Study Desk

The queen of Sheba^(a) heard about Solomon's fame^(b) connected with the name of Yahweh and came to test him with difficult questions.^(c)

She came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels bearing^(d) spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones.^(e) She came to Solomon and spoke to him about everything that was on her mind.

So Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain to her.

When the queen of Sheba observed all of Solomon's wisdom, the palace he had built,^(f)

the food at his table,^(g) his servants' residence, his attendants' service and their attire, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord 's temple, it took her breath away.

She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your words and about your wisdom is true.

But I didn't believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, I was not even told half. Your wisdom and prosperity far exceed the report I heard.^(h)

How happy are your men.^[a] How happy are these servants of yours, who always stand in your presence hearing your wisdom.⁽ⁱ⁾

May Yahweh your God be praised! He delighted in you and put you on the throne of Israel,^(j) because of the Lord 's eternal love for Israel.^(k) He has made you king to carry out justice and righteousness."^(l)

Then she gave the king four and a half tons^[b] of gold,^(m) a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such a quantity of spices arrive as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

In addition, Hiram's fleet that carried gold from Ophir brought from Ophir a large quantity of almug^[c] wood and precious stones.⁽ⁿ⁾

The king made the almug wood into steps for the Lord 's temple and the king's palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had such almug wood come, and the like has not been seen again even to this very day.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire—whatever she asked—besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she, along with her servants, returned to her own country.^(o)

The weight^(p) of gold that came to Solomon annually was 25 tons,^[d]

besides what came from merchants,^(q) traders' merchandise, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land.^(r)

King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; 15 pounds^[e] of gold went into each shield.

He made 300 small shields of hammered gold; about four pounds^[f] of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.^(s)

The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with fine gold.

The throne had six steps; there was a rounded top at the back of the throne, armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.

Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.

All of King Solomon's drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon^(t) were pure gold.^(u) There was no silver, since it was considered as nothing in Solomon's time,

for the king had ships of Tarshish^(v) at sea with Hiram's fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^[g](w)

King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the world in riches and in wisdom.^(x)

The whole world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.^(y)

Every man would bring his annual tribute: items^[h] of silver and gold, clothing, weapons,^[i] spices, and horses and mules.^(z)

Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen^(aa) and stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.^(ab)

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones,^(ac) and he made cedar^(ad) as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills.

Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and Kue.^[j] The king's traders bought them from Kue at the going price.^(ae)

A chariot was imported from Egypt for 15 pounds^[k] of silver, and a horse for about four pounds.^[l] In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.^(af)

King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh's daughter:^(a) Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women^(b)

from the nations that the Lord had told the Israelites about, "Do not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn you away from Me to their gods."^(c) Solomon was deeply attached to these women and loved them.

He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines,^(d) and they turned his heart away from the Lord .^(e)

When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been.^(f)

Solomon followed Ashtoreth,^(g) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom,^(h) the detestable idol of the Ammonites.⁽ⁱ⁾

Solomon did what was evil in the Lord 's sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh.

At that time, Solomon built a high place^(j) for Chemosh,^(k) the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom,^[a](l) the detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem.^(m)

He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.⁽ⁿ⁾

He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other gods, but Solomon did not do what the Lord had commanded.^(o)

Then the Lord said to Solomon, "Since you have done this^[b] and did not keep My covenant and My statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.^(p)

However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David;^(q) I will tear it out of your son's hand.

Yet I will not tear the entire kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son^(r) because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem that I chose."

So the Lord raised up^(s) Hadad the Edomite as an enemy against Solomon. He was of the royal family in Edom.

Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom.

For Joab and all Israel had remained there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom.^(t)

Hadad fled to Egypt, along with some Edomites from his father's servants. At the time Hadad was a small boy.

Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran.^(u) They took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt,^(v) who gave Hadad a house, ordered that he be given food, and gave him land.

Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave him a wife, the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes.

Tahpenes' sister gave birth to Hadad's son Genubath. Tahpenes herself weaned him in Pharaoh's palace, and Genubath lived there along with Pharaoh's sons.

When Hadad heard in Egypt that David rested with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me leave, so I can go to my own country."

But Pharaoh asked him, "What do you lack here with me for you to want to go back to your own country?" "Nothing," he replied, "but please let me leave."

God raised up Rezon son of Eliada as an enemy^(w) against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah^(x)

and gathered men to himself. He became captain of a raiding party when David killed the Zobaites. He^[c] went to Damascus,^(y) lived there, and became king in Damascus.

Rezon was Israel's enemy throughout Solomon's reign, adding to the trouble Hadad had caused. He ruled over Aram,^[d](z) but he loathed Israel.

Now Solomon's servant,^(aa) Jeroboam son of Nebat, was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His widowed mother's name was Zeruah. Jeroboam rebelled^(ab) against Solomon,

and this is the reason he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces^(ac) and repaired the opening in the wall of the city of his father David.

Now the man Jeroboam was capable, and Solomon noticed the young man because he was getting things done. So he appointed him over the entire labor force of the house of Joseph.^(ad)

During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite^(ae) met Jeroboam on the road as Jeroboam came out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself with a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field.

Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he had on, tore it into 12 pieces,^(af)

and said to Jeroboam, "Take 10 pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand. I will give you 10 tribes,

but one tribe will remain his because of my servant David^(ag) and because of Jerusalem, the city I chose out of all the tribes of Israel.^(ah)

For they have abandoned Me; they have bowed the knee to Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Milcom, the god of the Ammonites.^(ai) They have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and to carry out My statutes and My judgments as his father David did.^(aj)

"‘However, I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand but will let him be ruler all the days of his life because of My servant David, whom I chose and who kept My commands and My statutes.

I will take 10 tribes of the kingdom from his son's hand and give them to you.

I will give one tribe^(ak) to his son,^(al) so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me^(am) in Jerusalem, the city I chose for Myself to put My name there.^(an)

I will appoint you,^(ao) and you will reign as king^(ap) over all you want,^(aq) and you will be king over Israel.

"‘After that, if you obey all I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and My commands as My servant David did, I will be with you.^(ar) I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David,^(as) and I will give you Israel.

I will humble David's descendants, because of their unfaithfulness, but not forever.'"^[e](at)

Therefore, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam,^(au) but he fled to Egypt,^(av) to Shishak king of Egypt,^(aw) where he remained until Solomon's death.

The rest of the events of Solomon's reign, along with all his accomplishments and his wisdom, are written in the Book of Solomon's Events.^(ax)

The length of Solomon's reign in Jerusalem over all Israel totaled 40 years.^(ay)

Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam^(az) became king in his place.^(ba)

Then Rehoboam^(a) went to Shechem,^(b) for all Israel^(c) had gone to Shechem to make him king.^(d)

When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it, for he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon's presence,^(e) Jeroboam stayed in Egypt.^[a]

They summoned him, and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam:

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

Rehoboam replied, "Go home for three days and then return to me." So the people left.

Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders^(h) who had served his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, "How do you advise me to respond to these people?"

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."⁽ⁱ⁾

But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him^(j) and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and served him.

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'?"

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!

Although my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.'"^[b](k)

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had ordered: "Return to me on the third day."

Then the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice the elders had given him

and spoke to them according to the young men's advice: "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips."^[c]

The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events came from the Lord ^(l) to carry out His word, which the Lord had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.^(m)

When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered him: What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.⁽ⁿ⁾ Israel, return to your tents; David, now look after your own house!^(o) So Israel went to their tents,

but Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.^(p)

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram,^[d](q) who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to get into the chariot and flee to Jerusalem.

Israel is in rebellion against the house of David until today.^(r)

When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back,^(s) they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel.^(t) No one followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.^(u)

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem,^(v) he mobilized 180,000 choice warriors from the entire house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin^(w) to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

But a revelation from God came to Shemaiah,^(x) the man of God:

"Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,

‘This is what the Lord says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for I have done this.'"^(y) So they listened to what the Lord said and went back as He had told them.

Jeroboam built Shechem^(z) in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built Penuel.^(aa)

Jeroboam said to himself, "The way things are going now, the kingdom might return to the house of David.^(ab)

If these people regularly go to offer sacrifices in the Lord 's temple in Jerusalem,^(ac) the heart of these people will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will murder me and go back to the king of Judah."

So the king sought advice. Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, "Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here is your God^[e] who brought you out of the land of Egypt."^(ad)

He set up one in Bethel,^(ae) and put the other in Dan.^(af)

This led to sin;^(ag) the people walked in procession before one of the calves all the way to Dan.^[f](ah)

Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places^(ai) and set up priests from every class of people who were not Levites.^(aj)

Jeroboam made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival in Judah.^(ak) He offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up. He also stationed the priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up.^(al)

He offered sacrifices on^[g] the altar he had set up in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. He chose this month on his own.^(am) He made a festival for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.^(an)

A man of God^(a) came from Judah to Bethel by a revelation from the Lord while Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense.^(b)

The man of God cried out against the altar by a revelation from the Lord : "Altar, altar, this is what the Lord says, ‘A son will be born to the house of David, named Josiah, and he will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who are burning incense on you. Human bones will be burned on you.'"^(c)

He gave a sign^(d) that day. He said, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘The altar will now be ripped apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.'"^(e)

When the king heard the word that the man of God had cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar and said, "Arrest him!" But the hand he stretched out against him withered, and he could not pull it back to himself.

The altar was ripped apart, and the ashes poured from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord .

Then the king responded to the man of God, "Plead for the favor of the Lord your God and pray for me^(f) so that my hand may be restored to me." So the man of God pleaded for the favor of the Lord , and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it had been at first.

Then the king declared to the man of God, "Come home with me, refresh yourself, and I'll give you a reward."^(g)

But the man of God replied, "If you were to give me half your house,^(h) I still wouldn't go with you, and I wouldn't eat bread or drink water in this place,

for this is what I was commanded by the word of the Lord :⁽ⁱ⁾ ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or go back the way you came.'"

So he went another way; he did not go back by the way he had come to Bethel.

Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel.^(j) His son^[a] came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. His sons also told their father the words that he had spoken to the king.^(k)

Then their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" His sons had seen^[b] the way taken by the man of God who had come from Judah.

Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him, and he got on it.

He followed the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" "I am," he said.

Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread."

But he answered, "I cannot go back with you, eat bread, or drink water with you in this place,

for a message came to me by the word of the Lord : ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there^(l) or go back by the way you came.'"

He said to him, "I am also a prophet^(m) like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord : ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'" The old prophet deceived him,⁽ⁿ⁾

and the man of God went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.

While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back,

and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you rebelled against the command of the Lord and did not keep the command that the Lord your God commanded you—

but you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place that He said to you, "Do not eat bread and do not drink water"—^(o) your corpse will never reach the grave of your fathers.'"^(p)

So after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet he had brought back.

When he left,^[c] a lion attacked^[d] him along the way and killed him.^(q) His corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it; the lion was standing beside the corpse too.

There were men passing by who saw the corpse thrown on the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and spoke about it in the city where the old prophet lived.

When the prophet who had brought him back from his way heard about it, he said, "He is the man of God who disobeyed the command of the Lord . The Lord has given him to the lion, and it has mauled and killed him, according to the word of the Lord that He spoke to him."

Then the old prophet instructed his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." They saddled it,^(r)

and he went and found the corpse of the man of God thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse or mauled the donkey.

So the prophet lifted the corpse of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back. The old prophet came into the city to mourn and bury him.

Then he laid the corpse in his own grave,^(s) and they mourned over him: "Oh, my brother!"^(t)

After he had buried him, he said to his sons, "When I die, you must bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones,

for the word that he cried out by a revelation from the Lord against the altar in Bethel^(u) and against all the shrines of the high places^(v) in the cities of Samaria^(w) is certain to happen."^(x)

After all this^(y) Jeroboam did not repent^(z) of his evil way but again set up priests for the high places from every class of people.^(aa) He ordained whoever so desired it, and they became priests of the high places.^(ab)

This was the sin that caused the house of Jeroboam to be wiped out and annihilated from the face of the earth.^(ac)