And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;
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 of Israel-established by [bªriyt melaach] "a covenant of salt" (see the note at Numbers 18:10), i:e., a, covenant inviolable, indissoluble; 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 rebuked Jeroboam as a usurper, and his subjects as rebels, who took advantage of the youth and inexperience of Rehoboam. Then contrasting the religious agate of the two kingdoms he drew a black picture of the impious innovations and gross idolatry introduced by Jeroboam, with big expulsion and impoverishment (2 Chronicles 11:14) of the Levites; dwelt with reasonable pride on the pure and regular observance of the ancient institutions of Moses in his own dominions; and concluded with this emphatic appeal: 'O children of Israel fight ye not against Yahweh, the God of your fathers, for ye shall not prosper.'