2tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying.”

3tn Heb “for his thing is from me.”

4tn Heb “and they heard the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.”

5map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

6map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

7tn Heb “he strengthened them greatly, very much.”

8tn Heb “and the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel supported him from all their territory.”

9tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jeroboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

10tn Heb “for the high places.”

11tn Heb “and for the goats and for the calves he had made.”

12tn Heb “and after them from all the tribes of Israel, the ones giving their heart[s] to seek the Lord God of Israel came [to] Jerusalem.”

13tn Heb “fathers.”

14tn Or “strengthened.”

15tn Or “strengthened.”

16tn Heb “they walked in the way of.”

17tn Heb “took for himself a wife.”

18tn The words “and of” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

19sn Concubines were slave women in ancient Near Eastern societies who were the legal property of their master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with their master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).

20tn Heb “and Rehoboam appointed for a head Abijah son of Maacah for ruler among his brothers, indeed to make him king.”

21tn Heb “and he was discerning and broke up from all his sons to all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities.”

22tn “and he asked for a multitude of wives.”