2 Kings 17:21 - Exposition

For he rent ; rather, for he had rent. The nexus of the verse is with 2 Kings 17:18 . The difference between the fates of Israel and Judah—the survival of Judah for a hundred and thirty-four years—is traced back to the separation under Rehoboam, and to the wicked policy which Jeroboam then pursued, and left as a legacy to his successors. Israel could suffer alone, while Judah was spared, because the kingdom of David and Solomon had been rent in twain, and the two states had thenceforth continued separate. Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord. The separation alone might not have had any ill result; but it was followed by the appointment of Jeroboam as king, and Jeroboam introduced the fatal taint of idolatry, from which all the other evils flowed, including the earlier destruction of the northern kingdom. Jeroboam not only introduced the worship of the calves, but he "drave Israel from following the Lord "— i.e. compelled the people to discontinue the practice of going up to worship at Jerusalem ( 2 Chronicles 11:13-16 ), and required them to take part in the calf-worship. And [thus] made them sin a great sin.