Baal and idolatry and calves, and what happened now? Therefore he asked that the matter be done in secret, so that they would not think he had begun to believe in the prophets of Hashem instead of the prophets of the Baal.
The second disguising was before the prophet himself, and this is what is hinted at in verse 5, "וְהִיא מִתְנַכֵּרָה", she makes herself as a stranger. Why? Says the Malbim: when a person would come to the prophet, the prophet would ask about a particular matter, and normally he would not see in the prophecy more than what he asked. If he asked whether the child would live or not, that is what they showed him. Yerovam feared that if the prophet would immediately recognize his wife, he would not inquire only about the individual child but about the whole: what would be with the house of Yerovam. And the moment he asks a question about the whole, he receives a prophecy about the entire house of Yerovam. But as long as she makes herself a stranger and asks only about the child, the prophet will receive information only about the child.
And why did he fear so much? Because the moment a prophecy is delivered, it is as if it already descends and takes shape here in the world. As long as it has not been delivered, it remains in the heavens and may still change. But once it has been delivered, the chances that it will be fulfilled are far more absolute. Admittedly it is not entirely absolute, for there is still room for repentance. We said that only a prophecy for good is absolute and does not change, but a prophecy for evil has room for change. Nevertheless, the matter turns from something nebulous into something concrete that has descended into the world. And therefore he told her: make yourself a stranger.
And it was specifically from Achiyah HaShiloni that he feared most, for he knew the principle we saw with Shaul: who anointed him as king? Shmuel. And through whom did he fall from his kingship? Shmuel. Yerovam said: I was anointed by Achiyah, so who then will bring me down? Achiyah. Therefore he was so afraid of this meeting.
וְלָקַחַתְּ בְּיָדֵךְ עֲשָׂרָה לֶחֶם וְנִקֻּדִים וּבַקְבֻּק דְּבַשׁ וּבָאת אֵלָיו הוּא יַגִּיד לָךְ מַה־יִּהְיֶה לַנָּעַר׃ - And take in your hand ten loaves, and cakes, and a jug of honey, and come to him. He will tell you what will happen to the lad.
"נִקֻּדִים" are wafers, a bread that comes in wafer form, dry biscuits. A "בַּקְבֻּק" is a vessel in which liquid would be placed, and it is called so, as the Radak mentions, because of the sound heard when one pours from it: bak-bak. Interestingly, in the non-Hebrew languages it is the same: "bottle" reflects that very sound heard while pouring. And from this comes the nickname given to a drunkard who wanders about with the bottle in his hand: "ober bottle," idle wanderer.
And why did she need to bring an offering to the prophet? This was the accepted practice, as we saw with Shaul, who went to search for the donkeys, and his servant told him that there was a seer here, and he replied "וּתְשׂוּרָה אֵין לְהָבִיא" - one does not come to a prophet empty handed. But notice, says the Malbim, how cleverly Yeravam acted: he did not send a gift befitting a king or a distinguished person, but rather what an ordinary villager would send - ten loaves and cakes and a jug of honey, something minimal. This too was part of the deception ploy: when they would see such an offering, they would surely say that this was not the king's wife but some simple village woman coming to bring a gift to the prophet of Hashem.
וַתַּעַשׂ כֵּן אֵשֶׁת יָרׇבְעָם וַתָּקׇם וַתֵּלֶךְ שִׁלֹה וַתָּבֹא בֵּית אֲחִיָּה וַאֲחִיָּהוּ לֹא־יָכֹל לִרְאוֹת כִּי קָמוּ עֵינָיו מִשֵּׂיבוֹ׃ - And the wife of Yeravam did so, and she arose and went to Shilo and came to the house of Achiya, and Achiyahu could not see, for his eyes were set from his old age.
"קָמוּ" means stood still: the sinews of the eye stood still and could not see, and this was on account of his great age - "מִשֵּׂיבוֹ". And in the Midrash they said: anyone who raises up an unworthy student, his eyes grow dim. And from where do we learn this? From here, from Achiya HaShiloni. For Yeravam ben Nevat was his student, and he raised up an unworthy student, and therefore his eyes grew dim.
וַיהֹוָה אָמַר אֶל־אֲחִיָּהוּ הִנֵּה אֵשֶׁת יָרׇבְעָם בָּאָה לִדְרֹשׁ דָּבָר מֵעִמְּךָ אֶל־בְּנָהּ כִּי־חֹלֶה הוּא כָּזֹה וְכָזֶה תְּדַבֵּר אֵלֶיהָ וִיהִי כְבֹאָהּ וְהִיא מִתְנַכֵּרָה׃ - And Hashem said to Achiyahu: Behold, the wife of Yeravam is coming to inquire something of you about her son, for he is ill; thus and so shall you speak to her, and it will be when she comes that she will be disguising herself.
This is what Yeravam did not take into account. He thought she would come and ask about the child, and the prophet would seek prophecy only about the child and receive an answer only about him. But he did not imagine that even before her arrival the Holy One, blessed be He, would reveal to the ear of His pious ones and inform him what was about to happen, and would even hand him a clear message: "כָּזֹה וְכָזֶה תְּדַבֵּר אֵלֶיהָ".
וַיְהִי כִשְׁמֹעַ אֲחִיָּהוּ אֶת־קוֹל רַגְלֶיהָ בָּאָה בַפֶּתַח וַיֹּאמֶר בֹּאִי אֵשֶׁת יָרׇבְעָם לָמָּה זֶּה אַתְּ מִתְנַכֵּרָה וְאָנֹכִי שָׁלוּחַ אֵלַיִךְ קָשָׁה׃ - And it was when Achiyahu heard the sound of her feet as she came in the doorway, that he said: Come in, wife of Yeravam; why is it that you disguise yourself? For I am sent to you with harsh tidings.
Even before he saw her, when the sound of her feet was heard at the doorway, he proclaims: Come in, wife of Yeravam. Why do you disguise yourself? That is: you think to disguise yourself so that I will not prepare myself for prophecy about the house of Yeravam and will not inquire regarding the community. But this is a wasted, pointless effort, for even without my preparing "אָנֹכִי שָׁלוּחַ אֵלַיִךְ קָשָׁה" - Hashem has already sent me in advance with a harsh matter, with no preparation whatsoever. If so, the entire disguise is superfluous.
לְכִי אִמְרִי לְיָרׇבְעָם כֹּה־אָמַר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַעַן אֲשֶׁר הֲרִמֹתִיךָ מִתּוֹךְ הָעָם וָאֶתֶּנְךָ נָגִיד עַל עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ וָאֶקְרַע אֶת־הַמַּמְלָכָה מִבֵּית דָּוִד וָאֶתְּנֶהָ לָךְ וְלֹא־הָיִיתָ כְּעַבְדִּי דָוִד אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַר מִצְוֺתַי וַאֲשֶׁר־הָלַךְ אַחֲרַי בְּכׇל־לְבָבוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת רַק הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָי׃ - Go, say to Yeravam: Thus says Hashem, God of Yisrael: Because I raised you up from among the people and made you ruler over My people Yisrael, and I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what is right in My eyes.
"יַעַן אֲשֶׁר הֲרִמֹתִיךָ מִתּוֹךְ הָעָם" - you should have remembered this. You are not the son of kings but the son of a commoner; Nevat was not a king. I raised you up from among the people and made you ruler, and this alone was already a reason for you to exert yourself doubly in the service of Hashem. And not only that: "וָאֶקְרַע אֶת־הַמַּמְלָכָה מִבֵּית דָּוִד וָאֶתְּנֶהָ לָךְ". If for your sake I tore away a kingdom from the house of David, then you were required to be more righteous than the house of David, to justify the tearing away of the monarchy. And you - it was not enough that you did not walk like David.
וַתָּרַע לַעֲשׂוֹת מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר־הָיוּ לְפָנֶיךָ וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתַּעֲשֶׂה־לְּךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וּמַסֵּכוֹת לְהַכְעִיסֵנִי וְאֹתִי הִשְׁלַכְתָּ אַחֲרֵי גַוֶּךָ׃ - You have done more evil than all who came before you, and you went and made for yourself other gods and molten images to anger Me, and you cast Me behind your back.
Who came before you, and on whose account was the kingdom torn away? Shlomo. And Hashem tells him: you have done more evil than he. Shlomo did indeed build high places, but he did so for the sake of his wives, whereas of you it says "you went and made for yourself" - not for your wives but for yourself. Shlomo did not protest to his wives because he loved them, that is, out of a personal affection, while you acted "to anger Me," with the deliberate purpose of provoking the Creator of the world. And Shlomo himself did not abandon Hashem, even though his wives served idols, whereas you "cast Me behind your back." By every measure you became worse than Shlomo. I replaced Shlomo in order to bring a righteous king, and not only are you not righteous, you have acted wickedly many times over.
לָכֵן הִנְנִי מֵבִיא רָעָה אֶל־בֵּית יָרׇבְעָם וְהִכְרַתִּי לְיָרׇבְעָם מַשְׁתִּין בְּקִיר עָצוּר וְעָזוּב בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וּבִעַרְתִּי אַחֲרֵי בֵית־יָרׇבְעָם כַּאֲשֶׁר יְבַעֵר הַגָּלָל עַד־תֻּמּוֹ׃ - Therefore, behold, I am bringing evil upon the house of Yerovam, and I will cut off from Yerovam every male, bond and free, in Israel, and I will sweep away the house of Yerovam as one sweeps away dung until it is gone.
This expression will recur before us many times later on, so we will explain it here. "One who urinates against a wall" - the Radak explains that this refers even to a dog, whose way it is to raise its leg and urinate against a wall, that is, not even a dog will remain of him. Another interpretation in the Radak: "urinates" from the root of "sets," as in one who sets thoughts upon the walls of his heart, meaning every man of thought, a person who sets counsel within his soul and contemplates, him too will I cut off. A further interpretation: no trace will remain, since it is the way of the male to urinate against a wall.
The Malbim adds, by way of derash, that "one who urinates against a wall" is the opening of "bond and free": there will be no one who urinates against the wall of the bond and the free. "Bond" is a person confined in prison, a prisoner, and "free" is a poor man who has nothing to eat. That is, the man of the house of Yerovam will be so lowly that even the bond and the free, the lowest of all, will drive him away and not allow him to urinate beside the wall of their house. This shows to what low level the house of Yerovam descended.
In explaining "bond and free" there are further approaches. The Abarbanel explains: there will not remain to him the wealth stored up in treasuries - "bond" from the sense of gathered in - nor the livestock left free in the field, but rather total destruction so that nothing remains. And the Ralbag explains: "bond" is what is in his hand, held with him, and "free" is what he abandoned and left in another's hand, what he gave to others. Of all these, what is in his hand and what he handed to others, nothing will remain.
"As one sweeps away dung until it is gone" - what is the galal? The Radak brings the words of Chazal in Bava Kama that galal is a tooth, and just as the tooth grinds up the food until it is gone, so will the house of Yerovam be swept away utterly. And why is the tooth called galal? Because "marble stone" is a stone of marble, and the tooth resembles marble stone. Some explain that galal is like galalim, dung: just as food is completely broken down until it becomes dung, so will the house of Yerovam be swept away. And the Ralbag brings a third interpretation: galal is the wind, so called because it rolls along all that it meets in its path. Just as a storm wipes out everything, so a day of storm and tempest will come and nothing will remain of the house of Yerovam.
הַמֵּת לְיָרׇבְעָם בָּעִיר יֹאכְלוּ הַכְּלָבִים וְהַמֵּת בַּשָּׂדֶה יֹאכְלוּ עוֹף הַשָּׁמָיִם כִּי יְהֹוָה דִּבֵּר׃ - Whoever of Yerovam dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and whoever dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat, for Hashem has spoken.
Whoever of the house of Yerovam dies in the city, the dogs will eat him, for dogs are found in the city. And whoever dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat him, for in the field the birds of the sky are more commonly found. And note the wording "whoever of Yerovam dies" - the verse is not yet speaking of Yerovam himself, as we will see shortly.
וְאַתְּ קוּמִי לְכִי לְבֵיתֵךְ בְּבֹאָהֿ רַגְלַיִךְ הָעִירָה וּמֵת הַיָּלֶד׃ וְסָפְדוּ־לוֹ כׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְקָבְרוּ אֹתוֹ כִּי־זֶה לְבַדּוֹ יָבֹא לְיָרׇבְעָם אֶל־קָבֶר יַעַן נִמְצָא־בוֹ דָּבָר טוֹב אֶל־יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּבֵית יָרׇבְעָם׃ - And you, arise, go to your house; as your feet enter the city, the child will die. And all Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Yerovam will come to a grave, because something good toward Hashem, the God of Israel, was found in him, in the house of Yerovam.
The prophet goes on to convey to her a harsh prophecy about the child himself: the moment she enters the city, the child will die. "וְסָפְדוּ־לוֹ כׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל" - this child was not an infant but a fairly grown boy; everyone knew him and he was beloved by all, and so all Israel mourned for him. "כִּי־זֶה לְבַדּוֹ יָבֹא לְיָרׇבְעָם אֶל־קָבֶר" - he alone of the house of Yaravam would be buried, apart from Yaravam himself. For "he will come to Yaravam to a grave," meaning to Yaravam's own grave, and from this we learn that Yaravam himself would indeed be buried, but the rest of the house of Yaravam would not.
And how did this boy merit to be the only one who would be buried? "יַעַן נִמְצָא־בוֹ דָּבָר טוֹב." Chazal say that although he was not a righteous man, he had one virtue: he went and nullified the guard posts that his father had set up, and made the pilgrimage to Yerushalayim. His father, Yaravam ben Nevat, had stationed watchmen so that no one would go up on pilgrimage, and the son bypassed the watchmen and reached Yerushalayim to serve Hashem in the Beit HaMikdash. And see what a great virtue there is in this: from his own home they surely tried to prevent him, from his own home he had every possible obstacle, and nonetheless he fought against his father's house and did it. From here we see that he had a special merit in this.
וְהֵקִים יְהֹוָה לוֹ מֶלֶךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יַכְרִית אֶת־בֵּית יָרׇבְעָם זֶה הַיּוֹם וּמֶה גַּם־עָתָּה׃ - And Hashem will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Yaravam, this day and even more so henceforth.
Now the prophet explains who this will be that will cut off the house of Yaravam: not one of the kings of Yehuda, but a king who will arise after him over Israel, and Hashem will raise him up for this very purpose, to destroy the house of Yaravam. And what is meant by "זֶה הַיּוֹם וּמֶה גַּם־עָתָּה"? "This day" - all those present in the house of Yaravam today, at the time of the decree. "And even more so henceforth" - also those who will be born from now until the decree comes to pass. Lest you say that only those alive at the time of the decree will die, while those born in the meantime will be spared, for the decree does not come immediately, and in the meantime they will continue to be born, He will cut them off as well.
וְהִכָּה יְהֹוָה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל כַּאֲשֶׁר יָנוּד הַקָּנֶה בַּמַּיִם וְנָתַשׁ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵעַל הָאֲדָמָה הַטּוֹבָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לַאֲבוֹתֵיהֶם וְזֵרָם מֵעֵבֶר לַנָּהָר יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ אֶת־אֲשֵׁרֵיהֶם מַכְעִיסִים אֶת־יְהֹוָה׃ - And Hashem will smite Israel as a reed sways in the water, and He will uproot Israel from upon this good land that He gave to their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the River, because they made their asheirot, provoking Hashem.
After conveying Yaravam's punishment, the prophet conveys the punishment of Israel as a whole, which will come after a long time, and in three stages. "וְהִכָּה יְהֹוָה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל" - this is the smiting that occurred in the days of Chazael, king of Aram, as we will see later. "וְנָתַשׁ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵעַל הָאֲדָמָה" - uprooting from the land, by Assyria in the days of Pekach ben Remalyahu. "וְזֵרָם מֵעֵבֶר לַנָּהָר" - in the days of Hoshea, when Sancheriv exiled them to Chalach and Chavor and the river Gozan.
And why? "יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ אֶת־אֲשֵׁרֵיהֶם." Regarding the sin of the calves, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said that He does not hold them accountable, for they were like ones acting under compulsion, and they had a justification. But afterward they went of their own accord and additionally made asheirot, and that no longer came from Yaravam. You went and made things stricter and more meticulous in idolatry; you were not content with the calves that were forced upon you, but you built yourself asheirot of your own. And so the Malbim emphasizes the difference: at first it says "because of the sins of Yaravam," and Yaravam's sin was the calves, and afterward He accuses them of the asheirot. Yaravam's fate was sealed because of the calves, but the harm to Israel as a whole came because of the asheirot, for regarding the calves they were judged as ones under compulsion, as unintentional sinners, and not as willful ones.
And within the very wording of the punishment there is consolation. Chazal say: better the curse with which Achiya the Shiloni cursed Israel than the blessing with which Bilam blessed them. Bilam said "כַּאֲרָזִים עֲלֵי־מָיִם," like cedars beside water, and a cedar is strong, but a wind comes and uproots it and overturns it on its face. A somewhat strong wind and it has no chance; the cedar is finished and has fallen. Whereas Achiya said "כַּאֲשֶׁר יָנוּד הַקָּנֶה בַּמַּיִם," as a reed sways in the water, and when a strong wind comes the reed lies down completely, sometimes clinging to the ground, but it is elastic, and afterward it rises up again and returns to its place. Even when Achiya said something negative, it was not an absolutely negative thing with no recovery, but rather something destined ultimately to rise up again and grow.
וְיִתֵּן אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּגְלַל חַטֹּאות יָרׇבְעָם אֲשֶׁר חָטָא וַאֲשֶׁר הֶחֱטִיא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And He will give up Israel because of the sins of Yaravam, which he sinned and by which he caused Israel to sin.
We said that regarding the sin of Yaravam they were like victims of coercion, and their real sin was the asherim. If so, why does He hold them accountable also for the sin of Yaravam? The answer is simple: a person is called coerced only as long as he remains under coercion. But if afterward he went and did it also of his own accord, you have proven that that coercion was agreeable to you. If so, you will pay for it too. To what may this be compared? To one who fenced in his fellow's field on three sides, for which the fellow need not pay him anything, since he did not ask for it. But if the fellow went and fenced the fourth side himself, he has revealed that the fence is agreeable to him, and he shares in the expenses. So too here: was idol worship ultimately so agreeable to you that you went and made asherim of your own initiative? Then the calves are demanded of you as well. "They revealed their intent that the sin of Yaravam was agreeable to them."
וַתָּקׇם אֵשֶׁת יָרׇבְעָם וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתָּבֹא תִרְצָתָה הִיא בָּאָה בְסַף־הַבַּיִת וְהַנַּעַר מֵת׃ - And the wife of Yaravam arose and went and came to Tirtzah; as she came to the threshold of the house, the boy died.
On the face of it there seems to be a contradiction to the words of the prophet, who said "when your feet enter the city the child will die," while here it says he died when she came to the threshold of the house. The Malbim says this is no difficulty at all: the boy died at the moment she entered the city, only she did not yet know it. Only upon reaching the threshold of the house did she learn that the boy had died, but his death occurred from the moment she entered the city.
וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי יָרׇבְעָם אֲשֶׁר נִלְחַם וַאֲשֶׁר מָלָךְ הִנָּם כְּתוּבִים עַל־סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְמַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And the rest of the acts of Yaravam, how he fought and how he reigned, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrael.
It was customary for the kings to write "chronicles," that is, the events of the kings: what happened with them, which wars they fought and what deeds they did. And one should not be confused: all those "chronicles" mentioned here and further on are not the Sefer Divrei HaYamim that we have, but records of the events of the kings. "And the days that Yaravam reigned were twenty two years, and he slept with his fathers, and Nadav his son reigned in his place."
וּרְחַבְעָם בֶּן־שְׁלֹמֹה מָלַךְ בִּיהוּדָה בֶּן־אַרְבָּעִים וְאַחַת שָׁנָה רְחַבְעָם בְּמׇלְכוֹ וּשְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר־בָּחַר יְהֹוָה לָשׂוּם אֶת־שְׁמוֹ שָׁם מִכֹּל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ נַעֲמָה הָעַמֹּנִית׃ - And Rechavam son of Shlomo reigned in Yehudah. Rechavam was forty one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Yerushalayim, the city that Hashem chose to place His name there out of all the tribes of Yisrael, and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.
From here onward we will see throughout how the prophet moves from the kingdom of Yisrael to the kingdom of Yehudah and back. Sometimes he stays a long time in one kingdom, as we will see with Achav, and sometimes he moves from one to the other, chapter by chapter. Here he returns to Rechavam son of Shlomo who reigned in Yehudah, forty one years old when he became king, seventeen years he reigned in Yerushalayim - "the city that Hashem chose," the city that was meant to draw him near to the service of Hashem, and yet it was not so. And why does the verse emphasize "and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess"? Because his mother worshiped idols in Shlomo's old age, and it was she who also brought her son Rechavam to idol worship.
וַיַּעַשׂ יְהוּדָה הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה וַיְקַנְאוּ אֹתוֹ מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ אֲבֹתָם בְּחַטֹּאתָם אֲשֶׁר חָטָאוּ׃ - And Yehudah did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, and they provoked Him more than all that their fathers had done in their sins that they sinned.
"And they provoked Him" - they angered Hashem, more than all that their fathers had done in their sins. More than they had angered Him in the days of the Judges, they angered Him now in the days of Rechavam son of Shlomo.
וַיִּבְנוּ גַם־הֵמָּה לָהֶם בָּמוֹת וּמַצֵּבוֹת וַאֲשֵׁרִים עַל כׇּל־גִּבְעָה גְבֹהָה וְתַחַת כׇּל־עֵץ רַעֲנָן׃ וְגַם־קָדֵשׁ הָיָה בָאָרֶץ עָשׂוּ כְּכֹל הַתּוֹעֲבֹת הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר הוֹרִישׁ יְהֹוָה מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And they too built for themselves high places and pillars and asherim on every high hill and under every leafy tree. And there was also a male cult prostitute in the land; they did according to all the abominations of the nations that Hashem had driven out from before the children of Yisrael.
"קָדֵשׁ" refers to sexual immorality and homosexual relations. The Malbim explains that the verse is speaking about the Canaanite: "וְגַם־קָדֵשׁ הָיָה בָאָרֶץ עָשׂוּ כְּכֹל הַתּוֹעֲבֹת" - who did these things? The nations. They were the ones who did them, and Israel did not protest against them. Yet according to the plain sense of Scripture, says the Malbim, the meaning is that the people of Israel themselves did all the abominations that the nations had done.
וַיְהִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַחֲמִישִׁית לַמֶּלֶךְ רְחַבְעָם עָלָה שִׁישַׁק מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַיִם עַל־יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rechavam, that Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Yerushalayim.
Who was Shishak? Chazal say that he was Pharaoh Necho. He was the one who coveted the throne of Shlomo, and he was called Shishak because he yearned and longed (shokek) for the special ivory throne that Shlomo had built. Indeed he tried to ascend it, and he received such a blow that he decided to give up on the pleasure. For there were golden lions on the throne that operated on mechanisms, in the language of the Midrash, what we would call today a mechanism, and one had to know exactly where to press, to crack the secret code. He did not know, stepped on the wrong place, and the lion struck him and he became lame (nacheh) - and from this they called him Pharaoh Necho.
וַיִּקַּח אֶת־אֹצְרוֹת בֵּית־יְהֹוָה וְאֶת־אוֹצְרוֹת בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ וְאֶת־הַכֹּל לָקָח וַיִּקַּח אֶת־כׇּל־מָגִנֵּי הַזָּהָב אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה שְׁלֹמֹה׃ - And he took the treasures of the House of Hashem and the treasures of the king's house; he took everything, and he took all the golden shields that Shlomo had made.
Understand that there was great wealth here. This is about Yehudah, and in Shlomo's time silver and gold were considered as nothing, like stones. And Shishak took everything, even the golden shields that Shlomo had made for splendor.
וַיַּעַשׂ הַמֶּלֶךְ רְחַבְעָם תַּחְתָּם מָגִנֵּי נְחֹשֶׁת וְהִפְקִיד עַל־יַד שָׂרֵי הָרָצִים הַשֹּׁמְרִים פֶּתַח בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ וַיְהִי מִדֵּי־בֹא הַמֶּלֶךְ בֵּית יְהֹוָה יִשָּׂאוּם הָרָצִים וֶהֱשִׁיבוּם אֶל־תָּא הָרָצִים׃ - And King Rechavam made in their place bronze shields, and he entrusted them to the officers of the runners who guarded the entrance of the king's house. And whenever the king came to the House of Hashem, the runners would carry them and return them to the runners' chamber.
The Radak explains that the runners would carry the shields for honor, and not for the purpose of war. Just as a prime minister travels with motorcycles before him, so too when the king went out they would go out with the shields before him, and afterward return them to the runners' chamber.
וְיֶתֶר דִּבְרֵי רְחַבְעָם וְכׇל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה הֲלֹא־הֵמָּה כְתוּבִים עַל־סֵפֶר דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לְמַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה׃ וּמִלְחָמָה הָיְתָה בֵין־רְחַבְעָם וּבֵין יָרׇבְעָם כׇּל־הַיָּמִים׃ - And the rest of the acts of Rechavam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehudah? And there was war between Rechavam and Yaravam all the days.
Recall that at first Rechavam wanted to go out to war against Israel who had not accepted his kingship, and Shemayah the prophet came to him and said: "This thing is from Me," do not go out to fight them, this is a punishment for your father Shlomo that the kingdom would be split. But at a later period there were indeed wars between Israel and itself, and this is a terrible thing. Astonishing numbers died there, things that are hard to accept. And it is Hashem's kindness that we do not have this today.
וַיִּשְׁכַּב רְחַבְעָם עִם־אֲבֹתָיו וַיִּקָּבֵר עִם־אֲבֹתָיו בְּעִיר דָּוִד וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ נַעֲמָה הָעַמֹּנִית וַיִּמְלֹךְ אֲבִיָּם בְּנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃ - And Rechavam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David, and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite; and Aviyam his son reigned in his place.
The verse mentions his mother's name once again, because she incited him to evil until the end of his days. Some say that until the end of his days he resembled her in his deeds.
Here the matter is mentioned only by way of hint, while in Divrei HaYamim, which is a review of the days of the kings of Israel and where the things hinted at here are given in greater detail, the war of Shishak is recounted at length. In Divrei HaYamim II chapter 12: "וַיְהִי כְּהָכִין מַלְכוּת רְחַבְעָם וּכְחֶזְקָתוֹ עָזַב אֶת תּוֹרַת ה' וְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל עִמּוֹ" - And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rechavam was established and he had grown strong, that he forsook the Torah of the Lord, and all Israel with him. Once the kingdom was firmly established, there was no longer any need for the Creator of the world. "וַיְהִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַחֲמִישִׁית לַמֶּלֶךְ רְחַבְעָם עָלָה שִׁישַׁק מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם עַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם כִּי מָעֲלוּ בַה'" - And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rechavam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had betrayed the Lord. Why did he come up? Not for material calculations of conquest, but "because they had betrayed the Lord."
And the verse continues: "בְּאֶלֶף וּמָאתַיִם רֶכֶב וּבְשִׁשִּׁים אֶלֶף פָּרָשִׁים וְאֵין מִסְפָּר לָעָם אֲשֶׁר בָּאוּ עִמּוֹ מִמִּצְרַיִם לוּבִים סֻכִּיִּים וְכוּשִׁים" - With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen, and the people who came with him out of Egypt were without number: Luvim, Sukkiim, and Kushim. He brought with him the entire mixed multitude, the main thing being to go out against the people of Israel. "וַיִּלְכֹּד אֶת עָרֵי הַמְּצֻרוֹת אֲשֶׁר לִיהוּדָה וַיָּבֹא עַד יְרוּשָׁלָיִם. וּשְׁמַעְיָה הַנָּבִיא בָּא אֶל רְחַבְעָם וְשָׂרֵי יְהוּדָה... וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם כֹּה אָמַר ה' אַתֶּם עֲזַבְתֶּם אֹתִי וְאַף אֲנִי עָזַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בְּיַד שִׁישָׁק. וַיִּכָּנְעוּ שָׂרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמְרוּ צַדִּיק ה'" - And he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. And Shemayah the prophet came to Rechavam and to the princes of Judah... and he said to them, Thus says the Lord: You have forsaken Me, and so I too have forsaken you into the hand of Shishak. Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, The Lord is righteous. They repented.
"וּבִרְאוֹת ה' כִּי נִכְנָעוּ הָיָה דְבַר ה' אֶל שְׁמַעְיָה לֵאמֹר נִכְנְעוּ לֹא אַשְׁחִיתֵם וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם כִּמְעַט לִפְלֵיטָה וְלֹא תִתַּךְ חֲמָתִי בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם בְּיַד שִׁישָׁק" - And when the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemayah, saying: They have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them, but I will grant them kim'at for deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. And what is the meaning of "kim'at for deliverance"? This is not "almost" in the way we are accustomed to say it, but rather read it as: kim'at - as though they were few. Like "כִּמְעַט אוֹיְבֵיהֶם אַכְנִיע" (I would soon subdue their enemies), where the meaning is not that I would almost subdue, but that I would subdue them as though they were few, as though only two had come and not a vast people of millions. So too here: I will give them a few who will be for deliverance. "כִּי יִהְיוּ לוֹ לַעֲבָדִים וְיֵדְעוּ עֲבוֹדָתִי וַעֲבוֹדַת מַמְלְכוֹת הָאֲרָצוֹת" - For they shall be his servants, that they may know My service and the service of the kingdoms of the lands. There would be no complete salvation, but also no complete destruction.
On this basis the Malbim explains the matter of the bronze shields. When Rechavam saw the ascent of Shishak and the taking of the shields, he made bronze shields in their place, and the purpose was to remember what he had gone through and the kindnesses of the Lord that He had done with him. Instead of gold shields he made bronze shields, so that he would always see the kindness of the Lord who saved him, and through this his gratitude would grow within him and his submission before the Lord would grow, and he would not return to his folly again. Therefore, whenever he went out he would ask that the bronze shields be carried before him, not for the sake of honor but so that his heart would not grow haughty. To make gold shields would have been no problem for him: it was not a situation of lack of money or of a poor populace, but rather he chose bronze in order to remind him of his lowliness and of his obligation toward the Creator of the world.
And from here comes also the answer to the question of why Rechavam merited "וַיִּקָּבֵר עִם־אֲבֹתָיו בְּעִיר דָּוִד" (and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David), to come to the burial place of Israel with his fathers: because at the end of his days he repented.
The chapter opens with the illness of Aviyah son of Yeravam and with the disguise that the king asks of his wife, and it teaches how much Yeravam labored to outwit the prophecy - before the people, so that they would not say he had returned to the prophets of the Lord, and before the prophet, so that the prophecy would be asked only about the child and not about the entire house of Yeravam. But the Holy One, blessed be He, forestalls him and reveals it to the ear of His prophet, and Achiyah receives her at the doorway by name: "Come in, wife of Yeravam." From here the harsh rebuke is delivered: one who was raised up from among the people, and for whose sake the kingdom of the house of David was torn away, was obligated to be better, yet turned out to be worse than all who came before him. The decree: the utter cutting off of the entire house of Yeravam, and only Aviyah would be buried, on account of a "good thing" - that he abolished the guard posts and went up on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Upon all of Israel exile was decreed in three stages, in the sin of the asherot that they added on their own initiative, and once it became clear that these were acceptable to them, they were held accountable also for the calves. And in contrast to Bilam's blessing that likened them to a cedar that breaks, Achiyah likened them to a reed that sways but is not uprooted. At the end of the chapter the verse turns to Rechavam, who forsook the Torah of the Lord the moment his kingdom grew strong, was punished by the hand of Shishak, humbled himself and said "The Lord is righteous," and made bronze shields as a memorial to the kindnesses of the Lord and to his own lowliness, and by virtue of his repentance at the end of his days he merited to be buried with his fathers in the city of David.