1 Kings 11:31-43

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 ¹  because they have ²  abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions ³  by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon’s father David did. ⁴  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. ⁵  11:36 I will leave ⁶  his son one tribe so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me ⁷  in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. ⁸  11:37 I will select ⁹  you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel. 11:38 You must obey ¹⁰  all I command you to do, follow my instructions, ¹¹  do what I approve, ¹²  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; ¹³  I will give you Israel. 11:39 I will humiliate David’s descendants because of this, ¹⁴  but not forever.” ¹⁵  11:40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. ¹⁶  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. ¹⁷  11:42 Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem ¹⁸  for forty years. 11:43 Then Solomon passed away ¹⁹  and was buried in the city of his father David. ²⁰  His son Rehoboam replaced him as king. ²¹ 

¹ tn The words “I am taking the kingdom from him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

² tc This is the reading of the MT; the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate read “he has.”

³ tn Heb “walked in my ways.”

⁴ tn Heb “by doing what is right in my eyes, my rules and my regulations, like David his father.”

⁵ tn Heb “and I will give it to you, ten tribes.”

⁶ tn Heb “give.”

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.”

⁹ tn Heb “take.”

¹⁰ 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 tn Heb “walk in my ways.”

¹² tn Heb “do what is right in my eyes.”

¹³ tn Heb “I will build for you a permanent house, like I built for David.”

¹⁴ sn Because of this. Reference is made to the idolatry mentioned earlier.

¹⁵ tn Heb “but not all the days.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “but Jeroboam arose and ran away to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt.”

¹⁷ 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?”

¹⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁹ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

²⁰ 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.

²¹ 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.”