Albert Barnes Commentary


Albert Barnes Commentary
"therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every man-child, him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweepeth away dung, till it be all gone." — 1 Kings 14:10 (ASV)
All the males of Jeroboam's family were put to death by Baasha (1 Kings 15:28–29). The phrase “will cut off,” and so on, appears to have been a common expression among the Jews from the time of David (1 Samuel 25:22) to that of Jehu (2 Kings 9:8), but it was scarcely used before or after. We may suspect that where the author of the book of Kings uses it, he found it in the documents he consulted.
Him that is shut up and left in Israel — See the note in the margin.
And will take away the remnant... — The idea is that the entire family is to be cleared away at once, just as people clear away dung or any other vile refuse.