Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Abijah, the pious king of Judah, triumphs over the impious Jeroboam, with five hundred thousand Israelites slain, and from 14 wives begets 38 children.
Vulgate Text: 2 Paralipomenon 13:1-22
1. In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah reigned over Judah. 2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah; and there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3. And when Abijah had begun the battle, and had most warlike men, and four hundred thousand chosen soldiers, Jeroboam drew up his battle line against him with eight hundred thousand men, who were also chosen and most valiant for war. 4. So Abijah stood upon Mount Zemaraim, which was in Ephraim, and said: Hear me, O Jeroboam, and all Israel! 5. Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? 6. And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord. 7. And there gathered to him vain men and sons of Belial, and they prevailed against Rehoboam the son of Solomon; for Rehoboam was inexperienced and of a fearful heart, and could not resist them. 8. And now you say that you can resist the kingdom of the Lord, which He possesses through the sons of David, and you have a great multitude of people, and golden calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. 9. And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites; and you have made yourselves priests like all the peoples of the lands: whoever comes and consecrates his hand with a bull from the herd and seven rams becomes a priest of those who are not gods. 10. But our Lord is God, whom we have not forsaken, and the priests who minister to the Lord are of the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are in their order. 11. They offer holocausts to the Lord every day, morning and evening, and incense prepared according to the precepts of the law, and the showbread is set upon the most clean table, and with us is the golden candlestick and its lamps, to be lighted always at evening; for we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have forsaken. 12. Therefore God is the leader of our army, and His priests, who sound the trumpets and resound against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for it will not profit you. 13. While he was speaking these things, Jeroboam was setting an ambush behind them. 14. And Judah looked back and saw that the battle was pressing upon them both in front and behind, and they cried out to the Lord; and the priests began to sound the trumpets. 15. And all the men of Judah shouted aloud; and behold, as they were shouting, God struck terror into Jeroboam and all Israel. 16. And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. 17. So Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; and there fell wounded of Israel five hundred thousand valiant men. 18. And the children of Israel were humbled at that time, and the children of Judah were exceedingly strengthened, because they had trusted in the Lord God of their fathers. 19. And Abijah pursued the fleeing Jeroboam, and took his cities: Bethel with its dependent towns, and Jeshanah with its dependent towns, and Ephron also with its dependent towns. 20. And Jeroboam was no longer able to resist in the days of Abijah; and the Lord struck him, and he died. 21. So Abijah, having strengthened his power, took fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22. Now the rest of the deeds of Abijah, and his ways and works, are written most diligently in the Book of Iddo the Prophet.
Verse 2: Micaiah the Daughter of Uriel
2. MICAIAH THE DAUGHTER OF URIEL. — See what was said in 3 Kings chapter XV, verse 2.
Verse 4: Abijah Stood upon the Mountain
4. ABIJAH STOOD UPON THE MOUNTAIN — so that his speech could be heard by all the Israelites camping round about. This speech of his is pious and effective, in which he tries by many arguments to persuade them to leave their newfangled religion and king, and return to the ancestral God and the kingdom of David in Jerusalem; and especially that he has God fighting for him, whom they, as idolaters, have against them, that is to say: You act insanely, if you wish to fight against God. Read it and consider it carefully.
Verse 5: A Covenant of Salt
5. BY A COVENANT OF SALT — that is, by a firm, stable, and eternal covenant. For salt preserves things whole and safe from corruption; hence salt is a symbol of eternity, as I said in Leviticus chapter II, verse 12.
Verse 9: Whoever Has Consecrated His Hand
9. WHOEVER HAS CONSECRATED HIS HAND WITH A BULL FROM THE HERD AND WITH SEVEN RAMS, BECOMES A PRIEST OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT GODS — that is to say: Just as you have false gods, so also false priests; for God did not choose them, as He chose Aaron and his posterity. Note: to fill the hand, in Hebrew is the same as to consecrate a priest. For by filling his hands with victims and offering them with his own hands, one consecrated himself a priest, as is clear from Leviticus VIII.
Verse 11: The Showbread upon the Most Clean Table
11. THE SHOWBREAD IS SET UPON THE MOST CLEAN TABLE, etc. — From this passage and the following, where mention is made of only one table and one candlestick, Torniellus infers that Shishak king of Egypt, when he plundered the treasures of the temple, from "the ten tables and ten candlesticks" which King Solomon had placed in the temple, left only one table and one candlestick, and that thenceforth the Jews were content with these, just as they had been before the temple was built by Solomon.
Verse 20: Whom the Lord Struck
20. WHOM THE LORD STRUCK, AND HE DIED. — Whom, namely Jeroboam, for the discourse immediately preceding was about him; for Jeroboam miserably perished after two or three years. But the Hebrews in the Seder Olam understand not Jeroboam, but Abijah himself, whom they say was ungrateful to God. But this does not sufficiently agree with what immediately follows: "So Abijah, having strengthened his power, took 14 wives," etc.