THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM VI. JUDAH AND ISRAEL Vol. IV, (pp. 179-191). 1 WR 12.5. On the delay caused by Solomon’s long sleep, see vol. IV, pp. 128-129. See also ER 24, 125, which reads: Jeroboam received the rulership over the tribes as a reward for his courage in calling Solomon to account. 3 Sanhedrin 101b; vol. IV, p. 53. As to the legal question whether the inhabitants of Abel of Beth-maacah acted in accordance with the law when they surrendered Sheba, who had taken refuge with them, see Tosefta Terumot 7 . 20 ; Y erushalmi 8 , 46b ; B R 94.9 ; Shemuel 32, 140; Koheleth 9.18. The only excuse given for the inhabitants of this city is that Sheba as a rebel against the “throne of David ” had no claim upon them. The Midrashim just quoted (as well as Tan. B. I, 92; PK 10, 87a; Aggadat Bereshit 22, 45-46) maintain that the woman at whose counsel Sheba was killed by the inhabitants of Abel of Beth-maacah was Serah the daughter of Asher, concerning whom see vol. II, p. 116, and Index, s. v. “Paradise, Entering Alive”. The Midrashim cited above give, in full, her pleadings with the inhabitants of the city to yield to the demands of Joab for the surrender of Sheba. On the confusion of Sheba with Shemi the son of Gera by ps.-Jerome on 2 Sam. 16.10, see Ginzberg, Haggada bei den Kirchenv., 56-57. About the early history of Jeroboam, comp, the following addition to 1 Kings 12.24 found in Septuagint. There was a man. . .a servant to Solomon, and his name was Jeroboam, and the name of his mother was Sarira, a harlot . . . And he built for Solomon Sarira in mount Ephraim, and he had three hundred chariots of horses. He built the citadel with the levies of the house of Ephraim, fortified the city of David, and aspired to the kingdom. And Solomon sought to kill him, and he escaped to Sousakim king of Egypt, and was with him until Solomon died. And Jeroboam heard in Egypt that Solomon was dead, and he spoke in the ears of the king of Egypt, saying: “Let me go, and I will depart into my land”; and Sousakim gave to Jeroboam Ano, the eldest sister of Thelkemina his wife, to be his wife. She was great among the daughters of the king, and she bore to Jeroboam Abijah. . .And Jeroboam departed out of Egypt, and came into the land of Sarira. . .And hither the whole tribe of Ephraim assembled, and Jeroboam built 304 Judah and Israel [3-7 a fortress there. The description of Jeroboam’s mother as a harlot is perhaps an old haggadic explanation of her name Zarua ynx, literally “leper”. Comp. Yebamot 63b: n'jyn1? nyus nyT ITON “A shrew is like leprosy to her husband,” and see also vol. VI, p. 266, note 96. s According to Sanhedrin 102a, Jeroboam left Palestine with the intention never to return there again. 4 Seder ‘Olam 1, and the parallel passages cited by Ratner; Baba Batra 121b. Ahijah is one of the seven whose terms of life overlapped one another, so that they form a chain extending from the creation of the world until the end of time. These seven are: Adam, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, Jacob, Amram, Ahijah, and Elijah, the last of whom continues to live. According to Septuagint 1 Kings 12.24, Ahijah was sixty years old when Ano the wife of Jeroboam (comp, note 2) made him inquire about the outcome of her son’s illness; see 1 Kings 14.1, seq. Septuagint further differs from the masoretic text of 1 Kings 11, 29, seq., by making the prophet Shemaiah, instead of Ahijah, the bearer of the divine message to Jeroboam. 6 BR 35.2; Yerushalmi Berakot 9, 13d (bottom); PK 10, 88a. In the legends of the Hasidim Ahijah figures as the teacher of R. Israel Baal Shem Tob, the founder of the sect; comp. Ginzberg, Jewish Encyclopedia, II, 389; see also vol. IV, p. 264. Ahijah suffered a martyr’s death: He was executed by Abijah (the wicked king of Judah and not his namesake, the son of Jeroboam, who is praised in the Haggadah for his piety; comp. vol. IV, p. 183), as was his contemporary Shemaiah by Basha the wicked king of Israel. See Midrash Aggadah Num. 30.5. 6 Jeroboam was as distinguished a scholar as his master, the prophet Ahijah; see Tehillim 5; 55, and comp, also MHG I, 412. 1 Sanhedrin 102a. Ahijah and Jeroboam discussed the mysteries of the divine throne (rDJID ntPyo). The angels therefore asked God: “Dost Thou reveal the secrets of the Torah to this man who is going to set up two calves to be worshipped?” God rejoined: “ Is this man at present righteous or wicked?” “Righteous”, replied the angels. Whereupon God said: “ I deal with a man as he is, not as he will be”. See Tehillim 5, 55. Comp, note 215 on vol. I, p. 265. The opposite view is given in Zohar Hadash, Bereshit (end) and Ahare (end), where it is said that God had intended to take away Jeroboam from this world while he was still young and pious; but at the pleading of the angels He did not carry out His intention. Later, when Jeroboam forsook God 305 8-p] The Legends of the Jews and His Torah, the angels realized that in their short-sightedness they pleaded for the life of a terrible sinner. 8 Seder ‘Olam 15. That Jeroboam persisted in his evil ways, notwithstanding the miracle performed by the prophet of Judah (on this miracle, see Tan.Notes 1 — Judah and Israel
The division of the kingdom into Judah and Israel, which took place soon after the death of Solomon, had cast its shadow before. When Solomon, on the day after his marriage with the Egyptian princess, disturbed the regular course of the Temple service by sleeping late with his head on the pillow under which lay the key of the Temple, Jeroboam with eighty thousand Ephraimites approached the king and publicly called him to account for is negligence. God administered a reproof to Jeroboam; "Why dost thou reproach a prince of Israel? As thou livest, thou shalt have a taste of his rulership, and thou wilt see thou are not equal to its responsibilities."
On another occasion a clash occurred between Jeroboam and Solomon. The latter ordered his men to close the openings David had made in the city wall to facilitate the approach of the pilgrims to Jerusalem. This forced them all the walk through the gates and pay toll. The tax thus collected Solomon gave to his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, as pin-money. Indignant at this, Jeroboam questioned the king about it in public. In other ways, too, he failed to pay Solomon the respect due to royal position, as his father before him, Sheba the son of Bichri, had rebelled against David, misled by signs and tokens which he had falsely interpreted as pointing to his own elevation to royal dignity, when in reality they concerned themselves with his son.
It was when Jeroboam was preparing to depart from Jerusalem forever, in order to escape the dangers to which Solomon's displeasure exposed him, that Ahijah of Shilo met him with the Divine tidings of his elevation to the kingship. The prophet Ahijah, of the tribe of Levi, was venerable, not only by reason of his hoary age, his birth occurred at least sixty years before the exodus from Egypt, but because his piety was so profound that a saint of the exalted standing of Simon ben Yohai associated Ahijah with himself. Simon once exclaimed: "My merits and Ahijah together suffice to atone for the iniquity of all sinners from the time of Abraham until the advent of the Messiah."
JEROBOAM
Jeroboam was the true disciple of this great prophet, His doctrine was as pure as the new garment Ahijah wore when he met Jeroboam near Jerusalem, and his learning exceeded that of all the scholars of his time except his own teacher Ahijah alone. The prophet was in the habit of discussing secret love with Jeroboam and subjects in the Torah whose existence was wholly unknown to others.
Had Jeroboam proved himself worthy of his high position, the length of his reign would have equalled David's. It was his pride that led him into destruction. He set up the golden calves as objects to be worshipped by the people, in order to wean them from their habit of going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem. He knew that in the Temple only members of the royal house of David were privileged to sit down. No exception would be made in favor of Jeroboam, and so he would have to stand while Rehoboam would be seated. Rather than appear in public as the subordinate of the Judean king, he introduced the worship of idols, which secured him full royal prerogatives. B. Ill, 10; Tan. Tehillim 12), was the fault of the false prophet of Beth-el (1 Kings 13.11, seq.) who persuaded the king that no miracle took place at all, and supported his words by the fact that the prophet of Judah was killed by a lion, from which incident one ought to conclude that he was not a true prophet; Josephus, Antiqui., VIII, 9. For further details concerning the true prophet of Judah and the false prophet of Bethel, see PK 2, 14b-15a, and the parallel passages cited by Buber, ad loc., and Ratner's note 29 on Seder ‘Olam 20, as well as the references cited in note 133 on vol. IV, p. 51. One might infer the great merit of hospitality from the fact that the false prophet of Beth-el received a revelation (see 1 Kings 13.20) as a reward for his kindness towards the prophet of Judah to whom he offered hospitality; Sanhedrin 103b; ER 12, 60-61. s Sanhedrin 101b; comp. vol. IV, p. 257. As to the view that only members of the house of David were privileged to sit down in the Temple (i. e., mry “Temple court”), see note 88 on vol. IV, p. 102 and comp, also Josephus, Antiqui., VIII, 4.2, who takes pains to point out that on the occasion of the dedication of the Temple Solomon sat down and then rose for his prayer. Another legend charges the people rather than Jeroboam with the sin of idolatry. Intoxicated with wine at the coronation of Jeroboam, they urged him to erect idols; but not being sure that they would not change their mind on becoming sober, he delayed his decision till the following day. When he saw that the people persisted in their demand, he yielded to them on the condition that the members of the Synhedrion be killed (or, according to others, removed from office), so that one might worship idols without fear of being executed for the offence. Jeroboam then sent emissaries through the entire country to entice the pious to worship idols. These emissaries used to address the people in the following manner: The most illustrious generation was that of the wilderness (see vol. Ill, p. 79), and it worshipped the golden calf, without receiving severe punishment. Our king therefore desires to follow the example set by this generation. It was Jeroboam ’s pride and ambition which made him forsake his God. He knew that in the Sabbatical year the king is commanded to read the word of God to the people in the Temple (see Deut. 31.10), and as long as Israel should make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rehoboam would in306 Judah and Israel [10-16 evitably appear to the entire nation as the real king. Jeroboam therefore established the worship of the calves, and in this way prevented the people from going up to Jerusalem. He abolished not only the three festivals, when pilgrimages were made, but also the Sabbaths; Yerushalmi ‘Abodah Zarah 1, 39b; Jerome on Hos. 7.4-7. See also the quotation from an unknown Midrash in Shu'aib, Nizzabim 114a, where it is likewise said that Jeroboam claimed to be the legitimate king of Israel on account of his Ephraimitic descent. At first, however, he refused to accept the offered crown because of his poverty; whereupon the people (or, according to some, Ahijah) bestowed great wealth upon him; Aggadat Shir 95, according to the reading of Makiri, Is. 7, 105. 10 Koheleth 2.11, 3. On Jeroboam’s father see vol. IV, pp. 179180. At Shechem Israel renounced not only his allegiance to the house of David, but also his loyalty to God and his sanctuary, (see 1 Kings 12.16, where T brut? is taken to be an “emendation of the Scribes” for “to thy gods”); the salvation of Israel will therefore not come before Israel “seeks the Lord their God, David their king, and the sanctuary” which God in His great goodness had given to His people; Shemuel 13, 84. 1 1 According to the Rabbis, the Bible forbids one to dwell in Egypt. Comp. Mekilta Beshallah 2, 28b; Yerushalmi Sukkah 55b; Esther R. 1.3 (KnrrnB). 1 J Eldad 25-26. 13 His real name was Zebub, “fly”, and he is called Shishak (from Shuk, “desire”), because he longed for thedeath of Solomon whom he feared to attack; Seder ‘Olam 20; Aggadat Shir 7, 43. Comp. Esther R. 1.2, 13. 14 On the history of the throne, see vol. IV, pp. 159-160. 15 Pesahim 119a. On the further history of these treasures see vol. II, pp. 125-126. Three returned to the place whence they came: Israel, the Torah, and the treasures. Israel came originally from Babylon (Abraham from the other side of the river), and returned thither after having been exiled from the Holy Land; the Torah came from heaven, and the letters of the tables ascended to heaven after Moses broke the tables (see vol. Ill, p. 129); the treasures which came from Egypt returned thither; Pesahim 87a; Mekilta Amalek 1, 53b; ARN 41, 132-133; second version 47, 130. 16 Seder ‘Olam 16; Yerushalmi Yebamot 16, 15a; BR 56.20; WR 33.5; Ruth R. 4.8; Shemuel 18, 100; comp. Josephus, Antiqui., VII, 11.3, who also maintains that Abijam ( = Abijahin 2 Chron. 13.1) 307 i7-i8] The Legends of the Jews died directly after his victory over Jeroboam. Abijah, in speaking of the supporters of Jeroboam as “sons of Belial” (see 2 Chron.Notes 2 — Judah and Israel
In the execution of his plan he proceeded with great cunning, and his reputation as a profound scholar and pious saint stood him in good stead. This was his method: He seated an impious man next to a pious man, and then said to each couple: "Will you put your signature to anything I intend to do?" The two would give an affirmative answer. "Do you want me as king?" he would then ask, only to receive and affirmative answer again. "And you will do whatever I order?" he continued. "Yes," was the reply. "I am to infer, then, that you will even pay worship to idols if I command it?" said Jeroboam. "God forbid!" the pious member of the couple would exclaim, whereupon his impious companion, who was in league with the king, would turn upon him: "Canst thou really suppose for an instant that a man like Jeroboam would serve idols? He only wishes to put our loyalty to the test." Through such machinations he succeeded in obtaining the signatures of the most pious, even the signature of the prophet Ahijah. Now Jeroboam had the people is his power. He could exact the vilest deeds from them.
So entrenched, Jeroboam brought about the division between Judah and Israel, a consummation which his father, Sheba the son of Bichri, had not been able to compass under David, because God desired to have the Temple erected before the split occurred. Not yet satisfied, Jeroboam sought to involve the Ten Tribes in a war against Judah and Jerusalem. But the people of the northern kingdom refused to enter into hostilities with their brethren, and with the ruler of their brethren, a descendant of David. Jeroboam appealed to the elders of the Israelites, and they referred him to the Danites, the most efficient of their warriors; but they swore by the head of Dan, the ancestor of their tribe, that they would never consent to shed blood of their brethren. They were even on the point of rising against Jeroboam, and the clash between them and the followers of Jeroboam was prevented only because God prompted the Danites to leave Palestine.
Their first plan was to journey to Egypt and take possession of the land. They gave it up when their princes reminded them of the Biblical prohibition against dwelling in Egypt. Likewise they were restrained from attacking the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, for the Torah commands considerate treatment of them. Finally they decided to go to Egypt, but not to stay there, only to pass through to Ethiopia. The Egyptians were in great terror of the Danites, and their hardiest warriors occupied the roads travelled by them. Arrived in Ethiopia, the Danites slew a part of the population, and exacted tribute from the rest.
The departure of the Danites relieved Judah from the apprehended invasion by Jeroboam, but danger arose from another quarter. Shishak, the ruler of Egypt, who was the father-in-law of Solomon, came to Jerusalem and demanded his daughter's jointure. He carried off the throne of Solomon, and also the treasure which the Israelites had taken from the Egyptians at the time of the exodus. So the Egyptian money returned to its source.
THE TWO ABIJAHS
Jeroboam did not entirely forego his plan of a campaign against Judah, but it was not executed until Abijah had succeeded his father Rehoboam on the throne of Jerusalem. The Judean king was victorious. However, he could not long enjoy the fruits of his victory. Shortly after occurred his death, brought on by his own crimes. In his war against Jeroboam he had indulged in excessive cruelty; he ordered the corpses of the enemy to be mutilated, and permitted them to be buried only after putrefaction had set in. Such savagery was all the more execrable as it prevented many widows from entering into a second marriage. Mutilating the corpses had made identification impossible, and so it was left doubtful whether their husbands were among the dead. 13.7, where the Hebrew representing “vain men” is ’12), insulted the prophet Ahijah, who more than anybody else contributed to the elevation of Jeroboam to the throne of Israel. Mo'ed Katan 28b. According to the Kabbalists, the son of Abijah will be the Ephraimitic Messiah ; Zohar Hadash Balak (end) . Besides Abijah there were others who, like him, disregarded the command of Jeroboam against pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and by clever ruses fooled the guards at the frontier. The descendants of these pious men celebrated the fifteenth of the month of Ab as a festival by bringing sacrifices to the Temple; see Yerushalmi Ta'anit 4, 68b; Targum 1 Chron. 2.54. Comp., however, Babli Ta'anit 28a, and Megillat Ta'anit 5.9-10, where the pious men, who at the risk of their lives made pilgrimages to Jerusalem, are said to have lived at the time when the Greek government decreed against the Jews ordinances “like those of Jeroboam”. With regard to Jeroboam’s edict against pilgrimages to Jerusalem, see Yerushalmi ‘Abodah Zarah 1, 39b, where the text seems to be corrupt, though Yalkut II, 542, on Hos. 7, has the same reading as our texts. 18 ‘Abodah Zarah 44a; Vulgate 1 Kings 15.13; Jerome on Hos. 4, 14. The assonance of “Phallus” and n^7DlDl may have suggested this assumption. Comp., however, Josephus, Antiqui., VIII, 10.3, who quotes Herodotus of Halicarnassus to the effect that the king of Egypt (i. e., Shishak, who, shortly before Asa, conquered Jerusalem) left behind him pillars upon which were engraved the secret parts of women. To reconcile the contradiction between 1 Kings 15.10 and 2 Chron. 13.2, it is asserted that after repenting of her idolatrous practices, the name of Asa’s mother was changed; her father’s name, too, was changed; the latter was none other than the wicked Absalom. See Targum 2 Chron., loc. cit., and 15.16. Comp, also Josephus, Antiqui., VIII 10.1, and ps. -Jerome on 2 Chron. 15.16. The latter quotes the Jewish tradition, according to which the water of the brook of Kidron turned into fire, and burned the image of the idol which Asa threw into it. The commentators Kimhi and Gersonides on 1 Kings 15.2, as well as ps.-Rashi on 2 Chron. 13.2, call attention to the fact that it was not the mother, but the grandmother, of Asa who had been addicted to idolatry. This is another attempt to reconcile the contradiction between 1 Kings 15.2 and 15.10. Comp, note 91 on vol. IV, p.171. 308 Judah and Israel [19-27 19 Pesahim 119a; Seder ‘01am 16; Esther R. 1.2. Comp. vol. II, pp. 125—126, and vol. IV, pp. 159, 192. The number in the hostile army (comp. 2 Chron, 14.8) was established by Asa from the number of the chariots; comp. Mekilta Beshallah 1, 27b. Most historians identify Zerah with Osorchan I, the successor of Sesanchis (Shishak). It is noteworthy that Seder ‘01am merely states that Zerah restored to Asa what Shishak had won in the battle with Rehoboam, and does not mention that Zerah had in turn taken it from Shishak in war. This latter statement appears first in the Talmud. 20 Pesahim 119a; Seder ‘01am 16. Comp, the references at the beginning of the preceding note. 21 Ekah, introduction, XXX, and Tehillim 79, 358, which read: Four kings expressed four different wishes, and God granted to each of them his desire. David prayed for strength to attack his enemies (Ps. 18.38), and God granted his prayer (1 Sam. 30.17). Asa said: “I have no strength to attack my enemies; but if God so wills, I shall defeat them by pursuing them”; his prayer was heard (2 Chron. 14. 11-12). Jehoshaphat said: “I can neither attack the enemy nor pursue him; but I shall leave the carrying on of the war to God, whom I shall continue to praise and glorify”; God defeated the enemies of Jehoshaphat, while the pious king was engaged in praising Him (2 Chron. 20.21-22). Hezekiah said: “I cannot attack the enemy, nor pursue Ihim, nor engage in continually praising God; but I pray that He should annihilate him while I sleep”; God destroyed the army of the Assyrians while the Jews were asleep (2 Kings 19.35). According to the Haggadah, the words addressed by the prophet Azariah to Asa and his people (2 Chron. 15.3, seq.) contain a prophecy and are to be translated: And for long seasons Israel will be without the true God, etc.; WR 19. 9; Josephus, Antiqui., VIII, 12.2. 22 Sotah 10a. See also Nedarim 3 lb, where it is stated that the servitude of Israel in Egypt was a punishment for Abraham 's having made the scholars engage in war against the kings. On the view that Asa was distinguished for having his strength in his feet, see vol. I, p. 59. 23 Seder ‘Olam 16; Tosefta Sotah 12.1-2. 24 Seder ‘Olam 17; Tosefta Sotah 12.13. 26 Pesahim 119a; comp. vol. II, pp. 125-126; note 19. 26 Tehillim 15.118 m’SPn is very likely a gloss to yn’TTn. 27 BaR 21.6; Tan. B. IV, 152; Tan. Pinehas 3. According to another view quoted in these sources, Jehoshaphat did not don his royal 309 28-32] The Legends of the Jews robes from the moment he heard that God had decreed the punishment of Asa ’s descendants ; see note 24, as well as the following note. J ehoshaphat had to pay dearly for his friendship and close connection with the wicked house of Omri; his commercial undertakings ceased to prosper from the time he associated himself with the godless; ARN 9, 42; Alphabet of Ben Sira 14a, as a comment upon 2 Chron 20.37.Notes 3 — Judah and Israel
Moreover, Abijah used most disrespectful language about the prophet Abijah the Shilonite; he called him a "son of Belial" in his address to the people on Mount Zemaraim. That in itself merited severe punishment. Finally, his zeal for true worship of God, which Abijah had urged as the reason of the war between himself and Jeroboam, cooled quickly. When he obtained possession of Beth-el, he failed to do away with the golden calves.
In this respect his namesake, the Israelitish king Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, was by far his superior. By removing the guards stationed at the frontier, he bade defiance to the command of his father, who had decreed the death penalty for pilgrimages to Jerusalem. More than this, he himself ventured to go up to Jerusalem in fulfilment of his religious duty.
ASA
Asa, the son of Abijah of Judah, was a worthier and a more pious ruler than his father had been. He did away with the gross worship of Priapus, to which his mother was devoted. To reward him for his piety, God gave him the victory over Zerah, the king of the Ethiopians. As a result of this victory he came again into possession of the throne of Solomon and of the treasures Shishak had taken from his grandfather, which Zerah in turn had wrested form Shishak. Asa himself did not long keep them. Baasha, the king of Israel, together with Ben-hadad, the Aramean king, attacked Asa, who tried to propitiate Ben-hadad by giving him his lately re-acquired treasures. The prophet justly rebuked him for trusting in princes rather than in God, and that in spite of the fact that Divine help had been visible in his conflicts with the Ethiopians and the Lubim; for there had been no need for him to engage in battle with them; in response to his mere prayer God had slain the enemy. In general, Asa showed little confidence in God; he rather trusted his own skill. Accordingly, he made even the scholars of his realm enlist in the army sent out against Baasha. He was punished by being afflicted with gout, he of all men, who was distinguished on account of the strength residing in his feet. Furthermore, the division between Judah and Israel was made permanent, though God had at first intended to limit the exclusion of David's house from Israel to only thirty-six years. Had Asa shown himself deserving, he would have been accorded dominion over the whole of Israel. In point of fact, Asa, through his connection by marriage with the house of Omri, contributed to the stability of the Israelitish dynasty, for as a result of the support given by the southern ruler Omri succeeded in putting his rival Tibni out of the way. Then it was that God resolved that the descendants of Asa should perish simultaneously with the descendants of Omri. This doom was accomplished when Jehu killed the king of Judah on account of his friendship and kinship with Joram the king of Samaria.
JEHOSHAPHAT AND AHAB
The successors of Omri and Asa, each in his way, were worthy of their fathers. Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, was very wealthy. The treasures which his father had sent to the Aramean ruler reverted to him in consequence of his victory over the Ammonites, themselves the conquerors of the Arameans, whom they had despoiled of their possessions. His power was exceedingly great; each division of his army counted no less than one hundred and sixty thousand warriors. Yet rich and powerful as he was, he was so modest that he refused to don his royal apparel when he went to the house of the prophet Elisha to consult him; he appeared before him in the attire of one of the people. Unlike his father, who had little consideration for scholars, Jehoshaphat was particularly gracious toward them. When a scholar appeared before him, he arose, hastened to meet him, and kissing and embracing him, greeted him with "Rabbi, Rabbi!" 28 Ketubot 103b; Makkot 24a; Tehillim 15, 118. Comp, also Yerushalmi Sotah (end), where the king’s humility is praised (read ]D yiP ). Notwithstanding his lack of regard for scholars (vol. IV, p. 184), Asa nevertheless married the daughter of the prophet Hanani (2 Chron. 16.7), and the issue of this marriage was Jehoshaphat. The prophet Eliezer, who was active during the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20.37), was a grandson of Hanani, and accordingly liTnnp in the verse referred to is to be translated “the son of his uncle”; ps.Jerome, 2 Chron. 20.31 and 37. 29 Yebamot 7b, given as a haggadic interpretation of nSHnn “Klin of 2 Chron. 20.5. For another Haggadah on this verse see ps. -Jerome. ad loc. 30 Yerushalmi Berakot 9, 13b; Tehillim 4, 3. See also Babli Berakot 10a (bottom), which contains an allusion to it not recognized by Rashi (caption ’^21pD). — In reality God had condemned Jehoshaphat to death for having joined Ahab in war, and he was only saved by his prayer. He lived seven years longer, a period which Scripture puts to his son's account, not to his own. Seder ‘Olam 17; notes 24 and 27. 31 Megillah 11a; PRE 11. Comp, note 82 on vol. I, p. 178. See also Septuagint 1 Kings 18.10, where Obadiah’s words to Elijah read: “There is not a nation or a kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; and if they said: He is not here, then hath he (Ahab) set fire to the kingdom and its territories, because he hath not found thee.” This undoubtedly presupposes that Ahab had power over all the kingdoms. Comp. Index, s. v. “Cosmocrators”. 32 Esther R 1.1. ER 9, 49, counts only two hundred and thirtytwo, who, according to 1 Kings 20.15, are supposed to be the sons of the conquered kings whom Ahab held as hostages. Of them it is said that life in the midst of Jewish surroundings made them pious, and through them God granted victory to Ahab in his war with Benhadad. According to Esther R., loc. cit., twenty of the satrapies owing allegiance to Ahab were devastated by the famine which took place 310 Judah and Israel [33-38 in his time, and therefore only two hundred and thirty-two hostages are mentioned in 1 Kings, loc. cit. 33 Shemuel 2, 47; Koheleth 6.3; Esther R. 1.1; Nispahim 44. On the winter and summer residences of the rich, see Midrash Shir 24a; on Ahab's great wealth see Berakot 61b; ER 9, 49. On Ahab’s wicked children, see Koheleth 1.18. 3 4 Sanhedrin 102b: 103b. Comp, also Tan. Shemot 29 and Gaster, Exempla pp. 184—185. In Tanhuma the story of the Talmud is elaborated. In the latter passage the great learning of Ahab and of the two other wicked kings (Jeroboam and Manasseh) is emphasized. See also MHG I, 412; vol IV, pp. 180 and 278. 36 Yelammedenu in Yalkut II, 219; Tan. B. II, 16; Tan. Shemot 29. During the reign of Ahab Israel was addicted to idolatry, but possessed the great virtue of keeping away from slander and backbiting. During the time of Samuel and Saul the Israelites were just the reverse: they were devoted to the study of the Torah (even young boys and girls were learned in the law), but they had “evil tongues”. The former were victorious in their wars, the latter were unfortunate in their military expeditions. One may infer from this that one is severely punished for the “evil use of his tongue”. See Yerushalmi Peah 1, 16a; WR 26.2; DR 5.10; Tehillim 7, 67; PK 4, 31b; Tan. B. IV, 106; Tan. Hukkat 4; BaR 19.2. Ahab’s generation did not reveal the hiding-place of Elijah and the other hundred prophets; but David ’s abode in his flight from Saul was betrayed many a time. The great victory of Ahab and his people over the Syrians was the reward for their obervance of the Sabbath. Likewise under Ahab’s son it was because of the observance of the Sabbath that Israel was victorious in the war against Mesha. See Mekilta RS, 162= Midrash Gadol 124. 36 Seder ‘Olam 20; Tosefta Sanhedrin 14.15; Babli 89b; Josephus, Antiqui., VIII, 14.15. The first and the last sources take the prophet mentioned in 1 Kings 20.13, 22 and 28 to be Micaiah, whose activity at the time of Ahab is spoken of in 1 Kings 22.8. 37 WR 26.8; Tan. B. Ill, 84; Tan. Emor 3; Shemuel 24, 121; Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 11, 30c. Comp, also Baraita di-Yeshua‘ 46, where Tin p should be read instead of 38 Sanhedrin 48b; Tosefta 4.6. Two views are given there with regard to Ahab’s claims upon Naboth’s possessions. According to one, the king and Naboth were cousins, and when the latter died without issue, his possessions reverted to the nearest of kin, that is, Ahab. 39-42] The Legends of the Jews According to the other view, the property of those executed for lese majeste fell to the royal treasury; comp. vol. IV, p. 126. That Naboth was of noble descent is asserted by Josephus, Antiqui., VIII, 13.7. 39 PR 25, 127a. Josephus, Antiqui., VIII, 13.7, speaks of the three false witnesses who testified against Naboth. This presupposes the old Halakah according to which in cases involving capital punishment three witnesses (or to be more accurate, one accuser and two witnesses) are necessary. Comp. Ginzberg, Unbekannte Sekte, 170, note 5. Naboth’s fate illustrates the saying, “Woe unto the wicked and woe to his associate; ” Naboth paid with his life for having been on friendly and close relations with the wicked Ahab; Alphabet of Ben Sira, 4b.Notes 4 — Judah and Israel
Jehoshaphat concerned himself greatly about the purity and sanctification of the Temple. He was the author of the ordinance forbidding any one to ascend the Temple mount whose term of uncleanness had not expired, even though he had taken the ritual bath. His implicit trust in God made him a complete contrast to his skeptical father. He turned to God and implored His help when to human reason help seemed an utter impossibility. In the war with the Arameans, an enemy held his sword at Jehoshaphat's very throat, ready to deal the fatal blow, but the king entreated help of God, and it was granted.
In power and wealth, Ahab, king of Samaria, outstripped his friend Jehoshaphat, for Ahab is one of that small number of kings who have ruled over the whole world. No less than two hundred and fifty-two kingdoms acknowledged his dominion. As for his wealth, it was so abundant that each of his hundred and forty children possessed several ivory palaces, summer and winter residences. But what gives Ahab his prominence among the Jewish kings is neither his power nor his wealth, but his sinful conduct. For him the gravest transgressions committed by Jeroboam were slight peccadilloes. At his order the gates of Samaria bore the inscription: "Ahab denies the God of Israel." He was so devoted to idolatry, to which he was led astray by his wife Jezebel, that the fields of Palestine were full of idols. But he was not wholly wicked, he possessed some good qualities. He was liberal toward scholars, and he showed great reverence for the Torah, which he studied zealously. When Ben-hadad exacted all he possessed his wealth, his wives, his children he acceded to his demands regarding everything except the Torah; that he refused peremptorily to surrender. In the war that followed between himself and the Syrians, he was so indignant at the presumptuousness of the Aramean upstart that he himself saddled his warhorse for the battle. His zeal was rewarded by God; he gained a brilliant victory in a battle in which no less than a hundred thousand of the Syrians were slain, as the prophet Micaiah had foretold to him. The same seer admonished him not to deal gently with Ben-hadad. God's word to him had been: "Know that I had to set many a pitfall and trap to deliver him into thy hand. If thou lettest him escape, thy life will be forfeit for his."
Nevertheless the disastrous end of Ahab is not to be ascribed to his disregard of the prophet's warning for he finally liberated Ben-hahad, but chiefly to the murder of his kinsman Naboth, whose execution on the charge of treason he had ordered, so that he might put himself in possession of Naboth's wealth. His victim was a pious man, and in the habit of going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem on the festivals. As he was a great singer, his presence in the Holy City attracted many other pilgrims thither. Once Naboth failed to go on his customary pilgrimage. Then it was that his false conviction took place a very severe punishment for the transgression, but not wholly unjustifiable. Under Jehoshaphat's influence and counsel, Ahab did penance for his crime, and the punishment God meted out to him was thereby mitigated to the extent that his dynasty was not cut off from the throne at this death. In the heavenly court of justice, at Ahab's trial, the accusing witnesses and his defenders exactly balanced each other in number and statements, until the spirit of Naboth appeared and turned the scale against Ahab. The spirit of Naboth it had been, too, that had let astray the prophets of Ahab, making them all use the very same words in prophesying a victory at Ramothgilead. This literal unanimity aroused Jehoshaphat's suspicion, and caused him to ask for "a prophet of the Lord," for the rule is: "The same thought is revealed to many prophets, but no two prophets express it in the same words." Jehoshaphat's mistrust was justified by the issue of war. Ahab was slain in a miraculous way by Naaman, at the time only a common soldier of the rank and file. God permitted Naaman's missile to penetrate Ahab's armor, though the latter was harder than the former.
The mourning for Ahab was so great that the memory of it reached posterity. The funeral procession was unusually impressive; no less than thirty-six thousand warriors, their shoulders bared, marched before his bier. Ahab is one of the few in Israel who have no portion in the world to come. He dwells in the fifth division of the nether world, which is under the supervision of the angel Oniel. However, he is exempt from the tortures inflicted upon his heathen associates.
JEZEBEL
Wicked as Ahab was, his wife Jezebel was incomparably worse. Indeed, she is in great part the cause of his suffering, and Ahab realized it. Once Rabbi Levi expounded the Scriptural verse in which the iniquity of Ahab and the influence of his wife over him are discussed, dwelling upon the first half for two months. Ahab visited him in a dream, and reproached him with expatiating on the first half of the verse to the exclusion of the latter half. Thereupon the Rabbi took the second half of the verse as the text of his lectures for the next two months, demonstrating all the time that Jezebel was the instigator of Ahab's sins. Her misdeed are told in the Scriptures. To those there recounted must be added her practice of attaching unchaste images to Ahab's chariot for the purpose of stimulating his carnal desires. Therefore those parts of his chariot were spattered with his blood when he fell at the hand of the enemy. She had her husband weighed every day, and the increase of his weight in gold she sacrificed to the idol. Jezebel was not only the daughter and the wife of a king, she was also co-regent with her husband, the only reigning queen in Jewish history except Athaliah. 40 PK 25, 160b; Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10, 28b; Sotah 3, 18d; Ta'anit 25b; PRE 43; Shir 1.5. 41 Commenting on 1 Kings 22.19, the Rabbis remark that in the heavenly court there were some who pleaded for Ahab’s life and others who demanded his death; this is the meaning of Scripture in speaking of the host of heaven standing by God on His right and on His left; Tan. B. I, 96; II, 8 and 84; Tan. Shemot 18 and Mishpatim 15; Yelammedenu in ‘Aruk, s. v. 42 Sanhedrin 89a; Shabbat 102b. But Naboth ’s soul had to leave the abode of the pious, which is near God, for God tolerates not in His presence those who resort to lies; Sanhedrin and Shabbat loc. cit.; Tosefta-Targum 1 Kings 22.21 and 23. On the view that no two prophets express themselves in the same words, see also Aggadat Bereshit 14, 30; Josephua, Antiqui., VIII, 15.4. The last-named author writes: Zedekiah exhorted him (the king) not to hearken to Micaiah, for he did not speak the truth at all. To support his words, he instanced the saying of Elijah, who was a greater prophet to foretell the future than Micaiah. Now Elijah prophesied that the dogs would lick his (Ahab ’s) blood in the field of Naboth (see 1 Kings 21.19). It was therefore plain that Micaiah was a false prophet, since he contradicted the words of a prophet greater than himself, and asserted that Ahab would be slain in a place three days’ journey distant from there. It was, however, subsequently seen that Micaiah did not contradict Elijah : Ahab fell in Ramoth Gilead, but his blood was licked by the dogs in Samaria, when they washed the king’s chariot there (1 Kings 22.38). See Josephus, ibid.; comp, also Sanhedrin 39b; Tosefta-Targum 1 Kings 22.34. Ahab’s sad end illustrates the truth of the sayings: “He who honors his enemy 312 Judah and Israel [43-53 is like an ass”, and “He who honors his enemy will meet his death through him”. Ahab honored his enemy Ben-hadad, and was slain in the war against him; Alphabet of Ben Sira lOb-lla. 43 Tehillim 78, 350; Shemuel 11, 80. That it was Naaman's missile which struck Ahab is also mentioned by Josephus, Antiqui., XVIII, 15.5; in Targum 2 Chron. 18.33; by Ephraem, 2 Kings 6.1. On the nature of this miracle, see note 44 on vol. IV, p. 88. Ahab was the only Jew slain in this battle; the suffering of the prophet Micaiah who had himself wounded to bring home the truth of his prophecy concerning the fatal result of the war against the Syrians (1 Kings 22. 37 ; comp, note 36) atoned for the sins of Israel, who were spared further punishment. See Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 11, 30c. This passage, however, is very obscure, and its purport probably is that the suffering of the pious Jehoshaphat (see vol. IV, p. 186) had the atoning power. 44 Megillah 3a; Mo'ed Katan 28b; Targum Zech. 12.11. Comp., however, Sanhedrin 39b, where 1 Kings 22.36 is explained: And a jubilant song was heard through the battle arrays; the army rejoiced in the final execution of the divine punishment on Ahab. 45 Baba Kamma 17a. On the baring of the shoulders as a sign of mourning, see Biichler, Zeitschrift fur alttest. Wissenschaft, XXI, 81. seq. 46 Sanhedrin, Mishnah 10.1. On the persons who have no share in the world to come, see note 100, on vol. IV, p. 75. Comp, also note 65 on vol. IV, p. 95. 4 7 Konen 31. Comp. vol. IV, pp. 53 and 107. 48 Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10, 28b, Comp, also ER 9, 49, and Babli 102b, where several authorities are quoted to the effect that Jezebel was mainly responsible for Ahab’s wicked life. 4 9 Sanhedrin 39b. s° Sanhedrin 100b, and somewhat different Yerushalmi 10, 28b. On the custom to devote to the Temple gold corresponding to one’s increase in weight, see Yoma 38b; Sifra 26.29; Ekah 1, 86-87; comp, further ‘Arakin Mishnah 5.1. 51 Esther R. 1.9. Among the heathen Semiramis and Vashti are considered the two reigning queens. Shemuel 2 (beginning) calls Jezebel “the daughter of a priest”, while 1 Kings 16.31 describes her father as a king. s’ PRE 17. 53 ShR 31.9; Tan. Mishpatim 9; Tehillim 15.6. Comp. vol. IV, pp. 240-241. According to Gaster, Exempla, p. 185, however, Joram 313 54-56] The Legends of the Jews was wicked only “from without”, but within he was good, as shown by the sympathy he felt with the sufferings of his people. Comp. 2 Kings 6.30. 54 PK 2, 13; Tan. Ki-Tissa 9; Tosefta-Targum 2 Kings 3.27; Ta'anit 4a; Midrash Tannaim 100; Sifre D., 148; Ephraem, 2 Kings 3. 26-27; Jerome, Micah 6.7; Josephus, Antiqui., IX, 3.2. Comp. Ginzberg, Haggada bei dtn Kirchenv., 83-86. According to one view (Sanhedrin 39b), the king of Moab brought his son as a sacrifice to an idol and not to God. ss Ta'anit 5a; comp, also PR 29, 136b-137a; Sanhedrin 12a; Tosefta 2.9; Yerushalmi 1, 18d; Nedarim 6, 39d. 5 6 Ta'anit 45a; Yerushalmi 1, 64a. Others identify this Joel with Joel the son of Samuel (see note 46 on vol. IV, p. 65), whereas Seder ‘Olam 20 (but see Ratner, ad loc.) maintains that Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk were contemporaries of Manasseh. A fourth view found in PK 16.128b declares Joel, Amos, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah to have been the eight post-exilic prophets. The reading is not certain; some texts have Micah and Habakkuk instead of Joel and Jeremiah. Jerome, Joel 1.1, very likely on the authority of his Jewish masters, maintains that Joel lived shortly after Hosea, and therefore their books follow one another. Besides the literal interpretation of Joel’s prophecy, according to which a grievous famine took place in his time which was caused by the locust (see Ta'anit, loc. cit., and Jerome 1.6), there is also a symbolic explanation maintaining that the prophet refers to the devastations brought upon Israel by the “four kingdoms” (comp. Index, s. v.), and therefore he speaks of four kinds of locusts. See Targum and Jerome on Joel 1.4 (he writes: Hebraei inter pr etantur) ; WR 5.3. Comp. Rahmer, Die Commentarii zu den XII Kleinen Propheten, Joel, 4-6.; note 20 on vol. IV, p. 260. On the etymologies of the names Joel and his father Pethuel given by Jerome, Joel 1.1, see Rahmer, ibid., 1-3, and the references in note 20 on vol. IV, p. 260. For an interesting description of the different kinds of locusts which devastated the Holy Land in Joel’s times, see PRK 43a. Comp, also MHG II, 80. As to the statement in PRK that the heart of a certain kind of locust has the shape of the letter Heth, it is to be remarked that to this day this kind of locust is believed to be the only one permitted to be eaten by the Jews of North Africa. On the war against Moab, which took place during the reign of Joram, the contemporary of Joel, see vol. IV, p. 10. This war was caused by the inhuman cruelty of the Moabite king, who 314 Judah and Israel [56 had the bodies of the Edomite kings exhumed and their bones burned to lime. God could not permit such an evil deed to pass unpunished, and the Moabites suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the allied kings. See Baba Batra 22a; Targum and Jerome (who introduces it by tradunt Hebraei ) on Amos 2.1. Comp, also Rashi, ad loc. 3)1Notes 5 — Judah and Israel
Hardened sinner though Jezebel was, even she had good qualities. One of them was her capacity for sympathy with others in joy and sorrow. Whenever a funeral cortege passed the royal palace, Jezebel would descend and join the ranks of the mourners, and, also, when a marriage procession went by, she took part in the merry-making in honor of the bridal couple. By way of reward the limbs and organs with which she had executed these good deeds were left intact by the horses that trampled her to death in the portion of Jezreel.
JORAM OF ISRAEL
Of Joram, the son of Ahab, it can only be said that he had his father's faults without his father's virtues. Ahab was liberal, Joram miserly, nay, he even indulged in usurious practices. From Obadiah, the pious protector of the prophets in hiding, he exacted a high rate of interest on the money needed for their support. As a consequence, at his death he fell pierced between his arms, the arrow going out at his heart, for he had stretched out his arms to receive usury, and had hardened his heart against compassion. In his reign only one event deserves mention, his campaign against Moab, undertaken in alliance with the kings of Judah and Edom, and ending with a splendid victory won by the allied kings. Joram and his people, it need hardly be said, failed to derive the proper lesson from the war. Their disobedience to God's commands went on as before. The king of Moab, on the other hand, in his way sought to come nearer to God. He assembled his astrologers and inquired of them, why it was that the Moabites, successful in their warlike enterprises against other nations, could not measure up to the standard of the Israelites. They explained that God was gracious to Israel, because his ancestor Abraham had been ready to sacrifice Isaac at His bidding. Then the Moabite king reasoned, that if God set so high a value upon mere good intention, how much greater would be the reward for its actual execution, and he, who ordinarily was a sun worshipper, proceeded to sacrifice his son, the successor to the throne, to the God of Israel. God said: "The heathen do not know Me, and their wrong-doing arises from ignorance; but you, Israelites, know Me, and yet you act rebelliously toward Me."
As a result of the seven years' famine, conditions in Samaria were frightful during the great part of Joram's reign. In the first year everything stored in the houses was eaten up. In the second, the people supported themselves with what they could scrape together in the fields. The flesh of the clean animals sufficed for the third year; in the fourth the sufferers resorted to the unclean animals; in the fifth, the reptiles and insects; and in the sixth the monstrous thing happened that women crazed by hunger consumed their own children as food. But the acme of distress was reached in the seventh year, when men sought to gnaw the flesh from their own bones. To these occurrences the prophecies of Joel apply, for he lived in the awful days of the famine in Joram's reign.
Luckily, God revealed to Joel at the same time how Israel would be rescued from the famine. The winter following the seven years of dearth brought no relief, for the rain held back until the first day of the month of Nisan. When it began to fall, the prophet said to the people, "Go forth and sow seed!" But they remonstrated with him, "Shall one who hath saved a measure of wheat or two measures of barely not use his store for food and live, rather than for seed and die?" But the prophet urged them, "Nay, go forth and sow seed." And a miracle happened. In the ant hills and mouse holes, they found enough grain for seed, and they cast it upon the ground on the second, the third, and the fourth day of Nisan. On the fifth day of the month rain fell again. Eleven days later the grain was ripe, and the offering of the 'Omer could be brought at the appointed time, on the sixteenth of the month. Of this the Psalmist was thinking when he said, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."