And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines; for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
The reign of Rehoboam pauses here for a family record: many wives, many children, and one wife he loved most. Commentators treat it as the point where a promising reign starts to slip, and it raises two questions — why count the wives at all, and who was Maachah?
Rehoboam's crowded household repeats his father's sin. One writer notices that Chronicles never draws the line between them.
Rehoboam's many wives and concubines copy the sin of Solomon that ruined his kingdom. You would expect someone to point out the link between the son's conduct and the father's. But nothing is said. In 2 Chronicles, as we have often said, Solomon appears without fault, and the judgment falls on Rehoboam alone.
Rehoboam's favourite wife decided who would inherit the throne. One writer measures that choice against the law.
Though Rehoboam's first wife bore him sons, he set them aside in favour of Abijah, the son of Maachah, whom he preferred above Mahalath. Deuteronomy 21:15-17 had warned against such an arrangement. A man must not give firstborn status to the son of the wife he loves over the true firstborn, the son of the wife he loves less. Perhaps Rehoboam did not know this scripture, but he should have. A king in Israel had to make his own copy of the law and read it all the days of his life (Deut. 17:18-19). Yet the grace of God rose above Rehoboam's failure, for Abijah appears in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 1:7.
On paper Rehoboam chose better than his father did. One writer weighs how much that appearance was worth.
On the surface, Rehoboam was more careful than Solomon about the wives he took. He first married Mahalath, David's granddaughter, and then added Maachah, Absalom's granddaughter. But looking right on the outside does not make a man godly. Besides, it was no more right for Rehoboam to have 18 wives and sixty concubines than it was for Solomon to have his large harem of wives and concubines (v. 21). Of course such relationships have a strong effect on a man.
One writer reads the closing line of the chapter as God's own summary of Rehoboam. He then asks who the favourite wife was.
Like his father and grandfather, he took many wives — eighteen wives and sixty concubines. "He desired many wives" is God's comment on this man. His favourite wife was Maachah, the daughter of Absalom; but from 2 Chron. 13:2 we gather that this was not Absalom the son of David. He appointed Abijah, the son of this woman Maachah, to be king in his place. From 1 Kings 15:13 we learn that she worshipped idols and "made an abominable image for Asherah." What a woman to choose as the mother of the future king of God's people.
Commentators differ over Maachah. Was she Absalom's daughter or his granddaughter? One writer works through the dates and leaves it open:
I am not sure whether Maachah was Absalom's daughter or his granddaughter. If she was his daughter, and we allow only five years from Absalom's death, she must have been six years old when David died... It is possible that she was Absalom's granddaughter, since Chronicles does not say that his mother was Maachah.
Another writer settles on granddaughter, and explains it from the Hebrew word itself:
In chapter 11:20 she is called a daughter of Absalom, or rather a granddaughter, because Hebrew uses one word for both daughter and granddaughter.
The same writer traces Rehoboam's later drift from God back to this sin. He also credits the way Rehoboam handled a crowded household.
He had many wives and concubines. He gave in to the same appetite for many wives that his father and grandfather had, and his turning away from God very likely began with this sin. But he acted wisely and spread all his children throughout the whole country. With twenty-eight sons and many more daughters, plots against him were a real danger, and he avoided them by scattering his children in different directions.
- Desire. One writer reads the chapter's closing line as God's verdict on Rehoboam: he wanted many wives.
- Imitation. His household copies the sin that ruined Solomon's kingdom, yet Chronicles blames Rehoboam alone.
- Respectability. He married inside the royal family, not outside it. But looking right on the outside did not make him godly.
- Influence. He loved Maachah most and made her son king. She worshipped idols, so his favourite shaped the next reign.
- Decline and grace. This sin is very likely where his turning from God began. Yet Abijah, the son of that marriage, still appears in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.
And Rehoboam established Abijah the son of Maachah at the head, to be ruler among his brethren; for [he thought] to make him king.
Rehoboam picks his heir by affection, not by birth order: Abijah is the son of Maacah, the wife he loved most. The note looks minor, yet it raises two questions — what did God's law say about such a choice, and who was this woman?
Rehoboam had sons by an earlier wife. One writer weighs the decision to pass over them against the law, then points to where Abijah's name still appears:
Though Rehoboam's first wife bore him sons, he set those aside in favour of Abijah the son of Maacah, whom he preferred above Mahalath. Deuteronomy 21:15-17 had warned against such an arrangement, saying that a man "may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn." Perhaps Rehoboam did not know this scripture. But he ought to have. A king in Israel had to provide himself with a copy of the law and read it all the days of his life (Deuteronomy 17:18-19). Still, the grace of God rose above Rehoboam's failure: Matthew 1:7 confirms Abijah in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.
Maacah is more than the favourite wife. She will be the mother of the next king. One writer traces the line from Rehoboam's own mother to the woman he now chooses:
We leave Solomon sick at heart, but when we find that his son Rehoboam had for mother "Naamah the Ammonite" (2 Chron. 12:13) we are not surprised that he did not turn out a better man. Like his father and grandfather, he multiplied wives — eighteen wives and sixty concubines. "He desired many wives" is God's comment on this man. His favourite wife was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. But from 2 Chronicles 13:2 we gather this was not Absalom the son of David. He appointed Abijah, the son of this woman Maacah, to be king in his place. From 1 Kings 15:13 we learn that she was an idolater. She "made an abominable image for Asherah." What a woman to choose as the mother of the future ruler of God's people!
Commentators differ on whether this Absalom was David's son.
The same passage records a shrewd move: Rehoboam spread his other sons across the land. God credits it:
Even in the middle of this disorder, Rehoboam raises the daughter of Absalom the rebel, and Abijah her son, to the first place. Yet God is pleased to acknowledge that Rehoboam "dealt wisely" in spreading his sons throughout all the lands of Judah to avoid discord in the kingdom (2 Chronicles 11:18-23). This is like the master commending "the dishonest manager for his shrewdness" (Luke 16:8).
Another writer suggests a family memory lay behind the move, and draws a lesson from it:
He probably remembered what happened with his grandfather David's sons at the close of David's life, and he wanted to avoid the same thing. If only Christians always had as much spiritual wisdom as Rehoboam showed natural wisdom here. If God's people were well fed with truth, and taken up with the affairs of Christ in the various services of His kingdom, there would be less strife among us. His wisdom paid off: at the end of his seventeen-year reign, his son Abijah took the crown quietly, with no opposition from his many brothers.
Abijah inherited more than a throne. One writer traces his going astray back to his father:
We see from this record that it was his father's evil example that led this king astray. What a voice to those of us who are fathers! May the Lord keep us from leaving behind a trail of sin for our sons to follow! For this was just what Rehoboam did for Abijah.
Maacah kept her influence long after Rehoboam's death. His grandson Asa ended it:
Asa is not content with driving out evil publicly; he purifies his own house. These two things must go together, or our Christian life will be only an empty show. "Maacah, his mother, King Asa also removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron." In fact Maacah was Asa's grandmother. She had probably been called to be regent, with the title of queen, when Abijah died. With what energy Asa passes over natural ties, making no allowance for them when the honour of his God is involved! ... We are far too ready to treat Satan cautiously when it is a matter of sin in our own families.
- Preference — Rehoboam chose his heir by love for the mother, setting aside the sons of his first wife.
- Law — Deuteronomy forbade this exact preference, and a king had to keep reading the law.
- Influence — the choice put an idol-making woman at the centre of the royal house, and her son walked in his father's sins.
- Grace — God still noticed the one wise thing Rehoboam did, and Abijah's name still stands in the genealogy of Jesus.
- Reckoning — Asa removed his own grandmother from her place, refusing to spare evil in his own family.
And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities; and he gave them food in abundance. And he desired [for them] a multitude of wives.
Rehoboam had already lost ten tribes through his own folly. Yet his family record closes with God's approval: he "dealt wisely" with his sons. How can such good sense and a craving for many wives live in one man, and what does God do with a mixed life like that?
Rehoboam's family record holds two things at once. There is a sin he took over from his father, and there is a wise step he took as king.
He had many wives and concubines. In this he gave in to the same taste for many wives that his father and grandfather had, and his turning away from God very likely began with this sin. But he acted wisely and spread all his children throughout the whole country. He had twenty-eight sons and many more daughters, so plots were very possible. He avoided them by scattering his children in different directions.
Rehoboam had his own family history to learn from, and the plan held up when the crown changed hands.
He did show wisdom, though, in spreading his sons over the lands of Judah and Benjamin. He placed them in the garrison towns and gave them plenty of food. He probably remembered what happened at the end of his grandfather David's life with his sons, and he wanted to avoid scenes like that… Rehoboam's wisdom paid off. At the end of his seventeen-year reign, his son Abijah took the crown with no opposition from his many brothers.
God's verdict on this reign is severe. Yet the same record stops to name what was good.
How fair our God is in His judgments, even when He looks at a condition He describes like this: "He did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord." It is marvelous grace that will not tolerate any evil at all, yet is pleased to acknowledge what is good, and sees it even when man's own eye cannot… Even in the middle of this disorder, and when Rehoboam gives first place to the daughter of Absalom, the rebel, and to Abijah, this woman's son, God is pleased to acknowledge that Rehoboam "dealt wisely" in spreading his sons throughout all the lands of Judah, to avoid discord in the kingdom. This is like the praise given to the dishonest manager for acting shrewdly (Luke 16:8).
The praise is for shrewdness, not for godliness.
Rehoboam gave each son a post to fill and food in plenty. One writer wishes the church had the same.
If only Christians always had as much spiritual wisdom as Rehoboam showed natural wisdom here! If God's people were well fed with truth, and well taken up with the affairs of Christ in the many services of His kingdom, there would be less strife among us. But sadly it is still too often true that "the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light."
The verse ends on desire for many wives. Commentators differ on whose wives are meant. Some read it of Rehoboam himself, since older translations have "he desired many wives." The ESV reads it of wives he procured for his sons. Either way, the pull that shaped his father's life shows up in him too.
We read that Solomon loved many foreign women, and then that idolatry was set up. In the same way, here is the turning point in Rehoboam's prosperity: "he desired many wives." Then, once he was strong in his kingdom, he abandoned the law of the Lord. The next event on record is the invasion by Shishak king of Egypt, and the Holy Spirit adds the reason: "because they had transgressed against the Lord."
Rehoboam's harshness fell on the ten tribes. His generosity fell on his own sons.
It seems strange that he could be so cruel in the one case and so generous in the other. But perhaps he was generous here because his own family was involved. In fact, his generosity went too far, for he sought many wives for his sons! How true it is that a man who goes to extremes in one direction will often go to extremes in the other direction too! Only true faith in the Lord Jesus can enable us to maintain a proper balance.
- Wise — Scattering twenty-eight sons across the fortified cities took away the material for plots. Rehoboam likely remembered what rival sons did to David's house.
- Fed — Each son had a post and plenty of food. Christians fed with truth and busy with the affairs of Christ would quarrel far less.
- Noticed — God names this good in a king who did not set his heart to seek Him. He once commended a dishonest manager for acting shrewdly too.
- Craved — His desire for many wives copied Solomon, and it was the turning point. Once he was strong, he abandoned the law, and Shishak invaded.
- Unbalanced — He was harsh with the ten tribes and soft with his own family. Only real faith in the Lord Jesus keeps a life steady between such extremes.