2 Chronicles 10

Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had gone there to make him king.

1And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all Israel come to make him king.

NoteShechem was a town about thirty miles north of Jerusalem, in the hill country of the northern tribes, long used as a place of public assembly. Rehoboam was Solomon's son and heir, but he had to go north to be accepted there: 'all Israel' in this chapter means the northern tribes as a body, as distinct from Judah in the south.

2Jeroboam son of Nebat was in Egypt, where he had run away from King Solomon. When he heard what was happening, he came back from Egypt.

2And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.

NoteJeroboam had been one of Solomon's officials, put in charge of forced-labor gangs from the northern tribes. He fled to Egypt after a prophet told him he would rule over most of the tribes, and Solomon tried to kill him.

3So they sent for him. Then Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam,

3And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying,

4"Your father laid a hard load on us. Now make his harsh service and the heavy load he put on us lighter, and we will serve you."

4Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

NoteA yoke is the wooden beam strapped across the necks of oxen to harness them to a plow or cart; used of people it means being worked like an animal. The complaint is about specific things: heavy taxation and compulsory unpaid labor on royal building projects, which Solomon had imposed on the northern tribes.

5He said to them, "Come back to me in three days." So the people left.

5And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.

6King Rehoboam talked it over with the older men who had served his father Solomon while Solomon was alive. He asked, "What do you advise me to say back to these people?"

6And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?

NoteThese are the senior officials who had served in Solomon's court; 'stood before' him is the ordinary Hebrew phrase for holding a post in someone's service.

7They said to him, "If you are kind to these people, and treat them well, and speak good words to them, they will serve you always."

7And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.

8But he turned down the advice the older men gave him. Instead he talked it over with the young men he had grown up with, who now served him.

8But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him.

9He asked them, "What do you advise? What answer should we give these people who said to me, 'Make the load your father put on us lighter'?"

9And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us?

10The young men he had grown up with said to him, "Here is what you should tell these people who said to you, 'Your father made our load heavy, but you make it lighter for us.' Tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

10And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.

NoteA boast in the form of a crude comparison: even my smallest part outweighs the whole of my father. The King James 'loins' means the waist or hips, the thickest part of the body.

11My father put a heavy load on you. I will make it heavier. My father punished you with whips. I will punish you with scorpions.'"

11For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

Note'Scorpions' here is most likely a name for a whip whose lashes were weighted or barbed, so that they tore the skin rather than merely bruising it, a worse instrument than a plain whip, not literal insects.

12So Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had told them: "Come back to me on the third day."

12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.

13The king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam turned down the advice of the older men.

13And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men,

14He answered them the way the young men had advised. He said, "My father made your load heavy. I will make it heavier. My father punished you with whips. I will punish you with scorpions."

14And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

15So the king did not listen to the people. This turn of events came from God, so that the LORD would carry out what he had said through Ahijah of Shiloh to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

15So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

NoteAhijah of Shiloh was a prophet who had earlier torn a new cloak into twelve pieces and given ten of them to Jeroboam, telling him he would rule ten of the tribes. Shiloh was the northern town where the tent-shrine had once stood.

16When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered him, "What share do we have in David? We have nothing to inherit from the son of Jesse. Everyone go home, Israel! David, look after your own family now." So all Israel went home.

16And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents.

NoteThis is a formal declaration of secession, using set phrases. 'What share do we have in David' means we have no stake in his dynasty and owe it nothing. Calling David 'the son of Jesse' rather than 'the king' is deliberately dismissive. 'Everyone go home' is literally 'to your tents, Israel', an old muster-and-disperse cry from the days of camping in the field, meaning the assembly is over and we recognize no further claim on us.

17But Rehoboam still ruled over the people of Israel who lived in the towns of Judah.

17But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

NoteThe break was territorial: the ten northern tribes went their own way, and Rehoboam kept only the southern territory of Judah, together with Benjamin, and any northerners living inside it.

18Then King Rehoboam sent out Hadoram, the man in charge of the forced labor crews, and the Israelites threw stones at him until he died. King Rehoboam hurried into his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

18Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

NoteHadoram ran the forced-labor system that was the very thing the people were protesting about, which is why sending him was inflammatory. Stoning was a killing carried out by a whole crowd together, with no single executioner.

19So Israel has been in revolt against the royal family of David ever since.

19And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

Note'Ever since' means down to the time the writer was working, centuries later, the split never healed. 'The house of David' means his royal line and its descendants, not a building.