Solomon’s Enemies

¹⁴ After this, the Lord allowed^[a] Hadad the Edomite to oppose Solomon. He was part of the royal line of Edom. ¹⁵ During David’s military campaign against Edom, when his army commander Joab had gone out to bury the dead, he killed every male in Edom. ¹⁶ Joab had his entire army of Israel stay there for six months until he had eliminated every male in Edom.

¹⁷ But Hadad escaped to Egypt in the company of some of his father’s Edomite servants, while Hadad was still a little child. ¹⁸ They left Midian, arrived in Paran, and left from Paran with some men and traveled on to Egypt, where Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gave him a house to live in, assigned a food allotment to him, and gave him some land. ¹⁹ Hadad won the affection of the Pharaoh, who gave permission for Hadad to marry the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ Queen Tahpenes’ sister bore him his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s palace while Genubath lived in Pharaoh’s palace with the Pharaoh’s own sons.

²¹ Later on, Hadad learned in Egypt that David had been buried^[b] with his ancestors and that Joab the army commander was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Please send me out so I can go back to my own land.”

²² Pharaoh asked him, “But have you lacked anything from me that would make you want to go back to your own country?”

“No,” he answered, “but I still really must leave.”

²³ God also raised up Eliada’s son Rezon, who had escaped from his master King Hadadezer of Zobah. ²⁴ He raised an army and commanded a gang of raiders after David had eliminated those who lived in Zobah. Rezon and his army^[c] moved to Damascus, remained there, and Rezon ruled from Damascus. ²⁵ He opposed Israel during Solomon’s entire reign, in addition to all of the evil things that Hadad did. Rezon^[d] also hated Israel while he reigned over Aram.