1 kings 11 and 12

Read 1 Kings 11 and 12 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

1 Kin 11:1-6 {s} Solomon had 700 foreign wives + 300 concubines/ they turned his heart from the LORD God
1 Kin 11:7-10 {p} Solomon built high places for his wives/ he angered the LORD, who had warned him twice
1 Kin 11:11-13 {s} “I will tear the kingdom (but for Judah) from the hand of your son, and give it to your servant.”
1 Kin 11:14-25 {p} God raised up two adversaries against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite + Rezon the Syrian
1 Kin 11:26-28 {s} Jeroboam of Ephraim also rebelled: he was an official of Solomon’s over the labor force of Joseph
1 Kin 11:29-39 {s} The prophet met Jeroboam: “I will give you ten tribes, if you walk in My commandments as David”
1 Kin 11:40 {s} Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam/ he fled to Shishak, king of Egypt and dwelt there
1 Kin 11:41-43 {s} Solomon reigned 40 years and died/ Rehoboam his son reigned in his place
1 Kin 12:1-17 {p} Rehoboam answered the people roughly, and Israel rebelled against him
1 Kin 12:18-19 {s} Israel stoned Rehoboam’s tax collector/ in rebellion against the house of David to this day
1 Kin 12:20-21 {p} Israel made Jeroboam king/ Rehoboam armed Judah for war against Israel
1 Kin 12:22-24 {s} Thus says Yehovah: “You shall not fight against Israel, for this thing is of Me.”
1 Kin 12:25-33 {p} Jeroboam made two gold calves + non-Levitical priests + feast of the 8th month

The strong themes:

1 Kin 11:1-10 {s+p} Solomon’s foreign wives turned his heart + he served their idols/ angered the LORD
1 Kin 11:11-25 {s+p} Because he did this: the kingdom torn from Solomon’s son + two adversaries raised up
1 Kin 11:26-12:17 {sx4+p} Jeroboam’s rebellion against Solomon + Israel’s rebellion against Rehoboam
1 Kin 12:18-21 {s+p} Israel stoned Rehoboam’s tax collector + made Jeroboam king/ Judah armed for war
1 Kin 12:22-33 {s+p} The division of the kingdom is of God + Jeroboam turned Israel from serving Him

The chiastic structure:

1a) 1 Kin 11:1-10 {s+p} Solomon’s foreign wives turned his heart from the LORD God/ he served their idols;

1b) 1 Kin 11:11-13 {s} “I will tear the kingdom (but for Judah) from the hand of your son + give it to your servant;”

1c) 1 Kin 11:14-40 {p+sx3} The LORD raised adversaries against Solomon/ will tear ten tribes from his kingdom;

1a) 1 Kin 11:14-28 {p+s} Three adversaries raised up + Joab sought to kill the Edomites + Hadad fled to Egypt;

1) 1 Kin 11:14, God raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite;
2) 1 Kin 11:15-16, When David was in Edom, Joab the commander of the army had killed every male in Edom;
3) 1 Kin 11:17-22, That Hadad fled to go to Egypt (he was still a little child) to Pharaoh king of Egypt;
1´) 1 Kin 11:23-28 {p+s} God raised up another adversary, Rezon the Syrian/ Jeroboam also rebelled;

1b) 1 Kin 11:29-33, You shall have ten tribes/ Solomon one (for David’s sake) for he did not keep My commandments;

1) 1 Kin 11:29-31, The prophet to Jeroboam: “God will tear the kingdom from Solomon/ give you ten tribes;”
2) 1 Kin 11:32, “But he shall have one tribe for David’s sake + Jerusalem’s sake, My chosen city;”
3) 1 Kin 11:33, “Because they have forsaken Me + worshiped idols/ have not kept My statutes as did David;”

central axis) 1 Kin 11:34, “I will not take the whole kingdom from him, for David’s sake, who kept My commandments;”

2b) 1 Kin 11:35-38, I will give you ten tribes/ his son, one, for David’s sake/ if you keep My commandments;

1) 1 Kin 11:35, “I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes;”
2) 1 Kin 11:36, “To his son I will give one tribe, that David has a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, My chosen city;”
3) 1 Kin 11:37-38, “If you keep My statutes as David did, then I will be with you;”

2a) 1 Kin 11:39-40 {s+s} Descendants of David afflicted + Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam + he fled to Egypt;

1) 1 Kin 11:39 {s} “And I will afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever;”
2) 1 Kin 11:40a, Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam;
3) 1 Kin 11:40b {s} Jeroboam fled to Shishak king of Egypt/ remained there until the death of Solomon.

central axis) 1 Kin 11:41-43 {s} Solomon reigned 40 years and died/ Rehoboam his son reigned in his place;

2c) 1 Kin 12:1-21 {p+s} Jeroboam, who had fled from Solomon + Israel, ten tribes, rebelled against Rehoboam;

1a) 1 Kin 12:1, Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king;

1b) 1 Kin 12:2-3a, When Jeroboam heard it in Egypt, that they sent and called him;

1c) 1 Kin 12:3b-4, Jeroboam + Israel petitioned Rehoboam: Lighten our heavy yoke and we will serve you;

1) 1 Kin 12:3b-4a, Jeroboam + Israel said to Rehoboam, “Lighten the heavy yoke of your father;”
2) 1 Kin 12:4b, “And we will serve you;”

1d) 1 Kin 12:5, He replied, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed;

central axis) 1 Kin 12:6-11, King Rehoboam rejected the wise advice of the elders/ listened to his peers instead;

2d) 1 Kin 12:12-14, On the third day, the king answered the people roughly, rejecting their request;

2c) 1 Kin 12:15-19 {p+s} The king did not listen to the people, and they rebelled against him;

1) 1 Kin 12:15-16a, The king did not listen to the people (for this was from the LORD), and when Israel saw it;
2) 1 Kin 12:16b-19 {p+s} Israel rebelled against Rehoboam and did not serve him;

1a) 1 Kin 12:16, Israel said: “What share have we in David? See to your own house!” And they departed to their tents;
1b) 1 Kin 12:17 {p} Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah;
central axis) 1 Kin 12:18a, King Rehoboam sent his tax collector; but all Israel stoned him, and he died;
2b) 1 Kin 12:18b, Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem;
2a) 1 Kin 12:19 {s} So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day;

2b) 1 Kin 12:20a, When Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, for they had called him;

2a) 1 Kin 12:20b-21 {p} They made him king over Israel + none followed the house of David, but Judah only;

2b) 1 Kin 12:22-24 {s} Thus says Yehovah: “You shall not fight against Israel, for this thing is of Me;”

2a) 1 Kin 12:25-33 {p} Jeroboam made two gold calves + turned Israel’s heart from the LORD God.

These are some of the saddest chapters in the Bible. There is one paragraph in Torah directed specifically to kings:

“When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.” Deu 17:14-20

Solomon multiplied horses; he sent servants to Egypt to procure horses; he multiplied wives; he multiplied silver and gold for himself. In violating every safeguard from Torah for kings, did he also not read in it all the days of his life? We don’t know, but the command to continue reading in it, was so that the king may fear the LORD and be careful to observe it, that he may not turn aside to the right or to the left. And so Solomon did turn aside, and we might speculate that as he did not continue in the other Torah safeguards for kings, so he did not continue in the final safeguard of reading in Torah all his days. And he descended into the idolatry of his wives.

All God was looking for was faithfulness, as David had been faithful (although not perfect. To God, faithfulness is greater than perfection.) Solomon was not faithful, and Jeroboam was not faithful.

It strikes me that even though Solomon had greater wisdom than his father David, in the end his wisdom was not greater, for he turned from God. For David loved the Lord God all his days, and did not depart from Him, and he also loved God’s Torah, and delighted in it (Psa 19, and 119, among others). It seems that love is greater than wisdom, and sustains wisdom. Or another way to say it:

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face. Psa 89:14

If mercy (love) and truth (wisdom) are always together before the face of the LORD, as He is on His throne, how much more necessary for the sons of men, as they sit on their own throne. May the rulers of our day have ears to hear the example of David and Solomon, and fear, and walk in faithfulness to You!