John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 12:26
And Jeroboam said in his heart , As he was musing about the state of his kingdom and the affairs of it: now shall the kingdom return to the house of David ; such were his fears, unless some method could be taken to prevent it, particularly with respect to religion, which was what his thoughts were employed about. read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 12:25-33
We have here the beginning of the reign of Jeroboam. He built Shechem first and then Penuel?beautified and fortified them, and probably had a palace in each of them for himself (1 Kgs. 12:25), the former in Ephraim, the latter in Gad, on the other side Jordan. This might be proper; but he formed another project for the establishing of his kingdom which was fatal to the interests of religion in it. I. That which he designed was by some effectual means to secure those to himself who had now... read more