1 Kings 11:26

And Jeroboam [Viewed in the light of their history, the names Jeroboam and Rehoboam are both instructive. The first means, "Whose people are many;" the second, "Enlarger of the people." The latter might almost have been bestowed in irony, the former by way of parody] the son of Nebat [The case of Jeroboam is now related at much greater length, not so much because of the importance of the rebellion at the time, as because of its bearing on the later history of Israel. It led to the disruption of the kingdom and the schism in the Church. It was the first great symptom of the decadence of the power of Solomon; of his decline in piety we have had many indications. We see in it an indication that the Hebrew commonwealth has passed its zenith], an Ephrathite [ i.e; Ephraimite; cf. 12:5 ; 1 Samuel 1:1 . Ephraim was the ancient rival of Judah, and by reason of its numbers, position, etc; might well aspire to the headship of the tribes ( Genesis 49:26 ; Genesis 48:19 ; Deuteronomy 33:17 ; Joshua 17:17 ) ] of Zereda [Mentioned here only, unless it is identical with Zeredathah ( 2 Chronicles 4:17 ) or Zarthan ( Joshua 3:16 ; 1 Kings 4:12 ) in the Jordan valley. That this place was apparently situate in the tribe of Manasseh, is no argument against the identification (Bähr), for an Ephrathite might surely be born out of Ephraim. It is, however, observable that Zereda has the definite article (similarly ἡ σαρείρα in the LXX ; but this place is located in Mount Ephraim), which Zarthan, etc; have not. Hence it is probably the same as the Zererath of 7:22 . In fact, some MSS . read צְרֵדָה there instead of צְרֵרָה and ר dna צְ and ד are not only etymologically interchangeable, but are also extremely liable to be confused (see above on 7:14 ) ], Solomon's servant [ i.e; officer; cf. verse 28], whose mother's name was Zeruah [ i.e; leprous . His mother's name is recorded, probably because his father, having died early, was comparatively unknown. But it is not impossible that the similarity either with Zeruiah (cf. 1 Kings 1:7 ) or Zererah had something to do with its preservation. The people would not readily forget that Solomon's other great adversary was the son of Zeruiah. And we have many proofs how much the Jews affected the jingle of similar words], even he lifted up his [Heb. a ] hand [ i.e; rebelled. Synonymous expression 2 Samuel 18:28 ; 2 Samuel 20:21 . Observe, we have no history or account of this rebellion except in the LXX ; but merely of the circumstances which led to it] against the king.