Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, September 19th, 2024
the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
Attention!
Partner with StudyLight.org as God uses us to make a difference for those displaced by Russia's war on Ukraine.
Click to donate today!

Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

1 Kings 12:4

"Your father made our yoke difficult. You, therefore, lighten your father's harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Government;   Israel;   Jeroboam;   Petition;   Rehoboam;   Revolt;   Rulers;   Solomon;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Kings;   Tribute;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Rehoboam;   Shechem;   Yoke;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Jeroboam;   Jerusalem;   King;   Rehoboam;   Solomon;   Yoke;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Kings, First and Second, Theology of;   Poor and Poverty, Theology of;   Wages;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Israel, Kingdom of;   Rehoboam;   Taxes;   Yoke;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Kings, the Books of;   Taxes;   Yoke;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Kings, 1 and 2;   Service;   Tribes of Israel, the;   Yoke;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Israel;   Rehoboam,;   Solomon;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Yoke;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Rehoboam ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Solomon;   Tax taxing taxation;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Yoke;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;   Jeroboam;   Tribute;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Revolt;   Kingdom of Israel;   Kingdom of Judah;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Grievous;   King;   Yoke;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Kings, Books of;  

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
"Your father made our yoke harsh; but you, now, lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thy father made our yocke greeuous, nowe therfore make thou the greenous seruice of thy father and his sore yocke whiche he put vpon vs, lighter, and we will serue thee.
New King James Version
"Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."
Literal Translation
Your father made our yoke hard; and now you should lighten some of the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve you.
Easy-to-Read Version
"Your father forced us to work very hard. Now, make it easier for us. Stop the heavy work that your father forced us to do and we will serve you."
Revised Standard Version
"Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke upon us, and we will serve you."
World English Bible
Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.
King James Version (1611)
Thy father made our yoke grieuous: now therefore, make thou the grieuous seruice of thy father, and his heauy yoke which he put vpon vs, lighter, and we will serue thee.
King James Version
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thy father made oure yock to harde: therfore make thou now the harde bondage and the sore yock lighter, and we wyll submytte oure selues vnto the.
American Standard Version
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
Bible in Basic English
Your father put a hard yoke on us: if you will make the conditions under which your father kept us down less cruel, and the weight of the yoke he put on us less hard, then we will be your servants.
Update Bible Version
Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore you make the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.
Webster's Bible Translation
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
New English Translation
"Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don't make us work as hard, we will serve you."
Contemporary English Version
"Your father Solomon forced us to work very hard. But if you make our work easier, we will serve you and do whatever you ask."
Complete Jewish Bible
"Your father laid a harsh yoke on us. But if you will lighten the harsh service we had to render your father and ease his heavy yoke that he put on us, we will serve you."
Darby Translation
Thy father made our yoke grievous; and now lighten thou the grievous servitude of thy father and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Thy father made our yoke grieuous: now therefore make thou the grieuous seruitude of thy father, and his sore yoke which he put vpon vs, lighter, and we will serue thee.
George Lamsa Translation
Your father made our yoke harsh; now therefore lighten some of the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve you.
Amplified Bible
"Your father made our yoke (burden) heavy; so now lighten the hard labor and the heavy yoke your father imposed on us, and we will serve you."
Hebrew Names Version
Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.'
New Living Translation
"Your father was a hard master," they said. "Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects."
New Life Bible
"Your father made our load heavy. Take away some of the hard work and heavy load your father put on us, and we will serve you."
New Revised Standard
"Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you."
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
but do thou now lighten somewhat of the hard service of thy father, and of his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
English Revised Version
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
Berean Standard Bible
"Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father's service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thy father, made our yoke, grievous, - now, therefore do, thou, lighten the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, that we may serve thee.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now, therefore, do thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
Lexham English Bible
"Your father made our yoke heavy; now lighten the hard labor of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you."
English Standard Version
"Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you."
New American Standard Bible
"Your father made our yoke hard; but now, lighten the hard labor imposed by your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."
New Century Version
"Your father forced us to work very hard. Now, make it easier for us, and don't make us work as hard as he did. Then we will serve you."
Good News Translation
"Your father Solomon treated us harshly and placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be your loyal subjects."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and seiden, Thi fadir puttide hardeste yok on vs, therfor abate thou a litil now of the hardest comaundement of thi fadir, and of the greuousiste yok which he puttide on vs, and we schulen serue to thee.
Young's Literal Translation
`Thy father made hard our yoke, and thou, now, make light [some] of the hard service of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we serve thee.'

Contextual Overview

1 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it, for he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon's presence, Jeroboam stayed in Egypt. 3 They summoned him, and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam: 4 "Your father made our yoke difficult. You, therefore, lighten your father's harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you." 5 Rehoboam replied, "Go home for three days and then return to me." So the people left. 6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, "How do you advise me to respond to these people?" 7 They replied, "Today if you will be a servant to these people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever." 8 But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and served him. 9 He asked them, "What message do you advise that we send back to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?" 10 Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, "This is what you should say to these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!' This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's loins!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

our yoke: 1 Kings 4:7, 1 Kings 4:20, 1 Kings 4:22, 1 Kings 4:23, 1 Kings 4:25, 1 Kings 9:15, 1 Kings 9:22, 1 Kings 9:23, 1 Samuel 8:11-18, 2 Chronicles 10:4, 2 Chronicles 10:5, Matthew 11:29, Matthew 11:30, Matthew 23:4, 1 John 5:3

Cross-References

Genesis 11:27
These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot.
Genesis 11:31
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.
Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thy father made our yoke grievous,.... Laid heavy taxes upon them, for the finishing of his buildings, for the maintenance of his household, for keeping such a large number of horses and chariots, and for the salaries of his officers, and for the support of his magnificent court; though they had very little reason to complain, since this was for the honour and grandeur of their nation, and they enjoyed their liberty, and lived in peace, plenty, and safety all his days; and such an abundance of riches was brought unto them by him that silver was as the stones of the street; though perhaps the taxes might be increased in the latter part of his life, for the support of his vast number of wives, and of their idolatrous worship, and for the defence of himself and kingdom against the attempts of Hadad and Rezon; but, as most interpreters observe, what they find most reason to complain of, they take no notice of, even the idolatry he had set up among them:

now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter; that is, ease them of their taxes, or lessen them:

and we will serve thee; acknowledge him as their king, give him homage, and yield obedience to him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The complaint was probably twofold. The Israelites no doubt complained in part of the heavy weight of taxation laid upon them for the maintenance of the monarch and his court 1 Kings 4:19-23. But their chief grievance was the forced labor to which they had been subjected 1 Kings 5:13-14; 1 Kings 11:28. Forced labor has been among the causes leading to insurrection in many ages and countries. It helped to bring about the French Revolution, and it was for many years one of the principal grievances of the Russian serfs. Jeroboam’s position as superintendent of the forced labors of the tribe of Ephraim 1 Kings 11:28 revealed to him the large amount of dissatisfaction which Solomon’s system had produced, and his contemplated rebellion in Solomon’s reign may have been connected with this standing grievance.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 12:4. The grievous service - and - heavy yoke — They seem here to complain of two things - excessively laborious service, and a heavy taxation. At first it is supposed Solomon employed no Israelite in drudgery: afterwards, when he forsook the God of compassion, he seems to have used them as slaves, and to have revived the Egyptian bondage.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile