Solomon’s Errors

11 King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,^{(A) 2} from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.^{(B) 3} Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.^{(C) 5} For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.^{(D) 6} So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not completely follow the Lord, as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites on the mountain east of Jerusalem.^{(E) 8} He did the same for all his foreign wives who offered incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ Then the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice^{(F) 10} and had commanded him concerning this matter, that he should not follow other gods, but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded.^{(G) 11} Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.^{(H) 12} Yet for the sake of your father David I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ I will not, however, tear away the entire kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”^(I)

Adversaries of Solomon

¹⁴ Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal house in Edom. ¹⁵ For when David was destroying^[a] Edom and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the dead, he killed every male in Edom^{(J) 16} (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months until he had eliminated every male in Edom), ¹⁷ but Hadad fled to Egypt with some Edomites who were servants of his father. He was a young boy at that time. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian and came to Paran; they took people with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, assigned him an allowance of food, and gave him land. ¹⁹ Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him his sister-in-law for a wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes gave birth by him to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the children of Pharaoh. ²¹ When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”^{(K) 22} But Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack with me that you now seek to go to your own country?” And he said, “No, do let me go.”

²³ God raised up another adversary against Solomon,^[b] Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah.^{(L) 24} He gathered followers around him and became leader of a marauding band, after the killing by David; they went to Damascus, settled there, and made him king in Damascus.^{(M) 25} He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, making trouble as Hadad did; he despised Israel and reigned over Aram.

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

²⁶ Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, rebelled against the king.^{(N) 27} The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon built the Millo and closed up the gap in the wall^[c] of the city of his father David.^{(O) 28} The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ About that time, when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of them were alone in the open country^{(P) 30} when Ahijah laid hold of the new garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.^{(Q) 31} He then said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes.^{(R) 32} One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. ³³ This is because he has^[d] forsaken me, worshiped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has^[e] not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did.^{(S) 34} Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom away from him but will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David whom I chose and who did keep my commandments and my statutes, ³⁵ but I will take the kingdom away from his son and give it to you—that is, the ten tribes.^{(T) 36} Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name.^{(U) 37} I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires; you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ If you will listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.^{(V) 39} For this reason I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.” ⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam promptly fled to Egypt, to King Shishak of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Death of Solomon

⁴¹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did as well as his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?^{(W) 42} The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.^{(X) 43} Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.^(Y)

The Northern Tribes Secede

12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.^{(Z) 2} When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam remained in Egypt.^{(AA) 3} And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now, therefore, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you.”^{(AB) 5} He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.^(AC)

⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the older men who had attended his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ They answered him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”^{(AD) 8} But he disregarded the advice that the older men gave him and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and now attended him.^{(AE) 9} He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus you should say to this people who spoke to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must lighten it for us’; thus you should say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹ Now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had said, “Come to me again the third day.”^{(AF) 13} The king answered the people harshly. He disregarded the advice that the older men had given him ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”^{(AG) 15} So the king did not listen to the people because it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord to fulfill his word that the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.^(AH)

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king,

So Israel went away to their tents.^{(AI) 17} But Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah.^{(AJ) 18} When King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam then hurriedly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.^{(AK) 19} So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.^(AL)

First Dynasty: Jeroboam Reigns over Israel

²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.^(AM)

²¹ When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen troops, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.^{(AN) 22} But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ “Say to King Rehoboam of Judah, son of Solomon, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people: ²⁴ Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up or fight against your kindred the people of Israel. Let everyone go home, for this thing is from me.” So they heeded the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.^(AO)

Jeroboam’s Golden Calves

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and resided there; he went out from there and built Penuel.^{(AP) 26} Then Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom may well revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people continues to go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.”^{(AQ) 28} So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. He said to the people,^[f] “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”^{(AR) 29} He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.^{(AS) 30} And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan.^{[g](AT) 31} He also made houses^[h] on high places and appointed priests from among all the people who were not Levites.^{(AU) 32} Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the festival that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.^{(AV) 33} He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had selected on his own; he appointed a festival for the people of Israel, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.^(AW)

A Man of God from Judah

13 A man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer incense.^{(AX) 2} And he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: A son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.”^{(AY) 3} He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: The altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.”^{(AZ) 4} When the king heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But the hand that he stretched out against him withered so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ The king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before.^{(BA) 7} Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and dine, and I will give you a gift.”^{(BB) 8} But the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your kingdom, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat food or drink water in this place.^{(BC) 9} For thus I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You shall not eat food, or drink water, or return by the way that you came.’ ” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way that he had come to Bethel.

¹¹ Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel. One of his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words also that he had spoken to the king, they told to their father.^{(BD) 12} Their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey for him, and he mounted it. ¹⁴ He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He answered, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.” ¹⁶ But he said, “I cannot return with you or go in with you, nor will I eat food or drink water with you in this place,^{(BE) 17} for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat food or drink water there or return by the way that you came.’ ”^{(BF) 18} Then the other^[i] said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat food and drink water.’ ” But he was deceiving him. ¹⁹ Then the man of God^[j] went back with him and ate food and drank water in his house.

²⁰ As they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back, ²¹ and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord: Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the commandment that the Lord your God commanded you^{(BG) 22} but have come back and have eaten food and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, ‘Eat no food, and drink no water,’ your body shall not come to your ancestral tomb.” ²³ After the man of God^[k] had eaten food and had drunk, they saddled for him a donkey belonging to the prophet who had brought him back. ²⁴ Then as he went away, a lion met him on the road and killed him. His body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body.^{(BH) 25} People passed by and saw the body thrown in the road, with the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the town where the old prophet lived.^(BI)

²⁶ When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him according to the word that the Lord spoke to him.”^{(BJ) 27} Then he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled one, ²⁸ and he went and found the body thrown in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. ²⁹ The prophet took up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to the city^[l] to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”^{(BK) 31} After he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.^{(BL) 32} For the saying that he proclaimed by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.”^(BM)

³³ Even after this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who wanted to be priests he consecrated for the high places.^{(BN) 34} This matter became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.^(BO)