1 Kings 11:17-22

11:17 Hadad, ¹  who was only a small boy at the time, escaped with some of his father’s Edomite servants and headed for Egypt. ²  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. ³  11:19 Pharaoh liked Hadad so well ⁴  he gave him his sister-in-law (Queen Tahpenes’ sister) as a wife. ⁵  11:20 Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to his son, ⁶  named Genubath. Tahpenes raised ⁷  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 ⁸  and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave ⁹  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?” ¹⁰  Hadad replied, ¹¹  “Nothing, but please give me permission to leave.” ¹² 

¹ tn The MT reads “Adad,” an alternate form of the name Hadad.

² 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.”

³ 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.”

⁴ tn Heb “and Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh.”

⁵ tn Heb “and he gave to him a wife, the sister of his wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.”

⁶ tn Heb “bore him Genubath his son.”

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

⁹ tn Heb “send me away.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Indeed what do you lack with me, that now you are seeking to go to your land?”

¹¹ tn Heb “and he said.”

¹² 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 Lord raised him up (apparently stirring up his desire for vengeance) he decided to leave the comforts of Egypt and return to Edom.