1 Kings 11
11
1King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh's daughter, there were women from the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 2They were from the nations that the Lord had warned the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for they will undoubtedly convince you to worship their gods.” Yet Solomon because of his love for women held on to them. 3He had seven hundred wives of noble birth and three hundred concubines. His wives did convince him to turn away from the Lord.
4As Solomon grew old, his wives led him to follow other gods, and he did not commit himself wholeheartedly to the Lord as his father David had done. 5Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the vile god#11:5. The word for “god” is replaced in the text by the word “filth,” meaning something vile and detestable. Also in verse 7. of the Ammonites. 6This was how Solomon did evil in the Lord's sight, and was not completely dedicated to the Lord as his father David was.
7It was then that Solomon built a high place of worship for Chemosh, the vile god of the people of Moab, and for Molech, the vile god of the Ammonites, on a hill east of Jerusalem. 8He built places of worship for all his foreign wives where they burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9The Lord became angry with Solomon because he had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10The Lord had warned Solomon about this—that he should not worship other gods. But Solomon did not listen to the Lord's warning. 11So the Lord told him, “Since this is what you have done, and since you have not kept my agreement and my laws that I commanded, I will definitely take#11:11. The word used here is to rip or tear. Also in verse 12. the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12However, for the sake of your father David, I will not do this in your lifetime—I will take it away from your son. 13Even then I will not take away the whole kingdom. I will leave your son with one tribe for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem.”
14Then the Lord encouraged Hadad the Edomite of Edom's royal family to oppose Solomon. 15Previously, when David was in Edom, Joab the commander of the Israelite army had gone to bury some of his soldiers who had been killed, and had slaughtered every male in Edom. 16Joab and the whole Israelite army had spent six months there destroying them all.
17But Hadad and some Edomites who had been his father's officials had run away to Egypt—Hadad was just a boy at the time. 18They left Midian and went to Paran. Then, along with some people from Paran, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He provided Hadad with a house and food, and also assigned him land as a gift. 19Pharaoh became very friendly with Hadad, and he gave him the sister of his own wife to marry, Queen Tahpenes' sister. 20She gave birth to his son called Genubath. Tahpenes brought him up in Pharaoh's palace with Pharaoh's own children.
21However, when news reached Hadad in Egypt that both David and Joab, the commander of the army, had died, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave and return to my own country.”
22Pharaoh asked him, “Is there anything that you have lacked here with me that now you want to go back to your own country?”
“No, there's nothing,” Hadad replied, “but please just let me go home.”
23God also encouraged Rezon, son of Eliada, to oppose Solomon. He had run away from his master Hadadezer, king of Zobah. After David had destroyed Zobah's army, 24Rezon gathered around him a rebel band, and became their leader. They went and settled in Damascus, where they took over. 25Rezon was Israel's enemy throughout Solomon's lifetime which added to the trouble Hadad caused. Rezon really hated Israel, and was the ruler of Aram.
26In addition, Jeroboam, son of Nebat, rebelled against the king. One of Solomon's officials, he was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother was a widow called Zeruah.
27This is why he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces and had closed the gap in the wall of the city of his father David. 28Jeroboam was a man of ability, and when Solomon realized how successful he was in what he did, he placed him in command of all the forced labor of the tribes of Joseph.
29Around that time the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was leaving Jerusalem. 30Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were by themselves in the countryside. Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and ripped it up into twelve pieces. 31He said, “Jeroboam, take ten pieces. This is what the Lord God of Israel says. ‘Jeroboam, I am the Lord, the God of Israel, and I am going to take Solomon's kingdom from him and give you ten of the tribes. 32One tribe will be left for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I chose from among all the tribes of Israel. 33This is because they have abandoned me and bowed down in worship of Ashtoreth, goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, god of the Moabites, and Molech, god of the Ammonites. They have not followed my ways; they have not done what is right in my sight; they have not kept my commandments and laws as David, Solomon's father, did.
34Even so, I'm not going to take the whole kingdom from Solomon, because I made him ruler for his lifetime for the sake of my servant David. I chose him because he kept my commandments and laws. 35But I will take from his son's kingdom ten tribes and give them to you. 36I will give his son one tribe, so that my servant David will always have a descendant like#11:36. “A descendant like”: implied. a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to be honored. 37I will take you, and you shall reign over everything that you want. You will be king over Israel. 38If you accept everything that I command you, if you follow my ways, if you do what is right in my sight, keeping my laws and commandments as my servant David did, then I will be with you. I will set up for you a dynasty that lasts, just as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39I will punish David's descendants because of this, but not forever.’”
40So Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam ran away to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt. He remained there until Solomon's death.
41The record of the rest of the acts of Solomon, including everything he did, and his wisdom, are written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon. 42Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel for a total of forty years. 43Solomon died and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012