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.
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.