Day 426 of 1461 · 2028-03-01 · 21 verses
1 Kings 11:23–43
Rezon’s Hostility
John Gill · 11:23
And God stirred him up another adversary,.... One from the north, as the other was from the south: Rezon, the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah: when David fought with him; and this man seeing the battle go against his master, and that he was like to be worsted, deserted him and fled, see 2 Samuel 8:3.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
Matthew Henry · 11:14–25
While Solomon kept closely to God and to his duty there was no adversary nor evil occurrent (Kg1 5:4), nothing to create him any disturbance or uneasiness in the least; but here we have an account of two adversaries that appeared against him, inconsiderable, and that could not have done any thing worth taking notice of if Solomon had not first made God his enemy. What hurt could Hadad or Rezon have done to so great and powerful a king as Solomon was if he had not, by sin, made himself mean and weak? And then those little people menace and insult him. If God be on our side, we need not fear the greatest adversary; but, if he be against us, he can made us fear the least, and the very grasshopper shall be a burden. Observe, I. Both these adversaries God stirred up, Kg1 11:14, Kg1 11:23.…
Read the full note
Though they themselves were moved by principles of ambition or revenge, God made use of them to serve his design of correcting Solomon. The principal judgment threatened was deferred, namely, the rending of the kingdom from him, but he himself was made to fee the smart of the rod, for his greater humiliation. Note, Whoever are, in any way, adversaries to us, we must take notice of the hand of God stirring them up to be so, as he bade Shimei curse David; we must look through the instruments of our trouble to the author of it and hear the Lord's controversy in it. II. Both these adversaries had the origin of their enmity to Solomon and Israel laid in David's time, and in his conquests of their respective countries, Kg1 11:15, Kg1 11:24. Solomon had the benefit and advantage of his father's successes both in the enlargement of his dominion and the increase of his treasure, and would never have known any thing but the benefit of them if he had kept closely to God; but now he finds evils to balance the advantages, and that David had made himself enemies, who were thorns in his sides. Those that are too free in giving provocation ought to consider that perhaps it may be remembered in time to come and returned with interest to theirs after them; having so few friends in this world, it is our wisdom not to make ourselves more enemies than we needs must. 1. Hadad, an Edomite, was an adversary to Solomon. We are not told what he did against him, nor which way he gave him disturbance, only, in general, that he was an adversary to him: but we are told, (1.) What induced him to bear Solomon a grudge. David had conquered Edom, Sa2 8:14. Joab put all the males to the sword, Kg1 11:15, Kg1 11:16. A terrible execution he made, avenging on Edom their old enmity to Israel, yet perhaps with too great a severity. From this general slaughter, while Joab was burying the slain (for he left not any alive of their own people to bury them, and buried they must be, or they would be an annoyance to the country, Eze 39:12), Hadad, a branch of the royal family, then a little child, was taken and preserved by some of the king's servants, and conveyed to Egypt, Kg1 11:17. They halted by the way, in Midian first, and then in Paran, where they furnished themselves with men, not to fight for them or force their passage, but to attend them, that their young master might go into Egypt with an equipage agreeable to his quality. There he was kindly sheltered and entertained by Pharaoh, as a distressed prince, as well provided for, and so recommended himself that, in process of time, he married the queen's sister (Kg1 11:19), and by her had a child, which the queen herself conceived such a kindness for that she brought him up in Pharaoh's house, among the king's children. (2.) What enabled him to do Solomon a mischief. Upon the death of David and Joab, he returned to his own country, in which, it should seem, he settled and remained quiet while Solomon continued wise and watchful for the public good, but from which he had opportunity of making inroads upon Israel when Solomon, having sinned away his wisdom as Samson did his strength (and in the same way), grew careless of public affairs, was off his guard himself, and had forfeited the divine protection. What vexation Hadad gave to Solomon we are not here told, but only how loth Pharaoh was to part with him and how earnestly he solicited his stay (Kg1 11:22): What hast thou lacked with me? "Nothing," says Hadad; "but let me go to my own country, my native air, my native soil." Peter Martyr has a pious reflection upon this: "Heaven is our home, and we ought to keep up a holy affection to that, and desire towards it, even when the world, the place of our banishment, smiles most upon us." Does it ask, What have you lacked, that you are so willing to be gone? We may answer, "Nothing that the world can do for us; but still let us go thither, where our hope, and honour, and treasure are." 2. Rezon, a Syrian, was another adversary to Solomon. When David conquered the Syrians, he headed the remains, lived at large by spoil and rapine, till Solomon grew careless, and then he got possession of Damascus, reigned there (Kg1 11:24) and over the country about (Kg1 11:25), and he created troubles to Israel, probably in conjunction with Hadad, all the days of Solomon (namely, after his apostasy), or he was an enemy to Israel during all Solomon's reign, and upon all occasions vented his then impotent malice against them, but till Solomon's revolt, when his defence had departed from him, he could not do them any mischief. It is said of him that he abhorred Israel. Other princes loved and admired Israel and Solomon, and courted their friendship, but here was one that abhorred them. The greatest and best of princes and people, however much they may in general be respected, will yet perhaps be hated and abhorred by some.
Source · CC0-1.0 / Public Domain
More notes on this section (2)
John Gill · 11:24
Show note
And he gathered men unto him,.... Perhaps some of the scattered forces of his master: and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah; some that escaped enlisted under this man, and lived by plunder the remainder of David's reign, and so in the reign of Solomon unto his old age, when his heart was turned away from God to idols, by his wives: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus; Rezon and his men went thither, not in David's time, for he put a garrison there, 2 Samuel 8:6 but towards the close of Solomon's days, and when Hadad set up in Edom, which gave him the hint to do the same at Damascus, of which he became king, and was the founder of that kingdom; after him there was a long race of kings there.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:25
Show note
And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon,.... Not all the days of his life, see 1 Kings 5:4, but all his days, from his first going into idolatry, to the end of his life: beside the mischief that Hadad did; and which, whatever it was, was not done till this time; for either, when he got leave from Pharaoh to go into his country, he lay hid there, waiting an opportunity to seize upon it; or by means of Pharaoh he got himself to be king of it, through the permission of Solomon, paying a tribute to him; but when Solomon was grown old, he revolted and refused to pay it, and rebelled against him, and gave him much trouble: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria; not Hadad, but Rezon; he had an aversion to them, was a thorn in their side, and gave them much trouble, as well as had them in contempt, and bid them defiance, having made himself not only master of Damascus, but of all Syria.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
Jeroboam’s Rebellion
Matthew Henry · 11:26–40
We have here the first mention of that infamous name Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that made Israel to sin; he is here brought upon the stage as an adversary to Solomon, whom God had expressly told (Kg1 11:11) that he would give the greatest part of his kingdom to his servant, and Jeroboam was the man. We have here an account, I. Of his extraction, Kg1 11:26. He was of the tribe of Ephraim, he next in honour to Judah. His mother was a widow, to whom Providence had made up the loss of a husband in a son that was active and ingenious, and (we may suppose) a great support and comfort to her. II. Of his elevation. It was Solomon's wisdom, when he had work to do, to employ proper persons in it.…
Read the full note
He observed Jeroboam to be a very industrious young man, one that minded his business, took a pleasure in it, and did it with all his might, and therefore he gradually advanced him, till at length he made him receiver-general for the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, or perhaps put him into an office equivalent to that of lord-lieutenant of those two counties, for he was ruler of the burden, or tribute, that is, either of the taxes or of the militia of the house of Joseph. Note, Industry is the way to preferment. Seest thou a man diligent in his business, that will take care and pains, and go through with it? he shall stand before kings, and not always be on the level with mean men. Observe a difference between David, and both his predecessor and his successor: when Saul saw a valiant man he took him to himself (Sa1 14:52); when Solomon saw an industrious man he preferred him; but David's eyes were upon the faithful in the land, that they might dwell with him: if he saw a godly man, he preferred him, for he was a man after God's own heart, whose countenance beholds the upright. III. Of his designation to the government of the ten tribes after the death of Solomon. Some think he was himself plotting against Solomon, and contriving to rise to the throne, that he was turbulent and aspiring. The Jews say that when he was employed by Solomon in building Millo he took opportunities of reflecting upon Solomon as oppressive to his people, and suggesting that which would alienate them from his government. It is not indeed probable that he should say much to that purport, for Solomon would have got notice of it, and it would have hindered his preferment; but it is plainly intimated that he had it in his thoughts, for the prophet tells him (Kg1 11:37), Thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth. But this was the cause, or rather this was the story, of the lifting up of his hand against the king: Solomon made him ruler over the tribes of Joseph, and, as he was going to take possession of his government, he was told by a prophet in God's name that he should be king, which emboldened him to aim high, and in some instances to oppose the king and give him vexation. 1. The prophet by whom this message was sent was Ahijah of Shiloh; we shall read of him again, Kg1 14:2. It seems, Shiloh was not so perfectly forsaken and forgotten of God but that, in remembrance of the former days, it was blessed with a prophet. He delivered his message to Jeroboam in the way, his servants being probably ordered to retire, as in a like case (Sa1 9:27), when Samuel delivered his message to Saul. God's word was not the less sacred and sure for being delivered to him thus obscurely, under a hedge it may be. 2. The sign by which it was represented to him was the rending of a garment into twelve pieces, and giving him ten, Kg1 11:30, Kg1 11:31. It is not certain whether the garment was Jeroboam's, as is commonly taken for granted, or Ahijah's, which is more probable: He (that is, the prophet) had clad himself with a new garment, on purpose that he might with it give him a sign. The rending of the kingdom from Saul was signified by the rending of Samuel's mantle, not Saul's, Sa1 15:27, Sa1 15:28. And it was more significant to give Jeroboam ten pieces of that which was not his own before than of that which was. The prophets, both true and false, used such signs, even in the New Testament, as Agabus, Act 21:10, Act 21:11. 3. The message itself, which is very particular, (1.) He assures him that he shall be king over ten of the twelve tribes of Israel, Kg1 11:31. The meanness of his extraction and employment shall be no hindrance to his advancement, when the God of Israel says (by whom kings reign), I will give ten tribes unto thee. (2.) He tells him the reason; not for his good character or deserts, but for the chastising of Solomon's apostasy: "Because he, and his family, and many of his people with him, have forsaken me, and worshipped other gods," Kg1 11:33. It was because they had done ill, not because he was likely to do much better. Thus Israel must know that it is not for their righteousness that they are made masters of Canaan, but for the wickedness of the Canaanites, Deu 9:4. Jeroboam did not deserve so good a post, but Israel deserved so bad a prince. In telling him that the reason why he rent the kingdom from the house of Solomon was because they had forsaken God, he warns him to take heed of sinning away his preferment in like manner. (3.) He limits his expectations to the ten tribes only, and to them in reversion after the death of Solomon, lest he should aim at the whole and give immediate disturbance to Solomon's government. He is here told, [1.] That two tribes (called here one tribe, because little Benjamin was in a manner lost in the thousands of Judah) should remain sure to the house of David, and he must never make any attempt upon them: He shall have one tribe (Kg1 11:32), and again (Kg1 11:36), That David may have a lamp, that is, a shining name and memory (Psa 132:17), and his family, as a royal family, may not be extinct. He must not think that David was rejected, as Saul was. No, God would not take his loving-kindness from him, as he did from Saul. The house of David must be supported and kept in reputation, for all this, because out of it the Messiah must arise. Destroy it not, for that blessing is in it. [2.] That Solomon must keep possession during his life, Kg1 11:34, Kg1 11:35. Jeroboam therefore must not offer to dethrone him, but wait with patience till his day shall come to fall. Solomon shall be prince, all the days of his life, not for his own sake (he had forfeited his crown to the justice of God), but for David my servant's sake, because he kept my commandments. Children that do not tread in their parents' steps yet often fare the better in this world for their good parents' piety. (4.) He gives him to understand that he will be upon his good behaviour. The grant of the crown must run quamdiu se bene gesserit - during good behaviour. "If thou wilt do what is right in my sight, I will build thee a sure house, and not otherwise" (Kg1 11:38), intimating that, if he forsook God, even his advancement to the throne would in time lay his family in the dust; whereas the seed of David, though afflicted, should not be afflicted for ever (Kg1 11:39), but should flourish again, as it did in many of the illustrious kings of Judah, who reigned in glory when Jeroboam's family was extirpated. IV. Jeroboam's flight into Egypt, Kg1 11:40. In some way or other Solomon came to know of all this, probably from Jeroboam's own talk of it; he could not conceal it as Saul did, nor keep his own counsel; if he had, he might have staid in his country, and been preparing there for his future advancement; but letting it be known, 1. Solomon foolishly sought to kill his successor. Had not he taught others that, whatever devices are in men's hearts, the counsel of the Lord shall stand? And yet does he himself think to defeat that counsel? 2. Jeroboam prudently withdrew into Egypt. Though God's promise would have secured him any where, yet he would use means for his own preservation, and was content to live in exile and obscurity for a while, being sure of a kingdom at last. And shall not we be so, who have a better kingdom in reserve?
Source · CC0-1.0 / Public Domain
Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 11:26
Jeroboam--This was an internal enemy of a still more formidable character. He was a young man of talent and energy, who, having been appointed by Solomon superintendent of the engineering works projected around Jerusalem, had risen into public notice, and on being informed by a very significant act of the prophet Ahijah of the royal destiny which, by divine appointment, awaited him, his mind took a new turn.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
More notes on this section (17)
Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 11:29
Show note
clad--rather, "wrapped up." The meaning is, "Ahijah, the Shilonite, the prophet, went and took a fit station in the way; and, in order that he might not be known, he wrapped himself up, so as closely to conceal himself, in a new garment, a surtout, which he afterwards tore in twelve pieces." Notwithstanding this privacy, the story, and the prediction connected with it [Kg1 11:30-39], probably reached the king's ears; and Jeroboam became a marked man [Kg1 11:40]. His aspiring ambition, impatient for the death of Solomon, led him to form plots and conspiracies, in consequence of which he was compelled to flee to Egypt. Though chosen of God, he would not wait the course of God's providence, and therefore incurred the penalty of death by his criminal rebellion. The heavy exactions and compulsory labor (Kg1 11:28) which Solomon latterly imposed upon his subjects, when his foreign resources began to fail, had prepared the greater part of the kingdom for a revolt under so popular a demagogue as Jeroboam.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 11:40
Show note
Shishak--He harbored and encouraged the rebellious refugee, and was of a different dynasty from the father-in-law of Solomon. Next: 1 Kings Chapter 12
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:26
Show note
And Jeroboam the son of Nebat,.... According to some Jewish writers (r), this was Sheba the son of Bichri; but, as Kimchi observes, he was of the tribe of Benjamin, this of Ephraim; and besides, his head was cut off, and thrown over the wall to Joab, 2 Samuel 20:1, an Ephrathite of Zereda; some where in the tribe of Ephraim, but nowhere else mentioned. There was a famous Jewish doctor, before the times of Christ, of this place, as it seems, who was called Jose ben Joezer, a man of Zereda (s): Solomon's servant; not only his subject, but one that had been advanced by him to an office, and served under him, 1 Kings 11:28, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman; who very probably was supported by this her son, an industrious and ingenious man: even he lifted up his hand against the king; either against Solomon, by reproaching and reproving him for some things he did; or rather against Rehoboam his son, which was very ungrateful. (r) Shalshalet Hakabala, p. 11. (s) Pirke Abot, c. 1. sect. 4.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:27
Show note
And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king,.... The occasion of it, his being advanced to some posts under Solomon, which elated him, and what passed between him and the prophet Ahijah, after related: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father: in the oversight of which, it is supposed by the Jews, he employed this man, who reproached him for doing these works; building an house in Millo for Pharaoh's daughter, and stopping up the passage to the city of David, and the people's access thither upon occasion.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:28
Show note
And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour,.... A man of great strength of body, and fortitude of mind: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious; in what he was set about in the above buildings and repairs: he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph; the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, to be a prince or a deputy governor of them; or rather to collect the king's tax from them, or the revenues of that part of the country, see Proverbs 22:29.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:29
Show note
And it came to pass at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem,.... Either to enter upon his new office: or having been with Solomon to pay in the revenues, and to make up his accounts with him was going back to the country to do the duty of his office: that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; not accidentally, but purposely was in the way to meet him, and converse with him; this prophet was of the city of Shiloh, and where was now his abode, see 1 Kings 14:2. and he had clad himself with a new garment; not Jeroboam, but the prophet, and that by the direction of the Lord, for the following purpose: and they two were alone in the field: it is possible Jeroboam might have some servants with him; but Ahijah desiring some private conversation with him, he sent them onwards, or bid them stay at some distance; who yet might be capable of observing what was done, though not of hearing what was said; or otherwise how should Solomon come to the knowledge of it? 1 Kings 11:40.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:30
Show note
And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him,.... This looks as if it was Jeroboam's garment, having got a new one to appear before the king in; though the sense may be this, that the prophet took hold of his own garment that was upon himself: and rent it in twelve pieces; as symbolical of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:31
Show note
And he said to Jeroboam, take thee ten pieces,.... Of the twelve, an emblem of the ten tribes he was to have: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon; that is, out of his family: and will give ten tribes unto thee; to rule over.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:33
Show note
Because that they have forsaken me,.... My worship, as the Targum; both Solomon and the children of Israel following his example; which is not to be wondered at, considering how prone they always were to idolatry: and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon; of which deities; see Gill on 1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:7. and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father; the several laws of God relating to religious worship especially, which David was a strict observer of; and therefore Solomon, having such a pattern before him, was the more blameworthy.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:34
Show note
Howbeit, I will not take the kingdom out of his hand,.... Not any part of it, 1 Kings 11:12, but I will make him prince all the days of his life; that is, he shall continue to hold the government of all the tribes so long as he lives: for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes; see 1 Kings 11:12, or was well pleased with, as the Targum; for keeping the commands of God from right principles, and with right views, is well pleasing to him.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:35
Show note
But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand,.... All but the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes: signified by ten pieces of the rent garment he had given him, 1 Kings 11:31.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:36
Show note
And unto his son will I give one tribe,.... Judah and Benjamin reckoned as one; See Gill on 1 Kings 11:13, that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there; or a kingdom, as the Targum; or an illustrious prince, a successor, shining in royal majesty and glory, to guide and direct, cheer and comfort, the people of Israel; be an honour to David's family, and a means of continuing the pure worship of God in the temple at Jerusalem; see 2 Samuel 21:17.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:37
Show note
And I will take thee,.... From the low estate in which he was, to be king: and thou shall reign according to all that thy soul desireth; he being ambitious of the kingdom, and having already formed in his mind some designs upon it: and shall be king over Israel; the ten tribes.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:38
Show note
And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee,.... And be obedient thereunto: and wilt walk in my ways; directed to in the law of Moses: and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes, and my commandments; those particularly respecting divine worship: as David my servant did; who very diligently and constantly attended to the ordinances of religion: that I will be with thee; to guide and direct, protect and defend, prosper and succeed: and build thee a sure house, as I built for David; continue the succession of the kingdom in his posterity: and will give Israel unto thee; to rule over them.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:39
Show note
And I will for this afflict the seed of David,.... For the idolatry Solomon had been guilty of, and connived at: but not for ever; for when the ten tribes were carried captive, the kingdom of Judah flourished under Hezekiah, Josiah, &c. and though the tribe of Judah was carried captive, yet it returned after seventy years captivity, and had rulers over it of the seed of David; and especially to the Messiah has God given the throne of his father David, of whose kingdom there will he no end, Luke 1:32, and Jarchi's note on the text is, "for in the days of the Messiah the kingdom shall return to it,'' the seed of David; and Abarbinel says, of a truth, at the coming of our Messiah, this prophecy will be fulfilled; but the true Messiah is come already, in whom it is fulfilled; see Kimchi and Abendana, who refer to Ezekiel 37:19.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:40
Show note
Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam,.... Which is another instance of his folly, to seek to detest the counsel of God, when he himself was assured by the Lord the kingdom should be rent, and given to his servant, 1 Kings 11:11 and especially if he was informed of what passed between Ahijah and Jeroboam, as it should seem by this he was; either through Ahijah's making no secret of it, or through Jeroboam not being able to keep his own counsel, or through the report of the servants what they saw done, 1 Kings 11:29, which Solomon would easily understand: and Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt; the common sanctuary of persons in distress in those days: unto Shishak king of Egypt; either the father in law or the brother in law of Solomon, or one of another family, on whom the kingdom devolved; and who might not have any good respect for Solomon, and therefore Jeroboam thought himself safe with him: this is the only king of Egypt, in Scripture, that is called by his own name, and not Pharaoh; he is generally supposed to be the same with the Sesostris of Herodotus (t), and the Vexoris or Vexosis of Justin (u); and the rather he may be meant, since, according to Herodotus (w), he was the only king of Egypt that ruled over the Ethiopians: and Strabo says (x) he was the first that subdued Ethiopia and the country of the Troglodytes; also Diodorus Siculus affirms (y), that he fought with the Ethiopians dwelling to the south, and obliged them to pay tribute; out of which countries Shishak brought many with him in his expedition against Jerusalem, 2 Chronicles 12:2. and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon; not daring to return till that time, and then he did. (t) Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 102. (u) E Trogo, l. 1. c. 1.((w) Ut supra, (Euterpe, sive, l. 2.) c. 110. (x) Geograph. l. 16. p. 529. (y) Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 50.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:32
Show note
But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake,.... See Gill on 1 Kings 11:13.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
The Death of Solomon
Matthew Henry · 11:41–43
We have here the conclusion of Solomon's story, and in it, 1. Reference is had to another history then extant, but (not being divinely inspired) since lost, the Book of the Acts of Solomon, Kg1 11:41. Probably this book was written by a chronologer or historiographer, whom Solomon employed to write his annals, out of which the sacred writer extracted what God saw fit to transmit to the church. 2. A summary of the years of his reign (Kg1 11:42): He reigned in Jerusalem (not, as his father, part of his time in Hebron and part in Jerusalem), over all Israel (not as his son, and his father in the beginning of his time, over Judah only), forty years. His reign was as long as his father's, but not his life. Sin shortened his days. 3. His death and burial, and his successor, Kg1 11:43.…
Read the full note
(1.) He followed his fathers to the grave, slept with them, and was buried in David's burying-place, with honour no doubt. (2.) His son followed him in the throne. Thus the graves are filling with the generations that go off, and houses are filling with those that are growing up. As the grave cries, "Give, give," so land is never lost for want of an heir.
Source · CC0-1.0 / Public Domain
John Gill · 11:41
And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? Either written by himself, as Kimchi suggests, though not in being; or by some chronologer or historiographer employed by him in writing the most memorable things that happened in his reign; or by several prophets, as in 2 Chronicles 9:29 out of which the inspired writer of this book took what he was directed to by the Lord to be transmitted to future ages.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
More notes on this section (2)
John Gill · 11:42
Show note
And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, was forty years. The same says Eupolemus (z), an Heathen writer, who makes him to live but fifty two years; which is the common tradition of the Jews, who suppose he was but twelve years of age when he began to reign; which is to be confuted from the age of his son Rehoboam, see 1 Kings 14:21. Josephus (a), on the other hand, makes him to live to too great an age, who says that he reigned eighty years, and lived to ninety four. (z) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 34. (a) Antiqu. l. 8. c. 7. sect. 8.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
John Gill · 11:43
Show note
And Solomon slept with his fathers,.... Died as they did: and was buried in the city of David his father; not in Bethlehem, but Zion, 1 Kings 2:10. and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead; of whom more in the following chapter. Though nothing is said of Solomon's repentance, there is no doubt but he was a good man, repented of his sins, and was saved; as may be concluded from the commendations of him after his death, 2 Chronicles 11:17 from the promise of God that he made, that his mercy should not depart from him, though he chastised him, 2 Samuel 7:14 from his being an inspired writer, who were all holy men, 2 Peter 1:20, and especially from his writing the book of Ecclesiastes after his fall, which contains a full acknowledgment of all his evils, a recantation of them, and repentance for them. Abulpharagius (b), an Arabic writer, rashly asserts that he died without repentance. (b) Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 55.
Source · Public Domain (CC Public Domain Mark 1.0)
About a five-minute read
Drawn from the public-domain commentaries and Spurgeon sermons that cover this exact passage · ~934 words.
Matthew Henry. When David conquered the Syrians, he headed the remains, lived at large by spoil and rapine, till Solomon grew careless, and then he got possession of Damascus, reigned there (Kg1 11:24) and over the country about (Kg1 11:25), and he created troubles to Israel, probably in conjunction with Hadad, all the days of Solomon (namely, after his apostasy), or he was an enemy to Israel during all Solomon's reign, and upon all occasions vented his then impotent malice against them, but till Solomon's revolt, when his defence had departed from him, he could not do them any mischief. We have here the first mention of that infamous name Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that made Israel to sin; he is here brought upon the stage as an adversary to Solomon, whom God had expressly told (Kg1 11:11) that he would give the greatest part of his kingdom to his servant, and Jeroboam was the man. But this was the cause, or rather this was the story, of the lifting up of his hand against the king: Solomon made him ruler over the tribes of Joseph, and, as he was going to take possession of his government, he was told by a prophet in God's name that he should be king, which emboldened him to aim high, and in some instances to oppose the king and give him vexation. 1. The meanness of his extraction and employment shall be no hindrance to his advancement, when the God of Israel says (by whom kings reign), I will give ten tribes unto thee. (2.) He tells him the reason; not for his good character or deserts, but for the chastising of Solomon's apostasy: "Because he, and his family, and many of his people with him, have forsaken me, and worshipped other gods," Kg1 11:33. In telling him that the reason why he rent the kingdom from the house of Solomon was because they had forsaken God, he warns him to take heed of sinning away his preferment in like manner. (3.) He limits his expectations to the ten tribes only, and to them in reversion after the death of Solomon, lest he should aim at the whole and give immediate disturbance to Solomon's government. Solomon shall be prince, all the days of his life, not for his own sake (he had forfeited his crown to the justice of God), but for David my servant's sake, because he kept my commandments. "If thou wilt do what is right in my sight, I will build thee a sure house, and not otherwise" (Kg1 11:38), intimating that, if he forsook God, even his advancement to the throne would in time lay his family in the dust; whereas the seed of David, though afflicted, should not be afflicted for ever (Kg1 11:39), but should flourish again, as it did in many of the illustrious kings of Judah, who reigned in glory when Jeroboam's family was extirpated. He is here told, [1.] That two tribes (called here one tribe, because little Benjamin was in a manner lost in the thousands of Judah) should remain sure to the house of David, and he must never make any attempt upon them: He shall have one tribe (Kg1 11:32), and again (Kg1 11:36), That David may have a lamp, that is, a shining name and memory (Psa 132:17), and his family, as a royal family, may not be extinct. Observe a difference between David, and both his predecessor and his successor: when Saul saw a valiant man he took him to himself (Sa1 14:52); when Solomon saw an industrious man he preferred him; but David's eyes were upon the faithful in the land, that they might dwell with him: if he saw a godly man, he preferred him, for he was a man after God's own heart, whose countenance beholds the upright. A summary of the years of his reign (Kg1 11:42): He reigned in Jerusalem (not, as his father, part of his time in Hebron and part in Jerusalem), over all Israel (not as his son, and his father in the beginning of his time, over Judah only), forty years.
Jamieson–Fausset–Brown. He was a young man of talent and energy, who, having been appointed by Solomon superintendent of the engineering works projected around Jerusalem, had risen into public notice, and on being informed by a very significant act of the prophet Ahijah of the royal destiny which, by divine appointment, awaited him, his mind took a new turn. clad--rather, "wrapped up." The meaning is, "Ahijah, the Shilonite, the prophet, went and took a fit station in the way; and, in order that he might not be known, he wrapped himself up, so as closely to conceal himself, in a new garment, a surtout, which he afterwards tore in twelve pieces." Notwithstanding this privacy, the story, and the prediction connected with it [Kg1 11:30-39], probably reached the king's ears; and Jeroboam became a marked man [Kg1 11:40]. The heavy exactions and compulsory labor (Kg1 11:28) which Solomon latterly imposed upon his subjects, when his foreign resources began to fail, had prepared the greater part of the kingdom for a revolt under so popular a demagogue as Jeroboam. His aspiring ambition, impatient for the death of Solomon, led him to form plots and conspiracies, in consequence of which he was compelled to flee to Egypt. Though chosen of God, he would not wait the course of God's providence, and therefore incurred the penalty of death by his criminal rebellion. Shishak--He harbored and encouraged the rebellious refugee, and was of a different dynasty from the father-in-law of Solomon.
Chapter introductions and general notes (1)
Matthew Henry · ch. 11
Show note
This chapter begins with as melancholy a "but" as almost any we find in all the Bible. Hitherto we have read nothing of Solomon but what was great and good; but the lustre both of his goodness and of his greatness is here sullied and eclipsed, and his sun sets under a cloud. I. The glory of his piety is stained by his departure from God and his duty, in his latter days, marrying strange wives and worshipping strange gods (Kg1 11:4-8). II. The glory of his prosperity is stained by God's displeasure against him and the fruits of that displeasure. 1. He sent him an angry message (Kg1 11:9-13). 2. He stirred up enemies, who gave him disturbance, Hadad (Kg1 11:14-22), Rezon (Kg1 11:23-25). 3. He gave away ten tribes of his twelve, from his posterity after him, to Jeroboam, whom therefore he sought in vain to slay (Kg1 11:26-40), and this is all that remains here to be told concerning Solomon, except his death and burial (Kg1 11:41-43), for there is nothing perfect under the sun, but all is so above the sun.
Source · CC0-1.0 / Public Domain