Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

on the Whole Bible

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708)

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First Kings

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12

Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18

Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22

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AN

EXPOSITION,

W I T H   P R A C T I C A L   O B S E R V A T I O N S,

OF THE FIRST BOOK OF

K I N G S.

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Many histories are books of kings and their reigns, to which the

affairs of their kingdoms are reduced; this is a piece of honour that

has commonly been paid to crowned heads. The holy Scripture is the

history of the kingdom of God among men, under the several

administrations of it; but there the King is one and his name one. The

particular history now before us accounts for the affairs of the

kingdoms of Judah and Israel, yet with special regard to the kingdom of

God among them; for still it is a sacred history, much more instructive

and not less entertaining than any of the histories of the kings of the

earth, to which (those of them that are of any certainty) it is prior

in time; for though there were kings in Edom before there was any king

in Israel,

Gen. xxxvi. 31

(foreigners, in that point of state, got the precedency), yet the

history of the kings of Israel lives, and will live, in holy Writ, to

the end of the world, whereas that of the kings of Edom is long since

buried in oblivion; for the honour that comes from God is durable,

while the honour of the world is like a mushroom, which comes up in a

night and perishes in a night.–The Bible began with the story of

patriarchs, and prophets, and judges, men whose converse with heaven

was more immediate, the record of which strengthens our faith, but is

not so easily accommodated to our case, now that we expect not visions,

as the subsequent history of affairs like ours under the direction of

common providence; and here also we find, though not many types and

figures of the Messiah, yet great expectations of him; for not only

prophets, but kings, desired to see the great mysteries of the gospel,

Luke x. 24–The

two books of Samuel are introductions to the books of the Kings, as

they relate the origin of the royal government in Saul and of the royal

family in David. These two books give us an account of David’s

successor, Solomon, the division of his kingdom, and the succession of

the several kings both of Judah and Israel, with an abstract of their

history down to the captivity. And as from the book of Genesis we may

collect excellent rules of economics, for the good governing of

families, so from these books we may collect rules of politics, for the

directing of public affairs. There is in these books special regard had

to the house and lineage of David, from which Christ came. Some of his

sons trod in his steps, and others did not. The characters of the kings

of Judah may be thus briefly given:–David the devout, Solomon the

wise, Rehoboam the simple, Abijah the valiant, Asa the upright,

Jehoshaphat the religious, Jehoram the wicked, Ahaziah the profane,

Joash the backslider, Amaziah the rash, Uzziah the mighty, Jotham the

peaceable, Ahaz the idolater, Hezekiah the reformer, Manasseh the

penitent, Amon the obscure, Josiah the tender-hearted, Jehoahaz,

Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, all wicked, and such as brought

ruin quickly on themselves and their kingdom. The number of the good

and bad is nearly equal, but the reigns of the good were generally long

and those of the bad short, the consideration of which will make the

state of Israel not altogether so bad in this period as at first it

seems. In this first book we have,

I. The death of David,

ch. i. and ii.

II. The glorious reign of Solomon, and his building the temple

(ch. iii.-x.),

but the cloud his sun set under,

ch. xi.

III. The division of the kingdoms in Rehoboam, and his reign and

Jeroboam’s,

ch. xii.-xiv.

IV. The reigns of Abijah and Asa over Judah, Baasha and Omri over

Israel,

ch. xv. and xvi.

V. Elijah’s miracles,

ch. xvii.-xix.

VI. Ahab’s success against Benhadad, his wickedness and fall,

ch. xx.-xxii.

And in all this history it appears that kings, though gods to us, are

men to God, mortal and accountable.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708)

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