1 Kings 12:25

1 Kings 12:25 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
• New International Version (NIV)Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel.

Context of 1 Kings 12:25

23‘Say this to Solomon's son Rehoboam, the king of Judah. Say it to all the people of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the other people. 24This is what the Lord says: “Do not attack your brothers, the Israelites. Do not fight against them. Instead, you must all go home. I, the Lord, have decided that this must happen.” ’ So they obeyed the Lord's message. They went back to their homes, as the Lord had commanded them to do. Jeroboam made Shechem into a strong city. He lived there, in the hill country of Ephraim. He also went to make Penuel a strong city. 26Jeroboam thought, ‘I do not want the people of my kingdom to accept David's descendants as king again. 27The people that I rule will go to the Lord's temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices there. Then they may decide to serve Rehoboam, king of Judah, who was their master before. They might kill me and then go back to serve King Rehoboam.’

1 Kings 12:25 word by word

וַיִּ֨בֶן יָרָבְעָ֧ם אֶת־שְׁכֶ֛ם בְּהַ֥ר אֶפְרַ֖יִם וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב בָּ֑הּ וַיֵּצֵ֣א מִשָּׁ֔ם וַיִּ֖בֶן אֶת־פְּנוּאֵֽל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then Jeroboamיָֽרָבְעָםyârob‛âm · JeroboamH3379
• builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• Shechemשְׁכֶםshekem · ShechemH7927
• in mountהַרhar · mountain: hill countryH2022
• Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• and dweltיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• therein; and went outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• Penuelפְּנוּאֵלpenû'êl penîy'êl · PenielH6439

Cross-references for 1 Kings 12:25

• 1 Kings 9:15Solomon made people work on the buildings for him. This is how he used them to build the Lord's temple, the king's palace, the Millo and the wall around Jerusalem. They also did work on the towns called Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.
• 1 Kings 15:17One time, Baasha attacked Judah. He put a group of his soldiers in Ramah and he made it a strong town. As a result, nobody could travel into Judah or out of Judah, where King Asa ruled.
• 1 Kings 16:24Then Omri bought a hill from a man called Shemer. He paid Shemer 70 kilograms of silver for it. He built a city on the hill and he called the city Samaria. That was because the hill had belonged to Shemer.
• 2 Chronicles 11:5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem. He built these strong cities in Judah to make it safe:
• 1 Kings 12:1Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all the Israelites had gone there to make him king.
• Judges 9:1Gideon's son Abimelech went to Shechem to speak to his mother's brothers. He said to them and to her family's clan,
• Genesis 32:30So Jacob called the place Peniel. He said, ‘I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive!’
• Judges 8:8Gideon continued his journey to Peniel. He asked their people for food too. But they gave him the same answer as the men of Succoth.

Commentaries on 1 Kings 12:25

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25Built Shechem - In the sense of “enlarged and fortified.” See Daniel 4:30. The first intention of Jeroboam seems to have been to make Shechem his capital, and therefore he immediately set about its fortification. So also he seems to have fortified Penuel for the better security of his Trans-Jordanic possessions (marginal reference).Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 25-33Verses 25-33 Jeroboam distrusted the providence of God; he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our departures from him. Though it is probable he meant his worship for Jehovah the God of Israel, it was contrary to the Divine law, and dishonourable to the Divine majesty to be thus represented. The people might be less shocked at worshipping the God of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25Both Shechem (1 Kings 12:1) and Peniel, which Jeroboam built across the Jordan River, were important defense sites against the Arameans.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2525. Jeroboam built Shechem--destroyed by Abimelech (Jud 9:1-49). It was rebuilt, and perhaps fortified, by Jeroboam, as a royal residence. built Penuel--a ruined city with a tower (Jud 8:9), east of Jordan, on the north bank of the Jabbok. It was an object of importance to restore this fortress (as it lay on the caravan road from Gilead to Damascus and Palmyra) and to secure his frontier on that quarter.Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Kings 12:25

• Beth-El
• Ephraim
• Jeroboam
• Penuel
• Shechem

In the dictionaries

• Ephraim
• Jeroboam
• Shechem
• Mount Ephraim
• Add
• Aholah
• Consult
• Ephraim, The tribe of
• Heavy
• Israel, Kingdom of

Commentaries on 1 Kings 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings