Bible Strands
1 Kings 15:3
And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his forefather had been.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator evaluates King Abijam’s spiritual condition immediately after recording his three-year reign in Jerusalem and his mother Maacah’s lineage. This assessment directly precedes the note that God preserved a line of succession for Jerusalem’s sake.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יֵּ֕לֶךְ (va/i.Ye.lekh) literally means “and he walked,” indicating habitual conduct. It is coupled with בְּ/כָל־ (be./khol), “in all,” to mark the complete scope of Abijam’s imitation of his father’s transgressions.
The thread — The text first records Abijam’s lack of wholehearted devotion, a pattern later mirrored in 1 Kings 11:4 when Solomon’s heart turns from God, and contrasted with 1 Kings 3:14 where obedience to David’s standard guarantees prolonged days.
Why it lands — The passage states Abijam’s failure to match David’s devotion before drawing the implied conclusion that divided loyalty forfeits covenant standing. It requires the reader to measure personal faithfulness against the explicit benchmark of singular commitment to God.
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 he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 11:4 For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
- Psalms 119:80 May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.
- 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 11:33 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.
- 1 Kings 14:21 Meanwhile, Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
- 2 Kings 20:3 “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- 2 Chronicles 31:20 So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the LORD his God.
- 2 Chronicles 25:2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.