Bible Strands
1 Kings 14:8
I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. But you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, doing only what was right in My eyes.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Jeroboam through a prophet at the moment of divine judgment for his idolatry. The speaker identifies Himself as the one who raised Jeroboam from the people and appointed him ruler over Israel.
The words — The text uses אֶקְרַע (ek.Ra, "I tore away") to describe God's action in removing the kingdom from David's house. It pairs this with הָיִיתָ (ha.Yi.ta, "you have been") to state Jeroboam's failure to resemble David.
The thread — The contrast between Jeroboam and David appears in 1 Kings 15:5, which notes David kept commandments and did only what was right. The pattern of forsaking God for other gods connects to 1 Kings 11:33, while the Davidic comparison echoes in 2 Chronicles 28:1.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine appointment does not guarantee covenant faithfulness. It requires the reader to measure leadership against the standard of keeping God's commandments with all one's heart.
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
King James Version
And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 15:5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
- 1 Kings 11:33 For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and judgments, as Solomon’s father David did.
- 2 Chronicles 28:1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD.
- Acts 13:22 After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’
- Acts 13:36 For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.
- 1 Kings 3:14 So if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.”
- 1 Kings 11:30 And Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces,
- 2 Chronicles 17:3 Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,