1 Kings 11
11
Solomon’s Apostasy
1#Dt 17:17; Ne 13:23–27But King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, 2#Ex 34:16; 23:32–33from the nations which the Lord warned the children of Israel about, saying, “You shall not go in to them, nor shall they come in to you, for they will surely turn your heart away toward their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3#2Sa 5:13–16He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. 4#1Ki 9:4; 8:61For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as the heart of David his father had been. 5#Jdg 2:13; 1Ki 11:7For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Molek, the abomination of the Ammonites. 6Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow the Lord as his father David had done.
7#Nu 21:29; Jdg 11:24Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is close to Jerusalem, and for Molek, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9#1Ki 3:5; 9:2The Lord was angry with Solomon because he turned his heart away from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10and had warned him about this, that he should not follow other gods, but he was disobedient to the Lord’s command. 11#1Ki 11:31; 12:15–16Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have done this and have not kept My covenant and statutes, which I commanded you, I will surely take the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. 12I will not do this in your lifetime for your father David’s sake, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13#1Ki 12:20; Dt 12:11However, I will not take the whole kingdom away, but will preserve one tribe for your son for David My servant’s sake and for the sake of Jerusalem which I chose.”
Solomon’s Adversaries
14The Lord stirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was a prince of Edom. 15#2Sa 8:14; Dt 20:13For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone to bury the slain, he had killed every male in Edom 16(for six months Joab stayed there with his men until he had killed every male in Edom). 17But Hadad fled to Egypt, he and some Edomites who served his father, Hadad still being a small child. 18#Nu 10:12; Dt 1:1They set out from Midian and went to Paran, and they gathered men from Paran and then arrived in Egypt and presented him before Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and provisions and land.
19Pharaoh had great affection for Hadad, so much so that he gave him his sister-in-law, the sister of Tahpenes the queen, as a wife. 20Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to his son, Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. Genubath lived in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.
21#1Ki 2:10When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Allow me to depart and go to my own country.”
22Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that you want to go to your own country?”
And he answered, “Nothing, however let me go anyway.”
23#2Sa 8:3; 1Ki 11:14God stirred up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who fled from his lord Hadadezer, king of Zobah. 24#2Sa 10:8; 10:18He gathered a group of men and became leader over a band when David killed the men of Zobah, and they fled to Damascus and lived and reigned there. 25He was an enemy of Israel all the days of Solomon in addition to the troubles caused by Hadad, and he hated Israel and reigned over Aram.
Jeroboam’s Rebellion
26#1Ki 12:2; 2Ch 13:6Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, who was Solomon’s servant and whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.
27#1Ki 9:24; 9:15This is what led to his rebellion against the king. Solomon built Millo and repaired the wall of the City of David his father. 28#Pr 22:29Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he made him ruler over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.
29#1Ki 12:15; 14:2At that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him along the way, and he had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the field. 30#1Sa 15:27–28Ahijah took off the new garment that he wore and tore it into twelve pieces, 31#1Ki 11:11–12and he said to Jeroboam: Take ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “See, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you 32#1Ki 11:13(but he shall have one tribe for My servant David’s sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 33because they have forsaken Me and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the children of Ammon and have not walked in My ways and have not done that which is right in My eyes, to keep My statutes and judgments, as his father David had done.
34“However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David My servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes. 35But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give ten tribes to you. 36#1Ki 11:13; 15:4To his son will I give one tribe, so that My servant David will always have a light before Me in Jerusalem, the city in which I have chosen to put My name. 37#2Sa 3:21I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires and shall be king over Israel. 38#Jos 1:5; 2Sa 7:11It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you and will walk in My ways and do what is right in My sight to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, I will be with you and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. 39I will thus afflict the seed of David, but not forever.”
40#2Ch 12:2–9Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak, king of Egypt, and he stayed in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
The Death of Solomon
2Ch 9:29–31
41#2Ch 9:29–31The rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? 42And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43#1Ki 2:10; 2Ki 21:18Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the City of David his father, and his son Rehoboam reigned after him.
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Military Bible Association
1 Kings 11
11
Solomon's unfaithfulness, enemies, and death
Solomon disobeys the LORD
1-2The LORD did not want the Israelites to worship foreign gods, so he had warned them not to marry anyone who was not from Israel.#Dt 17.17.#Ex 34.16; Dt 7.3-4.
Solomon loved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt. But he also loved some women from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and others from Sidon and the land of the Hittites. 3-4Seven hundred of his wives were daughters of kings, but he also married three hundred other women.#11.3,4 other women: This translates a Hebrew word for a woman who was legally bound to a man, but without the full privileges of a wife.
As Solomon got older, some of his wives led him to worship their gods. He wasn't like his father David, who had worshipped only the LORD God. 5Solomon also worshipped Astarte the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon. 6Solomon's father had obeyed the LORD with all his heart, but Solomon disobeyed and did what the LORD hated.
7Solomon built shrines on a hill east of Jerusalem to worship Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Molech the disgusting god of Ammon. 8In fact, he built a shrine for each of his foreign wives, so all of them could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.
9-10The LORD God of Israel had appeared to Solomon twice and warned him not to worship foreign gods. But Solomon disobeyed and did it anyway. This made the LORD very angry, 11and he said to Solomon:
You did what you wanted and not what I told you to do. Now I'm going to take your kingdom from you and give it to one of your officials. 12But because David was your father, you will remain king as long as you live. I will wait until your son becomes king, then I will take the kingdom from him. 13When I do, I will still let him rule one tribe, because I have not forgotten that David was my servant and Jerusalem is my city.
Hadad becomes an enemy of Solomon
14Hadad was from the royal family of Edom, and here is how the LORD made him Solomon's enemy:
15-16Some time earlier, when David conquered the nation of Edom,#11.15,16 Edom: See 2 Samuel 8.13,14. Joab his army commander went there to bury those who had died in battle. Joab and his soldiers stayed in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every man and boy who lived there.
17-19Hadad was a boy at the time, but he escaped to Midian with some of his father's officials. At Paran some other men joined them, and they went to the king of Egypt. The king liked Hadad and gave him food, some land, and a house, and even let him marry the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20Hadad and his wife had a son named Genubath, and the queen let the boy grow up in the palace with her own children.
21When Hadad heard that David and Joab were dead, he said to the king, “Your Majesty, please let me go back to my own country.”
22“Why?” asked the king. “Do you want something I haven't given you?”
“No, I just want to go home.”
Rezon becomes an enemy of Solomon
23Here is how God made Rezon son of Eliada an enemy of Solomon:
Rezon had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. 24-25He formed his own small army and became its leader after David had defeated Hadadezer's troops.#11.24,25 troops: See 2 Samuel 8.3-6. Then Rezon and his army went to Damascus, where he became the ruler of Syria and an enemy of Israel.
Both Hadad and Rezon were enemies of Israel while Solomon was king, and they caused him a lot of trouble.
The LORD makes a promise to Jeroboam
26Jeroboam was from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim. His father Nebat had died, but his mother Zeruah was still alive. Jeroboam was one of Solomon's officials, but even he rebelled against Solomon. 27Here is how it happened:
While Solomon's workers were filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem#11.27 filling…Jerusalem: See the note at 9.15. and repairing the city walls, 28Solomon noticed that Jeroboam was a hard worker. So he put Jeroboam in charge of the work force from Manasseh and Ephraim.
29-30One day when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, he met Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh. No one else was anywhere around. Suddenly, Ahijah took off his new coat and ripped it into twelve pieces. 31Then he said:
Jeroboam, take ten pieces of this coat and listen to what the LORD God of Israel says to you. “Jeroboam, I am the LORD God, and I am about to take Solomon's kingdom from him and give you ten tribes to rule. 32But Solomon will still rule one tribe,#11.31,32 ten tribes…one tribe: By this time the tribe of Simeon had become part of the tribe of Judah. “One tribe” refers to Judah. Instead of “one tribe”, one ancient translation has “two tribes”. since he is the son of David my servant, and Jerusalem is my chosen city.
33“Solomon and the Israelites are not like their ancestor David. They will not listen to me, obey me, or do what is right. They have turned from me to worship Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of Ammon.
34“Solomon is David's son, and David was my chosen leader, who did what I commanded. So I will let Solomon be king until he dies. 35Then I will give you ten tribes to rule, 36but Solomon's son will still rule one tribe. This way, my servant David will always have a descendant ruling in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to be worshipped.
37“You will be king of Israel and will rule every nation you want. 38I'll help you if you obey me. And if you do what I say, as my servant David did, I will always let someone from your family rule in Israel, just as someone from David's family will always rule in Judah. The nation of Israel will be yours.
39“I will punish the descendants of David, but not for ever.”
40When Solomon learnt what the LORD had told Jeroboam, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.
Solomon dies
(2 Chronicles 9.29-31)
41Everything else Solomon did while he was king is written in the book about him and his wisdom. 42After he had ruled forty years from Jerusalem, 43he died and was buried there in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam then became king.
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