Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 13:1-12
Abijah's mother was called Maachah, the daughter of Absalom, Ch2 11:20; here she is called Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel. It is most probable that she was a grand-daughter of Absalom, by his daughter Tamar (Sa2 14:27), and that her immediate father was this Uriel. But we are here to attend Abijah into the field of battle with Jeroboam king of Israel.
I. God gave him leave to engage with Jeroboam, and owned him in the conflict, though he would not permit Rehoboam to do it, Ch2 11:4. 1. Jeroboam, it is probable, was now the aggressor, and what Abijah did was in his own necessary defence. Jeroboam, it may be, happening to survive Rehoboam, claimed the crown of Judah be survivorship, at least…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Chronicles 13:4
Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim--He had entered the enemy's territory and was encamped on an eminence near Beth-el (Jos 18:22). Jeroboam's army lay at the foot of the hill, and as a pitched battle was expected, Abijah, according to the singular usage of ancient times, harangued the enemy. The speakers in such circumstances, while always extolling their own merits, poured out torrents of invective and virulent abuse upon the adversary. So did Abijah. He dwelt on the divine right of the house of David to the throne; and sinking all reference to the heaven-condemned offenses of Solomon and the divine appointment of Jeroboam, as well as the divine sanction of the separation, he upbraided Jer…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 13:7
When Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted - Therefore he could not be forty-one when he came to the throne; see the note on Ch2 13:3. Children of Belial here signifies men of the most abandoned principles and characters; or men without consideration, education, or brains.
John Gill on 2 Chronicles 13:8
And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David,.... To oppose them, prevail over them, and get it out of their hands, which is delivered to them by the Lord, as the Targum:
and ye be a great multitude; of which they boasted, and in which they trusted, being ten tribes to two, and in this army two to one:
and there are with you golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods; or, "but (r) there are with you", &c. which Abijah suggests would be so far from helping them, that they would be their ruin, they having, by the worship of them, provoked the Lord against them.
(r) So Grotious, Schnidt, and others.
