=3.= _four hundred thousand ... eight hundred thousand_] The numbers are of course vastly in excess of any historic possibility; compare the notes on xi. 1, xiv. 8, and especially that on xvii. 14. ⁴And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel; =4.= _Abijah stood up_] Abijah attempts conference before beginning civil war, not simply because his was the weaker side numerically but because he had a telling appeal to make to the revolted tribes (verses 8, 12). Jeroboam breaks off the conference after using it to cover his stratagem (verse 13). _Zemaraim_] A Zemaraim is mentioned in Joshua xviii. 22 as one of the cities of _Benjamin_, whereas here Mount Zemaraim is assigned to _Ephraim_. The natural inference is that the battle took place on the border of the two kingdoms. The tradition that a battle took place here between North and South, and perhaps between Abijah and Jeroboam, may be correct. ⁵ought ye not to know that the LORD, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? ⁶Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord. =5.= _a covenant of salt_] Salt was necessary for the efficacy of a sacrifice (Leviticus ii. 13), so that _Covenant of salt_ became a phrase for a _sure_ covenant (Numbers xviii. 19). The sacredness of the bond which is acknowledged among the Arabs between two persons who have “eaten salt” together as host and guest is common knowledge. It is not, however, necessary that salt should be taken; any food, e.g. milk, will serve (W. R. Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, p. 270). ⁷And there were gathered unto him vain men, sons of Belial¹, which strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. ⁸And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods. ¹ That is, _worthlessness_. =7.= _sons of Belial_] margin _sons of worthlessness_. The general sense “worthless persons” or rather “vile scoundrels” (for gross wickedness is implied) is clear, but the precise meaning of _Belial_ has not yet been determined. The etymology of the word is quite obscure, see _Encyclopedia Biblia_ I. 525 f.