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1 Kings 12:16

in 1 Kings 12

When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

KJV

So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

This verse in 1 Kings 12

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

So Israel departed unto their tents - That is, the ten tribes withdrew their allegiance from Rehoboam; only Judah and Benjamin, frequently reckoned one tribe, remaining with him.

This site's exposition

What portion do we have in David

Israel's cry repeats Sheba's call at 2 Samuel 20:1 almost word for word: “To your tents, O Israel”. There one man's revolt ended under Joab's sword, and here ten tribes speak it with one voice and divide the kingdom for good. Calling David “the son of Jesse” strips his title.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On the Duties of the Clergy 2.18.93-94 · Written before 397.

proposed

Justice, then, especially graces people who are set over any office; on the other hand, injustice fails them and fights against them.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

They named David, rather than Rehoboam; to signify, that they renounced not Rehoboam only, but all David's family. Son of Jesse - So they call David in contempt; as if they had said, Rehoboam hath no reason to carry himself with such pride and contempt toward his people; for if we trace his original, it was as mean and obscure as any of ours.
So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

How soon are good men, and their good services to the public, forgotten! The rashness of their resolution was also much to be blamed. In time, and with prudent management, they might have settled the original contract with Rehoboam to mutual satisfaction.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

It was received with mingled scorn and derision. The revolt was accomplished, and yet so quietly, that Rehoboam remained in Shechem, fancying himself the sovereign of a united kingdom, until his chief tax gatherer, who had been most imprudently sent to treat with the people, had been stoned to death.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

See the marginal reference. The words breathe unmistakeably the spirit of tribal jealousy and dislike (1Ki 11:40 note). Now see to thine own house, David - i. e., “Henceforth, house of David, look after thine own tribe, Judah, only.” It is not a threat of war, but a warning against interference.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Look after your house. The Beis Hamikdosh that you built, will be for you alone. 2 Alternatively, “see who is left with you,” and rule over them, for you will not reign over Yisroel as a whole.—Radak
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Kings 12:16:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

31 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיַּ֣רְאand it saw

    vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • כִּ֠יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • שָׁמַ֣עhe had listened

    shama'H8085 →1159 times

  • הַמֶּלֶךְ֮the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אֲלֵיהֶם֒to them

    ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times

  • וַיָּשִׁ֣בוּand they brought back

    vaiyashivuH7725 →1056 times

  • הָעָ֣םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמֶּ֣לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • דָּבָ֣ר׀word

    davarH1697 →1440 times

  • לֵאמֹ֡ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • מַה־what?

    mah-H4100 →752 times

  • לָּנוּ֩[belongs] to <the> us

    lanu

  • חֵ֨לֶקportion

    chelekH2506 →

  • בְּדָוִ֜דin David

    bedavidH1732 →999 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • נַחֲלָ֣הan inheritance

    nachalahH5159 →222 times

  • בְּבֶן־in [the] son of

    beven-H1121 →4930 times

  • יִשַׁ֗יJesse

    yishaiH3448 →

  • לְאֹהָלֶ֙יךָ֙to tents your

    leohaleikhaH168 →345 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לO Israel

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • עַתָּ֕הnow

    ʾatahH6258 →433 times

  • רְאֵ֥הconsider

    reehH7200 →1300 times

  • בֵיתְךָ֖own house your

    veitekhaH1004 →2046 times

  • דָּוִ֑דO David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • וַיֵּ֥לֶךְand it went

    vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • לְאֹהָלָֽיו׃to tents its

    leohalavH168 →345 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Kings 22:17

    So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”

    it leads to

    • Numbers 27:17

      who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

    • Matthew 9:36

      When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

    • 1 Kings 22:34–36

      However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, “Turn around and…

    • 2 Chronicles 18:16–17

      So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”

    • Jeremiah 50:6

      My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.

  • Through

    1 Kings 22:36

    As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 14:12

      And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his home.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 10:16

    When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 10:19

      So to this day Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David.

    • 2 Samuel 20:1

      Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son.…

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, Sir Edward John Poynter, 1890. Public domain.
The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, Sir Edward John Poynter, 1890. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 2.18.93-94; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.