The Meaning of 1 Kings 12:22 Explained

1 Kings 12:22

KJV: But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

YLT: And the word of God is unto Shemaiah a man of God, saying,

Darby: But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

ASV: But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But the word  of God  came unto Shemaiah  the man  of God,  saying, 

What does 1 Kings 12:22 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 12:22 mean?

But came the word of God to Shemaiah the man of God saying
וַיְהִי֙ דְּבַ֣ר הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶל־ שְׁמַעְיָ֥ה אִישׁ־ הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵאמֹֽר

וַיְהִי֙  But  came 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
דְּבַ֣ר  the  word 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים  of  God 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
שְׁמַעְיָ֥ה  Shemaiah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׁמַעְיָה 
Sense: a prophet of the Lord in the reign of king Rehoboam of Judah.
אִישׁ־  the  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים  of  God 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
לֵאמֹֽר  saying 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.