1 Kings 11:26-31

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.

1 Kings 11:40

11:40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. ⁹  He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

[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.”

[11:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “but Jeroboam arose and ran away to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt.”