1 Kings 11

1 But king Solomon loved many foreign women, including the daughter of Pharaoh, and women of Moab, and of Ammon, and of Idumea, and of Sidon, and of the Hittites.

King Solomon married many foreign women. First he married the daughter of the king of Egypt. He also married women from the Heth people-group and from the Moab, Ammon, and Edom people-groups, and from Sidon [city].

2 These were of the nations about whom the Lord said to the sons of Israel: “You shall not enter to them, and none of them shall enter to anyone of yours. For they will most certainly turn aside your hearts, so that you follow their gods.” And yet, to these Solomon was joined with a greatly enflamed love.

He married them even though Yahweh had commanded the Israeli people, “Do not marry people from those areas, because if you do that, they will surely persuade you [IDM] to worship the gods that they worship!”

3 And for him, there were seven hundred wives, as if they were queens, and three hundred concubines. And the women turned aside his heart.

Solomon married 700 women who were kings’ daughters. He also had 300 wives who were his slaves/servants. And his wives caused him to turn away [from worshiping God].

4 And when now he was old, his heart was perverted by the women, so that he followed strange gods. And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

By the time that Solomon became old, they had persuaded him to worship the gods from their countries. He was not completely dedicated/committed to Yahweh his God like his father [SYN] David had been.

5 For Solomon worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites.

Solomon worshiped Astarte, the goddess that the people of Sidon [worshiped], and he worshiped Molech, the disgusting god that the Ammon people-group [worshiped].

6 And Solomon did what was not pleasing in the sight of the Lord. And he did not continue to follow the Lord, as his father David did.

That’s how Solomon did things that Yahweh said were evil. He did not conduct his life like his father David had done; he did not conduct his life as Yahweh wanted him to.

7 Then Solomon built a shrine for Chemosh, the idol of Moab, on the mount that is opposite Jerusalem, and for Milcom, the idol of the sons of Ammon.

On the hill to the east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god that the Moab people-group [worshiped], and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god that the Ammon people-group [worshiped].

8 And he acted in this manner for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and immolating to their gods.

He also built places where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to the gods from their own countries.

9 And so, the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his mind had been turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

Even though Yahweh, the God whom the Israelis [worshiped], had appeared to Solomon two times, and had commanded him to not worship foreign gods, Solomon refused to obey Yahweh. So Yahweh was angry with Solomon,

10 and who had instructed him about this matter, lest he follow strange gods. But he did not observe what the Lord commanded to him.

11 And so, the Lord said to Solomon: “Because you have this with you, and because you have not kept my covenant and my precepts, which I commanded to you, I will tear apart your kingdom, and I will give it to your servant.

and said to him, “You have chosen to break the agreement that I made with you and to disobey what I commanded you. So I am surely not going to allow you to rule all of your kingdom. I am going to allow one of your officials to rule it.

12 Yet truly, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David. From the hand of your son, I will tear it away.

But, because of [what I promised] your father David, I will allow you to rule all your kingdom while you are still [living]. [After you die], I will not allow your son to rule the whole kingdom [MTY].

13 Neither will I take away the whole kingdom. Instead, I will grant one tribe to your son, for the sake of David, my servant, and Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

But I will not take all the kingdom away from him. Instead, I will allow him to rule one tribe [besides the tribe of Judah], because of what I promised to David, who served me [well], and because [I want David’s descendants to rule in] Jerusalem, [where my temple is located].”

14 Then the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad of Idumea, from an offspring of the king who was in Idumea.

Yahweh caused Hadad, from the family of the kings in the Edom people-group, to rebel against Solomon.

15 For when David was in Idumea, Joab, the leader of the military, had ascended to bury those who had been killed, and he had killed every male in Idumea.

What happened was that previously, when David’s [army] had conquered the Edom people-group, his army commander Joab had gone there to [help] bury the [Israeli soldiers] who had been killed [in the battle]. Joab and his army remained in the Edom area for six months, and during that time they killed all the males of that area.

16 And Joab remained in that place for six months, with all of Israel, until he had put to death every male in Idumea.

17 Then Hadad fled, he and some men of Idumea from among the servants of his father with him, so that he might enter into Egypt. But Hadad was then a little boy.

Hadad was a young child [at that time], and he had escaped to Egypt, along with some of his father’s servants from the Edom area.

18 And when they had risen up from Midian, they went into Paran, and they took with them some men from Paran. And they went into Egypt, to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And he gave him a house, and he appointed food for him, and he assigned land to him.

They [went to the] Midian [region], and then they went to [the desert area at] Paran. Some other men joined them there. Then they all traveled to Egypt and went to see the king of Egypt. The king gave Hadad some land and ordered his servants to give him some food regularly.

19 And Hadad found great favor before Pharaoh, so much so that he gave to him as wife, the sister of his own wife, queen Tahpenes.

The king liked Hadad. As a result he gave him the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, to be Hadad’s wife.

20 And the sister of Tahpenes bore to him a son, Genubath. And Tahpenes raised him in the house of Pharaoh. And Genubath was living with Pharaoh and his sons.

Later Hadad’s wife gave birth to a son named Genubath. The sister of Tahpenes (raised him/brought him up) in the palace, where he lived with the king’s sons.

21 And when Hadad had heard in Egypt that David had slept with his fathers, and that Joab, the leader of the military, had died, he said to Pharaoh, “Release me, so that I may go to my own land.”

While Hadad was in Egypt, he heard that David had died [EUP], and that Joab, the commander of David’s army, was also dead. So he said to the king of Egypt, “Please allow me to return to my own country.”

22 And Pharaoh said to him, “But what is lacking to you with me, so that you would seek to go to your own land?” But he responded: “Nothing. Yet I beg you that you may release me.”

But the king said to him, “Why do you want to go back to your country? Is there something that you lack that you want me to give to you?” Hadad replied, “No, but please just allow me to go.” [So the king allowed him to leave, and he returned to his own country and became the king of Edom].

23 Also, God raised up against him an adversary, Rezon, the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, Hadad-Ezer, the king of Zobah.

God also caused another man named Rezon, the son of Eliada, to rebel against Solomon. Rezon had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of [the] Zobah [area north of Damascus].

24 And he gathered together men against him. And when David put those of Zobah to death, he became a leader of robbers. And they went away to Damascus, and they lived there. And they appointed him to be king of Damascus.

Rezon then became the leader of a group of outlaws. That happened after David’s [army had defeated Hadadezer and] had [also] killed all [his soldiers]. Rezon and his men went to Damascus and started to live there, and [the people there] appointed him to be their king.

25 And he was an adversary to Israel during all the days of Solomon. And such is the evil of Hadad and of his hatred against Israel. And he reigned in Syria.

All during the time that Solomon was alive, while Rezon was ruling [not only Damascus but all of] Syria, he was an enemy of Israel and caused trouble for Israel like Hadad did.

26 Also, there was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was named Zeruah, a widowed woman. He lifted up his hand against the king.

Another man who rebelled against [IDM] Solomon was one of his officials named Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. He was from Zeredah [town] in [the region where the tribe of] Ephraim [lives]. His mother was a widow named Zeruah.

27 And this is the reason for his rebellion against him: that Solomon built up Millo, and that he filled in a deep hole in the city of David, his father.

This is what happened. Solomon’s workers were filling in the land/ground on the east side of Jerusalem and repairing the walls [around the city].

28 Now Jeroboam was a valiant and powerful man. And perceiving the young man to be ingenious and industrious, Solomon appointed him as first ruler over the tributes of the entire house of Joseph.

Jeroboam was a very capable young man. So, when Solomon saw that he worked very hard, he appointed him to supervise all the men who were forced to work in the areas where the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim live.

29 And it happened, in that time, that Jeroboam departed from Jerusalem. And the prophet Ahijah, the Shilonite, wearing a new cloak, found him on the way. And the two were alone in the field.

One day when Jeroboam was walking alone along the road outside of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh [city] met him. Ahijah was wearing a new robe,

30 And taking his new cloak, with which he was covered, Ahijah tore it into twelve parts.

which he took off and tore into twelve pieces.

31 And he said to Jeroboam: “Take ten pieces for yourself. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten tribes.

He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces for yourself, because Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says to you, ‘I am going to tear the kingdom from Solomon, and I am going to enable you to become the ruler of ten of the tribes [of Israel].

32 Yet one tribe shall remain with him, for the sake of my servant, David, as well as Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

Solomon’s [descendants] will still rule one tribe (OR, two tribes), because of [what I promised] David, a man who served me [very well], and because of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen from all the cities in Israel [to be the city where my people will worship me].

33 For he has abandoned me, and he has adored Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chemosh, the god of Moab, and Milcom, the god of the sons of Ammon. And he has not walked in my ways, so that he would do justice before me, and so that he would carry out my precepts and judgments, as his father David did.

I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has been worshiping Astarte, the goddess that the people of Sidon worship, Chemosh, the god that the Moab people-group worship, and Milcom, the god that the Ammon people-group worship. He has not conducted his life as I wanted him to. He has not obeyed my statutes and laws, like his father David did.

34 But I will not take the entire kingdom from his hand. Instead, I will establish him as the ruler during all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my precepts.

‘But I will not take the entire kingdom away from him. I will enable him to rule [Judah] all during the years that he is alive. I will do that because of [what I promised to do for] David, whom I chose [to be the king], and who served me [well], and who always obeyed my commandments and laws.

35 But I will take away the kingdom from the hand of his son, and I will give to you ten tribes.

But I will take the [other] ten tribes of his kingdom and give them to you [to rule].

36 Then, to his son, I will give one tribe, so that there may remain a lamp for my servant David before me, for all days, in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen, so that my name would be there.

I will allow Solomon’s son to rule one tribe, in order that descendants [MET] of David will always rule in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen to be the place where [my people worship] me [MTY].

37 And I will take you up, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires. And you shall be king over Israel.

I will enable you to become the king of Israel, and you will rule over all the territory that you want to.

38 Therefore, if you will listen to all that I will command you, and if you will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight, keeping my commandments and my precepts, just as my servant David did, then I will be with you, and I will build for you a faithful house, in the way that I built a house for David, and I will deliver Israel to you.

If you obey all that I command you to do, and conduct your life as I want you to, and if you do what I say is right by obeying my laws and commandments like David did, I will help you. I will make sure that your descendants will rule after you [die], like I [promised to] do for David.

39 And I will afflict the offspring of David over this, but truly not for all days.’”

Because of [Solomon’s sins], I will punish David’s descendants, but I will not continue to punish them forever.’”

40 Therefore, Solomon wanted to kill Jeroboam. But he rose up and fled away to Egypt, to Shishak, the king of Egypt. And he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Solomon [found out what Ahijah told Jeroboam], so he tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam escaped and went to Egypt. He went to Shishak, the king of Egypt, and stayed with him until after Solomon died.

41 Now the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom: behold, these are all written in the book of the words of the days of Solomon.

[A record of] all the other things that Solomon did, and all the wise things that he [said and wrote], was written in the Book Telling what Solomon Did.

42 And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all of Israel, were forty years.

He was the king in Jerusalem who ruled over all of Israel for 40 years.

43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David, his father. And Rehoboam, his son, reigned in his place.

Then Solomon died [EUP], and was buried in the [part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. And his son Rehoboam became the king.