(14) Shall raise him up a king.--Baasha. (See 1 Kings 15:27-30.) For, like Jeroboam, he had (see 1 Kings 16:2-4) a probation before God, in which he failed, drawing down doom on his house.
But what? even now.--The exact meaning of these words has been much disputed. The LXX. renders "and what? even now;" the Vulgate has "in this day and in this time;" the Chaldee Targum, "what is now, and what besides shall be." Modern interpretations vary greatly. On the whole, perhaps, our version gives a not improbable rendering, and a simple and striking sense--"in that day; but what say I? the judgment is even now at hand." (Comp. our Lord's saying in Luke 12:49 : "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? ")
Verse 14. - Moreover [Heb. and] the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam [for the fulfilment, see 1 Kings 15:29] that day: but what? even now. [Rawlinson only expresses a general feeling when he says that "no satisfactory sense can be obtained from the Hebrew text," and suggests that it is corrupt or defective. The passage, no doubt, is one of extreme difficulty, and inasmuch as the MSS. and Versions lend us no aid to its interpretation, affords scope for conjecture. The explanation I venture to submit may, I hope, contribute - it can hardly do more - to the elucidation of the text. I observe that in ver. 13 זֶה is used of Abijah, "this one alone," etc. I assume that it has the same import here, viz., "this one today," i.e., "this one dies or is cut off today," הַיּום being understood as constantly, adverbially, - hodie (see, e.g., Genesis 4:14; Genesis 22:14; 1 Kings 2:24). It would be a natural reflection to the prophet who had just been speaking of the excision of the house of Jeroboam, "one perishes today, judgment is already begun," i.e. As to the rest, for עָתָּה I would read אָתָּה, which has practically the same sound, and for which, consequently, עַתָּה is sometimes substituted by the transcriber, as in 1 Kings 1:18, 20, and understand "And what wilt thou also do?" i.e., what will become of thee also? It is quite possible (ver. 11) that Jeroboam's wife perished in the wholesale destruction of his house, as it is clear from the severe punishment assigned to her (ver. 12) that she must have shared in his sin. The readiness with which she lent herself to this deceit (ver. 4) also favours the supposition that she had approved his policy. She would then have survived her husband only two years. Keil's explanation, "cut off the house of Jeroboam this day," appears contrary to actual fact, while to interpret "that day" (with the A.V.) is contrary to Hebrew grammar.]
14:7-20 Whether we keep an account of God's mercies to us or not, he does; and he will set them in order before us, if we are ungrateful, to our greater confusion. Ahijah foretells the speedy death of the child then sick, in mercy to him. He only in the house of Jeroboam had affection for the true worship of God, and disliked the worship of the calves. To show the power and sovereignty of his grace, God saves some out of the worst families, in whom there is some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel. The righteous are removed from the evil to come in this world, to the good to come in a better world. It is often a bad sign for a family, when the best in it are buried out of it. Yet their death never can be a loss to themselves. It was a present affliction to the family and kingdom, by which both ought to have been instructed. God also tells the judgments which should come upon the people of Israel, for conforming to the worship Jeroboam established. After they left the house of David, the government never continued long in one family, but one undermined and destroyed another. Families and kingdoms are ruined by sin. If great men do wickedly, they draw many others, both into the guilt and punishment. The condemnation of those will be severest, who must answer, not only for their own sins, but for sins others have been drawn into, and kept in, by them.
Moreover the Lord shall raise up a king over Israel,.... Baasha is meant, 1 Kings 15:29.
who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day; immediately, as soon as on the throne, he should destroy his whole family, as he did, 1 Kings 15:29,
but what? even now; shall it be that day? yes; even at that very time, and which will be very quickly from this time; for as it may be supposed this was said at the latter end of Jeroboam's reign, and his son and successor reigned but two years ere this prophecy was accomplished. The Targum is,
"who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam, him that is living today, and shall be from henceforward.''
But what? even now.--The exact meaning of these words has been much disputed. The LXX. renders "and what? even now;" the Vulgate has "in this day and in this time;" the Chaldee Targum, "what is now, and what besides shall be." Modern interpretations vary greatly. On the whole, perhaps, our version gives a not improbable rendering, and a simple and striking sense--"in that day; but what say I? the judgment is even now at hand." (Comp. our Lord's saying in Luke 12:49 : "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? ")
who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day; immediately, as soon as on the throne, he should destroy his whole family, as he did, 1 Kings 15:29,
but what? even now; shall it be that day? yes; even at that very time, and which will be very quickly from this time; for as it may be supposed this was said at the latter end of Jeroboam's reign, and his son and successor reigned but two years ere this prophecy was accomplished. The Targum is,
"who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam, him that is living today, and shall be from henceforward.''