1 Kings 12:13

12:13 The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men

1 Kings 12:2

12:2 ¹  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. ² 

1 Kings 15:3-6

15:3 He followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been. ³  15:4 Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God maintained his dynasty ⁴  in Jerusalem by giving him a son ⁵  to succeed him ⁶  and by protecting Jerusalem. ⁷  15:5 He did this ⁸  because David had done what he approved ⁹  and had not disregarded any of his commandments ¹⁰  his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite. 15:6 Rehoboam ¹¹  and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other throughout Abijah’s ¹²  lifetime.

Ecclesiastes 10:4

10:4 If the anger ¹³  of the ruler flares up ¹⁴  against you, do not resign ¹⁵  from your position, ¹⁶ 

for a calm ¹⁷  response ¹⁸  can undo ¹⁹  great offenses.

Zechariah 1:13

1:13 The Lord then addressed good, comforting words to the angelic messenger who was speaking to me.

¹ tc Verse 2 is not included in the Old Greek translation. See the note on 11:43.

² 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).

³ tn Heb “his heart was not complete with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.”

⁴ tn Heb “gave him a lamp.”

⁵ tc The Old Greek has the plural “his sons.”

⁶ tn Heb “by raising up his son after him.”

⁷ tn Heb “and by causing Jerusalem to stand firm.”

⁸ tn The words “he did this” are added for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Heb “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and had not turned aside from all which he commanded him.”

¹¹ tc Most Hebrew mss read “Rehoboam”; a few Hebrew mss and the Syriac read “Abijam” (a variant of Abijah).

¹² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Abijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³ tn Heb “spirit.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “rises up.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “Do not leave.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “your place.” The term מָקוֹם (maqom, “place”) denotes a position, post or office (1 Kgs 20:24; Eccl 8:3; 10:4; BDB 879 s.v. מָקוֹם 1.c).

¹⁷ tn The noun II מַרְפֵּא (marpe’, “calmness”) is used in reference to keeping one’s composure with a peaceful heart (Prov 14:30) and responding to criticism with a gentle tongue (Prov 15:4); cf. HALOT 637 s.v. II מַרְפֵּא. It is used in reference to keeping one’s composure in an emotionally charged situation (BDB 951 s.v. מַרְפֵּא 2). The term “calmness” is used here as a metonymy of association, meaning “calm response.”

¹⁸ tn The term “response” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification (see preceding note on the word “calm”).

¹⁹ tn The verbal root נוח means “to leave behind; to leave untouched” (HALOT 680 s.v. I נוח 2) in general, and in this passage, “to undo” or “to allay” offenses (HALOT 680 s.v. I נוח 3; BDB 629 s.v. נוּחַ 5) or “to avoid” offenses (BDB 629 נוּחַ 5). The point is either that (1) a composed response can calm or appease the anger of the ruler, or (2) a calm heart will help one avoid great sins that would offend the king. The root נוח (“to rest”) is repeated, creating a wordplay: “Do not leave” (אַל־תַּנַּח, ’al-tannakh) and “to avoid; to allay” (יַנִּיחַ, yanniakh). Rather than resigning (i.e., leaving), composure can appease a king (i.e., cause the anger of the king to leave).