1 Kings 11
1 And king Solomon loved many strange women besides the daughter of Pharao, and women of Moab, and of Ammon, and of Edom, and of Sidon, and of the Hethites:
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 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel: You shall not go in unto them, neither shall any of them come in to yours: for they will most certainly turn away your heart to follow their gods. And to these was Solomon joined with a most ardent 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 he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away 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 he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
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 But Solomon worshipped Astarthe the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch 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 that which was net pleasing before the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as David his father.
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 temple for Chamos the idol of Moab, on the hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch the idol of the children 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 did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers, who burnt incense, and offered sacrifice 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 the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was 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 had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow strange gods: but he kept not the things which the Lord commanded him.
11 The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy 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 Nevertheless in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
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, but I will give one tribe to thy 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 And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Adad the Edomite of the king’s seed, in Edom.
Yahweh caused Hadad, from the family of the kings in the Edom people-group, to rebel against Solomon.
15 For when David was in Edom, and Joab the general of the army was gone up to bury them that were slain, and had killed every male in Edom,
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 (For Joab remained there six months with all Israel, till he had slain every male in Edom, )
17 Then Adad fled, he and certain Edomites, of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt: and Adad 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 they arose out of Madian, and came into Pharan, and they took men with them from Pharan, and went into Egypt to Pharao the king of Egypt: who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and assigned him land.
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 Adad found great favour before Pharao, insomuch that he gave him to wife, the own sister of his wife Taphnes the queen.
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 Taphnes bore him his son Genubath, and Taphnes brought him up in the house of Pharao: and Genubath dwelt with Pharao among his children.
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 Adad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the general of the army was dead, he said to Pharao: Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.
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 Pharao said to him: Why, what is wanting to thee with me, that thou seekest to go to thy own country? But he answered: Nothing: yet I beseech thee to let me go.
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 God also raised up against him an adversary, Razon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Adarezer the king of Soba:
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 men against him, and he became a captain of robbers, when David slew them of Soba: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt there, and they made him king in 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, all the days of Solomon: and this is the evil of Adad, and 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 Jeroboam also the son of Nabat an Ephrathite of Sareda, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was named Sarua, a widow woman, 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 cause of his rebellion against him, for Solomon built Mello, and filled up the breach of 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 And Jeroboam was a valiant and mighty man: and Solomon seeing him a young man ingenious and industrious, made him chief over the tributes of all the 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 So it came to paste at that time, that Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahias the Silonite, clad with a new garment, found him in the way: and they two were alone in the held.
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 Ahias taking his new garment, wherewith he was clad, divided it into twelve parts:
which he took off and tore into twelve pieces.
31 And he said to Jeroboam: Take to thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Behold I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee 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 But one tribe shall remain to him for the sake of my servant David, and 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 Because he hath forsaken me, and hath adored Astarthe the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chamos the god of Moab, and Moloch the god of the children of Ammon: and hath not walked in my ways, to do justice before me, and to keep my precepts, and judgments as did David his father.
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 Yet I will not take away all the kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant’s sake, 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 out of his son’s hand and will give thee ten tribes:
But I will take the [other] ten tribes of his kingdom and give them to you [to rule].
36 And to his son I will give one tribe, that there may remain a lamp for my servant David before me always in Jerusalem the city which I have chosen, that my name might 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 thee, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul desireth, and thou shalt 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 If then thou wilt hearken to all that I shall command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right before me, keeping my commandments and my precepts, as David my servant did: I will be with thee, and will build thee up a faithful house, as I built a house for David, and I will deliver Israel to thee:
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 for this afflict the seed of David, but yet not for ever.
Because of [Solomon’s sins], I will punish David’s descendants, but I will not continue to punish them forever.’”
40 Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose, and fled into Egypt to Sesac the king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till 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 And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom: behold they 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 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 was buried in the city of David his father, and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.
Then Solomon died [EUP], and was buried in the [part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. And his son Rehoboam became the king.
