Who is King Nadab in the Bible?

Quick Facts

Father: King Jeroboam I, 1 Kings 15:25
Predecessor: King Jeroboam I, 1 Kings 15:25
Reign: 910 BC – 909 BC
Succession: 2nd King
Kingdom: Kingdom of Israel
Length of reign: 2 years, 1 Kings 15:25
Successor: King Baasha, 1 Kings 15:27
Morality: evil king, 1 Kings 15:26
Tribe: Ephraimite, 1 Kings 11:26
Bible references: 1 Kings 15:25-27

Nadab becomes king of Israel

The name Nadab means liberal. Nadab was the second king of the Kingdom of Israel who succeeded his father King Jeroboam I and reigned in Tirzah. He reigned for two years from the year 910 BC to 909 BC. And he was no good king just like his father.

The fall of Nadab

There was an old saying in Israel that, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? (Ezekiel 18:2)” The fall of Nadab corresponds with this saying very much, in that before he even became a king, his doom was waiting on him. It all started with his father Jeroboam. When Jeroboam became king, he founded a new state religion which is the worship of the two golden calves and he built shrines on hill tops where people could offer sacrifices to these idols. For such a sin as leading the entire kingdom away from God into idolatry and apostasy, God pronounced judgment on King Jeroboam I and his family by the mouth of Prophet Ahijah, saying,

“therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. 11 “The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the LORD has spoken!”‘ (1 Kings 14:10-11 NKJV)

Such a scary judgment threatens to bring an end to the Jeroboam dynasty and his entire family. Still, by the mouth of Ahijah the prophet, the Lord spoke his intention of raising a king who would kill the family of Jeroboam I (1Ki 14:14). This person happened to be Baasha whom God raised for the task.

Israel and the Philistines were at war. While Nadab was with the Israeli army that had laid siege to the Philistine city of Gibbethon, Baasha conspired against him and killed him to usurp his throne. We can be sure that Nadab was not given any burial, for the prophecy says the corpse of any relative of King Jeroboam I who dies in the field shall be eaten by birds. Baasha continued to kill all the male relatives of King Jeroboam I to secure the throne of Israel for himself. (1 Kings 15:29)

Major events during Nadab’s reign

Israel was at war with the Philistines at Gibbethon. Nadab himself was with the army until he was killed in a conspiracy. (1 Kings 15:27)

Contemporaries of Nadab

King Asa of Judah had reigned for two years when Nadab was made a king. Nadab’s father was an enemy of Asa’s family and this enmity might have existed between Asa and Nadab. (1 Kings 15:25)

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