And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth — The narrator's concluding pronouncement is devastating: Jeroboam's religious innovations and his obstinate refusal to repent have sealed his dynasty's fate. The phrase וַתְּהִי חַטָּאת לְבֵית יָרְבְּעָם לְמַחּוֹתָהּ וּלְהַשְׁמִידָה עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה (vattehi chatat leveit Yarboam lemachtotah ulehashmidhah al-pnei ha-adamah, this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and destroy it from the face of the earth) employs the covenantal language of total annihilation. The sin of Jeroboam becomes the paradigm indictment for all subsequent northern kings: the Deuteronomistic formula "the sin of Jeroboam which made Israel to sin" will echo through the northern chronicles.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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