1 Kings 12:24

that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD commands the assembled army of Judah and Benjamin not to attack their northern brothers, the Israelites. This occurs immediately after a prophet delivers the divine directive to Rehoboam and the house of Judah (1 Kings 12:23).

The words — The Hebrew כֹּ֣ה (koh) and לֹֽא (lo') frame the command as "thus [you are] not [to] go up." The verb תַעֲלוּ (ta.'a.Lu) carries the literal sense of ascending to battle, which the LORD explicitly forbids.

The thread — This prohibition echoes the warning in Numbers 14:42 against going up to fight without divine presence. It also fulfills the earlier prophecy given to Jeroboam through Ahijah in Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:29) and confirms the political division as a sovereign act (1 Kings 12:15).

Why it lands — The text demands immediate obedience to a divine halt, showing that military advantage yields to divine sovereignty. A reader must recognize that compliance with God's word, even when it contradicts human strategy, is the required response.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כֹּ֣הkohthus אָמַ֣ר'a.Marhe says יְהוָ֡הYah.wehYahweh לֹֽא־lo'-not תַעֲלוּ֩ta.'a.Luyou must go up וְלֹא־ve./lo'-and/ not תִלָּ֨חֲמ֜וּןti.La.cha.Mu/nyou must do battle/ !עִם־'im-with אֲחֵיכֶ֣ם'a.chei./Khemcountrymen/ your בְּנֵֽי־be.nei-[the] people of יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'ElIsrael שׁ֚וּבוּShu.vureturn אִ֣ישׁ'isheach לְבֵית֔וֹle./vei.T/oto/ own house/ his כִּ֧יkifor מֵאִתִּ֛יme./'i.T/ifrom/ with <the>/ me נִהְיָ֖הnih.Yahit has occurred הַדָּבָ֣רha./da.Varthe/ thing הַזֶּ֑הha./Zeh<the>/ this וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ֙va/i.yish.me.'Uand/ they listened to אֶת־'et-<obj.>דְּבַ֣רde.Var[the] word of יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahweh וַיָּשֻׁ֥בוּva/i.ya.Shu.vuand/ they turned back לָלֶ֖כֶתla./Le.khetto/ go כִּדְבַ֥רki/d.Varaccording to/ [the] word of יְהוָֽה׃ סYah.wehYahweh

King James Version

Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.

Cross-references

Numbers 14:42 Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.
1 Kings 11:29 During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was going out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field.
1 Kings 12:15 So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
2 Chronicles 11:4 that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the words of the LORD and turned back from going against Jeroboam.
2 Chronicles 25:7 But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel—not with any of the Ephraimites.
2 Chronicles 25:10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. And they were furious with Judah and returned home in great anger.
Hosea 8:4 They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.
2 Chronicles 28:9 But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.