Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 12:1

"And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king." — 1 Kings 12:1 (ASV)

All Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. — In the case of David, we find that when he was made king over Israel, he made a league with the elders of Israel (2 Samuel 5:3). This league apparently implied a less absolute royalty than that to which he had been anointed, without conditions, over the house of Judah (2 Samuel 2:4). Furthermore, in his restoration after the death of Absalom, there appears to be some recognition of a right of distinct action on the part of the men of Israel in relation to the kingdom (2 Samuel 19:9–10; 2 Samuel 19:41–43; 2 Samuel 20:1–2). Even in the coronation of Solomon, we find a distinction made between royalty over all Israel and over Judah (See 1 Kings 1:35; and compare 1 Kings 4:1).

Accordingly, Rehoboam seems to succeed without question to the throne of Judah, but he needed to be made king by the rest of Israel, who apparently had some right to require conditions before acceptance. It is significant, however, that this ceremony was established not at Jerusalem, but at Shechem. Shechem, the chief city of Ephraim, was a place of ancient dignity (even from patriarchal times) and of singular beauty and fertile position. It naturally became the capital of the northern kingdom after the disruption. Perhaps, in this arrangement, which seems to have had no precedent, there was some omen of revolution.