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.
Parallel translations
- WEB He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.
- NASB He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David.
- NLT He committed the same sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Abijam walks in all his father's sins, and his heart is not wholly devoted to God as David's was. He continues Judah's spiritual decline.
Overview
Abijam fails the standard of wholehearted loyalty embodied by David. His divided heart shows that royal succession did not guarantee faithfulness. The verse again measures kings against David, pointing forward to the one truly faithful King, Jesus, whose heart was perfectly devoted to the Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Kgs 11:4For 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.
- Ps 119:80May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.
- 1 Kgs 3:14So if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.”
- 2 Chr 31:20–21So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the LORD his God.
- 2 Kgs 20:3“Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- 1 Kgs 14:21–22Meanwhile, 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.
- 1 Kgs 11:33For 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 Chr 25:2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 15:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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