Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The reigns of Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab – all kings of Israel – are described. Baasha’s family is wiped out, Omri forces Zimri to commit suicide, and Ahab sins with ardor.

II. Photo
Jehu augurs doom: “Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the town shall be devoured by dogs, and anyone belonging to him who dies in the open country shall be devoured by the birds of the sky.” (v. 4)

III. Important Verses
1-4: The word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha:  “Because I lifted you up from the dust and made you a ruler over My people Israel, but you followed the way of Jeroboam and caused My people Israel to sin, vexing Me with their sins — I am going to sweep away Baasha and his house. I will make your house like the House of Jeroboam son of Nebat. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the town shall be devoured by dogs, and anyone belonging to him who dies in the open country shall be devoured by the birds of the sky.”
9-11: His officer Zimri, commander of half the chariotry, committed treason against him while he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the palace at Tirzah. Zimri entered, struck him down, and killed him; he succeeded him as king in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah. No sooner had he become king and ascended the throne than he struck down all the House of Baasha; he did not leave a single male of his, nor any kinsman or friend.
17-18: Omri and all Israel then withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. When Zimri saw that the town was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and burned down the royal palace over himself. And so he died.
30-33: Ahab son of Omri did what was displeasing to the LORD, more than all who preceded him. Not content to follow the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel daughter of King Ethbaal of the Phoenicians, and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar to Baal in the temple of Baal which he built in Samaria. Ahab also made a sacred post. Ahab did more to vex the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel who preceded him.

IV. Outline

1-6. Baasha, king of Israel
    1-4. Jehu’s augury
    5-6. Summary statement
7-14. Elah, king of Israel
    7. Jehu’s augury
    8. Introductory statement
    9-13. Zimri carries out Jehu’s augury
    14. Summary statement
15-20. Zimri, king of Israel
    15. Introductory statement
    16. The Israelites follow Omri
    17. Omri sieges Tirzah
    18-19. Zimri commits suicide
    20. Summary statement
21-22. Omri’s followers overpower Tibni’s followers
23-28. Omri, king of Israel
    23. Introductory statement
    24. Omri builds Samaria
    25-26. Omri’s sins
    27-28. Summary statement
29-34. Ahab, king of Israel
    29. Introductory statement
    30-33. Ahab’s sins
    34. Hiel builds Jericho, loses two sons

V. Comment
Chapter 16 relates how power is transferred from one king to the next in the kingdom of Israel. Zimri, the man who had betrayed Elah, commits suicide in v. 18: “When Zimri saw that the town was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and burned down the royal palace over himself. And so he died.”

Suicide occurs at least four other times in the Hebrew Bible. Judges 9:53-54 records Abimelech’s suicide: “But a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and cracked his skull. He immediately cried out to his attendant, his arms-bearer, ‘Draw your dagger and finish me off, that they may not say of me, ‘A woman killed him!’ So his attendant stabbed him, and he died.” Saul and his arms-bearer also committ suicide: “Saul said to his arms-bearer, ‘Draw your sword and run me through, so that the uncircumcised may not run me through and make sport of me.’ But his arms-bearer, in his great awe, refused; whereupon Saul grasped the sword and fell upon it. When his arms-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him ended his life early.” (1 Sam 31:4-5) The final case is Ahitophel in  2 Samuel 17:23: “When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his ass and went home to his native town. He set his affairs in order, and then he hanged himself. He was buried in his ancestral tomb.” (Another possible case is Samson in Judges 16.)

Arthur Droge makes an important point about the tacit acceptance of suicide in the Hebrew Bible: “The important point is that none of these biblical figures receives censure; indeed, their suicides are scarcely commented on, leading one to conclude that in ancient Israel the act of suicide was regarded as something natural and perhaps heroic (Daube 1962: 83–87). The only instance in the Hebrew Bible where an individual considered death and perhaps wished to kill himself, but did not, is Job (7:15; 13:15).” (Arthur J. Droge, “Suicide” in the ABD)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.photographytips.com/images/12wilddogs-okavango.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The kingdoms of Judah and Israel continue to battle each other. In Judah, the wicked Abijam is replaced by the righteous Asa. In Israel, Nadab is killed by Baasha who wipes out the house of Jeroboam.

II. Photo
Asa walks away with Baasha’s stones: “Then King Asa mustered all Judah, with no exemptions; and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had fortified Ramah.” (v. 22a)

III. Important Verses
3-5: [Abijam] continued in all the sins that his father before him had committed; he was not wholehearted with the LORD his God, like his father David. Yet, for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by raising up his descendant after him and by preserving Jerusalem. For David had done what was pleasing to the LORD and never turned throughout his life from all that He had commanded him, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
11-15: Asa did what was pleasing to the LORD, as his father David had done. He expelled the male prostitutes from the land, and he removed all the idols that his ancestors had made. He also deposed his mother Maacah from the rank of queen mother, because she had made an abominable thing for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her abominable thing and burnt it in the Wadi Kidron.  The shrines, indeed, were not abolished; however, Asa was wholehearted with the LORD his God all his life. He brought into the House of the LORD all the consecrated things of his father and his own consecrated things — silver, gold, and utensils.
17-22: King Baasha of Israel advanced against Judah, and he fortified Ramah to prevent anyone belonging to King Asa from going out or coming in. So Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the House of the LORD as well as the treasuries of the royal palace, and he entrusted them to his officials. King Asa sent them to King Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion of Aram, who resided in Damascus, with this message: “There is a pact between you and me, and between your father and my father. I herewith send you a gift of silver and gold: Go and break your pact with King Baasha of Israel, so that he may withdraw from me.” Ben-hadad responded to King Asa’s request; he sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel and captured Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, as well as all the land of Naphtali. When Baasha heard about it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah. Then King Asa mustered all Judah, with no exemptions; and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had fortified Ramah. With these King Asa fortified Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
27-30: Then Baasha son of Ahijah, of the House of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. Baasha killed him in the third year of King Asa of Judah and became king in his stead. As soon as he became king, he struck down all the House of Jeroboam; he did not spare a single soul belonging to Jeroboam until he destroyed it — in accordance with the word that the LORD had spoken through His servant, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite — because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he caused Israel to commit, thereby vexing the LORD, the God of Israel.

IV. Outline

1-8. Abijam, king of Judah
    1-2. Introductory statement
    3. Continued sin
    4-5. The merit of David
    6. War with Jeroboam
    7-8. Summary statement
9-24. Asa, king of Judah
    9-10. Introductory statement
    11-15. Asa’s piety
    16-22. Asa and Ben-Hadad conquer Ramah from Baasha
    23-24. Summary statement; foot ailment
25-31. Nadab, king of Israel
    25. Introductory statement
    26. Nadab’s sins
    27-30. Baasha annihilates Nadab and the house of Jeroboam
    31. Summary statement
32-34. Baasha, king of Israel
    32. War with Asa
    33. Introductory statement
    34. Baasha’s sins

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/15/xinsrc_492100615083137512631.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
After being scolded by Ahijah the prophet, Jeroboam’s wife learns that her son has died. Rehoboam rules in Judah, but there is rampant idolatry and the Egyptian Pharaoh raids the temple. Rehoboam and Jeroboam battle continuously.

II. Photo
Jeroboam sends his wife to the prophet: “Jeroboam said to his wife, ‘Go and disguise yourself, so that you will not be recognized as Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh, where the prophet Ahijah lives.’” (v. 2a)

III. Important Verses
1-3: At that time, Abijah, a son of Jeroboam, fell sick. Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go and disguise yourself, so that you will not be recognized as Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. The prophet Ahijah lives there, the one who predicted that I would be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some wafers, and a jug of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
15-16: “The LORD will strike Israel until it sways like a reed in water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have provoked the LORD by the sacred posts that they have made for themselves. He will forsake Israel because of the sins that Jeroboam committed and led Israel to commit.”
17-18: Jeroboam’s wife got up and left, and she went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of her house, the child died. They buried him and all Israel lamented over him, in accordance with the word that the LORD had spoken through His servant the prophet Ahijah.
22-24: Judah did what was displeasing to the LORD, and angered Him more than their fathers had done by the sins that they committed. They too built for themselves shrines, pillars, and sacred posts on every high hill and under every leafy tree; there were also male prostitutes in the land. [Judah] imitated all the abhorrent practices of the nations that the LORD had dispossessed before the Israelites.
25-26: In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt marched against Jerusalem and carried off the treasures of the House of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He carried off everything; he even carried off all the golden shields that Solomon had made.
30: There was continual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

IV. Outline

1-20. The death of Jeroboam’s child
    1. Jeroboam’s son becomes ill
    2-4a. Jeroboam sends his wife to Ahijah the prophet
    4b-16. Ahijah guarantees death, the end of the dynasty, and exile
    17-18. Jeroboam’s child dies
    19-20. Summary statement of Jeroboam’s reign
21-31. Rehoboam’s failures
    21-24. The Judeans sin under Rehoboam’s rule
    25-26. Shishak of Egypt raids the temple
    27-28. Rehoboam replaces Solomon’s gold shields with copper
    29-31. Summary statement of Rehoboam’s reign

V. Comment
Chapter 14 tells two stories: it begins with the death of Jeroboam’s son Abijah, and it ends with Rehoboam’s moral and political decline. Jeroboam’s son is said to have lived in Tirzah, and the following is Dale W. Manor’s summary of what scholars currently know about this enigmatic location: “Joshua is attributed with killing the king of Tirzah when Israel entered Canaan (Josh 12:24), but the city is not mentioned again in historical narrative until the time of Jeroboam. Jeroboam is not explicitly described as having reigned from Tirzah, although it is implied in the text in connection with the death of his son (1 Kgs 14:1–18). It is more clearly implied to be the capital of the N kingdom after Jeroboam’s death; all of his immediate successors—Baasha (1 Kgs 15:21, 33), Elah (1 Kgs 16:8), Zimri (1 Kgs 16:15), and Omri (1 Kgs 16:23–24)—reigned there until Omri moved the capital to Samaria. Tirzah was the home of Menahem, who later killed Shallum and seized the throne of Samaria (2 Kgs 15:14–16)…

“The identification of Tirzah has been a matter of some discussion and even now is not certain. On linguistic grounds, Robinson (BR 3, 302) identified it with Tulluza, [Vol. 6, p. 574]  which is located ca. 6 km N of Shechem. Another possibility based upon the same reasoning was to identify it with Teyasir, further NE of Tulluza (ISBE [1929 ed] 4: 2987). Albright, however, affirmed that the identification with Tulluza was “based on a fancy similarity of name, and lacks archaeological support” (1931: 244). His reason for rejecting the other site is unclear except that he states that it “has nothing to commend it, toponymically or archaeologically” (1931: 244).

“Albright’s strategy for identifying the location of the city was based upon several lines of reasoning, which involved a process of elimination. He concluded (1931: 241–42) that for strategic reasons, the city was probably located NE of Shechem to protect against incursion from the N (Damascus) and from the E (Ammon), but would still need to be somewhat centrally located to deal with problems that might arise from the W (Philistines and Phoenicians). Further information is inferred from the Samaria Ostraca, which mention several clans (or districts) of Samaria, one of which is Hepher. Hepher was subdivided into subclans and included Noah and Hoglah, who also are mentioned in the ostraca. According to the biblical texts, Noah and Hoglah were sisters (cf. Josh 17:3), who had another sister named Tirzah. He assumed that it would be reasonable for the territories associated with these related subclans to be contiguous (or at least in close proximity). Through a process of elimination in locating the areas of the other major clans, he finally concluded that the territory of Hepher and its subclans was NE of Samaria, and that Tell el-Far’ah “falls necessary [sic] into the region of Hefer, and the identification of it with Tirzah is imposed because of the lack of any other archaeological possibility in this region” (1931: 251). Albright identified sherds of the EB, MB, LB, and Iron Age I and II, with the most from Iron Age I (1931: 246).

“The subsequent excavations at Tell el-Far{ah have uncovered no written evidence to identify the site with Tirzah, but have revealed a stratigraphic profile that mirrors what is known about Tirzah from written sources. It is generally accepted that Tell el-Far’ah (M.R. 182188) is the best candidate to identify with Tirzah.” (Dale W. Manor, “Tirzah” ABD vol. VI, 573–77)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://blog.successcreations.com/

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
A Judean prophet augurs doom for Jeroboam. The prophet, who was told by God not to eat on his journey, is tricked into eating at Bethel. He is killed by a lion and buried in Bethel.

II. Photo
God punishes the prophet: “He set out, and a lion came upon him on the road and killed him. His corpse lay on the road, with the ass standing beside it, and the lion also standing beside the corpse.” (v. 24)

III. Important Verses
1-3: A man of God arrived at Bethel from Judah at the command of the LORD. While Jeroboam was standing on the altar to present the offering, the man of God, at the command of the LORD, cried out against the altar:  “O altar, altar! Thus said the LORD: A son shall be born to the House of David, Josiah by name; and he shall slaughter upon you the priests of the shrines who bring offerings upon you. And human bones shall be burned upon you.” He gave a portent on that day, saying, “Here is the portent that the LORD has decreed: This altar shall break apart, and the ashes on it shall be spilled.”
7-10: The king said to the man of God, “Come with me to my house and have some refreshment; and I shall give you a gift.”  But the man of God replied to the king, “Even if you give me half your wealth, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place; for so I was commanded by the word of the LORD: You shall eat no bread and drink no water, nor shall you go back by the road by which you came.” So he left by another road and did not go back by the road on which he had come to Bethel.
20-22: While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back. He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah: “Thus said the LORD: Because you have flouted the word of the LORD and have not observed what the LORD your God commanded you, but have gone back and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water [there],’ your corpse shall not come to the grave of your fathers.”
24: He set out, and a lion came upon him on the road and killed him. His corpse lay on the road, with the ass standing beside it, and the lion also standing beside the corpse.
33-34: Even after this incident, Jeroboam did not turn back from his evil way, but kept on appointing priests for the shrines from the ranks of the people. He ordained as priests of the shrines any who so desired. Thereby the House of Jeroboam incurred guilt — to their utter annihilation from the face of the earth.

IV. Outline
1-6. An augury for Jeroboam
7-10. The Judean prophet spurns Jeroboam’s invitation
11-19. A prophet from bethel cozens the Judean to visit him
21-24. God rebukes the Judean and he is killed by a lion
25. The news is spread
26-32. The prophet from Bethel buries the Judean
33-34. Jeroboam’s evil activity

V. Comment
Chapter 13 tells the story of a Judean prophet’s trip to Bethel. He augurs doom for Jeroboam, destroys the altar, heals Jeroboam’s arm, is tricked by another prophet, and is killed by a lion. One might ask, what is the purpose of this story and what is it doing here? A medieval rabbi named David Kimhi (Radak) points to the Judean’s death in verse 24: “He set out, and a lion came upon him on the road and killed him. His corpse lay on the road, with the ass standing beside it, and the lion also standing beside the corpse.” Kimhi writes (translation my own): “Even though [Jeroboam] saw the portent of the broken altar, the portent of his hand which was withered and restored by means of the godly man’s prayers, saw the death of the prophet when he rebelled against God’s word, and heard about the miracle of the lion who stood next to the prophet’s corpse and didn’t eat it or the donkey, nevertheless he didn’t return from his wicked way.” Thus, according to Kimhi, this entire story is meant to highlight Jeroboam’s obstinance. This is corroborated by the summary statement in vv. 33-34: “Even after this incident, Jeroboam did not turn back from his evil way, but kept on appointing priests for the shrines from the ranks of the people. He ordained as priests of the shrines any who so desired. Thereby the House of Jeroboam incurred guilt — to their utter annihilation from the face of the earth.”

This interpretation is accepted by many modern scholars as well. Yet, unlike Kimhi, they attribute this implicit condemnation to the Deuteronomist. This, they feel, is demonstrated by the mention of Josiah in v. 2: “O altar, altar! Thus said the LORD: A son shall be born to the House of David, Josiah by name; and he shall slaughter upon you the priests of the shrines who bring offerings upon you. And human bones shall be burned upon you.” Collins writes: “The account of Jeroboam’s actions bears the clear imprint of the Deuteronomist, and is decidedly unsympathetic to the northern leader. He is virtually accused of idolatry in setting up the two golden calves… It is unlikely, however, that Jeroboam was guilty of idolatry. The deity may have been thought to stand on the calves, just as he was thought to sit above the cherubim in the Jerusalem cult. Jeroboam’s crime in the eyes of the Deuteronomists was that he promoted sacrificial worship outside Jerusalem. This is what is called, in the remainder of the history, the sin of Jeroboam… The Deuteronomists provide an explicit judgment on Jeroboam in 1 Kings 13, where a man of God is said to prophesy that a Davidic king named Josiah would one day tear down the altar at Bethel. The explicit mention of Josiah here leaves no doubt but that this king’s reform is the climax of the history. This episode is followed by a strange legend about how the man of God was eaten by a lion, because he was tricked into disobeying his orders. This story probably originated as a popular legend. The Deuteronomists uses it to show the perils of disobedience in a colorful way.” (255)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Kil, Yehudah “Sefer Melakhim” Daat Mikra (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1989)
Photo taken from http://www.sunspotimages.com/uploads/processed/0025/0512131253511lion_attack_blured_4-0_11.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Rehoboam attempts to increase the work load of the Israelites. They rebel and anoint Jeroboam as their new king. Jeroboam establishes new religious centers in Dan and Bethel.

II. Photo
Rehoboam rules with an iron fist: “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.” (v. 14b)

III. Important Verses
3-5: They sent for him; and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam as follows:  “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke which your father laid on us, and we will serve you.” He answered them, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.
12-14: Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, since the king had told them: “Come back on the third day.” The king answered the people harshly, ignoring the advice that the elders had given him. He spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, and said, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.”
16: When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered the king: “We have no portion in David, No share in Jesse’s son! To your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own House, O David.” So the Israelites returned to their homes.
18-19: King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel pelted him to death with stones. Thereupon King Rehoboam hurriedly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. Thus Israel revolted against the House of David, as is still the case.
20: When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent messengers and summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David.
26-29: Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom may well return to the House of David. If these people still go up to offer sacrifices at the House of the LORD in Jerusalem, the heart of these people will turn back to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and go back to King Rehoboam of Judah.” So the king took counsel and made two golden calves. He said to the people, “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” He set up one in Bethel and placed the other in Dan.
32b: And Jeroboam established a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month; in imitation of the festival in Judah, he established one at Bethel, and he ascended the altar [there].

IV. Outline
1-5. Jeroboam’s demand
6-7. The counsel of Rehoboam’s elders
8-11. The counsel of Rehoboam’s friends
12-14. Rehoboam’s imperious response
15. Divine providence
16. The Israelites secede
17. Rehoboam rules in Judea
18-19. Rehoboam’s messenger is killed; Rehoboam flees
20. Jeroboam is crowned king of Israel
21-24. Upon hearing God’s message, Rehoboam abstains from battle
25. Jeroboam’s fortifications
26-31. Jeroboam establishes calves in Dan and Bethel
32-33. Jeroboam’s festival in the 8th month

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.longthanhart.com/images/lta_photos/lta009.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Solomon illicitly marries foreign women and becomes an idolater. God is furious and decides to split his kingdom in two. Although Solomon’s enemies grow in power, the king dies before his kingdom is torn apart.

II. Photo
Solomon’s story comes to an end: “The other events of Solomon’s reign, and all his actions and his wisdom, are recorded in the book of the Annals of Solomon.” (v. 41)

III. Important Verses
1-5: King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter — Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Phoenician, and Hittite women, from the nations of which the LORD had said to the Israelites, “None of you shall join them and none of them shall join you, lest they turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Such Solomon clung to and loved. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. In his old age, his wives turned away Solomon’s heart after other gods, and he was not as wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God as his father David had been. Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Phoenicians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
11-13: And the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you are guilty of this — you have not kept My covenant and the laws which I enjoined upon you — I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. But, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it away from your son. However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give your son one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
29-32: During that time Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem and the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh met him on the way. He had put on a new robe; and when the two were alone in the open country, Ahijah took hold of the new robe he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. “Take ten pieces,” he said to Jeroboam. “For thus said the LORD, the God of Israel: I am about to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hands, and I will give you ten tribes. But one tribe shall remain his — for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.”

IV. Outline
1-3. Solomon’s forbidden wives
4-5. Solomon worships foreign gods
6-8. Solomon builds idolatrous temples
9-13. God decides to split Solomon’s kingdom
14-22. Hadad’s history
23-25. Rezon’s history
26-40. Jeroboam’s history; Ahijah promises him 10 tribes
41-43a. Summary statement; Solomon’s death
43b. Rehoboam becomes king

V. Comment
Chapter 11 tells the story of Solomon’s declivity: he marries forbidden women, worships foreign gods, and builds pagan temples. The nationalities of his forbidden wives are enumerated in vv. 1-2: “King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter — Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Phoenician, and Hittite women, from the nations of which the LORD had said to the Israelites, ‘None of you shall join them and none of them shall join you, lest they turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Such Solomon clung to and loved.’” The passage in the Pentateuch that these verses are “quoting” is Deuteronomy 7:1-4: “When the LORD your God brings you to the land that you are about to enter and possess, and He dislodges many nations before you — the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations much larger than you — and the LORD your God delivers them to you and you defeat them, you must doom them to destruction: grant them no terms and give them no quarter. You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.  For they will turn your children away from Me to worship other gods, and the LORD’s anger will blaze forth against you and He will promptly wipe you out.”

One question that arises is: “Who were the Hittites?” Gregory McMahon notes that there are two disparate groups of “Hittites” mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: “In the biblical references to the Hittites two different groups may be discerned. One is a local people of Palestine, settled in the area around Hebron before Abraham’s arrival, the descendants of Canaan through the eponymous ancestor Heth. They lived in the heart of the land promised to the Israelites, so that God had to expressly command the Israelites to destroy them… Almost all of the references of Hittites in the OT fit into this picture of a local Canaanite people never quite eradicated in the Hebrew conquest of Canaan. There are, however, five references to Hittites which do not fit with this picture (IDB 2: 613–14)… These five references to the Hittites which on the basis of context may be understood as the Hittites of north Syria, that is, the Neo-Hittites, are also the only five occurrences of the plural form hittˆîm in the OT. This may mean nothing, but it could be some indication of a distinction made in the text between the Hittites of Palestine, descendants of Heth, and the Hittites of Anatolia and north Syria, the men of Hatti.” (Gregory McMahon, “Hittites in the OT,” ABD vol. 3 p. 233)

One final note about Solomon’s apostasy: the king’s pagan temples seem to have lasted many centuries. This is because 2 Kings 23:13 says: “The king also defiled the shrines facing Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of the Destroyer, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable thing of the Ammonites.” This verse speaks of a time period ca. 640–609 BCE (Solomon reigned ca. 961–922 BCE).

Verse 41 mentions the first of many cited sources in the book of Kings: “The other events of Solomon’s reign, and all his actions and his wisdom, are recorded in the book of the Annals of Solomon.”  Collins writes: “A number of sources are explicitly identified in the books of Kings. First Kings 11:41 refers the reader to ‘the book of the acts of Solomon.’ There are several references to ‘the book of the annals of the kings of Judah’ (14:29; 15:7, 23, etc.) and the corresponding annals of the kings of Israel (14:19; 15:31; 16:5, 14, etc.). None of these source books has survived. It is possible that they are entirely fictional, introduced to give an aura of authenticity to the account, but it seems likely that the author had some records of the kings of Israel and Judah at his disposal. It is widely assumed that chronicles were maintained at the royal courts of Israel and Judah, as they were in Egypt and Mesopotamia (for examples see ANET, 265-317). The best-known example of such a royal chronicle is the Babylonian Chronicle, which may be roughly contemporary with the Deuteronomistic History. Lists of kings were compiled in Mesopotamia from ancient times. Historical information was also recorded in royal inscriptions. The Near Eastern accounts are generally presented as lists of events, with little narrative elaboration. The books of Kings have much more developed narrative than the Mesopotamian chronicles, but they are generally less expansive than the stories in the books of Samuel.” (245)

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.reconnections.net/Old_book.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon and is impressed with his wisdom. Solomon’s fame and fortune grow, and he is visited by kings from around the world.

II. Photo
The Queen of Sheba brings gifts: “She presented the king with one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such a vast quantity of spices arrive as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.” (v. 10)

III. Important Verses
1-5: The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, through the name of the LORD, and she came to test him with hard questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels bearing spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she asked him all that she had in mind. Solomon had answers for all her questions; there was nothing that the king did not know, [nothing] to which he could not give her an answer.  When the queen of Sheba observed all of Solomon’s wisdom, and the palace he had built, the fare of his table, the seating of his courtiers, the service and attire of his attendants, and his wine service, and the burnt offerings that he offered at the House of the LORD, she was left breathless.
16-17: King Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold — 600 shekels of gold to each shield — and 300 bucklers of beaten gold — three minas of gold to each buckler. The king placed them in the Lebanon Forest House.
18-20: The king also made a large throne of ivory, and he overlaid it with refined gold. Six steps led up to the throne, and the throne had a back with a rounded top, and arms on either side of the seat. Two lions stood beside the arms, and twelve lions stood on the six steps, six on either side. No such throne was ever made for any other kingdom.
23-25: King Solomon excelled all the kings on earth in wealth and in wisdom. All the world came to pay homage to Solomon and to listen to the wisdom with which God had endowed him; and each one would bring his tribute — silver and gold objects, robes, weapons and spices, horses and mules — in the amount due each year.

IV. Outline
1-5. The Queen of Sheba is impressed with Solomon
6-9. The Queen praises Solomon and God
10. The Queen’s present
11. The treasures from Ophir
12. An overabundance of almug wood
13. Solomon sends the Queen back with gifts
14-17. Solomon’s golden objects
18-20. Solomon’s throne
21-22. Solomon’s vast wealth
23-25. The kings of the world visit Solomon and pay tribute
26-29. Prosperity; Solomon’s horses

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons1/294/2946373/29_2009/de4b7edb1e577498_spices.preview.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God exhorts Solomon to obey him. Solomon does business with king Hiram, enslaves many foreigners, and fortifies his cities.

II. Photo
Solomon enslaves his enemies: “All the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were not of the Israelite stock — those of their descendants who remained in the land and whom the Israelites were not able to annihilate — of these Solomon made a slave force, as is still the case.” (vv. 20-21)

III. Important Verses
4-5: As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked before Me, wholeheartedly and with uprightness, doing all that I have commanded you [and] keeping My laws and My rules, then I will establish your throne of kingship over Israel forever, as I promised your father David, saying, ‘Your line on the throne of Israel shall never end.’
6-7: But if you and your descendants turn away from Me and do not keep the commandments [and] the laws which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will sweep Israel off the land which I gave them; I will reject the House which I have consecrated to My name; and Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
8-9: And as for this House, once so exalted, everyone passing by it shall be appalled and shall hiss. And when they ask, ‘Why did the LORD do thus to the land and to this House?’ they shall be told, ‘It is because they forsook the LORD their God who freed them from the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore the LORD has brought all this calamity upon them.’”
11: Since King Hiram of Tyre had supplied Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that he required — King Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee.
20-21: All the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were not of the Israelite stock — those of their descendants who remained in the land and whom the Israelites were not able to annihilate — of these Solomon made a slave force, as is still the case.

IV. Outline

1-9. God’s message to Solomon
    1-2. Introduction
    3. God has heard the prayer
    4-5. Promise
    6-9. Warning
10-11. Solomon gives Hiram 20 cities
12-13. Hiram’s dissatisfaction; Etiological note
14. Hiram pays Solomon in gold
15. Solomon’s building campaign
16. A note about Gezer
17-19. Solomon fortifies his towns
20-22. Solomon enslaves the foreigners, not the Israelites
23. Solomon’s prefects
24. The millo is built
25. Offerings at the temple
26-28. Solomon and Hiram send a fleet to Ophir

V. Comment
Verses 26-28 describe Solomon’s sea ventures: “King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Sea of Reeds in the land of Edom. Hiram sent servants of his with the fleet, mariners who were experienced on the sea, to serve with Solomon’s men. They came to Ophir; there they obtained gold in the amount of four hundred and twenty talents, which they delivered to King Solomon.” What is the meaning of “Ophir gold”? Baker writes that Ophir was “a maritime nation which was a source of gold from at least the reign of Solomon (1 Kgs 9:28; 22:49; 2 Chr 8:18). It also provided fine wood and precious stones (1 Kgs 10:11; 2 Chr 9:10; Job 28:16). All of these were delivered to Israel by ship through the port of Ezion-geber on the Red Sea. The gold seems to have been of a particularly high quality since in some of the passages it is used in conjunction with more specific Hebrew terms for fine, choice gold (Job 22:24; Ps 45:10[—Eng 45:9]; Isa 13:12). Ophir became so associated with this rare metal that the name Ophir itself, without any further qualifier, is to be understood as “gold” in Job 22:24. Gold from this source is also known from an extrabiblical inscription from Israel.” (“Ophir (Place)” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. V, pp. 26-27) Baker also points out that the whereabouts of biblical Ophir remain unknown. While some (including Josephus) associate it with India, he feels that it was most likely a site in eastern Africa or western Arabia.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/files/imagecache/fiction/files/fiction/print/20080828_slaves.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
The ark is brought to the new temple. Solomon prays before the people and they celebrate for two weeks.

II. Photo
The people go home happy: “They bade the king good-bye and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that the Lord had shown to His servant David and His people Israel.” (v. 66b)

III. Important Verses
2-5: All the men of Israel gathered before King Solomon at the Feast, in the month of Ethanim — that is, the seventh month.  When all the elders of Israel had come, the priests lifted the Ark and carried up the Ark of the LORD. Then the priests and the Levites brought the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. Meanwhile, King Solomon and the whole community of Israel, who were assembled with him before the Ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen in such abundance that they could not be numbered or counted.
9: There was nothing inside the Ark but the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, when the LORD made [a covenant] with the Israelites after their departure from the land of Egypt.
27: But will God really dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built!
29-30: May Your eyes be open day and night toward this House, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall abide there’; may You heed the prayers which Your servant will offer toward this place. And when You hear the supplications which Your servant and Your people Israel offer toward this place, give heed in Your heavenly abode — give heed and pardon.
57-58: May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He never abandon or forsake us. May He incline our hearts to Him, that we may walk in all His ways and keep the commandments, the laws, and the rules, which He enjoined upon our fathers.
63: Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep as sacrifices of well-being to the LORD. Thus the king and all the Israelites dedicated the House of the LORD.
65-66: So Solomon and all Israel with him — a great assemblage, [coming] from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt — observed the Feast at that time before the LORD our God, seven days and again seven days, fourteen days in all. On the eighth day he let the people go. They bade the king good-bye and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that the LORD had shown to His servant David and His people Israel.

IV. Outline

1-11. The ark is publicly transferred to the holy of holies
12-21. Solomon’s Initial Blessing
    12-15a. Introduction
    15b. Blessing
    16-19. Historical background
    20-21. God’s promise is fulfilled
22-53. Solomon’s Petition
    22-23a. Introduction
    23b. Invocation
    23c. Hymnic praise
    24. Account of fulfillment
    25-26. Petition: the line of David
    27. Hymnic praise
    28-51. Petitions
        28-30. Pardon people who pray at the temple
        31-32. Execute righteousness
        33-34. Help Israel defeat its enemies
        35-36. Deliver Israel from drought
        37-40. Deliver Israel from plagues and famine
        41-43. Listen to the foreigner
        44-45. Listen to the Israelite army even if it is on foreign soil
        46-51. Listen to the people in captivity
    52-53. Final petition
54-61. Solomon’s Final Blessing and Petition
    54-55. Solomon stands before the congregation
    56. Blessing God
    57-. Petitions
        57. God should be with Israel
        58. Israel should be with God
        59a. God should hear Israel’s prayers
        59b. Daily provisions
        60. Universal knowledge of God
    61. Exhortation to follow God
62-64. Sacrifices at the temple
65-66. The people celebrate the festival [Sukkot]

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1279/1292662981_b23524f6b0.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Solomon builds his palace. He hires Hiram of Tyre to design the temple’s vessels and deposits David’s money into the treasury.

II. Photo
Hiram builds two columns: “He set up the columns at the portico of the Great Hall; he set up one column on the right and named it Jachin, and he set up the other column on the left and named it Boaz.” (v. 21)

III. Important Verses

1: And it took Solomon thirteen years to build his palace, until his whole palace was completed.
7: He made the throne portico, where he was to pronounce judgment — the Hall of Judgment. It was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.
8: The house that he used as a residence, in the rear courtyard, back of the portico, was of the same construction. Solomon also constructed a palace like that portico for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom he had married.
13-14: King Solomon sent for Hiram and brought him down from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been a Tyrian, a coppersmith. He was endowed with skill, ability, and talent for executing all work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and executed all his work.
21: He set up the columns at the portico of the Great Hall; he set up one column on the right and named it Jachin, and he set up the other column on the left and named it Boaz.
23: Then he made the tank of cast metal, 10 cubits across from brim to brim, completely round; it was 5 cubits high, and it measured 30 cubits in circumference.
45b-47: All those vessels in the House of the LORD that Hiram made for King Solomon were of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in earthen molds, in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. Solomon left all the vessels [unweighed] because of their very great quantity; the weight of the bronze was not reckoned.
48-50: And Solomon made all the furnishings that were in the House of the LORD: the altar, of gold; the table for the bread of display, of gold; the lampstands — five on the right side and five on the left — in front of the Shrine, of solid gold; and the petals, lamps, and tongs, of gold; the basins, snuffers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and fire pans, of solid gold; and the hinge sockets for the doors of the innermost part of the House, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the Great Hall of the House, of gold.
51: When all the work that King Solomon had done in the House of the LORD was completed, Solomon brought in the sacred donations of his father David — the silver, the gold, and the vessels — and deposited them in the treasury of the House of the LORD.

IV. Outline

1. Solomon builds his palace in 13 years
2-8. The structures are built with cedar
9-12. Hewn stones cover the cedar
13-47. Hiram’s work
    13-14. Introduction
    15-22. Jachin and Boaz
    23-26. The “sea”
    27-39. The lavers
    40a. Smaller vessels
    30b-47. Summary statement
48-50. Solomon makes the other vessels
51. David’s donations are placed in the treasury

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
De Vries, Simon John. “1 Kings” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 12 (Waco, Texas: Wordbooks, 1985).
Longe, Burke O. “1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature” Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1984).
Photo taken from http://www.naspa.org/programs/images/column.jpg