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Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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New Living Translation

2 Chronicles 11:22

Rehoboam appointed Maacah's son Abijah as leader among the princes, making it clear that he would be the next king.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Abijam;   Lasciviousness;   Maachah;   Polygamy;   Rehoboam;   Thompson Chain Reference - Abijah;   Abijam;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Kings;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Maacah or Maachah;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Abijah;   Maachah;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - King;   Maachah;   Tamar (2);   Holman Bible Dictionary - Abijah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Chronicles, I;   Prince;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Maacah, Maachah ;   Rehoboam ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Shemaiah;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Maachah;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ma'achah;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Judah;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Abijah;   Chronicles, Books of;   Heir;   Make;   Rehoboam;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Primogeniture;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief, leader among his brothers, intending to make him king.
Hebrew Names Version
Rechav`am appointed Aviyah the son of Ma`akhah to be chief, [even] the prince among his brothers; for [he was minded] to make him king.
King James Version
And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
English Standard Version
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.
New Century Version
Rehoboam chose Abijah son of Maacah to be the leader of his own brothers, because he planned to make Abijah king.
New English Translation
Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as the leader over his brothers, for he intended to name him his successor.
Amplified Bible
Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah the chief leader among his brothers, because he intended to make him king.
New American Standard Bible
Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.
World English Bible
Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, [even] the prince among his brothers; for [he was minded] to make him king.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Rehoboam made Abiiah the sonne of Maakah the chiefe ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him King.
Legacy Standard Bible
And Rehoboam set up Abijah the son of Maacah to be head and ruler among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.
Berean Standard Bible
Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, intending to make him king.
Contemporary English Version
so he chose their oldest son Abijah to be the next king.
Complete Jewish Bible
Rechav‘am appointed Aviyah the son of Ma‘akhah chief, the leader of his brothers, because he intended to make him king.
Darby Translation
And Rehoboam established Abijah the son of Maachah at the head, to be ruler among his brethren; for [he thought] to make him king.
Easy-to-Read Version
Rehoboam chose Abijah to be the leader among his own brothers. He did this because he planned to make Abijah king.
George Lamsa Translation
And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the crown prince, to be ruler among his brethren; for he thought to make him king.
Good News Translation
and he favored her son Abijah over all his other children, choosing him as the one to succeed him as king.
Lexham English Bible
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief and crown prince over his brothers, in order to make him king.
Literal Translation
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maachah the head, as ruler among his brothers, in order to cause him to reign.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Roboam set Abia the sonne of Maecha to be heade and prynce amonge his brethren: for he thoughte to make him kynge:
American Standard Version
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brethren; for he was minded to make him king.
Bible in Basic English
Rehoboam made Abijah, the son of Maacah, chief and ruler among his brothers, for it was his purpose to make him king.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Rehoboam made Abia the sonne of Maacha, the chiefe ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brethren; for he was minded to make him king.
King James Version (1611)
And Rehoboam made Abiiah the sonne of Maacah the chiefe, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he made Abia the son of Maacha chief, even a leader among his brethren, for he intended to make him king.
English Revised Version
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, [even] the prince among his brethren: for [he was minded] to make him king.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli he ordeynede Abia, the sone of Maacha, in the heed, duyk ouer alle hise britheren; for he thouyte to make Abia kyng,
Update Bible Version
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, [even] the leader among his brothers; for [he was minded] to make him king.
Webster's Bible Translation
And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, [to be] ruler among his brethren: for [he thought] to make him king.
New King James Version
And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king.
New Life Bible
Rehoboam chose Maacah's son Abijah to be the head leader among his brothers. For he wanted to make him king.
New Revised Standard
Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So then Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as head, to be chief ruler among his brethren, - yea that he might make him king.
Douay-Rheims Bible
But he put at the head of them Abia the son of Maacha to be the chief ruler over all his brethren: for he meant to make him king,
Revised Standard Version
and Rehobo'am appointed Abi'jah the son of Ma'acah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.
Young's Literal Translation
And Rehoboam appointeth for head Abijah son of Maachah, for leader among his brethren, for to cause him to reign.
THE MESSAGE
Rehoboam designated Abijah son of Maacah as the "first son" and leader of the brothers—he intended to make him the next king. He was shrewd in deploying his sons in all the fortress cities that made up his defense system in Judah and Benjamin; he kept them happy with much food and many wives.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.

Contextual Overview

13 But all the priests and Levites living among the northern tribes of Israel sided with Rehoboam. 14 The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and moved to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons would not allow them to serve the Lord as priests. 15 Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at the pagan shrines, where they worshiped the goat and calf idols he had made. 16 From all the tribes of Israel, those who sincerely wanted to worship the Lord , the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem, where they could offer sacrifices to the Lord , the God of their ancestors. 17 This strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they supported Rehoboam son of Solomon, for during those years they faithfully followed in the footsteps of David and Solomon. 18 Rehoboam married his cousin Mahalath, the daughter of David's son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Eliab son of Jesse. 19 Mahalath had three sons—Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 Later Rehoboam married another cousin, Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom. Maacah gave birth to Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and they gave birth to twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. 22 Rehoboam appointed Maacah's son Abijah as leader among the princes, making it clear that he would be the next king.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

made Abijah: Deuteronomy 21:15-17, 1 Chronicles 5:1, 1 Chronicles 5:2, 1 Chronicles 29:1

Reciprocal: Psalms 122:5 - the thrones

Cross-References

Joshua 24:2
Joshua said to the people, "This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maacah the chief,.... The chief of all his sons, head over them, being the son of his most beloved wife, and her firstborn however, and perhaps might be of a greater capacity than the rest of his children:

to be ruler among his brethren; or over them; gave him greater authority, and intrusted him with more power, set him above them, and treated him as heir apparent to the crown: for he thought

to make him king; either to take him into partnership in the throne with him in his lifetime, or to appoint and declare him to be his successor.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Jeush was probably the oldest of Rehoboam’s sons, and should naturally and according to the provisions of the Law Deuteronomy 21:15-17 have been his heir. But Rehoboam’s affection for Maachah led him to transgress the Law.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Chronicles 11:22. Made Abijah - the chief — Abijah certainly was not the first-born of Rehoboam; but as he loved Maachah more than any of his wives, so he preferred her son, probably through his mother's influence. In Deuteronomy 21:16, this sort of preference is forbidden; but Rehoboam had a sort of precedent in the preference shown by David to Solomon.


 
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