1 Kings 11
1 And king Solomon hath loved many strange women, and the daughter of Pharaoh, females of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Zidon, [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 of the nations of which Jehovah said unto the sons of Israel, 'Ye do not go in to them, and they do not go in to you; surely they turn aside your heart after their gods;' to them hath Solomon cleaved for 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 hath women, princesses, seven hundred, and concubines three hundred; and his wives turn 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 it cometh to pass, at the time of the old age of Solomon, his wives have turned aside his heart after other gods, and his heart hath not been perfect with Jehovah 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 goeth after Ashtoreth god[dess] 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 doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and hath not been fully after Jehovah, 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 doth Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [is] on the front of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination 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 so he hath done for all his strange women, who are perfuming and sacrificing 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 Jehovah sheweth Himself angry with Solomon, for his heart hath turned aside from Jehovah, 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 given a charge unto him concerning this thing, not to go after other gods; and he hath not kept that which Jehovah commanded,
11 and Jehovah saith to Solomon, 'Because that this hath been with thee, and thou hast not kept My covenant and My statutes that I charged upon thee, I surely rend the kingdom from thee, and have given 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 'Only, in thy days I do it not, for the sake of David thy father; out of the hand of thy son 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 only all the kingdom I do not rend away; one tribe I give to thy son, for the sake of David My servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem, that 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 Jehovah raiseth up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; of the seed of the king [is] he in Edom;
Yahweh caused Hadad, from the family of the kings in the Edom people-group, to rebel against Solomon.
15 and it cometh to pass, in David's being with Edom, in the going up of Joab head of the host to bury the slain, that he smiteth 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 abide there, and all Israel, till the cutting off of every male in Edom —
17 and Hadad fleeth, he and certain Edomites, of the servants of his father, with him, to go in to Egypt, and Hadad [is] a little youth,
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 rise out of Midian, and come into Paran, and take men with them out of Paran, and come in to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he giveth to him a house, and bread hath commanded for him, and land hath given 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 findeth grace in the eyes of Pharaoh exceedingly, and he giveth to him a wife, the sister of his own wife, sister of Tahpenes the mistress;
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 beareth to him Genubath his son, and Tahpenes weaneth him within the house of Pharaoh, and Genubath is in the house of Pharaoh in the midst of 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 Hadad hath heard in Egypt that David hath lain with his fathers, and that Joab head of the host is dead, and Hadad saith unto Pharaoh, 'Send me away, and I go unto my 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 saith to him, 'But, what art thou lacking with me, that lo, thou art seeking to go unto thine own land?' and he saith, 'Nay, but thou dost certainly send me 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 raiseth to him an adversary, Rezon son of Eliadah, who hath fled from Hadadezer 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 gathereth unto himself men, and is head of a troop in David's slaying them, and they go to Damascus, and dwell in it, and reign 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 is an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, (besides the evil that Hadad [did]), and he cutteth off in Israel, and reigneth over Aram.
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 And Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda — the name of whose mother [is] Zeruah, a widow woman — servant to Solomon, he also lifteth up a 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 thing [for] which he lifted up a hand against the king: Solomon built Millo — he shut 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 Jeroboam [is] mighty in valour, and Solomon seeth the young man that he is doing business, and appointeth him over all the burden 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 cometh to pass, at that time, that Jeroboam hath gone out from Jerusalem, and Ahijah the Shilonite, the prophet, findeth him in the way, and he is covering himself with a new garment; and both of them [are] by themselves in a 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 Ahijah layeth hold on the new garment that [is] on him, and rendeth it — twelve pieces,
which he took off and tore into twelve pieces.
31 and saith to Jeroboam, 'Take to thee ten pieces, for thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, lo, I am rending the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and have given 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 and the one tribe he hath for My servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have fixed on, 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 they have forsaken Me, and bow themselves to Ashtoreth, god[dess] of the Zidonians, to Chemosh god of Moab, and to Milcom god of the sons of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways, to do that which [is] right in Mine eyes, and My statutes and My judgments, 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 'And I do not take the whole of the kingdom out of his hand, for prince I make him all days of his life, for the sake of David My servant whom I chose, who kept My commands 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 and I have taken the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and given it to thee — the 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 give one tribe, for there being a lamp to David My servant all the days before Me in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen to Myself 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 'And thee I take, and thou hast reigned over all that thy soul desireth, and thou hast been 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 hath been, if thou dost hear all that I command thee, and hast walked in My ways, and done that which is right in Mine eyes, to keep My statutes and My commands, as did David My servant, that I have been with thee, and have built for thee a stedfast house, as I built for David, and have given to thee Israel,
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 humble the seed of David for this; only, not all the days.'
Because of [Solomon’s sins], I will punish David’s descendants, but I will not continue to punish them forever.’”
40 And Solomon seeketh to put Jeroboam to death, and Jeroboam riseth and fleeth to Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and he is 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 matters of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written on the book of the matters 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 hath reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel [are] forty years,
He was the king in Jerusalem who ruled over all of Israel for 40 years.
43 and Solomon lieth with his fathers, and is buried in the city of David his father, and reign doth Rehoboam his son 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.
