1 Kings 14:26-28

14:26 He took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including all the golden shields that Solomon had made. 14:27 King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard ¹  who protected the entrance to the royal palace. 14:28 Whenever the king visited the Lord’s temple, the royal guard carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom.

1 Kings 14:2

14:2 Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise ²  yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam’s wife. Then go to Shiloh; Ahijah the prophet, who told me I would rule over this nation, lives there. ³ 

1 Kings 9:15-16

9:15 Here are the details concerning the work crews ⁴  King Solomon conscripted ⁵  to build the Lord’s temple, his palace, the terrace, the wall of Jerusalem, ⁶  and the cities of ⁷  Hazor, ⁸  Megiddo, ⁹  and Gezer. 9:16 (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.)

1 Kings 12:9-10

12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me ¹⁰  to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ¹¹  12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ¹²  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.’ ¹³  Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ¹⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “runners.”

² tn Heb “Get up, change yourself.”

³ tn Heb “look, Ahijah the prophet is there, he told me [I would be] king over this nation.”

⁴ sn The work crews. This Hebrew word מַס (mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.

⁵ tn Heb “raised up.”

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn The words “the cities of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁸ map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-D3; Map3-A2; Map4-C1.

⁹ map For location see Map1-D4; Map2-C1; Map4-C2; Map5-F2; Map7-B1.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

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

¹³ tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”

¹⁴ 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.