2Ch 11:12-16 | KD | STEP | “And he made strong the fortresses, and put captains in them,” etc.; i.e., he increased their strength by placing them in a thoroughly efficient condition to defend themselves against attacks, appointing commandants (נגידים), provisioning them, and ( ) laying up stores of all kinds of arms. In this way he made them exceedingly strong. The last clause, , “And there were to him Judah and Benjamin,” corresponds to the statement, , that Israel revolted from the house of David, and forms the conclusion of the account (vv. 1-17 a ) of that which Rehoboam did to establish his power and consolidate his kingdom. There follows hereupon, in , the account of the internal spiritual strengthening of the kingdom of Judah by the migration of the priests and Levites, and many pious worshippers of Jahve out of all the tribes, to the kingdom of Judah .

‏ 2 Chronicles 11:12-16

2Ch 11:11-12 “And he made strong the fortresses, and put captains in them,” etc.; i.e., he increased their strength by placing them in a thoroughly efficient condition to defend themselves against attacks, appointing commandants (נגידים), provisioning them, and (2Ch 11:12) laying up stores of all kinds of arms. In this way he made them exceedingly strong. The last clause, 2Ch 11:12, “And there were to him Judah and Benjamin,” corresponds to the statement, 2Ch 10:19, that Israel revolted from the house of David, and forms the conclusion of the account (vv. 1-17 a) of that which Rehoboam did to establish his power and consolidate his kingdom. There follows hereupon, in 2Ch 11:13-17, the account of the internal spiritual strengthening of the kingdom of Judah by the migration of the priests and Levites, and many pious worshippers of Jahve out of all the tribes, to the kingdom of Judah. 2Ch 11:13-14

The priests and Levites in all Israel went over to him out of their whole domain. על התיצּב, to present oneself before any one, to await his commands, cf. Zec 6:5; Job 1:6; Job 2:1; here in the signification to place oneself at another’s disposal, i.e., to go over to one. The suffix in גּבוּלם refers to “all Israel.” For - this was the motive of their migration, 2Ch 11:14 -the Levites (in the wider signification of the word, including the priests) forsook their territory and their possessions, i.e., the cities assigned to them, with the pasture lands for their cattle (Num 35:1-8), scil. in the domain of the ten tribes; “for Jeroboam and his sons had driven them out from the priesthood of Jahve.” To prevent his subjects from visiting the temple at Jerusalem, which he feared might ultimately cause the people to return to the house of David, Jeroboam had erected his own places of worship for his kingdom in Bethel and Dan, where Jahve was worshipped in the ox images (the golden calves), and had appointed, not the Levites, but men from the body of the people, to be priests in these so-called sanctuaries (1Ki 12:26-31), consecrated by himself. By these innovations not only the priests and Levites, who would not recognise this unlawful image-worship, were compelled to migrate to Judah and Jerusalem, but also the pious worshippers of the Lord, who would not renounce the temple worship which had been consecrated by God Himself. All Jeroboam’s successors held firmly by this calf-worship introduced by him, and consequently the driving out of the priests and Levites is here said to have been the act of Jeroboam and his sons. By his sons are meant Jeroboam’s successors on the throne, without respect to the fact that of Jeroboam’s own sons only Nadab reached the throne, and that his dynasty terminated with him; for in this matter all the kings of Israel walked in the footsteps of Jeroboam. 2Ch 11:15

And had ordained him priests for the high places. ויּעמד־לו is a continuation of הזניחם כּי, 2Ch 11:14. בּמות are the places of worship which were erected by Jeroboam for the image-worship, called in 1Ki 12:31 בּמות בּית; see on that passage. The gods worshipped in these houses in high places the author of the Chronicle calls שׂעירים from their nature, and עגלים from their form. The word שׂעירים is taken from Lev 17:7, and signifies demons, so named from the Egyptian idolatry, in which the worship of goats, of Pan (Mendes), who was always represented in the form of a goat, occupied a prominent place; see on Lev 17:7. For further details as to the עגלים, see on 1Ki 12:28. 2Ch 11:16 אחריהם, after them, i.e., following after the priests and Levites. With את־לבבם הנּתנים, who turned their hearts thereto, cf. 1Ch 22:19. They went to Jerusalem to sacrifice there; i.e., as we learn from the context, not merely to offer sacrifices, but also to remain in the kingdom of Judah.