1 Kings 11

Chapter 11

Solomon’s Many Wives

1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites.2 The LORD had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.

3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD.
4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been.5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech,t the detestable god of the Ammonites.

6 In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the LORD’s sight; he refused to follow the LORD completely, as his father, David, had done.
7 On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem,t he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

8 Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.
9 The LORD was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.10 He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the LORD’s command.11 So now the LORD said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants.12 But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son.

13 And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”

Solomon’s Adversaries

14 Then the LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite, a member of Edom’s royal family, to be Solomon’s adversary.15 Years before, David had defeated Edom. Joab, his army commander, had stayed to bury some of the Israelite soldiers who had died in battle. While there, they killed every male in Edom.

16 Joab and the army of Israel had stayed there for six months, killing them.
17 But Hadad and a few of his father’s royal officials escaped and headed for Egypt. (Hadad was just a boy at the time.)18 They set out from Midian and went to Paran, where others joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to Pharaoh, who gave them a home, food, and some land.19 Pharaoh grew very fond of Hadad, and he gave him his wife’s sister in marriage—the sister of Queen Tahpenes.

20 She bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes raised himt in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s own sons.

21 When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David and his commander Joab were both dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me return to my own country.”

22 “Why?” Pharaoh asked him. “What do you lack here that makes you want to go home?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “But even so, please let me return home.”
23 God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada as Solomon’s adversary. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah,24 and had become the leader of a gang of rebels. After David conquered Hadadezer, Rezon and his men fled to Damascus, where he became king.

25 Rezon was Israel’s bitter adversary for the rest of Solomon’s reign, and he made trouble, just as Hadad did. Rezon hated Israel intensely and continued to reign in Aram.

Jeroboam Rebels against Solomon

26 Another rebel leader was Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials. He came from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim, and his mother was Zeruah, a widow.
27 This is the story behind his rebellion. Solomon was rebuilding the supporting terracest and repairing the walls of the city of his father, David.

28 Jeroboam was a very capable young man, and when Solomon saw how industrious he was, he put him in charge of the labor force from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph.
29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in a field,30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you!32 But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

33 For Solomon hast abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my decrees and regulations as David his father did.
34 “‘But I will not take the entire kingdom from Solomon at this time. For the sake of my servant David, the one whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees, I will keep Solomon as leader for the rest of his life.35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten of the tribes to you.36 His son will have one tribe so that the descendants of David my servant will continue to reign, shining like a lamp in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be the place for my name.37 And I will place you on the throne of Israel, and you will rule over all that your heart desires.38 If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey my decrees and commands, as my servant David did, then I will always be with you. I will establish an enduring dynasty for you as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you.

39 Because of Solomon’s sin I will punish the descendants of David—though not forever.’”

40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.

Summary of Solomon’s Reign

41 The rest of the events in Solomon’s reign, including all his deeds and his wisdom, are recorded in The Book of the Acts of Solomon.42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

43 When he died, he was buried in the City of David, named for his father. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.

1 KINGS 11

Solomon Disobeys //the [Lord]

1-2  t The [Lord] did not want the Israelites to worship foreign gods, so he had warned them not to marry anyone who was not from Israel.
Solomon loved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt. But he also loved some women from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and others from Sidon and the land of the Hittites.

3-4 Seven hundred of his wives were daughters of kings, but he also married 300 other women.t
As Solomon got older, some of his wives led him to worship their gods. He wasn't like his father David, who had worshiped only the [Lord] God. 5 Solomon also worshiped Astarte the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon.

6 Solomon's father had obeyed the [Lord] with all his heart, but Solomon disobeyed and did what the [Lord] hated.
7 Solomon built shrines on a hill east of Jerusalem to worship Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Molech the disgusting god of Ammon.

8 In fact, he built a shrine for each of his foreign wives, so all of them could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.
9-10 The [Lord] God of Israel had appeared to Solomon two times and warned him not to worship foreign gods. But Solomon disobeyed and did it anyway. This made the [Lord] very angry,

11 and he said to Solomon:
You did what you wanted and not what I told you to do. Now I'm going to take your kingdom from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 But because David was your father, you will remain king as long as you live. I will wait until your son becomes king, then I will take the kingdom from him.

13 When I do, I will still let him rule one tribe, because I have not forgotten that David was my servant and Jerusalem is my chosen city.

Hadad Becomes an Enemy //of Solomon

14 Hadad was from the royal family of Edom, and here is how the [Lord] made him Solomon's enemy:

15-16 Some time earlier, when David conquered the nation of Edom, t Joab his army commander went there to bury those who had died in battle. Joab and his soldiers stayed in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every man and boy who lived there.
17-19 Hadad was a boy at the time, but he escaped to Midian with some of his father's officials. At Paran some other men joined them, and they went to the king of Egypt. The king liked Hadad and gave him food, some land, and a house, and even let him marry the sister of Queen Tahpenes.

20 Hadad and his wife had a son named Genubath, and the queen let the boy grow up in the palace with her own children.

21 When Hadad heard that David and Joab were dead, he said to the king, “Your Majesty, please let me go back to my own country.”

22 “Why?” asked the king. “Do you want something I haven't given you?”
“No, I just want to go home.”

Rezon Becomes an Enemy //of Solomon

23 Here is how God made Rezon son of Eliada an enemy of Solomon:
Rezon had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah.

24-25 He formed his own small army and became its leader after David had defeated Hadadezer's troops.t Then Rezon and his army went to Damascus, where he became the ruler of Syria and an enemy of Israel.
Both Hadad and Rezon were enemies of Israel while Solomon was king, and they caused him a lot of trouble.

The [Lord] Makes a Promise //to Jeroboam

27 Here is how it happened:
While Solomon's workers were filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalemt and repairing the city walls,

28 Solomon noticed that Jeroboam was a hard worker. So he put Jeroboam in charge of the work force from Manasseh and Ephraim.
29-30 One day when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, he met Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh. No one else was anywhere around. Suddenly, Ahijah took off his new coat and ripped it into twelve pieces.

31 Then he said:
Jeroboam, take ten pieces of this coat and listen to what the [Lord] God of Israel says to you. “Jeroboam, I am the [Lord] God, and I am about to take Solomon's kingdom from him and give you ten tribes to rule.

32 But Solomon will still rule one tribe, t since he is the son of David my servant, and Jerusalem is my chosen city.

33 “Solomon and the Israelites are not like their ancestor David. They will not listen to me, obey me, or do what is right. They have turned from me to worship Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of Ammon.
34 “Solomon is David's son, and David was my chosen leader, who did what I commanded. So I will let Solomon be king until he dies. 35 Then I will give you ten tribes to rule,

36 but Solomon's son will still rule one tribe. This way, my servant David will always have a descendant ruling in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to be worshiped.
37 “You will be king of Israel and will rule every nation you want.

38 I'll help you if you obey me. And if you do what I say, as my servant David did, I will always let someone from your family rule in Israel, just as someone from David's family will always rule in Judah. The nation of Israel will be yours.

39 “I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.”

40 When Solomon learned what the [Lord] had told Jeroboam, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.

Solomon Dies

(2 Chronicles 9.29-31)