The Meaning of 1 Kings 12:15 Explained

1 Kings 12:15

KJV: Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

YLT: and the king hearkened not unto the people, for the revolution was from Jehovah, in order to establish His word that Jehovah spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam son of Nebat.

Darby: So the king hearkened not to the people; for it was brought about by Jehovah, that he might give effect to his word, which Jehovah spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

ASV: So the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was a thing brought about of Jehovah, that he might establish his word, which Jehovah spake by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Wherefore the king  hearkened  not unto the people;  for the cause  was from the LORD,  that he might perform  his saying,  which the LORD  spake  by  Ahijah  the Shilonite  unto Jeroboam  the son  of Nebat. 

What does 1 Kings 12:15 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Kings 12:12-24 - The Kingdom Rent In Twain
Rehoboam richly deserved his fate. He was forty-one years old, 2 Chronicles 12:13, and ought to have known better. His speech betrayed the despot. He had no right to speak with such arrogant insolence to a great and liberty-loving people. It is only a weak man who boasts of deeds he cannot perform, and there was a rasping flavor in his comparison which indicated the malice of an unregenerate heart. We have heard people speak like this to those whom they counted their inferiors, but all such words are the scattering of thistledown, which will spoil the harvests of their own fields. Learn to speak civilly, or not at all. Insist that young lads and girls keep a civil tongue in their heads. Curses are like boomerangs; they come back on the man that utters them.
Twice over we are told that it was a thing brought about by God- 1 Kings 12:15; 1 Kings 12:24. Beneath all political changes and revolutions you will find the slow evolving of a divine purpose. God does not instigate sin. This arises from man's abuse of his own free-will. But God will so control the warring wills of men that the plan of His eternal counsel and foreknowledge shall not be interfered with but furthered.
1 Kings 12:1-33 - Breaking Three Commandments
From a worldly point of view Naboth might have done a good stroke of business by selling his estate to. Ahab. A royal price and assured favor might have been his-but he had a conscience! Above the persuasive tones of the monarch's offer sounded the voice of God: "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine." See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46:18.
Ahab knew perfectly well that Jezebel could not give him the property of another except by foul means, but he took pains not to inquire. Though the direct orders for Naboth's death did not come from him, yet, by his silence, he was an accomplice and an accessory; and divine justice penetrates all such specious excuses. God holds us responsible for wrongs which we do not arrest, though we have the power. The crime was blacker because of the pretext of religion, as suggested by a fast. See also 2 Kings 9:26. The blood of murdered innocence cries to God, and his requital, though delayed, is inevitable. See Revelation 6:9-10. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Kings 12

1  The Israelites, assembled at Shechem to crown Rehoboam,
4  by Jeroboam make a suit of relaxation unto him
6  Rehoboam, refusing the old men's counsel, answers them roughly
16  Ten tribes revolting, kill Adoram, and make Rehoboam flee
21  Rehoboam, raising an army, is forbidden by Shemaiah
25  Jeroboam strengthens himself by cities
26  and by idolatry of the two calves

What do the individual words in 1 Kings 12:15 mean?

So not did listen the king to the people for was the turn [of events] from Yahweh that He might fulfill - His word which had spoken Yahweh by Ahijah the Shilonite Jeroboam son of Nebat
וְלֹֽא־ שָׁמַ֥ע הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֶל־ הָעָ֑ם כִּֽי־ הָיְתָ֤ה סִבָּה֙ מֵעִ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה לְמַ֜עַן הָקִ֣ים אֶת־ דְּבָר֗וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ בְּיַד֙ אֲחִיָּ֣ה הַשִּׁילֹנִ֔י יָרָבְעָ֖ם בֶּן־ נְבָֽט

וְלֹֽא־  So  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
שָׁמַ֥ע  did  listen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ  the  king 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
הָעָ֑ם  the  people 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
סִבָּה֙  the  turn  [of  events] 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: סִבָּה  
Sense: turn of events, turn of affairs.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לְמַ֜עַן  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: לְמַעַן 
Sense: purpose, intent prep.
הָקִ֣ים  He  might  fulfill 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
דְּבָר֗וֹ  His  word 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
דִּבֶּ֤ר  had  spoken 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
יְהוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֲחִיָּ֣ה  Ahijah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲחִיָּה 
Sense: grandson of Phinehas.
הַשִּׁילֹנִ֔י  the  Shilonite 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שִׁילֹנִי  
Sense: an inhabitant of Shiloh.
יָרָבְעָ֖ם  Jeroboam 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יָרָבְעָם  
Sense: the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel when the kingdom split at the death of Solomon and the 0 tribes split off from Judah and Benjamin and the kingdom under Solomon’s son Rehoboam; idolatry was introduced at the beginning of his reign.
בֶּן־  son 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
נְבָֽט  of  Nebat 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: נְבָט  
Sense: an Ephraimite of Zereda, father of king Jeroboam I of the northern kingdom of Israel.