1 Raja-raja 11:26--12:24

11:26 Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s servants, rebelled against ¹  the king. He was an Ephraimite ²  from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. 11:27 This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: ³  Solomon built a terrace and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David. ⁴  11:28 Jeroboam was a talented man; ⁵  when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe ⁶  of Joseph. 11:29 At that time, when Jeroboam had left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road; the two of them were alone in the open country. Ahijah ⁷  was wearing a brand new robe, 11:30 and he grabbed the robe ⁸  and tore it into twelve pieces. 11:31 Then he told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon’s hand and I will give ten tribes to you. 11:32 He will retain one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 11:33 I am taking the kingdom from him ⁹  because they have ¹⁰  abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions ¹¹  by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon’s father David did. ¹²  11:34 I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules. 11:35 I will take the kingdom from the hand of his son and give ten tribes to you. ¹³  11:36 I will leave ¹⁴  his son one tribe so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me ¹⁵  in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. ¹⁶  11:37 I will select ¹⁷  you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel. 11:38 You must obey ¹⁸  all I command you to do, follow my instructions, ¹⁹  do what I approve, ²⁰  and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; ²¹  I will give you Israel. 11:39 I will humiliate David’s descendants because of this, ²²  but not forever.” ²³  11:40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. ²⁴  He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

Solomon’s Reign Ends

11:41 The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, including all his accomplishments and his wise decisions, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of Solomon. ²⁵  11:42 Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem ²⁶  for forty years. 11:43 Then Solomon passed away ²⁷  and was buried in the city of his father David. ²⁸  His son Rehoboam replaced him as king. ²⁹ 

Rehoboam Loses His Kingdom

12:1 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, for all Israel had gathered in ³⁰  Shechem to make Rehoboam ³¹  king. 12:2 ³²  When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. ³³  12:3 They sent for him, ³⁴  and Jeroboam and the whole Israelite assembly came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 12:4 “Your father made us work too hard. ³⁵  Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” ³⁶  12:5 He said to them, “Go away for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away.

12:6 King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served ³⁷  his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, ³⁸  “How do you advise me to answer these people?” 12:7 They said to him, “Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward.” ³⁹  12:8 But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. ⁴⁰  12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me ⁴¹  to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ⁴²  12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ⁴³  had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ ⁴⁴  Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ⁴⁵  12:11 My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ⁴⁶  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” ⁴⁷ 

12:12 Jeroboam and all the people reported ⁴⁸  to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered when he said, “Return to me on the third day.” 12:13 The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men 12:14 and followed ⁴⁹  the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ⁵⁰  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” ⁵¹  12:15 The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events ⁵²  so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made ⁵³  through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

12:16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, “We have no portion in David, no share in the son of Jesse! ⁵⁴  Return to your homes, O Israel! ⁵⁵  Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!” ⁵⁶  So Israel returned to their homes. ⁵⁷  12:17 (Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.) 12:18 King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, ⁵⁸  the supervisor of the work crews, ⁵⁹  out after them, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ⁶⁰  12:19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty to this very day. 12:20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No one except the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty. ⁶¹ 

12:21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from all of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin ⁶²  to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. 12:22 But God told Shemaiah the prophet, ⁶³  12:23 “Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the rest of the people, 12:24 ‘The Lord says this: “Do not attack and make war with your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen.”’” ⁶⁴  They obeyed the Lord and went home as the Lord had ordered them to do. ⁶⁵ 

[11:26]  ¹ tn Heb “raised a hand against.”

[11:26]  ² tn Heb “Ephrathite,” which here refers to an Ephraimite (see HALOT 81 s.v. אֶפְרַיִם).

[11:27]  ³ tn Heb “this is the matter concerning which he raised a hand against the king.”

[11:27]  ⁴ sn The city of his father David. The phrase refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.

[11:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “man of strength.”

[11:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[11:29]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has simply “he,” making it a bit unclear whether Jeroboam or Ahijah is the subject, but in the Hebrew word order Ahijah is the nearer antecedent, and this is followed by the present translation.

[11:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “and Ahijah grabbed the new robe that was on him.”

[11:33]  ⁹ tn The words “I am taking the kingdom from him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:33]  ¹⁰ tc This is the reading of the MT; the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate read “he has.”

[11:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “walked in my ways.”

[11:33]  ¹² tn Heb “by doing what is right in my eyes, my rules and my regulations, like David his father.”

[11:35]  ¹³ tn Heb “and I will give it to you, ten tribes.”

[11:36]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “give.”

[11:36]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “so there might be a lamp for David my servant all the days before me in Jerusalem.” The metaphorical “lamp” symbolizes the Davidic dynasty. Because this imagery is unfamiliar to the modern reader, the translation “so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me” has been used.

[11:36]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “so there might be a lamp for David my servant all the days before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there.”

[11:37]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “take.”

[11:38]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “If you obey.” In the Hebrew text v. 38 is actually one long conditional sentence, which has been broken into two parts in the translation for stylistic purposes.

[11:38]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “walk in my ways.”

[11:38]  ²⁰ tn Heb “do what is right in my eyes.”

[11:38]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will build for you a permanent house, like I built for David.”

[11:39]  ²² sn Because of this. Reference is made to the idolatry mentioned earlier.

[11:39]  ²³ tn Heb “but not all the days.”

[11:40]  ²⁴ tn Heb “but Jeroboam arose and ran away to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt.”

[11:41]  ²⁵ tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Solomon, and all which he did, and his wisdom, are they not written on the scroll of the events of Solomon?”

[11:42]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:43]  ²⁷ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

[11:43]  ²⁸ sn The city of his father David. The phrase refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.

[11:43]  ²⁹ tc Before this sentence the Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And it so happened that when Jeroboam son of Nebat heard – now he was in Egypt where he had fled from before Solomon and was residing in Egypt – he came straight to his city in the land of Sarira which is on mount Ephraim. And king Solomon slept with his fathers.”

[12:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “come [to].”

[12:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:2]  ³² tc Verse 2 is not included in the Old Greek translation. See the note on 11:43.

[12:2]  ³³ tn Heb “and Jeroboam lived in Egypt.” The parallel text in 2 Chr 10:2 reads, “and Jeroboam returned from Egypt.” In a purely consonantal text the forms “and he lived” and “and he returned” are identical (וישׁב).

[12:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “They sent and called for him.”

[12:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “made our yoke burdensome.”

[12:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “but you, now, lighten the burdensome work of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.” In the Hebrew text the prefixed verbal form with vav (וְנַעַבְדֶךָ, [vÿna’avdekha] “and we will serve you”) following the imperative (הָקֵל [haqel], “lighten”) indicates purpose (or result). The conditional sentence used in the translation above is an attempt to bring out the logical relationship between these forms.

[12:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “stood before.”

[12:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “saying.”

[12:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “If today you are a servant to these people and you serve them and answer them and speak to them good words, they will be your servants all the days.”

[12:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “He rejected the advice of the elders which they advised and he consulted the young men with whom he had grown up, who stood before him.” The referent (Rehoboam) of the initial pronoun (“he”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:9]  ⁴¹ tn In the Hebrew text the verb “we will respond” is plural, although it can be understood as an editorial “we.” The ancient versions have the singular here.

[12:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

[12:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”

[12:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger. As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.

[12:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and now my father placed upon you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke.”

[12:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture using poisonous insects, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound. Cf. CEV “whips with pieces of sharp metal.”

[12:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “came.”

[12:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and spoke to them according to.”

[12:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.”

[12:14]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” See the note on the same phrase in v. 11.

[12:15]  ⁵² tn Heb “because this turn of events was from the Lord.”

[12:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “so that he might bring to pass his word which the Lord spoke.”

[12:16]  ⁵⁴ sn We have no portion in David; no share in the son of Jesse. Their point seems to be that they have no familial relationship with David that brings them any benefits or places upon them any obligations. They are being treated like outsiders.

[12:16]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “to your tents, Israel.” The word “return” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:16]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Now see your house, David.”

[12:16]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “went to their tents.”

[12:18]  ⁵⁸ tc The MT has “Adoram” here, but the Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have “Adoniram.” Cf. 1 Kgs 4:6.

[12:18]  ⁵⁹ sn The work crews. See the note on this expression in 4:6.

[12:18]  ⁶⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:20]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “there was no one [following] after the house of David except the tribe of Judah, it alone.”

[12:21]  ⁶² tn Heb “he summoned all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men, accomplished in war.”

[12:22]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying.”

[12:24]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “for this thing is from me.”

[12:24]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “and they heard the word of the Lord and returned to go according to the word of the Lord.”