1 Kings 11:15
in 1 Kings 11Earlier, 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, and had smitten every male in Edom
KJV
For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;
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This verse in 1 Kings 11
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The verse gives certain additional particulars of David’s conquest of Edom (marginal references). Joab was left, or sent, to complete the subjugation of the country, with orders to exterminate all the grown male inhabitants. It was not very often that David acted with any extreme severity in his wars; but he may have considered himself justified by policy, as he certainly was by the letter of the Law Deu 20:13, in adopting this fierce course against Edom. Was in Edom - Or, according to another reading, “smote” Edom. The slain - Probably the Israelites who had fallen in the strnggle.
This site's exposition
stirred up an adversary
on 1 Kings 11:14-22
Hadad the Edomite is the first of two adversaries the Lord himself raises against Solomon, a royal child who fled Joab's slaughter of Edom's males under David and grew up at Pharaoh's own table, married to the queen's sister. The narrator lets the long exile stand as its own comment: a king who married Pharaoh's daughter for peace now houses inside Egypt the very man his father's war created. Hadad's plea to return, though thou hast lacked nothing with me, names the pull of home over comfort, and it comes precisely when Solomon's protection has weakened.
This site's exposition
had gone to bury the dead
The dead were the fallen of Israel in Albert Barnes's reading, and Edomites in the reading of Adam Clarke and Matthew Henry, who note that none were left alive in Edom to bury them. Barnes ties the slaughter to the war law of Deuteronomy 20:13. The burial gave Hadad time to flee, John Wesley notes.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
And this gave Hadad the opportunity of making his escape, whilst Joab and his men were employed in that solemnity. Had smitten - Or, and he smote, as it is in the Hebrew: which is here noted as the cause of Hadad's flight; he understood what Joab had done in part, and intended farther to do, even to kill all the males and therefore fled for his life.
Though they themselves were moved by principles of ambition or revenge, God made use of them to serve his design of correcting Solomon. The principal judgment threatened was deferred, namely, the rending of the kingdom from him, but he himself was made to fee the smart of the rod, for his greater humiliation.
From this general slaughter, while Joab was burying the slain (for he left not any alive of their own people to bury them, and buried they must be, or they would be an annoyance to the country, Ezek. xxxix. 12 ), Hadad, a branch of the royal family, then a little child, was taken and preserved by some of the king's servants, and conveyed to Egypt,
For it came to pass, when David was in Edom,....
Those that are too free in giving provocation ought to consider that perhaps it may be remembered in time to come and returned with interest to theirs after them; having so few friends in this world, it is our wisdom not to make ourselves more enemies than we needs must. Hadad, an Edomite, was an adversary to Solomon.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Then, having acquired great power, he at length became king in Damascus, threw off the yoke, and was "the adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon." He was succeeded by Hadad, whose successors took the official title of Ben-hadad from him, the illustrious founder of the powerful kingdom of Damascene-Syria.
Was gone up to bury the slain - The slain Edomites; for Joab had in the course of six months exterminated all the males, except Hadad and his servants, who escaped to Egypt. Instead of bury the slain, the Targum has to take the spoils of the slain.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Dovid was in Edom. Then Hadad fled from Dovid and Yoav. 4 Below v.
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. 5 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
16 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֗י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בִּֽהְי֤וֹת | bihyot | when was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| דָּוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֱד֔וֹם | ʾedom | Edom | H123 → | 99 times |
| בַּעֲל֗וֹת | baalot | when went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| יוֹאָב֙ | yoav | Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
| שַׂ֣ר | sar | [the] commander of | H8269 → | 421 times |
| הַצָּבָ֔א | hatzava' | the army | H6635 → | 485 times |
| לְקַבֵּ֖ר | lekaber | to bury | H6912 → | 133 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַחֲלָלִ֑ים | hachalalim | the [ones] slain | H2491 → | |
| וַיַּ֥ךְ | vaiyakh | and he struck down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָכָ֖ר | zakhar | male | H2145 → | |
| בֶּאֱדֽוֹם׃ | beedom | in Edom | H123 → | 99 times |
וַיְהִ֗יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בִּֽהְי֤וֹתwhen was
bihyotH1961 →3559 times
דָּוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֱד֔וֹםEdom
ʾedomH123 →99 times
בַּעֲל֗וֹתwhen went up
baalotH5927 →890 times
יוֹאָב֙Joab
yoavH3097 →144 times
שַׂ֣ר[the] commander of
sarH8269 →421 times
הַצָּבָ֔אthe army
hatzava'H6635 →485 times
לְקַבֵּ֖רto bury
lekaberH6912 →133 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַחֲלָלִ֑יםthe [ones] slain
hachalalimH2491 →
וַיַּ֥ךְand he struck down
vaiyakhH5221 →499 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זָכָ֖רmale
zakharH2145 →
בֶּאֱדֽוֹם׃in Edom
beedomH123 →99 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Psalms 108:10Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
it leads to
- Isaiah 63:1–6
Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”
- Isaiah 63:1–6
Through
2 Samuel 8:14He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
it leads to
- Genesis 27:29
May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you…
- Numbers 24:17–18
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and…
- 2 Samuel 8:6
Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
- Genesis 25:23
and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the…
- Genesis 27:29
Through
Deuteronomy 20:13When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword.
it leads to
- Psalms 2:6–12
“I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”
- Psalms 2:6–12
Through
Numbers 31:17So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 20:16–18
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
- Judges 21:11–12
This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.”
- Deuteronomy 20:16–18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); F. W. Farrar, The First Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); 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; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.