20 He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his ancestors. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.
20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept
20 And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
20 He ruled for twenty-two years. He died and was buried with his ancestors. Nadab his son was king after him.
20 The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then Nadab his son reigned in his place.
20 Jeroboam reigned in Israel twenty-two years. When Jeroboam died, his son Nadab became the next king.
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah,
9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah,
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began his rule over Judah.
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah.
9 Asa began to rule over Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam's reign in Israel.
(Read 1 Kings 15:9-24)
Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. That is right indeed which is so in God's eyes. Asa's times were times of reformation. He removed that which was evil; there reformation begins, and a great deal he found to do. When Asa found idolatry in the court, he rooted it out thence. Reformation must begin at home. Asa honours and respects his mother; he loves her well, but he loves God better. Those that have power are happy when thus they have hearts to use it well. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well; not only cast away the idols of our iniquity, but dedicate ourselves and our all to God's honour and glory. Asa was cordially devoted to the service of God, his sins not arising from presumption. But his league with Benhadad arose from unbelief. Even true believers find it hard, in times of urgent danger, to trust in the Lord with all their heart. Unbelief makes way for carnal policy, and thus for one sin after another. Unbelief has often led Christians to call in the help of the Lord's enemies in their contests with their brethren; and some who once shone brightly, have thus been covered with a dark cloud towards the end of their days.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 14:20
Commentary on 1 Kings 14:7-20
(Read 1 Kings 14:7-20)
Whether we keep an account of God's mercies to us or not, he does; and he will set them in order before us, if we are ungrateful, to our greater confusion. Ahijah foretells the speedy death of the child then sick, in mercy to him. He only in the house of Jeroboam had affection for the true worship of God, and disliked the worship of the calves. To show the power and sovereignty of his grace, God saves some out of the worst families, in whom there is some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel. The righteous are removed from the evil to come in this world, to the good to come in a better world. It is often a bad sign for a family, when the best in it are buried out of it. Yet their death never can be a loss to themselves. It was a present affliction to the family and kingdom, by which both ought to have been instructed. God also tells the judgments which should come upon the people of Israel, for conforming to the worship Jeroboam established. After they left the house of David, the government never continued long in one family, but one undermined and destroyed another. Families and kingdoms are ruined by sin. If great men do wickedly, they draw many others, both into the guilt and punishment. The condemnation of those will be severest, who must answer, not only for their own sins, but for sins others have been drawn into, and kept in, by them.