1 Kings 13:34

1Ki 13:34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut [it] off, and to destroy [it] from off the face of the earth.

Ver. 34. And this thing became sin.] This his obstinacy and pertinacy in his abominable idolatries, became his utter ruin. Fugite ergo, reges, eiusmodi exitum, fugiendo huiusmodi flagitium, saith Ambrose, {a} "Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings," and overturn not your houses by "lifting up your horns on high" against God.

{a} De Naboth Jezrael, chap. xi.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 13:34. This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam — An occasion of sin, and a mean of hardening all his posterity in their idolatry; or, rather, it became a punishment, as the word sin often signifies. This his obstinate continuance in his idolatry, after such warnings, brought dreadful punishments upon his family, and these not of an ordinary kind; but such as effected its utter extirpation. We may reflect here with Ostervald, on the astonishing blindness and ingratitude of Jeroboam. “Instead of relying on the promises which God had made him, to preserve the kingdom in his family, if he continued faithful, fearing lest his subjects should forsake him, if they went to worship at Jerusalem; out of a false policy he set up an idolatrous worship in his kingdom, which occasioned the ruin of his family, and at last the ruin of the kingdom of the ten tribes. Thus men, instead of trusting to God, in the faithful discharge of their duty, for security, have recourse to ill methods, whereby they draw upon themselves, at length, those very misfortunes they mean to avoid.” Indeed, all those betray themselves effectually, who endeavour to support themselves or families by any sin.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 34. And this thing became sin] These abominations were too glaring, and too insulting to the Divine Majesty, to be permitted to last; therefore his house was cut off, and destroyed from the face of the earth.

A HOLY priesthood, a righteous ministry, is a blessing to any state, because it has a most powerful effect on the morals of the community; inducing order, sobriety, and habits of industry, among the people: on the contrary, the profligacy of the clergy, and false principles of religion, are the most likely to unsettle a kingdom, and to bring about destructive revolutions in the state. This is the principle on which all national establishments of religion were originally formed. The state thought proper to secure a permanency of religion, that religion might secure the safety of the state; because it was supposed from the general aversion of men from good, that, if left to themselves, they would have no religion at all. Where the religion of the country is pure, founded solely on the oracles of God, it deserves the utmost sanction of the state, as well as the attention of every individual. A Christian state has surely authority to enact, The Christian religion is and shall be the religion of this land; and, prejudice apart, should not the laws provide for the permanence of this system? Is the form of Christianity likely to be preserved in times of general profligacy, if the laws do not secure its permanence? What would our nation have been if we had not had a version of the sacred writings established by the authority of the laws: and a form of sound words for general devotion established by the same authority? Whatever the reader may do the writer thanks God for the religious establishment of his country. For abuses in church or state, he is the last to contend.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(34) And this thing.—The comment of the author of the book, evidently based on the prophetic denunciation of Ahijah in 1Ki_14:9-11, and its subsequent fulfilment. (See 1Ki_15:25-30.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34. The Hebrew text here also is not clear. Literally it is ‘in this thing there came to be &c.’ But the A.V. and all other versions translate as though the Hebrew were the same as in the beginning of 1Ki_12:30. Probably the variation is only a slip of the scribe.

to cut it off and to destroy it] God’s judgement wrought the destruction, but yet it was the sin which called it forth. Hence the sin may be called the destroying power. Nadab the son of Jeroboam reigned only two years (1Ki_15:25), and then met a violent death at the hand of Baasha.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This persistence in wrong, after the warning given him, brought a judgment, not only on Jeroboam himself, but on his family. Jeroboam’s departure from the path of right forfeited the crown 1Ki 11:38; and in that forfeiture was involved naturally the destruction of his family, for in the East, as already observed, when one dynasty supplants another, the ordinary practice is for the new king to destroy all the males belonging to the house of his predecessor. See 1Ki 15:29.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Earth. Hebrew, "to destroy it from the face of the earth." The Vulgate insinuates that it had taken place before the author wrote. In the third year of Asa, 22 years after this revolt, Bansa slew the whole family, chap. xv. 29.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This thing became sin; either an occasion of sin, and means of hardening all his posterity in their idolatry; or, a punishment, for so the word sin is oft used. This his obstinate continuance in his idolatry after such warnings was the utter ruin of all his family.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

34. This thing became sin — בדבר, in this text, is probably an error of some early transcriber, and should be הדבר, as in 1Ki_12:30. This sacrilegious impiety became the standing and crying sin of Jeroboam’s family, and led to its utter destruction.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And this thing Heb. "in this thing:" rbDB (Cf. 1Ch_7:23 1Ch_9:33) became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth. (1Ki_15:29) The forfeiture of the crown would bring in its train, almost as amatter of course, the destruction of his family. (1Ki_14:10-14) And we are taught here that both events are to be regarded, under the dispensation of temporal rewards and punishments, as the recompenses of his impiety; of that daring schismatic policy which, in all its branches, betrayed a complete disregard of the terms of the covenant, and which was persevered in contemptuous defiance of the repeated warnings of God.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sin - Either, an occasion of sin, and means of hardening all his posterity in their idolatry: or, a punishment, for so the word sin is often used. This his obstinate continuance in his idolatry, after such warnings, was the utter ruin of all his family. They betray themselves effectually, who endeavour to support themselves by any sin.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.