1 Kings 11:9-25

Complete Jewish Bible

⁹ So Adonai grew angry with Shlomo, because his heart had turned away from Adonai the God of Isra’el, who had appeared to him twice ¹⁰ and given him orders concerning this matter that he should not follow other gods. But he didn’t obey Adonai’s orders.

¹¹ So Adonai said to Shlomo, “Since this is what has been in your mind, and you haven’t kept my covenant and my regulations which I ordered you to obey, I will tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. ¹² However, for David your father’s sake I won’t do it while you are alive, but I will tear it away from your son. ¹³ Even then, I won’t tear away all the kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Yerushalayim, which I have chosen.”

¹⁴ Then Adonai raised up an adversary against Shlomo, Hadad the Edomi, of the royal line of Edom. ¹⁵ Back when David had been in Edom, and Yo’av the commander of the army had gone up to bury the dead, having killed every male in Edom ¹⁶ (for Yo’av and all Isra’el had stayed there six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom), ¹⁷ Hadad had fled, he and a number of Edomi servants of his father’s with him, and gone into Egypt; at the time Hadad had been but a small boy. ¹⁸ On their way, they passed through Midyan and arrived in Pa’ran, took with them men from Pa’ran, and went on into Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave Hadad a house, saw to it that he had food and gave him land. ¹⁹ Hadad became a great favorite of Pharaoh, so that he gave him his own wife’s sister in marriage, that is, the sister of Tachp’neis the queen. ²⁰ The sister of Tachp’neis bore him G’nuvat his son, and Tachp’neis brought him up in Pharaoh’s own house, so that G’nuvat was in Pharaoh’s house along with Pharaoh’s sons. ²¹ When Hadad in Egypt heard that David slept with his ancestors and Yo’av the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave, so that I can return to my own country.” ²² Pharaoh asked him, “But what have you lacked with me that makes you want just now to go to your own country?” “Nothing in particular,” he replied, “but let me leave, anyway.”

²³ God raised up another adversary against Shlomo, Rezon the son of Elyada, who had fled from his lord Hadad‘ezer king of Tzovah ²⁴ when David killed the men from Tzovah. Rezon rallied men to himself and became the leader of a band of marauders; they went to Dammesek and settled there, while he became king of Dammesek. ²⁵ He remained an adversary as long as Shlomo lived, causing difficulties in addition to those of Hadad. He detested Isra’el and ruled Aram.