Then
the LORD raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite;
he was of the royal line in Edom. For it came about, when David was in Edom,
and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to
bury the slain, and had struck down every male in Edom (for Joab
and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom),
that Hadad fled to Egypt, he and certain Edomites
of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy. They
arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they
took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to
Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him
land. Now Hadad found great favor before Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage
the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. The sister of Tahpenes bore his son Genubath,
whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among
the sons of Pharaoh. But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his
fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was
dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me away, that I may go to my own country.”
Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you
are seeking to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless
you must surely let me go.”
God
also raised up another adversary to him, Rezon
the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer
king of Zobah. He gathered men to himself and became
leader of a marauding band, after David slew them of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed
there, and reigned in Damascus. So he was an adversary to Israel all the days
of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred
Then
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite
of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name
was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.
Now this was the reason why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the
Millo, and closed up the breach
of the city of his father David. Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior,
and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him over
all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. It came about at that time, when
Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on
the road. Now Ahijah had clothed himself with a new
cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore
it into twelve pieces. He said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for
thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out
of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes (but he will have one tribe,
for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which
I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken Me,
and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians,
Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom
the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is
right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his
father David did. ‘Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out
of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake
of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes;
but I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you, even
ten tribes. ‘But to his son I will give one tribe, that My
servant David may have a lamp always before Me in
Scripture taken from the NEW A
(c) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by
The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)