1 Kings 11

1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, beside the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, 'Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and 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 From the nations concerning which the Lord had said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in among them, nor shall they come in among you; surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: unto these Solomon did cleave to love them.

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, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives 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 it came to pass, at the time that Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not undivided with the Lord his God, like 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 And Solomon went after 'Ashtoreth the divinity of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination 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 is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, like 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 did Solomon build a high-place for Kemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination 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 so did he for all his strange wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto 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 heart was turned away from the Lord the God of Israel, who had appeared unto 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 go after other gods; but he did not keep that which the Lord had commanded.

11 And the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is in thy mind, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I commanded concerning thee: I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, 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 will I not do it, for the sake of David thy father; [but] out of the hand of thy son will I rend it.

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 Still all the kingdom will I not rend away: one tribe will I give to thy son on account of David my servant, and on account of 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 stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was 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 It came to pass, namely, when David was in Edom, when Joab the captain of the army was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten 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 six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom: )

17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; but Hadad was then yet a young lad.

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 from Midian, and came to Paran; and they took [some] men with them from Paran, and came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt; who gave him a house, and decreed him a support, and gave 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 Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so that he gave him for wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Thachpeness 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 Thachpeness bore him Genubath his son, whom Thachpeness brought up in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath remained in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh.

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 heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the army was dead: Hadad said to Pharaoh, Dismiss me, 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 Then said Pharaoh unto him, But what dost thou lack with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thy own country? And he answered, Nothing: nevertheless thou must let me go away.

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 And God stirred him up [another] adversary, Rezon the son of Elyada', who had fled from Hadad'ezer the king of Zobah his lord;

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 around him some men, and became captain over a band, when David slew those [of Zobah]; and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned 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, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over 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 Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah, the name of whose mother was Zeru'ah, a widow woman, was a servant of Solomon, and 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 was the occasion that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built up the Millo, and closed 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 the man Jerobo'am was a mighty man of valor: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was [also] an industrious worker, he appointed him over all the charge of 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 And it came to pass at that time when Jerobo'am went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Achiyah the Shilonite found him on the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and these two were alone by themselves 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 Achiyah caught hold of the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces;

which he took off and tore into twelve pieces.

31 And he said to Jerobo'am, Take thee ten pieces; for thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give to thee the 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 the one tribe shall remain for him, on account of my servant David, and on account of 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 the cause that they have forsaken me, and have bowed down to 'Ashtoreth the divinity of the Zidonians, to Kemosh the god of Moab, and to Milcom the god of the children of 'Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do what is right in my eyes, and my statutes and my ordinances, like 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 Nevertheless will I not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will let him remain prince all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;

‘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 the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and I will give it unto thee, even the ten tribes.

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

36 And unto his son will I give one tribe; so that there may remain a government for David my servant at all times before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for me, to put my name 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 But thee will I take, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul may long for; 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 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I shall command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did: that I will be with thee, and build thee a permanent house, as I have built for David, and I will give Israel unto 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 afflict the seed of David for this; but not for all times.

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

40 Solomon thereupon sought to put Jerobo'am to death; but Jerobo'am arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak the king of Egypt, and remained 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 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did and his wisdom, behold, they are written in the book of the history 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 Rehobo'am his son became king 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.