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Texts -- 1 Kings 11:21-43 (NET)

Context
11:21 While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away and that Joab , the commander of the army , was dead . So Hadad asked Pharaoh , “Give me permission to leave so I can return to my homeland .” 11:22 Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland ?” Hadad replied , “Nothing , but please give me permission to leave .” 11:23 God also brought against Solomon another enemy , Rezon son of Eliada who had run away from his master , King Hadadezer of Zobah . 11:24 He gathered some men and organized a raiding band . When David tried to kill them, they went to Damascus , where they settled down and gained control of the city . 11:25 He was Israel’s enemy throughout Solomon’s reign and, like Hadad , caused trouble . He loathed Israel and ruled over Syria . 11:26 Jeroboam son of Nebat , one of Solomon’s servants , rebelled against the king . He was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah . 11:27 This is what prompted him to rebel against the king : Solomon built a terrace and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David . 11:28 Jeroboam was a talented man ; when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker , he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe 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 was wearing a brand new robe , 11:30 and he grabbed the robe 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 because they have abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte , the Moabite god Chemosh , and the Ammonite god Milcom . They have not followed my instructions by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations , like Solomon’s father David did. 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. 11:36 I will leave his son one tribe so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me in Jerusalem , the city I have chosen as my home . 11:37 I will select you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel . 11:38 You must obey all I command you to do, follow my instructions , do what I approve , 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 ; I will give you Israel . 11:39 I will humiliate David’s descendants because of this , but not forever .” 11:40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam , but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt . 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 . 11:42 Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years . 11:43 Then Solomon passed away and was buried in the city of his father David . His son Rehoboam replaced him as king .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Moses recognized that when Israel settled in Canaan and took on the characteristics of other nations (e.g., a homeland, political organization, etc.) her people would desire a king. As he revealed the mind of God here a king ...
  • The Israelites' return to apostasy brought discipline from two different directions at the same time. In the east the Ammonites oppressed Israel while in the west God raised up the Philistines."The acuter pressure at this sta...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • The Philistines, as we have already seen in Judges, were Israel's primary enemy to the west at this time. Samson, too, fought the Philistines (Judg. 13-16).52There are about 150 references to the Philistines in 1 and 2 Samuel...
  • Saul ("Asked [of God],"cf. 8:10) came from good Benjamite stock. His father was a man of property and influence. The same Hebrew expression, gibbor hayil, translated "valor,"describes Boaz in Ruth 2:1 and King Jeroboam I in 1...
  • The writer introduced the history of Saul's reign by referring to the king's age and possibly the length of his reign. Verse one contains a textual corruption in the Hebrew text.132There the verse reads, "Saul was . . . years...
  • "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
  • The fact that this book opens and closes with death should be a clue as to its message.It opens with David's death, and it closes with Ahab's death. The intervening period of about a century and a half is a story of national ...
  • I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
  • The Holy Spirit led the writer of Kings to give an interpretation of history, not just a chronologically sequential record of events. This is true of all the writers of the Old Testament historical books. Some of the events i...
  • The flowing narrative of chapters 1-2 now gives way to reports and lists that catalogue facts about Solomon's reign.The writer constructed the Solomon narrative (chs. 3-11), like so many others in the Old Testament, to draw a...
  • Should Solomon have married Pharaoh's daughter? In view of 11:1-2 and 2 Chronicles 8:1 there is no way we can say yes. Furthermore Solomon already had a wife when he married Pharaoh's daughter (14:21; cf. Gen. 2:24). Why then...
  • Hadad hated Solomon because of Joab's severe treatment of the Edomites. He may have been a relation of Solomon's by marriage. Pharaoh Siamun apparently gave his daughter to Solomon in marriage and his sister-in-law to Hadad (...
  • Jeroboam, who would become the first king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, was from Ephraim, the most prominent tribe in the North (v. 26).Part of Benjamin affiliated voluntarily with Judah eventually (v. 32; cf. 12:21; 2 C...
  • The writer of Kings referred to other ancient records (v. 41; cf. 14:19, 29). The Acts of Solomon was the first of these.120It is no longer extant.Solomon's long reign of 40 years (971-931 B.C.) ended with the king in decline...
  • Rehoboam's choice was whether he would regard himself as the people's servant under Yahweh's authority, as David and Solomon had done, or as the supreme authority in Israel, as Saul had done. His pride led to his downfall.The...
  • During its history the Northern Kingdom had three capitals: first Shechem (v. 25), then Tirzah (14:17; 15:33), and finally Samaria (16:23-24). Perhaps the king strengthened Penuel in west-central Gilead as a Transjordanian pr...
  • Whereas the prophecy of the young prophet from Judah dealt with Jeroboam's religious cult, this one predicted the fate of his descendants.Jeroboam probably sent his wife to see Ahijah because that prophet had previously given...
  • "The narrator introduces a new format and style at this point that enables him to state the essence of a king's reign with an economy of words. The introduction and conclusion of the account of each reign conform to a fixed p...
  • Abijam (or Abijah, lit. my father is Yah[weh]) reigned from 913-911 B.C. while Jeroboam ruled over Israel.155"The accession formulae from this reign onwards make cross-references between Judah and Israel. It is not clear whet...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan. "The Building Activities of David and Solomon."Israel Exploration Journal24:1(1974):13-16.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonahl. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed., New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.,...
  • Chapter 21 records the fulfillment of God's second personal promise to David, namely, that He would appoint a place where Israel could dwell securely (17:9). This was a promise of peace for Israel, but as the verses following...
  • The Chronicler's main interest in David's reign, as we have seen, focused on the Davidic Covenant with its promises to David and his descendants. In recounting the events of Solomon's reign he proceeded to emphasize the templ...
  • 132:11-12 God promised David that He would raise up a dynasty of David's descendents that would follow him on Israel's throne (2 Sam. 7:12-16). If they were faithful to the Lord, He would give them an unbroken succession. Of ...
  • The Lord had shut Ezekiel's mouth (3:26), so the first prophecies he delivered were not spoken messages but acted-out parables (cf. 1 Kings 11:30; 22:11; 2 Kings 13:17; Isa. 20:2-4; Jer. 13:1-14; 19:1-10; Acts 21:10-11). Ezek...
  • What follows in this chapter is another oracle against a foreign nation (cf. chs. 25-32). What is it doing here? Evidently the writer included this oracle here because it promises to desolate an enemy of Israel that wanted to...
  • 13:1 When members of the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other Israelites trembled because they looked to Ephraim for leadership (cf. Judg. 8:1-3; 12:1-6). Jacob had prophesied that Ephraim would lead (Gen. 48:13-20), and the fir...
  • 7:10 Amaziah, who was one of the apostate priests who served at the Bethel sanctuary (cf. 1 Kings 12:26-33), felt that Amos was being unpatriotic in what he was prophesying. So Amaziah sent a message to King Jeroboam II charg...
  • Though God had not responded to the prophet's questions previously, He did eventually, and Habakkuk recorded His answer. The form of this revelation is an oracle.1:5 The Lord told Habakkuk and his people (plural "you"in Hebre...
  • 1:4 Yahweh announced that He would stretch out His hand in judgment against Judah and the people of Jerusalem. Stretching out the hand is a figure of speech that implies a special work of punishment (cf. Exod. 6:6; Deut. 4:34...
  • 2:20 The Lord gave Haggai a second message on the same day as the previous message (v. 10), the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (Kislev 24, December 18).2:21 Haggai was to tell Zerubbabel that Yahweh was going to shake t...
  • 21:7 Ptolemais (Acco of the Old Testament and modern Acre located on the north side of the bay of Haifa) lay 20 miles south of Tyre. It was the southernmost Phoenician port. There Paul also met with the local Christians as st...
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