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Texts -- 1 Kings 12:1-9 (NET)

Context
Rehoboam Loses His Kingdom
12:1 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem , for all Israel had gathered in Shechem to make Rehoboam king . 12:2 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. 12:3 They sent for him, and Jeroboam and the whole Israelite assembly came and spoke to Rehoboam , saying , 12:4 “Your father made us work too hard . Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” 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 his father Solomon when he had been alive . He asked them, “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 .” 12:8 But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up . 12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?”

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • YOKE

    [ebd] (1.) Fitted on the neck of oxen for the purpose of binding to them the traces by which they might draw the plough, etc. (Num. 19:2; Deut. 21:3). It was a curved piece of wood called 'ol. (2.) In Jer. 27:2; 28:10, 12 the word...
    [isbe] YOKE - yok: (1) The usual word is `ol (Gen 27:40, etc.), less commonly the (apparently later) form moTah (Isa 58:6, etc.; in Nab 1:13 moT), which the Revised Version (British and American) in Jer 27; 28 translates "bar" (a m...
    [smith] A well-known implement of husbandry, frequently used metaphorically for subjection , e.g. (1 Kings 12:4,9-11; Isaiah 9:4; Jeremiah 5:5) hence an "iron yoke" represents an unusually galling bondage. (28:48; Jeremiah 28:13)...

  • Taxes

    [ebd] first mentioned in the command (Ex. 30:11-16) that every Jew from twenty years and upward should pay an annual tax of "half a shekel for an offering to the Lord." This enactment was faithfully observed for many generations (...

  • SERVANT

    [isbe] SERVANT - sur'-vant ('ebhedh; doulos): A very common word with a variety of meanings, all implying a greater or less degree of inferiority and want of freedom: (1) The most frequent usage is as the equivalent of "slave" (whi...

  • SCORPION

    [smith] (Heb. ?akrab), a well known venomous insect of hot climates, shaped much like a lobster. It is usually not more than two or three inches long, but in tropical climates is sometimes six inches in length. The wilderness of Sina...

  • Revolt

    [nave] REVOLT, of the ten tribes, 1 Kin. 12:1-24. See: Rebellion.

  • Rehoboam

    [ebd] he enlarges the people, the successor of Solomon on the throne, and apparently his only son. He was the son of Naamah "the Ammonitess," some well-known Ammonitish princess (1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chr. 12:13). He was forty-one year...
    [nave] REHOBOAM Successor to Solomon as king, 1 Kin. 11:43; 2 Chr. 9:31. Refuses to reform abuses, 1 Kin. 12:1-15; 2 Chr. 10:1-15. Ten tribes, under leadership of Jeroboam, successfully revolt from, 1 Kin. 12:16-24; 2 Chr. 10:16-...

  • Petition

    [nave] PETITION Right of, recognized by Pharaoh, Ex. 5:15-18; Israel, Num. 27:1-5; 32:1-5; 36:1-5; Josh. 17:4, 14, 16; 21:1, 2; David, 1 Kin. 1:15-21; Rehoboam, 1 Kin. 12:1-17; 2 Chr. 10; Jehoram, 2 Kin. 8:3, 6.

  • KINGS, BOOKS OF

    [isbe] KINGS, BOOKS OF - || I. TITLE II. SCOPE III. CHARACTER OF BOOKS AND POSITION IN THE HEBREW CANON 1. Purpose 2. Character of Data IV. HISTORICAL VALUE 1. Treatment of Historical Data 2. Chronology 3. Value of Assyrian Records...

  • KING; KINGDOM

    [isbe] KING; KINGDOM - king'-dum: I. KING 1. Etymology and Definition 2. Earliest Kings 3. Biblical Signification of the Title II. KINGDOM 1. Israel's Theocracy 2. Period of Judges 3. Establishment of the Monarchy 4. Appointment of...

  • Jeroboam

    [ebd] increase of the people. (1.) The son of Nebat (1 Kings 11:26-39), "an Ephrathite," the first king of the ten tribes, over whom he reigned twenty-two years (B.C. 976-945). He was the son of a widow of Zereda, and while still ...
    [isbe] JEROBOAM - jer-o-bo'-am (yarobh`am; Septuagint Hieroboam, usually assumed to have been derived from riyb and `am, and signifying "the people contend," or, "he pleads the people's cause"): The name was borne by two kings of I...
    [nave] JEROBOAM: 1. First king of Israel after the revolt. Promoted by Solomon, 1 Kin. 11:28. Ahijah's prophecy concerning, 1 Kin. 11:29-39; 14:5-16. Flees to Egypt to escape from Solomon, 1 Kin. 11:26-40. Recalled from Egypt by...

  • Israel, Kingdom of

    [ebd] (B.C. 975-B.C. 722). Soon after the death of Solomon, Ahijah's prophecy (1 Kings 11:31-35) was fulfilled, and the kingdom was rent in twain. Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, was scarcely seated on his throne when ...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • IMLA

    [smith] (whom God will fill up), father or progenitor of Micaiah the prophet. (2 Chronicles 18:7,8) The form IMLAH is employed in the parallel narrative. (1 Kings 12:8,9) (B.C. before 896.)

  • HOW

    [isbe] HOW - Represents various Hebrew and Greek words, interrogative, interjectional and relative. Its different uses refer to (1) the manner or way, e.g. Gen 44:34, "How shall I go up to my father?" ('ekh); Mt 6:28, "how they gro...

  • Government

    [nave] GOVERNMENT Paternal functions of, Gen. 41:25-57. Civil service school provided by, Dan. 1:3-20. Maintains a system of public instruction, 2 Chr. 17:7-9. Executive departments in. See: Cabinet; King; Ruler; Statecraft. Ju...

  • GRIEVOUS; GRIEVOUSLY; GREIEVOUSNESS

    [isbe] GRIEVOUS; GRIEVOUSLY; GREIEVOUSNESS - grev'-us; grev'-us-li; grev'-us-nes: In addition to several of the words mentioned under GRIEF (which see), we have kabhedh ("heavy") 8 t, e.g. Gen 12:10, "The famine was grievous in the...

  • Ephraim, The tribe of

    [ebd] took precedence over that of Manasseh by virtue of Jacob's blessing (Gen. 41:52; 48:1). The descendants of Joseph formed two of the tribes of Israel, whereas each of the other sons of Jacob was the founder of only one tribe....

  • Age

    [ebd] used to denote the period of a man's life (Gen. 47:28), the maturity of life (John 9:21), the latter end of life (Job 11:17), a generation of the human race (Job 8:8), and an indefinite period (Eph. 2:7; 3:5, 21; Col. 1:26)....

  • AGE; OLD AGE

    [isbe] AGE; OLD AGE - In individual lives (cheledh; helikia): We have scarcely any word in the Old Testament or New Testament which denotes "age" in the familiar modern sense; the nearest in the Old Testament is perhaps heledh, "li...

  • ADONIRAM

    [isbe] ADONIRAM - ad-o-ni'-ram ('adhoniram, "my lord is exalted"): An official of Solomon (1 Ki 4:6; 5:14). Near the close of the reign of David, and at the opening of the reign of Rehoboam, the same office was held by Adoram (2 Sa...

Arts

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 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 much later crisis of I Kings 12 suggests that the Davidic hold on the north is never deeply established. In our chapter we are given two episodes of David's attentiveness to the north. One (vv. 4b-7) is a peaceable act o...
  • 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. ...
  • These men were responsible for providing for the needs of Solomon's large household, including his courtiers, and for his thousands of horses (v. 28). Two were Solomon's sons-in-law (vv. 11, 15). The district arrangement seem...
  • Solomon put the defeated native Canaanites to work on government projects (cf. Gen. 9:25-26). Nevertheless this plan proved to be a source of major dissatisfaction in Israel (cf. 12:4).There was a distinction in Solomon's day...
  • God blessed Solomon with an effective navy that brought added wealth from the South and the East. Ophir (v. 28) evidently was in southwest Arabia (10:11; Job 22:24; 28:16).The writer documented in this section further evidenc...
  • The second major part of the Book of Kings records the histories of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.123During this era of 209 years (931-722 B.C.) the two kingdoms experienced differing relati...
  • 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.,...
  • Second Kings begins with Ahaziah's reign that fell during the 33-year period of Israel and Judah's alliance (874-841 B.C.; -1 Kings 16:29-2 Kings 9:29). This period in turn fits within the larger context of the divided kingdo...
  • The immediate result of the captivity (vv. 24-33) was twofold. The Assyrians deported many Israelites to other places in the Assyrian Empire, and they imported other people from the empire into the newly formed Assyrian provi...
  • This account is very similar to the one in 1 Kings 12. Solomon's son Rehoboam did not act wisely, and consequently he lost his kingdom. The Chronicler added that a prophet had foretold this situation (v. 15; cf. 11:1-4). The ...
  • This verse summarizes the message that Amos received from the Lord. Amos reported that Yahweh roared from Zion, as a lion roars before it devours its prey or as thunder precedes a severe storm (cf. 3:4, 8; Jer. 25:30; Hos. 5:...
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