OET INT FRT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
OET 1 KI Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22
OET KI1 11 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43
This is still an early look into the drafted text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.
11 Now King Shelomoh (Solomon) loved many foreign women—besides Par’oh’s (Pharaoh) daughter there were Moavi women, Amoni women, Edomi women, Tsidoni women, and Hiti women.[ref] 2 They were from the nations that Yahweh had told Yisrael (Israel) about, “You must not mix with people from those nations, and they must not join together with you. They will certainly entice you to worship their gods.”[ref] However, Shelomoh clung to them for love. 3 He had seven hundred wives who were kings’ daughters, as well as three hundred slave-wives, and his wives were instrumental in his turning away from Yahweh. 4 By the time of his old age, Shelomoh’s wives had persuaded him to worship the gods from their countries—his heart wasn’t totally dedicated to Yahweh like his father David had been. 5 So Shelomoh started to worship the Tsidonim’ (Sidonians) God Ashtoret and the Amonim’ detestable God Malkam, 6 so he did many things that Yahweh had said were evil—he didn’t remain fully committed to Yahweh like his father David had been. 7 Then Shelomoh built a place to worship Kemosh, the Moavim detestable God, on a hill facing Yerushalem (Jerusalem), and also for Molek, the Amonim’ detestable God. 8 He did those things for his foreign wives who were burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.
9 ⇔Although Yisrael’s god Yahweh had appeared twice to Shelomoh, he now turned his devotion away from Yahweh, who then became angry with him. 10 Yahweh had warned Shelomoh not to follow after other gods, but he didn’t obey Yahweh’s instructions, 11 and Yahweh told him, “You have this against you: you haven’t kept my agreement and you’ve disobeyed my statutes that I gave you. So I’ll definitely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant, 12 except that for the sake of your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime, rather, I’ll tear the kingdom away from your son. 13 What’s more, I won’t tear the whole kingdom away—I’ll leave one tribe for your son to rule for my servant David’s sake, and for the sake of my chosen city Yerushalem.”
14 Then Yahweh caused Hadad the Edomi (and a descendant of the Edomi king) to stand against Shelomoh (Solomon). 15 In the past when David had been in Edom with his army commander Yoav (Joab) to bury their dead, they had killed every male in Edom. 16 (Yoav and the Israeli warriors had had to stay there for six months to kill the Edomi males.) 17 However, Hadad had been a small child at that time, and he’d fled to Mitsrayim (Egypt) with some of his father’s Edomi servants. 18 They’d passed through Midyan and then Paran where they’d gained some more men before entering Mitsrayim where King Par’oh (Pharaoh) gave him a house and land, and provided him with food. 19 Par’oh took a liking to Hadad and gave him his wife Queen Tahpeneys’ sister to marry. 20 Tahpeneys’ sister gave birth to his son Genuvat, his son, and Tahpeneys weaned him in the midst of the house of Par’oh. And Genuvat was in the house of Par’oh in the midst of the sons of Par’oh.
21 When Hadad in Mitsrayim heard that both David and his army commander Yoav had died, Hadad said to Par’oh, “Give me permission to leave, and I’ll go back to my land.”
22 But Par’oh asked him, “But what’s wrong with staying here? You’ve stunned me by asking to go to your land.”
“Nothing’s lacking here,” he replied, “but I have to go—please give me permission to leave.”
23 God also caused Elyada’s son Rezon to stand against Shelomoh (Solomon). He’d run away from his master, King Hadadezer in Tsovah, 24 then he’d gathered men for himself and had become a commander of a raiding band. When David attacked them, they went to Damesek (Damascus). They lived there and gained control of the city. 25 Then during all of Shelomoh’s reign, he’d been outspoken against Yisrael (Israel)—encouraged by the evil that Hadad did. He reigned over Aram (Syria) (Aram) and he loathed Yisrael.
26 Nevat’s son Yarov’am (Jeroboam), an Efrati from Tseredah also rebelled against the king. (His widowed mother Tseruah was one of Shelomoh’s (Solomon) servants.) 27 This is the background about how it started: Shelomoh had built the raised terrace and had repaired a gap in the wall of the city of David his father. 28 Shelomoh had noticed Yarov’am as a strong and hard-working young man, so he’d appointed him as supervisor over all the forced labour from Menasheh (Manasseh) and Efrayim’s (Ephraim) regions. 29 One time when Yarov’am was away from Yerushalem (Jerusalem), the prophet Ahiyah the Shiloni met him on the road. He was wearing a brand-new a new cloak, and there was just the two by themselves in the countryside. 30 Ahiyah then pulled the new cloak off his shoulders and tore it into twelve pieces, 31 and told Yarov’am, “Take ten pieces for yourself, because this is what Yisrael’s (Israel) god Yahweh says, ‘Listen, I’m about to tear the kingdom away from Shelomoh’s control, and I’ll give the[fn] ten tribes to you. 32 The one tribe[fn] will be for him, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Yerushalem city which I’ve chosen from all the tribes of Yisrael. 33 This is because they’ve abandoned me. Instead they’ve bowed down to the Tsidonim’ (Sidonians) God Ashtoret, to the Moavi god Kemosh, and to the Amoni God Malkam. They’re no longer following my instructions or doing what they know I’ve said is right—not obeying my statutes or my judgements like the king’s father David did. 34 But I won’t take the entire kingdom off him, but rather I’ll leave him as a leader while he’s still alive for the sake of my chosen servant David, who obeyed my commands and my statutes. 35 However, I’ll take the kingship away from his son and I’ll give the ten tribes to you to rule. 36 I’ll give Shelomoh’s son one tribe to rule so that one of David’s descendants will always rule in my chosen city Yerushalem because it’s associated with my name. 37 But I’ll use you, and you’ll be able to reign over the area where you want to rule—you’ll become king over Yisrael. 38 Then if you’ll listen to everything that I command you, and walk on the right path and do what pleases me and keep my statutes and my commands, just like my servant David did, then I’ll be with you. I’ll establish a dynasty for you just like I did for David, and I’ll give Yisrael to you. 39 I’ll make David’s descendants suffer because of Shelomoh’s behaviour, but not forever.’ ”
40 Shelomoh tried to kill Yarov’am (Jeroboam), but he left the area and fled to Mitsrayim (Egypt). He remained in Mitsrayim under the protection of King Shishak until Shelomoh’s death.
11:31 Most English translations leave out this ‘the’ (which is in the Hebrew). However, we suspect that both Ahiyah and Yarov’am knew exactly which of the ten tribes it would be.
11:32 It would have been obvious at the time that this was referring to Yehudah. (The unmentioned twelfth tribe is Benyamin—the youngest brother and the smallest tribe.)
41 A record of all the other things that Shelomoh (Solomon) did, and all the wise things that he said, was written in the ‘Record of Shelomoh’s Achievements’. 42 Shelomoh reigned over all Yisrael (Israel) from Yerushalem (Jerusalem) for forty years, 43 then he died and was buried in the City of David, and his son Rehav’am (Rehoboam) became king.
1 Kings 11
Solomon ruled over a powerful kingdom that brought him great wealth, but he allowed his many wives to lead his heart astray to worship the gods of other nations. Many of these wives were likely given to him by foreign rulers to seal political alliances (e.g., 1 Kings 3:1). Because of Solomon’s unfaithfulness to the God of Israel, the Lord declared that he would tear away much of the kingdom from Solomon and give it to one of his servants. The Bible then recounts the origins of a few adversaries of Solomon who must have caused trouble during his reign. It was actually events during David’s reign that precipitated the rise of two of these adversaries, though apparently it wasn’t until Solomon’s reign that these men became significant agents of opposition. The first adversary mentioned is Hadad the Edomite, who belonged to the royal court of Edom. Sometime during the time when David was in Edom (see 2 Samuel 8:13-14) his commander Joab tried to kill every male in Edom, but Hadad fled with some of his father’s servants. Apparently he fled first to Midian (see 1 Kings 11:18) and then made his way to Paran, where others joined him, and then they crossed the wilderness to Egypt. There Hadad was very favorably received by Pharaoh and given land, food, and even a wife from Pharaoh’s royal household. After David died, Hadad chose to return to Edom. The second adversary mentioned is Rezon, who had fled from King Hadadezer of Zobah and became the leader of a gang of rebels. After David defeated Hadadezer (2 Samuel 8-10; 1 Chronicles 18-19), Rezon and his men fled to Damascus, where they made him king over Aram. He continued to cause trouble for Solomon throughout his reign. The last adversary mentioned is Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials, who had been put in charge of rebuilding a portion of Jerusalem. One day as Jeroboam was leaving the city, a prophet named Ahijah met him and told him that the Lord was going to tear away ten of the tribes of Israel and give them to him. Solomon must have heard about Ahijah’s prophecy, because he tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to King Shishak of Egypt. Later Jeroboam would return to Israel, and the ten northern tribes appointed him king after rejecting the rule of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon (1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 10).
If you ask someone today what biblical prophets did, they will likely tell you that they divinely foretold of future events. While this was often the case, most prophets in the Bible focused as much on “forthtelling” God’s messages as they did on “foretelling” the future. That is, their primary role was to simply “forthtell” divinely acquired messages to leaders and groups of people, and at times that included foretelling of coming judgment, blessing, rescue, etc. Also, though plenty of prophets (sometimes called “seers” in Scripture) often spoke in confrontational or eccentric language that put them at odds with kings and religious leaders, the biblical writers also applied the term prophet to people who communicated God’s messages in ways that many readers today might not think of as prophecy, such as worship leaders appointed by David to “prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals” (1 Chronicles 25:1). Similarly, the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings are typically categorized as history by Christians, but in the Hebrew canon they belong to the category of Former Prophets. The Lord raised up prophets throughout all of biblical history, from the giving of the law under Moses to the revelation of the last days by the apostle John, and the kings of Israel and Judah often recognized and supported specific people as official prophets of the royal court and consulted them to find out God’s perspective about official matters. Following is a list of nearly everyone designated as prophet or seer in the Old Testament and the primary area of their ministry.
• Deborah (1216 B.C.) [Judges 4:4] => Baal-tamar?
• Samuel (1070 B.C.) [1 Samuel 3:20; 1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 35:18] => Ramah
• Gad (1018 B.C.) [2 Samuel 24:11; 1 Chronicles 21:9; 29:29; 2 Chronicles 29:25] => Masada?
• Nathan (1000 B.C.) [2 Samuel 12:1; 1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 29:25] => Jerusalem
• Asaph (1000 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 29:30] => Jerusalem
• Ahijah (935 B.C.) [1 Kings 11:29; 2 Chronicles 9:29] => Jerusalem
• Shemaiah (930 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 12:2-15] => Jerusalem
• Iddo (913 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 9:29; 12:15; 13:22] => Jerusalem
• Jehu son of Hanani (890 B.C.) [1 Kings 16:1-7; 2 Chronicles 19:2] => Samaria?
• Azariah (890 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 15:1-8] => Jerusalem
• Elijah (860 B.C.) [1 Kings 18:36] => Samaria
• Micaiah (853 B.C.) [1 Kings 22:8-23; 2 Chronicles 18:7-22] => Samaria
• Jahaziel (853 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 20:14] => Jerusalem
• Eliezer (853 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 20:37] => Mareshah
• Elisha (850 B.C.) [1 Kings 19:16; 2 Kings 2:15] => Samaria
• Joel (835 B.C.) [Joel 1:1] => Jerusalem
OET 1 KI Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22