2 Chronicles 11:16

2Ch 11:16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

Ver. 16. And after them.] See the force of good example; and that there were not a few of these that thus fled, though Jeroboam way laid them. {Hos 5:1} {See Trapp on "Hos 5:1"} Augustine gathereth from hence, that in those most corrupt times of king Ahab there were found seven thousand that had not bowed their knees to Baal.

Such as set their hearts.] Qui tradiderunt cor suum, who delivered up their hearts to seek the Lord; to run any hazard rather than to violate their consciences. Such were the English exiles in Queen Mary’s days, from whom Stephen Gardiner vowed so to stop the sending of all supplies, that for very hunger they should eat their own nails, and then feed on their fingers’ ends: but ‘threatened folk live long’; and before these banished men were brought to that short bill of fare, the bishop was first all eaten up of worms himself. {a} These exiles of Israel had harbour and maintenance from Rehoboam, whose kingdom was not a little strengthened and settled by the coming of these good men.

{a} Fuller’s Church Hist.

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.

2Ch 11:16. And after them such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel — All the devout, pious Israelites, of every tribe, followed the priests and Levites: all who feared and loved God in sincerity and truth, and were determined to serve him. All such left the inheritances of their fathers, and went and took houses in or near Jerusalem, that they might have free access to the altar and temple of God, and be out of the way of the temptation to worship the calves. Thus the best of the Israelites united themselves to the tribe of Judah, and would have great influence in preserving that tribe from the idolatry into which the ten tribes were fallen. “That is best for us,” says Henry, “which is best for our souls; and in all our choices, advantages for religion must take place of all outward conveniences. Where God’s faithful priests are, his faithful people should be. If Jeroboam cast off God’s ministers, every true-born Israelite will think himself obliged to own them, and stand by them.” Reader, when the ark removes, do you remove and go after it.

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

Which were zealous of true religion, and feared God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 16. Such as set their hearts to seek the Lord] All the truly pious joined him out of every tribe, and the whole tribe of Levi, being deprived of their functions, joined him also. Thus he had Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, and probably a part of Simeon; for he had Etam, which was in that tribe, and the truly religious out of all the other tribes, for they could not bear Jeroboam's idolatry.

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

(16) And after them—i.e., following their lead.

Such as set their hearts.—The same phrase (nâthan lebab) as in 1Ch_22:19, and nowhere else.

Came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice.—And to settle there, as appears from next verse. A similar migration of the faithful worshippers of Jehovah is recorded in the reigns of Asa and Hezekiah. (See 2Ch_15:9; 2Ch_30:11.)

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

And Rehoboam took him Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David, to wife,.... Of which son of David we nowhere else read; perhaps he might be the son of one of his concubines, or he might have two names:

and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; who was David's eldest brother. Sa1 17:13. She must be a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of his.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

CHAPTER XI.

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).

Such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel; such as loved and feared God in truth, and with their whole heart.

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

16. After them… such as set their hearts to seek the Lord — The more pious Israelites, like the seven thousand that would not worship Baal, (1Ki_19:18,) were disgusted with Jeroboam’s innovations, and followed their priests and Levites to Jerusalem.

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

Ver. 16 shows a good example on the part of the clergy, effectual, and followed by the people.

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

Set their heart - Such as loved and feared God in truth.

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

People ... came after them

"People ... followed the Levites" or "People ... came to Jerusalem after the Levites"

those who set their hearts to seek Yahweh

Here the word "hearts" represents the thoughts and desires. The idiom "set their hearts" means to determine to do something. AT: "those who had determined to seek Yahweh" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)

to seek Yahweh

Worshiping Yahweh is spoken of as if the person were seeking Yahweh. AT: "to worship Yahweh" (See: Metaphor)

made Rehoboam son of Solomon strong

The people supporting Rehoboam as king is spoken of as if they made Rehoboam strong. AT: "supported Rehoboam son of Solomon as king" (See: Metaphor)

they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon

Here a person's actions and lifestyle are spoken of as if the person were walking along a path. AT: "they followed the example of David and Solomon for three years" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

tribe

heart

Israel

sacrifice

ancestor

David

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And after them [i.e., after] the Levites and the priests.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.