3 Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.
4 Then Abijah stood on Mount aZemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:
5 Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel agave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, bby a covenant of salt?
6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and arebelled against his lord.
7 Then aworthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was byoung and inexperienced and could not withstand them.
8 And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam amade for you as gods.
9aHave you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, bso that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of cthingsthatare not gods?
10 But as for us, the Lordis our aGod, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lordare the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties.
11aAnd they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the bshowbread inorderon the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps cto burn every evening; for we keep the command of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him.
12 Now look, God Himself is with us as ourahead, band His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”
13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them.
14 And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they acried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God astruck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand.
17 Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain.
18 Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, abecause they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.
Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim—He had entered the enemy's territory and was encamped on an eminence near Beth-el (Joshua 18:22). Jeroboam's army lay at the foot of the hill, and as a pitched battle was expected, Abijah, according to the singular usage of ancient times, harangued the enemy. The speakers in such circumstances, while always extolling their own merits, poured out torrents of invective and virulent abuse upon the adversary. So did Abijah. He dwelt on the divine right of the house of David to the throne; and sinking all reference to the heaven-condemned offenses of Solomon and the divine appointment of Jeroboam, as well as the divine sanction of the separation, he upbraided Jeroboam as a usurper, and his subjects as rebels, who took advantage of the youth and inexperience of Rehoboam. Then contrasting the religious state of the two kingdoms, he drew a black picture of the impious innovations and gross idolatry introduced by Jeroboam, with his expulsion and impoverishment (II Chronicles 11:14) of the Levites. He dwelt with reasonable pride on the pure and regular observance of the ancient institutions of Moses in his own dominion [II Chronicles 13:11] and concluded with this emphatic appeal: "O children of Israel, fight ye not against Jehovah, the God of your fathers, for ye shall not prosper."
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