1 Kings 11
Expanded Bible
Solomon’s Many Wives
11 King Solomon loved many ·women who were not from Israel [L foreign women]. He loved the daughter of ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh], as well as women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites [Prov. 5–7]. 2 The Lord had told the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], “You must not ·marry people of other nations [or associate with them; L come into them, and they must not come into you]. If you do, they will cause you to ·follow [L turn your hearts to] their gods.” But Solomon ·fell in love with these women [L clung/held fast to them in love]. 3 He had seven hundred wives who were from royal families and three hundred ·slave women who gave birth to his children [concubines; C a secondary wife of lower status than a primary wife, but higher than a common servant]. His wives ·caused him to turn away from God [led him astray; L turned his heart away]. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives ·caused him to follow [led him astray after; L turned his heart away after] other gods. ·He did not follow the Lord completely [L His heart was not wholly devoted/faithful to the Lord his God] as ·his father David had done [the heart of his father David had been]. 5 Solomon ·worshiped [followed; went after] Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon, and ·Molech [L Milcom], the ·hated [detestable] god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord] and ·did not [refused to] follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.
7 On a hill east of Jerusalem [C the Mount of Olives], Solomon built two ·places for worship [L high places; 3:2]. One was a place to worship Chemosh, the ·hated [detestable] god of the Moabites, and the other was a place to worship Molech, the ·hated [detestable] god of the Ammonites. 8 Solomon did the same thing for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their gods.
9 The Lord had appeared to Solomon twice, but the ·king [L his heart had] turned away from following the Lord, the God of Israel. The Lord was angry with Solomon, 10 because he had ·commanded [warned] Solomon not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not ·obey [observe; keep] the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have chosen to break your ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with me and have not obeyed my commands, I will tear your kingdom away from you and give it to one of your ·officers [L servants]. 12 But I will not take it away ·while you are alive [L in your days] ·because of my love for [for the sake of] your father David. I will tear it away from [L the hand of] your son. 13 I will not tear away all the kingdom from him, but I will ·leave [give] him one tribe to rule. I will do this ·because [for the sake] of David, my servant, and ·because [for the sake] of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen.”
Solomon’s Enemies
14 The Lord ·caused [L raised up] Hadad the Edomite, a member of the royal family of Edom, to become Solomon’s ·enemy [adversary]. 15 Earlier, David had defeated Edom. When Joab, the commander of David’s army, went into Edom to bury the dead [C Israelite soldiers], he ·killed [slaughtered] all the males. 16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed in Edom for six months and ·killed [exterminated; eliminated] every male in Edom. 17 At that time Hadad was only a young boy, so he ·ran away [fled; escaped] to Egypt with some of his father’s ·officers [servants]. 18 They ·left [set out from] Midian and went ·to Paran, where they were joined by other men [or with men from Paran]. Then they all went to Egypt to see Pharaoh the king, who ·gave [assigned] Hadad a house, some food, and some land.
19 ·The king liked Hadad so much [Hadad became such a great favorite of Pharaoh that] he gave Hadad a wife—the sister of Tahpenes, the king’s wife. 20 ·They had [L She bore for him] a son named Genubath. Queen Tahpenes ·brought him up [raised; or weaned him] in the royal palace with ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] own ·children [or sons].
21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David ·had died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors] and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead also. So Hadad said to the king, “Let me go; I will return to my own country.”
22 “Why do you want to go back to your own country?” the king asked. “What ·haven’t I given you here [L do you lack with me]?”
“Nothing,” Hadad answered, “but please, let me go.”
23 God also caused another man to be Solomon’s ·enemy [adversary]—Rezon son of Eliada. Rezon had ·run away [fled] from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 After David ·defeated [slaughtered; massacred] the army of Zobah, Rezon gathered some men and became the leader of a ·small army [marauding band; gang of rebels]. They went to Damascus and settled there, and Rezon ·became king of [took control of] Damascus. 25 Rezon ruled Aram, and he ·hated [abhorred; despised; was hostile to] Israel. So he was an ·enemy [adversary] of Israel all the ·time Solomon was alive [L days of Solomon]. Both Rezon and Hadad made trouble for Israel.
26 Jeroboam son of Nebat was one of Solomon’s ·officers [L servants]. He was an Ephraimite from the town of Zeredah, and he was the son of a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam ·turned [rebelled] against the king.
27 This is the ·story [account] of how Jeroboam turned against the king. Solomon was ·filling in the land [building the terraces/Millo; 9:15] and ·repairing [L closed the gap/breach in] the wall of Jerusalem, the city of David, his father. 28 Jeroboam was a ·capable [energetic] man, and Solomon saw that this young man was ·a good worker [industrious]. So Solomon put him over all the ·workers [labor force; or forced labor] from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, who was wearing a new ·coat [cloak], met him on the road. The two men were alone out in ·the country [a field]. 30 Ahijah took his new ·coat [cloak] and tore it into twelve pieces [C representing the original twelve tribes of Israel]. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces of this coat for yourself. The Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear the kingdom away from ·Solomon [L Solomon’s hand] and give you ten tribes. 32 But ·I will allow him to control [L he will have] one tribe. I will do this for the sake of my servant David and for Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 33 I will do this because ·Solomon has [L they have][a] stopped following me and has worshiped the Sidonian goddess Ashtoreth, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god ·Molech [L Milcom]. Solomon has not ·obeyed me [walked in my ways] by doing what ·I said is right [L is right in my sight/eyes] and obeying my laws and commands, as his father David did.
34 “‘But I will not take all the kingdom away from ·Solomon [L his hand]. I will let him rule all ·his life [L the days of his life] ·because [for the sake of] of my servant David, whom I chose, who ·obeyed [observed; kept] all my commands and laws. 35 But I will take the kingdom away from his ·son [L son’s hand], and I will ·allow you to rule over [give you] the ten tribes. 36 I will ·allow Solomon’s son to continue to rule over [L give to his son] one tribe so that David, my servant will always have a ·descendant [L lamp before me; C possibly a metaphor for the reign of a king] in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to ·be worshiped [L put my name]. 37 But I will make you ·rule [reign] over everything you ·want [desire]. You will ·rule [be king] over all of Israel, 38 and I will always be with you if you ·do what I say [L walk in my ways/paths and do what] is right. You must obey all my commands. If you obey my laws and commands as David did, I will be with you. I will ·make your family a lasting family of kings [build you an enduring house/dynasty], as I did for David, and give Israel to you. 39 I will ·punish [afflict; humble] David’s children because of this, but I will not ·punish [afflict; humble] them forever.’”
Solomon’s Death(A)
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he ·ran away [fled] to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, where he stayed until Solomon died.
41 Everything else King Solomon did, and the wisdom he showed, ·is [L is it not …?] written in the book of the ·history [acts] of Solomon. 42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 43 Then he ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors] and was buried in the City of David [C Jerusalem], his father. And his son Rehoboam ·became king [reigned] in his place.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 11:33 they have Greek, Latin, and Syriac copies read “he has.”
1 Kings 11
New American Standard Bible
Solomon Turns from God
11 Now (A)King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations of which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “(B)You shall not [a]associate with them, nor shall they [b]associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away [c]to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 (C)He had seven hundred wives, who were [d]princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. 4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away [e]to follow other gods; and (D)his heart was not [f]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been. 5 For Solomon became a follower of (E)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of [g](F)Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for (G)Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is [h]east of Jerusalem, and for (H)Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon. 8 He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now (I)the Lord was angry with Solomon (J)because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, (K)who had appeared to him twice, 10 and (L)had commanded him regarding this thing, that he was not to follow other gods; but he did not comply with what the Lord had commanded. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since [i]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, (M)I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it in your days, only for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son. 13 Yet (N)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but (O)I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and (P)for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
God Raises Adversaries
14 Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the [j]royal line in Edom. 15 For it came about, (Q)when David was in Edom and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed in battle, and had (R)struck and killed every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled [k]to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy. 18 They set out from Midian and came to (S)Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land. 19 Now Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes gave birth to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21 But (T)when Hadad heard in Egypt that David [l]lay down with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, so that I may go to my own country.” 22 However, Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that you are here, requesting to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”
23 (U)God also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master (V)Hadadezer, king of Zobah. 24 And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, (W)after David killed those of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed [m]there, and reigned in Damascus. 25 So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the harm that Hadad inflicted; and he felt disgust for Israel and reigned over Aram.
26 Then (X)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, (Y)also [n]rebelled against the king. 27 Now this was the reason why he [o]rebelled against the king: (Z)Solomon built the [p]Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when (AA)Solomon saw that the young man was [q]industrious, he appointed him over all the [r]forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that (AB)the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now [s]Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. 30 Then (AC)Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, (AD)I am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes 32 ((AE)but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, (AF)the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have abandoned Me, and (AG)have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, (AH)Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes; 35 but (AI)I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes. 36 But (AJ)to his son I will give one tribe, (AK)so that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, (AL)the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. 37 However I will take you, and you shall reign over all that [t]you desire, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 Then it shall be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by keeping My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then (AM)I will be with you and (AN)build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 So I will oppress the [u]descendants of David for this, but not always.’” 40 Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam set out and fled to Egypt to (AO)Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
The Death of Solomon
41 (AP)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 So (AQ)the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 Then Solomon [v](AR)lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son (AS)Rehoboam reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 11:2 Lit go among
- 1 Kings 11:2 Lit go among
- 1 Kings 11:2 Lit after their
- 1 Kings 11:3 Or women of rank
- 1 Kings 11:4 Lit after other
- 1 Kings 11:4 Lit complete with
- 1 Kings 11:5 In Jer 49:1, 3, Malcam
- 1 Kings 11:7 Lit before
- 1 Kings 11:11 Lit this has happened with you
- 1 Kings 11:14 Lit king’s seed
- 1 Kings 11:17 Lit to go into
- 1 Kings 11:21 I.e., died
- 1 Kings 11:24 Lit in it
- 1 Kings 11:26 Lit lifted up a hand
- 1 Kings 11:27 Lit lifted up a hand
- 1 Kings 11:27 I.e., terraced structure
- 1 Kings 11:28 Lit a performer of work
- 1 Kings 11:28 Lit burden of
- 1 Kings 11:29 Lit he
- 1 Kings 11:37 Lit your soul desires
- 1 Kings 11:39 Lit seed
- 1 Kings 11:43 I.e., died
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