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1 Kings 11:21

in 1 Kings 11

When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had rested with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.

KJV

And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.

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This verse in 1 Kings 11

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
That Hadad should wait for the death of Joab before requesting leave to return to Idumaea shows how terrible an impression had been made by the severe measures which that commander had carried out twenty-five or thirty years previously 1Ki 11:16. The inability of refugees to depart from an Oriental court without the king’s leave, and his unwillingness ordinarily to grant leave, are illustrated by many passages in the history of Persia.

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

Joab, the commander of the army, was dead

Albert Barnes reads the wait for Joab's death as a measure of the terror his slaughter in Edom had left, some twenty-five or thirty years before. A refugee at an Eastern court needed the king's leave. John Wesley holds that Hadad ruled Edom under tribute until Solomon turned from God.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

And it is probable, by the near relation which was between his wife and Solomon's; and, by Pharaoh's intercession, he obtained his kingdom with condition of subjection and tribute to be paid by him to Solomon; which condition he kept 'till Solomon fell from God, and then began to be troublesome, and dangerous to his house and kingdom.
And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers,.... Was dead and buried, as the death of princes is soon known in other countries, and especially a king of such fame as David: and that Joab the captain of the host was dead: whose name might be terrible to Hadad, because of the slaughter of men he had made in his country: Hadad said unto Pharaoh, let me depart, that I may go to mine own country; with a view and an hope to recover it, now David and Joab were dead.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.

The words behind it

21 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.

  • וַהֲדַ֞דand Hadad

    vahadadH1908 →12 times

  • שָׁמַ֣עhe heard

    shama'H8085 →1159 times

  • בְּמִצְרַ֗יִםin Egypt

    bemitzrayimH4714 →641 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • שָׁכַ֤בhe had lain down

    shakhavH7901 →212 times

  • דָּוִד֙David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • אֲבֹתָ֔יוancestors his

    ʾavotavH1 →1212 times

  • וְכִי־and that

    vekhi-H3588 →4482 times

  • מֵ֖תhe had died

    metH4191 →839 times

  • יוֹאָ֣בJoab

    yoavH3097 →144 times

  • שַֽׂר־[the] commander of

    sar-H8269 →421 times

  • הַצָּבָ֑אthe army

    hatzava'H6635 →485 times

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • הֲדַד֙Hadad

    hadadH1908 →12 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • פַּרְעֹ֔הPharaoh

    parohH6547 →274 times

  • שַׁלְּחֵ֖נִיlet go me

    shalecheniH7971 →845 times

  • וְאֵלֵ֥ךְso I may go

    veelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אַרְצִֽי׃own land my

    ʾartziH776 →2504 times

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

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Kings 2:10Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.4 worksMatthew 2:20“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”4 works1 Kings 2:34So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness.2 worksExodus 4:19Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead.”2 worksJoshua 2:21“Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. And when they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.2 works1 Samuel 9:26They got up early in the morning, and just before dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way!” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went outside together.2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Samuel 3:21Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once, and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.2 worksGenesis 45:24Then Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way!”2 works1 Kings 22:40And Ahab rested with his fathers, and his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.2 works

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

    Exodus 4:19

    Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead.”

    it leads to

    • Matthew 2:20

      “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”

    • Exodus 2:15

      When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.

    • Exodus 2:23

      After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.

  • Through

    1 Kings 2:10

    Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

    it leads to

    • Acts 2:29

      Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

    • Acts 13:36

      For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.

    • 1 Kings 1:21

      Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as criminals.”

    • 1 Chronicles 29:28

      He died at a ripe old age, full of years, riches, and honor, and his son Solomon reigned in his place.

    • 1 Kings 11:43

      And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 1 Kings

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 11 →

This page draws on 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.

Read on in 1 Kings 11 →