1 Kings 12:24 (3 Kingdoms 12:24a–z)
A second story of Jeroboam
After 12:24 the Greek 3 Kingdoms tells the story of Jeroboam's rise a second time, differently: his mother is a prostitute named Sarira, he marries Pharaoh's sister-in-law Ano, his son falls sick before the division, and the prophet who tears a garment is Shemaiah, not Ahijah. In the main Greek manuscripts 14:1–20 is absent, because this account covers it. The library's digital Greek lacks 12:24a–z entirely; the site reports it from scholarship and has not checked its wording.
Read 1 Kings 12:24 (3 Kingdoms 12:24a–z) in every edition
Disputed addition: some witnesses include it, some do not
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ includes the disputed words · ✕ does not include them · ❝ quotes part of them · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
The two accounts (as reported)
- Jeroboam's mother
- Hebrew: Zeruah, a widow (11:26). Greek plus: Sarira, a prostitute.
- Egypt
- Hebrew: flees to Shishak (11:40). Greek plus: marries Ano, sister of Shishak's queen.
- Sick son
- Hebrew: after the division (14:1–18). Greek plus: before he becomes king.
- Torn garment
- Hebrew: Ahijah, before Solomon's death (11:29–39). Greek plus: Shemaiah, at Shechem.
Every witness, in order
Unknown (debated)
Original Kings
No original survives.
Translated c. 2nd century BC
Septuagint, 3 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Ils obéirent à la parole du Seigneur… ils renoncèrent à marcher.
They obeyed the word of the Lord… they gave up the march.
The library's Greek ends 12:24 here with no addition: a gap in this digital text, not evidence that the Greek lacks it. It also lacks 12:2 and 12:17, and chapter 14 begins at 14:21. One Greek text (Vaticanus type) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical Greek edition.
Greek translation c. 2nd century BC
3 Kingdoms 12:24a–z (Greek editions)
How the site knows this: Reported in scholarship; not checked by the site.
Reported in Rahlfs' edition and the scholarly literature: an independent account of Jeroboam from his origins to the division. Not in the library; not checked.
Source: M. A. Sweeney, "A Reassessment of the Masoretic and Septuagint Versions of the Jeroboam Narratives" (2007) ↗; E. Tov, "3 Kingdoms Compared with Similar Rewritten Compositions" (2007) ↗
c. AD 400
Jerome's Vulgate
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
Follows the Hebrew; 14:1–20 present.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
One account of Jeroboam (11:26–40; 12:1–20; 14:1–20).
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
Follows the Hebrew.
What changed, and why
Scholars debate whether the Greek account preserves an older, independent tradition (some argue it is less hostile to Jeroboam in places, others the opposite) or is a later midrashic retelling. The site presents both and does not invent Hebrew verses for it.
What the evidence shows
- 3 Kingdoms has a second Jeroboam account after 12:24. Reported; not in the library's digital Greek.
Source: M. A. Sweeney, "A Reassessment of the Masoretic and Septuagint Versions of the Jeroboam Narratives" (2007) ↗; E. Tov, "3 Kingdoms Compared with Similar Rewritten Compositions" (2007) ↗
- The second account is older than the Hebrew account.
- The library's Greek lacks 12:24a–z because of a gap in its digital text.
Sources
- M. A. Sweeney, "A Reassessment of the Masoretic and Septuagint Versions of the Jeroboam Narratives" (2007) ↗
- E. Tov, "3 Kingdoms Compared with Similar Rewritten Compositions" (2007) ↗
- E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (2012)
Related lessons
- The Kingdom Divides →At Shechem the northern tribes ask Rehoboam to lighten the heavy yoke Solomon laid on them. He rejects the elders' advice and follows the young men: "My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." Israel rebels, stones Adoram the overseer of forced labor, and makes Jeroboam king. The prophet Shemaiah stops Judah's war. Jeroboam sets up golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
- Jeroboam, Rehoboam and Shishak →Jeroboam's son Abijah falls sick. His wife disguises herself and goes to the blind prophet Ahijah, who knows her at once and announces the end of Jeroboam's house; the child dies as she reaches home. In Judah, Rehoboam's people build high places. In Rehoboam's fifth year Shishak king of Egypt takes the treasures of the temple and the palace, including Solomon's gold shields, which are replaced with bronze.
- How 1 Kings Came to Us →1 Kings is the first half of the Hebrew book of Kings, one of the Former Prophets. It names its sources: the Book of the Acts of Solomon and the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah, none of which survive. Kings was edited as part of a history from Joshua to Kings. Three Qumran scrolls preserve fragments. The Greek 3 Kingdoms is unusually different: material moved, expanded and, in places, told twice.