1 Kings 11

But King Solomon loved many foreign women. Along with Pharaoh's daughter, he loved women from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and women from Sidon and from the Hittites.

1But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;

Note"Foreign" means from outside Israel. In the ancient Near East a royal marriage was normally a treaty: a king took the daughter of a neighboring ruler as a wife to seal an alliance, so a list of a king's wives is also a list of the states he had agreements with. Moab, Ammon and Edom were small kingdoms east and south-east of Israel; Sidon was a Phoenician port city on the coast to the north-west; the Hittites were a people whose old empire lay in Asia Minor and whose descendants held small states in Syria and Canaan.

2These women came from nations the LORD had spoken about to the people of Israel. He had said, "Do not marry into them, and do not let them marry into you. They will surely turn your heart to follow their gods." Solomon held on to these women in love.

2Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

NoteThe command referred to is the one in Deuteronomy 7:3–4 and Exodus 34:15–16, which forbade marriage with the surrounding peoples on the stated ground that it would draw Israelites into their worship.

3He had seven hundred wives who were of royal families, and three hundred concubines. His wives turned his heart away.

3And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

NoteA concubine was a recognized secondary wife, legally attached to the household but of lower rank than a full wife, and her children usually had weaker claims on inheritance. "Wives who were of royal families" marks them as daughters of ruling houses, i.e. marriages made as alliances.

4When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart to follow other gods. His heart was not fully committed to the LORD his God, the way his father David's heart had been.

4For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

NoteIn Hebrew the "heart" is the seat of thought, decision and loyalty rather than of feeling; a heart "not fully committed" means divided allegiance, not cooling affection.

5Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon, and Milcom, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

NoteAshtoreth (Astarte) was the chief goddess of the Phoenician cities, associated with love, fertility and war. Milcom was the national god of Ammon. "Detestable" translates a standard Hebrew word used for another nation's god and its images.

6So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not follow the LORD completely, as his father David had done.

6And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.

7Then Solomon built a place of worship on the hill east of Jerusalem for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

7Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

NoteA "high place" was an open-air worship site, usually on a hilltop or raised platform, with an altar and often a standing stone or wooden pole; it was the ordinary form of a local shrine in that world. The hill east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron valley, is the ridge later called the Mount of Olives. Chemosh was the national god of Moab; Molech (a name closely related to Milcom in verse 5) the god of Ammon.

8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

8And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

NoteBurning incense and offering animal sacrifice were the two basic acts of worship at any shrine in the region, not practices peculiar to one religion.

9The LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

9And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

10The LORD had given him a clear command about this very thing: he was not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not keep what the LORD commanded.

10And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.

11So the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and have not kept my covenant and my rules that I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

11Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

NoteA "covenant" was a formal binding agreement setting out obligations and consequences, of the kind kings made with each other or with their subjects. "Servant" here means a man in the king's service, an official, not a slave; the point is that the kingdom will go to a subordinate rather than to a son.

12Still, I will not do it while you live, for the sake of your father David. I will tear it out of your son's hand.

12Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

13Even so, I will not tear the whole kingdom away. I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen."

13Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.

Note"One tribe" means Judah, with the small territory of Benjamin attached to it. Ten and one do not add up to twelve: Levi held no territory of its own, and the round numbers function as "nearly all" and "the remainder" rather than as an exact count.

14Then the LORD raised up an enemy against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, who came from the royal family of Edom.

14And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king’s seed in Edom.

NoteThe word translated "enemy" is the Hebrew *satan*, at this period an ordinary noun meaning an opponent or accuser, in war or in a lawsuit. It is not used here as a personal name. Edom lay south-east of the Dead Sea.

15Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, had gone up to bury the dead after he had killed every male in Edom.

15For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;

NoteJoab was David's army commander (and his nephew), the most powerful man in the kingdom after David himself. The campaign referred to is the one recorded in 2 Samuel 8. Going up "to bury the dead" means returning to the battlefield afterwards to bury Israel's own fallen. "Every male" is the sweeping formula of ancient war reports for the destruction of a defeated people's fighting men.

16Joab and all Israel had stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom.

16(For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:)

17During that time Hadad fled toward Egypt, along with some Edomites who had served his father. Hadad was only a young boy then.

17That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child.

18They set out from Midian and came to Paran. They took men from Paran with them and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. Pharaoh gave Hadad a house, a supply of food, and land.

18And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.

NoteMidian and Paran were desert regions south and south-east of Canaan, on the overland route from Edom down into Egypt.

19Hadad won such favor with Pharaoh that Pharaoh gave him a wife: the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes.

19And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

NoteMarrying the queen's own sister placed Hadad, a foreign refugee, inside the Egyptian royal family, an extraordinary mark of standing, and one that bound him to the Egyptian court.

20Tahpenes's sister bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in Pharaoh's palace. Genubath lived there in Pharaoh's household among Pharaoh's sons.

20And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

NoteChildren were nursed until about the age of three, and weaning was a household milestone. To be weaned in the palace and then brought up among Pharaoh's own sons meant Genubath was raised as a royal ward, with the education and connections of an Egyptian prince.

21While in Egypt, Hadad heard that David had died, and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead too. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me leave, so I can go back to my own country."

21And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.

Note"Died and been buried with his ancestors" is the standard Hebrew way of reporting the peaceful death of a king; the family tomb held the bones of earlier generations.

22Pharaoh said to him, "What have you gone without here with me, that you now want to go back to your own country?" Hadad answered, "Nothing. But let me go anyway."

22Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.

23God also raised up another enemy against Solomon: Rezon son of Eliada, who had run away from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

23And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

NoteZobah was an Aramean kingdom north of Damascus, defeated by David (2 Samuel 8:3–8). Rezon was one of its officers who broke away from his own king.

24Rezon gathered men around him and became the leader of a raiding band, at the time when David killed the men of Zobah. They went to Damascus, settled there, and ruled the city.

24And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.

25Rezon was an enemy of Israel as long as Solomon lived, adding to the harm Hadad did. He hated Israel, and he ruled over Aram, the land also called Syria.

25And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

NoteAram was the Aramean kingdom centered on Damascus, north-east of Israel and its chief rival on that border for the next two centuries. "Syria" is the later Greek name for the same region, which is why older English Bibles use it.

26Jeroboam son of Nebat was from Zeredah, in the territory of Ephraim, and he was one of Solomon's officials. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam rebelled against the king.

26And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.

NoteEphraim was the largest tribal territory in the hill country north of Jerusalem, and the leading power among the northern tribes. "Official" translates the word for "servant", which in a royal context means a man holding office under the king. The King James phrase "lifted up his hand against the king" is a Hebrew idiom for open rebellion.

27Here is why he rebelled against the king. Solomon was building the earth terraces that supported the city, and closing the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.

27And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.

Note"Millo" is a Hebrew name meaning roughly "the filling": the stepped stone terracing that held up buildings on the steep eastern slope of the old city. The "gap" was a breach left in the city wall David had fortified. Building projects like these were carried out by conscripted labor, which is the grievance behind what follows.

28Jeroboam was a capable and strong man. When Solomon saw that the young man was a hard worker, he put him in charge of all the labor crews from the tribes descended from Joseph.

28And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

NoteThe "house of Joseph" means the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, descended from Joseph's two sons, the main northern bloc. The "labor crews" were the forced-labor levy: men conscripted in rotation for the king's building works. Jeroboam was therefore put in charge of the very system the northern tribes most resented.

29About that time Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open country.

29And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:

NoteShiloh was the town where the tent-sanctuary had stood for generations before Jerusalem became the center of worship, so a prophet from Shiloh carried old northern authority. Prophets in Israel often delivered a message by performing it as a physical action rather than only speaking it; what follows is such a performed sign.

30Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

30And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:

NoteTwelve pieces for the twelve tribes. Tearing a garment was in ordinary life a gesture of grief or outrage; here it is used deliberately as an enacted picture of a kingdom being torn apart.

31He said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself. This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand, and I will give you ten tribes.

31And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

32But one tribe will stay with him, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

32(But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)

Note"One tribe" again means Judah with Benjamin attached; see the note on verse 13.

33This is because they have abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the people of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not lived my way, doing what is right in my eyes and keeping my rules and my decisions, as David his father did.

33Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

NoteThe Hebrew verbs in this verse are plural ("they have abandoned"), although verse 31 speaks of Solomon alone; some ancient manuscripts and versions read the singular throughout. The plain rendering keeps the plural. "As David his father did" refers to Solomon's father, David.

34Even so, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand. I will keep him as ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose because he kept my commands and my rules.

34Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:

35But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and give it to you, that is, ten tribes.

35But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.

36To his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David will always have a lamp burning before me in Jerusalem, the city I chose for myself as the place for my name.

36And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.

Note"A lamp" is an idiom for a surviving descendant who keeps the family line alight, as a lamp kept burning in a house marks it as still occupied. For God to "put his name" in a place is the standard phrase for claiming it as his own and being present there, a name marked ownership.

37As for you, I will take you, and you will rule over everything your heart desires. You will be king over Israel.

37And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.

38And if you listen to everything I command you, and live my way, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my rules and my commands, as my servant David did, then I will be with you. I will build you a lasting family line, as I built one for David, and I will give Israel to you.

38And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

Note"A lasting family line" translates "a sure house": in this idiom a "house" is a dynasty, the promise being that his descendants will keep the throne.

39Because of what has happened, I will bring David's descendants low, but not forever.'"

39And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.

Note"Bring low" means humble or reduce in status; the Hebrew word does not specify how, and the sentence deliberately leaves the duration open, "but not forever".

40So Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam got away and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and he stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

40Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

NoteShishak is the Egyptian pharaoh Shoshenq I, founder of a new dynasty, who had reason to shelter an enemy of Solomon. He later invaded Judah in Rehoboam's reign (1 Kings 14:25–26).

41The rest of what Solomon did, and all his wisdom, are written in the book of the acts of Solomon.

41And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

NoteThe book of the acts of Solomon was an official written record the writer expects his readers to be able to consult; it has not survived. The King James form, "are they not written...?", is a set formula meaning "you can find the full account there", the writer is citing a source, not asking a question.

42Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

42And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

43Then Solomon died and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam became king in his place.

43And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

NoteThe "city of David" is the original fortified ridge of Jerusalem that David captured and where the kings of his line were buried. Rehoboam was Solomon's son by an Ammonite mother (1 Kings 14:21).