Bible Reading April 2 
1 Kings 11:1--13:34
Context11:1 King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh’s daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 11:2 They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, “You must not establish friendly relations with them! 1 If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods.” 2 But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. 3
11:3 He had 700 royal wives 4 and 300 concubines; 5 his wives had a powerful influence over him. 6 11:4 When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to 7 other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 8 11:5 Solomon worshiped 9 the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. 10 11:6 Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; 11 he did not remain loyal to 12 the Lord, like his father David had. 11:7 Furthermore, 13 on the hill east of Jerusalem 14 Solomon built a high place 15 for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh 16 and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. 17 11:8 He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods. 18
11:9 The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance 19 away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions 20 11:10 and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. 21 But he did not obey 22 the Lord’s command. 11:11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, 23 I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 11:12 However, for your father David’s sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son’s hand instead. 11:13 But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave 24 your son one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem.”
11:14 The Lord brought 25 against Solomon an enemy, Hadad the Edomite, a descendant of the Edomite king. 11:15 During David’s campaign against Edom, 26 Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom. 11:16 For six months Joab and the entire Israelite army 27 stayed there until they had exterminated every male in Edom. 28 11:17 Hadad, 29 who was only a small boy at the time, escaped with some of his father’s Edomite servants and headed for Egypt. 30 11:18 They went from Midian to Paran; they took some men from Paran and went to Egypt. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, supplied him with a house and food and even assigned him some land. 31 11:19 Pharaoh liked Hadad so well 32 he gave him his sister-in-law (Queen Tahpenes’ sister) as a wife. 33 11:20 Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to his son, 34 named Genubath. Tahpenes raised 35 him in Pharaoh’s palace; Genubath grew up in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s sons. 11:21 While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away 36 and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave 37 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?” 38 Hadad replied, 39 “Nothing, but please give me permission to leave.” 40
11:23 God also brought against Solomon 41 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. 42 When David tried to kill them, 43 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 44 Israel and ruled over Syria.
11:26 Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s servants, rebelled against 45 the king. He was an Ephraimite 46 from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. 11:27 This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: 47 Solomon built a terrace and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David. 48 11:28 Jeroboam was a talented man; 49 when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe 50 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 51 was wearing a brand new robe, 11:30 and he grabbed the robe 52 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 53 because they have 54 abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions 55 by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon’s father David did. 56 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. 57 11:36 I will leave 58 his son one tribe so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me 59 in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. 60 11:37 I will select 61 you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel. 11:38 You must obey 62 all I command you to do, follow my instructions, 63 do what I approve, 64 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; 65 I will give you Israel. 11:39 I will humiliate David’s descendants because of this, 66 but not forever.” 67 11:40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. 68 He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
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. 69 11:42 Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem 70 for forty years. 11:43 Then Solomon passed away 71 and was buried in the city of his father David. 72 His son Rehoboam replaced him as king. 73
12:1 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, for all Israel had gathered in 74 Shechem to make Rehoboam 75 king. 12:2 76 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. 77 12:3 They sent for him, 78 and Jeroboam and the whole Israelite assembly came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 12:4 “Your father made us work too hard. 79 Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” 80 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 81 his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, 82 “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.” 83 12:8 But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. 84 12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me 85 to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” 86 12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam 87 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.’ 88 Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! 89 12:11 My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. 90 My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” 91
12:12 Jeroboam and all the people reported 92 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 93 the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. 94 My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” 95 12:15 The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events 96 so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made 97 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! 98 Return to your homes, O Israel! 99 Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!” 100 So Israel returned to their homes. 101 12:17 (Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.) 12:18 King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, 102 the supervisor of the work crews, 103 out after them, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 104 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. 105
12:21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from all of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin 106 to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. 12:22 But God told Shemaiah the prophet, 107 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.”’” 108 They obeyed the Lord and went home as the Lord had ordered them to do. 109
12:25 110 Jeroboam built up Shechem in the Ephraimite hill country and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel. 12:26 Jeroboam then thought to himself: 111 “Now the Davidic dynasty could regain the kingdom. 112 12:27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, 113 their loyalty could shift to their former master, 114 King Rehoboam of Judah. They might kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.” 12:28 After the king had consulted with his advisers, 115 he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people, 116 “It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 12:29 He put one in Bethel 117 and the other in Dan. 12:30 This caused Israel to sin; 118 the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves. 119
12:31 He built temples 120 on the high places and appointed as priests people who were not Levites. 12:32 Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, 121 like the festival celebrated in Judah. 122 On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. 123 In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places he had made.
12:33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a date he had arbitrarily chosen) 124 Jeroboam 125 offered sacrifices on the altar he had made in Bethel. 126 He inaugurated a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to offer sacrifices. 13:1 Just then 127 a prophet 128 from Judah, sent by the Lord, arrived in Bethel, 129 as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. 13:2 With the authority of the Lord 130 he cried out against the altar, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” 131 13:3 That day he also announced 132 a sign, “This is the sign the Lord has predetermined: 133 The altar will be split open and the ashes 134 on it will fall to the ground.” 135 13:4 When the king heard what the prophet 136 cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand 137 and ordered, 138 “Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up 139 and he could not pull it back. 13:5 The altar split open and the ashes 140 fell from the altar to the ground, 141 in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had announced with the Lord’s authority. 142 13:6 The king pled with 143 the prophet, 144 “Seek the favor of 145 the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the Lord’s favor 146 and the king’s hand was restored to its former condition. 147 13:7 The king then said to the prophet, “Come home with me and have something to eat. I’d like to give a present.” 13:8 But the prophet said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, 148 I could not go with you and eat and drink 149 in this place. 13:9 For the Lord gave me strict orders, 150 ‘Do not eat or drink 151 there and do not go home the way you came.’” 13:10 So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel.
13:11 Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. 152 When his sons came home, they told their father 153 everything the prophet 154 had done in Bethel that day and all the words he had spoken to the king. 155 13:12 Their father asked them, “Which road did he take?” His sons showed him 156 the road the prophet 157 from Judah had taken. 13:13 He then told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 13:14 and took off after the prophet, 158 whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the prophet 159 from Judah?” He answered, “Yes, I am.” 13:15 He then said to him, “Come home with me and eat something.” 13:16 But he replied, “I can’t go back with you 160 or eat and drink 161 with you in this place. 13:17 For the Lord gave me strict orders, 162 ‘Do not eat or drink 163 there; do not go back the way you came.’” 13:18 The old prophet then said, 164 “I too am a prophet like you. An angel told me with the Lord’s authority, 165 ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat and drink.’” 166 But he was lying to him. 167 13:19 So the prophet went back with him and ate and drank in his house. 168
13:20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke through the old prophet 169 13:21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You 170 have rebelled against the Lord 171 and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 13:22 You went back and ate and drank in this place, even though he said to you, “Do not eat or drink there.” 172 Therefore 173 your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.’” 174
13:23 When the prophet from Judah finished his meal, 175 the old prophet saddled his visitor’s donkey for him. 176 13:24 As the prophet from Judah was traveling, a lion attacked him on the road and killed him. 177 His corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey and the lion just stood there beside it. 178 13:25 Some men came by 179 and saw the corpse lying in the road with the lion standing beside it. 180 They went and reported what they had seen 181 in the city where the old prophet lived. 13:26 When the old prophet who had invited him to his house heard the news, 182 he said, “It is the prophet 183 who rebelled against the Lord. 184 The Lord delivered him over to the lion and it ripped him up 185 and killed him, just as the Lord warned him.” 186 13:27 He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey,” and they did so. 187 13:28 He went and found the corpse lying in the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it; 188 the lion had neither eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey. 13:29 The old prophet 189 picked up the corpse of the prophet, 190 put it on the donkey, and brought it back. The old prophet then entered the city to mourn him and to bury him. 13:30 He put the corpse into his own tomb, and they 191 mourned over him, saying, “Ah, my brother!” 13:31 After he buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet 192 is buried; put my bones right beside his bones, 13:32 for the prophecy he announced with the Lord’s authority 193 against the altar in Bethel 194 and against all the temples on the high places in the cities of the north 195 will certainly be fulfilled.”
13:33 After this happened, Jeroboam still did not change his evil ways; 196 he continued to appoint common people 197 as priests at the high places. Anyone who wanted the job he consecrated as a priest. 198 13:34 This sin caused Jeroboam’s dynasty 199 to come to an end and to be destroyed from the face of the earth.
[11:2] 1 tn Heb “you must not go into them, and they must not go into you.”
[11:2] 2 tn Heb “Surely they will bend your heart after their gods.” The words “if you do” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[11:2] 3 tn Heb “Solomon clung to them for love.” The pronominal suffix, translated “them,” is masculine here, even though it appears the foreign women are in view. Perhaps this is due to attraction to the masculine forms used of the nations earlier in the verse.
[11:3] 4 tn Heb “wives, princesses.”
[11:3] 5 sn Concubines were slave women in ancient Near Eastern societies who were the legal property of their master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with their master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. The usage in the present passage suggests that after the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (cf. also 2 Sam 21:10-14).
[11:3] 6 tn Heb “his wives bent his heart.”
[11:4] 7 tn Heb “bent his heart after.”
[11:4] 8 tn Heb “his heart was not complete with the
[11:5] 9 tn Heb “walked after.”
[11:5] 10 tn Heb “Milcom, the detestable thing of the Ammonites.”
[11:6] 11 tn Heb “in the eyes of the
[11:6] 12 tn The idiomatic statement reads in Hebrew, “he did not fill up after.”
[11:7] 14 sn The hill east of Jerusalem refers to the Mount of Olives.
[11:7] 15 sn A high place. The “high places” were places of worship that were naturally or artificially elevated (see 1 Kgs 3:2).
[11:7] 16 tn Heb “Chemosh, the detestable thing of Moab.”
[11:7] 17 tc The MT reads “Molech,” but Milcom must be intended (see vv. 5, 33).
[11:8] 18 tn Heb “and the same thing he did for all his foreign wives, [who] were burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.”
[11:9] 19 tn Heb “bent his heart.”
[11:9] 20 sn These two occasions are mentioned in 1 Kgs 3:5 and 9:2.
[11:10] 21 tn Heb “and had commanded him concerning this thing not to walk after other gods.”
[11:11] 23 tn Heb “Because this is with you, and you have not kept my covenant and my rules which I commanded you.”
[11:15] 26 tn Heb “when David was [fighting (?)] with Edom.”
[11:16] 27 tn Heb “and all Israel.”
[11:16] 28 tn Heb “until he had cut off every male in Edom.”
[11:17] 29 tn The MT reads “Adad,” an alternate form of the name Hadad.
[11:17] 30 tn Heb “and Adad fled, he and Edomite men from the servants of his father, to go to Egypt, and Hadad was a small boy.”
[11:18] 31 tn Heb “and they arose from Midian and went to Paran and they took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and he gave to him a house and food and he said to him, and a land he gave to him.” Something seems to be accidentally omitted after “and he said to him.”
[11:19] 32 tn Heb “and Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh.”
[11:19] 33 tn Heb “and he gave to him a wife, the sister of his wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.”
[11:20] 34 tn Heb “bore him Genubath his son.”
[11:20] 35 tc The Hebrew text reads וַתִּגְמְלֵהוּ (vattigmÿlehu, “weaned him”) but a slight alteration of the consonantal text yields וַתִּגְדְלֵהוּ (vattigdÿlehu, “raised him”), which seems to make better sense.
[11:21] 36 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[11:21] 37 tn Heb “send me away.”
[11:22] 38 tn Heb “Indeed what do you lack with me, that now you are seeking to go to your land?”
[11:22] 39 tn Heb “and he said.”
[11:22] 40 sn So Hadad asked Pharaoh… This lengthy description of Hadad’s exile in Egypt explains why Hadad wanted to oppose Solomon and supports the author’s thesis that his hostility to Solomon found its ultimate source in divine providence. Though Hadad enjoyed a comfortable life in Egypt, when the
[11:23] 41 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Solomon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:24] 42 tn Heb “and he was the officer of a raiding band.”
[11:24] 43 tn The Hebrew text reads “when David killed them.” This phrase is traditionally joined with what precedes. The ancient Greek version does not reflect the phrase and some suggest that it has been misplaced from the end of v. 23.
[11:25] 44 tn The construction (Qal of קוּץ + בְּ [quts + bet] preposition) is rare, but not without parallel (see Lev 20:23).
[11:26] 45 tn Heb “raised a hand against.”
[11:26] 46 tn Heb “Ephrathite,” which here refers to an Ephraimite (see HALOT 81 s.v. אֶפְרַיִם).
[11:27] 47 tn Heb “this is the matter concerning which he raised a hand against the king.”
[11:27] 48 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] 49 tn Heb “man of strength.”
[11:29] 51 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] 52 tn Heb “and Ahijah grabbed the new robe that was on him.”
[11:33] 53 tn The words “I am taking the kingdom from him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[11:33] 54 tc This is the reading of the MT; the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate read “he has.”
[11:33] 55 tn Heb “walked in my ways.”
[11:33] 56 tn Heb “by doing what is right in my eyes, my rules and my regulations, like David his father.”
[11:35] 57 tn Heb “and I will give it to you, ten tribes.”
[11:36] 59 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] 60 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.”
[11:38] 62 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] 63 tn Heb “walk in my ways.”
[11:38] 64 tn Heb “do what is right in my eyes.”
[11:38] 65 tn Heb “I will build for you a permanent house, like I built for David.”
[11:39] 66 sn Because of this. Reference is made to the idolatry mentioned earlier.
[11:39] 67 tn Heb “but not all the days.”
[11:40] 68 tn Heb “but Jeroboam arose and ran away to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt.”
[11:41] 69 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] 70 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[11:43] 71 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[11:43] 72 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] 73 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] 75 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:2] 76 tc Verse 2 is not included in the Old Greek translation. See the note on 11:43.
[12:2] 77 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] 78 tn Heb “They sent and called for him.”
[12:4] 79 tn Heb “made our yoke burdensome.”
[12:4] 80 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] 81 tn Heb “stood before.”
[12:7] 83 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] 84 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] 85 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] 86 tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”
[12:10] 87 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:10] 88 tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”
[12:10] 89 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] 90 tn Heb “and now my father placed upon you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke.”
[12:11] 91 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.”
[12:14] 93 tn Heb “and spoke to them according to.”
[12:14] 94 tn Heb “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.”
[12:14] 95 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] 96 tn Heb “because this turn of events was from the
[12:15] 97 tn Heb “so that he might bring to pass his word which the
[12:16] 98 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] 99 tn Heb “to your tents, Israel.” The word “return” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:16] 100 tn Heb “Now see your house, David.”
[12:16] 101 tn Heb “went to their tents.”
[12:18] 102 tc The MT has “Adoram” here, but the Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have “Adoniram.” Cf. 1 Kgs 4:6.
[12:18] 103 sn The work crews. See the note on this expression in 4:6.
[12:18] 104 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[12:20] 105 tn Heb “there was no one [following] after the house of David except the tribe of Judah, it alone.”
[12:21] 106 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] 107 tn Heb “and the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying.”
[12:24] 108 tn Heb “for this thing is from me.”
[12:24] 109 tn Heb “and they heard the word of the
[12:25] 110 tc The Old Greek translation has here a lengthy section consisting of twenty-three verses that are not found in the MT.
[12:26] 111 tn Heb “said in his heart.”
[12:26] 112 tn Heb “Now the kingdom could return to the house of David.” The imperfect verbal form translated “could return” is understood as having a potential force here. Perhaps this is not strong enough; another option is “will return.”
[12:27] 113 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[12:27] 114 tn Heb “the heart of these people could return to their master.”
[12:28] 115 tn The words “with his advisers” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:28] 116 tn Heb “to them,” although this may be a corruption of “to the people.” Cf. the Old Greek translation.
[12:29] 117 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[12:30] 118 tn Heb “and this thing became a sin.”
[12:30] 119 tc The MT reads “and the people went before the one to Dan.” It is likely that some words have been accidentally omitted and that the text originally said, “and the people went before the one at Bethel and before the one at Dan.”
[12:31] 120 tn The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural is preferable here (see 1 Kgs 13:32). The Old Greek translation and the Vulgate have the plural.
[12:32] 121 sn The eighth month would correspond to October-November in modern reckoning.
[12:32] 122 sn The festival he celebrated in Judah probably refers to the Feast of Tabernacles (i.e., Booths or Temporary Shelters), held in the seventh month (September-October). See also 1 Kgs 8:2.
[12:32] 123 tn Heb “and he offered up [sacrifices] on the altar; he did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made.”
[12:33] 124 tn Heb “which he had chosen by himself.”
[12:33] 125 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jeroboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:33] 126 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:1] 127 tn Heb “Look.” The Hebrew particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) is a rhetorical device by which the author invites the reader to visualize the scene for dramatic effect.
[13:1] 128 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:1] 129 tn Heb “came by the word of the
[13:2] 130 tn Heb “by the word of the
[13:2] 131 sn ‘Look…you.’ For the fulfillment of this prophecy see 2 Kgs 23:15-20.
[13:3] 134 tn Heb “the fat.” Reference is made to burnt wood mixed with fat. See HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן.
[13:3] 135 tn Heb “will be poured out.”
[13:4] 136 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:4] 137 tn Heb “Jeroboam extended his hand from the altar.”
[13:4] 139 tn Heb “dried up” or “withered.” TEV and NLT interpret this as “became paralyzed.”
[13:5] 140 tn Heb “the fat.” Reference is made to burnt wood mixed with fat. See HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן.
[13:5] 141 tn Heb “were poured out from the altar.”
[13:5] 142 tn Heb “according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the
[13:6] 143 tn Heb “The king answered and said to.”
[13:6] 144 tn Heb “the man of God” (a second time later in this verse, and once in v. 7 and v. 8).
[13:6] 145 tn Heb “appease the face of.”
[13:6] 146 tn Heb “appeased the face of the
[13:6] 147 tn Heb “and it was as in the beginning.”
[13:8] 149 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:9] 150 tn Heb “for this he commanded me by the word of the
[13:9] 151 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:11] 152 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:11] 153 tn Heb “and his son came and told him.” The MT has the singular here, but several other textual witnesses have the plural, which is more consistent with the second half of the verse and with vv. 12-13.
[13:11] 154 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:11] 155 tn Heb “all the actions which the man of God performed that day in Bethel, the words which he spoke to the king, and they told them to their father.”
[13:12] 156 tn The Hebrew text has “and his sons saw” (וַיִּרְאוּ [vayyir’u], Qal from רָאָה [ra’ah]). In this case the verbal construction (vav consecutive + prefixed verbal form) would have to be understood as pluperfect, “his sons had seen.” Such uses of this construction are rare at best. Consequently many, following the lead of the ancient versions, prefer to emend the verbal form to a Hiphil with pronominal suffix (וַיַּרְאֻהוּ [vayyar’uhu], “and they showed him”).
[13:12] 157 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:14] 158 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:14] 159 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:16] 160 tn Heb “I am unable to return with you or to go with you.”
[13:16] 161 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:17] 162 tn Heb “for a word to me by the word of the
[13:17] 163 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:18] 164 tn Heb “and he said to him.”
[13:18] 165 tn Heb “by the word of the
[13:18] 166 tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”
[13:18] 167 tn Or “deceiving him.”
[13:19] 168 tn Heb “and he returned with him and ate food in his house and drank water.”
[13:20] 169 tn Heb “and the word of the
[13:21] 170 tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 21-22 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 21-22a) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 22b). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
[13:21] 171 tn Heb “the mouth [i.e., command] of the
[13:22] 172 tn Heb “and you returned and ate food and drank water in the place about which he said to you, ‘do not eat food and do not drink water.’”
[13:22] 173 tn “Therefore” is added for stylistic reasons. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:21 pertaining to the grammatical structure of vv. 21-22.
[13:22] 174 tn Heb “will not go to the tomb of your fathers.”
[13:23] 175 tn Heb “and after he had eaten food and after he had drunk.”
[13:23] 176 tn Heb “and he saddled for him the donkey, for the prophet whom he had brought back.”
[13:24] 177 tn Heb “and he went and a lion met him in the road and killed him.”
[13:24] 178 tn Heb “and his corpse fell on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it, and the lion was standing beside the corpse.”
[13:25] 179 tn Heb “Look, men were passing by.”
[13:25] 180 tn Heb “the corpse.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:25] 181 tn The words “what they had seen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[13:26] 182 tn Heb “and the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard.”
[13:26] 183 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:26] 184 tn Heb “the mouth of the
[13:26] 185 tn Heb “broke him,” or “crushed him.”
[13:26] 186 tn Heb “according to the word of the
[13:27] 187 tn Heb “and they saddled [it].”
[13:28] 188 tn Heb “the corpse.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:29] 189 tn Heb “the prophet.” The word “old” has been supplied in the translation to distinguish this individual from the other prophet.
[13:29] 190 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:30] 191 tn “They” is the reading of the Hebrew text here; perhaps this is meant to include not only the old prophet but his sons (cf. v. 31).
[13:31] 192 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[13:32] 193 tn Heb “for the word which he cried out by the word of the
[13:32] 194 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:32] 195 tn Heb “Samaria.” The name of Israel’s capital city here stands for the northern kingdom as a whole. Actually Samaria was not built and named until several years after this (see 1 Kgs 16:24), so it is likely that the author of Kings, writing at a later time, is here adapting the old prophet’s original statement.
[13:33] 196 tn Heb “did not turn from his evil way.”
[13:33] 197 sn The expression common people refers to people who were not Levites. See 1 Kgs 12:31.
[13:33] 198 tn Heb “and one who had the desire he was filling his hand so that he became [one of] the priests of the high places.”
