1 Kings 12:11
in 1 Kings 12Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
KJV
And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
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This verse in 1 Kings 12
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Scorpions - By this word some understand whips having leaden balls at the ends of their lashes with hooks projecting from them; others the thorny stem of the eggplant, or “the scorpion plant.” But it seems best to regard the expression as a figure of speech.
This site's exposition
he forsook the counsel of the old men
on 1 Kings 12:8-11
Rehoboam turns to the young men raised beside him, and their answer is a boast dressed as policy: my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins, whips traded for scorpions. The line only lands as an insult because Solomon's reign was already remembered as heavy, so the young men escalate a real complaint into a threat rather than answering it. Matthew Henry's comment on this pairing stands without needing improvement: that is not always the best sense that is best worded.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And now, whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
whips . . . scorpions--The latter [instruments], as contrasted with the former, are supposed to mean thongs thickly set with sharp iron points, used in the castigation of slaves.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Chastise you with scorpions - Should you rebel, or become disaffected, my father’s whip shall be a scorpion in my hand. His was chastisement, mine shall be punishment. St. Isidore, and after him Calmet and others, assert that the scorpion was a sort of severe whip, the lashes of which were armed with iron points, that sunk into and tore the flesh. We know that the scorpion was a military engine among the Romans for shooting arrows, which, being poisoned, were likened to the scorpion’s sting, and the wound it inflicted.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| אָבִי֙ | ʾavi | father my | H1 → | 1212 times |
| הֶעְמִ֤יס | he'mis | he loaded | H6006 → | |
| עֲלֵיכֶם֙ | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֹ֣ל | ʾol | a yoke | H5923 → | 40 times |
| כָּבֵ֔ד | kaved | heavy | H3515 → | 41 times |
| וַאֲנִ֖י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אוֹסִ֣יף | ʾosif | I will add | H3254 → | 212 times |
| עַֽל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֻלְּכֶ֑ם | ʾulekhem | yoke your | H5923 → | 40 times |
| אָבִ֗י | ʾavi | father my | H1 → | 1212 times |
| יִסַּ֤ר | yisar | he disciplined | H3256 → | 43 times |
| אֶתְכֶם֙ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בַּשּׁוֹטִ֔ים | bashotim | with <the> whips | H7752 → | |
| וַאֲנִ֕י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֲיַסֵּ֥ר | ʾayaser | I will discipline | H3256 → | 43 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֖ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בָּעַקְרַבִּֽים׃ | baakrabim | with <the> scorpions | H6137 → |
וְעַתָּ֗הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
אָבִי֙father my
ʾaviH1 →1212 times
הֶעְמִ֤יסhe loaded
he'misH6006 →
עֲלֵיכֶם֙on you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
עֹ֣לa yoke
ʾolH5923 →40 times
כָּבֵ֔דheavy
kavedH3515 →41 times
וַאֲנִ֖יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
אוֹסִ֣יףI will add
ʾosifH3254 →212 times
עַֽל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עֻלְּכֶ֑םyoke your
ʾulekhemH5923 →40 times
אָבִ֗יfather my
ʾaviH1 →1212 times
יִסַּ֤רhe disciplined
yisarH3256 →43 times
אֶתְכֶם֙<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
בַּשּׁוֹטִ֔יםwith <the> whips
bashotimH7752 →
וַאֲנִ֕יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
אֲיַסֵּ֥רI will discipline
ʾayaserH3256 →43 times
אֶתְכֶ֖ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
בָּעַקְרַבִּֽים׃with <the> scorpions
baakrabimH6137 →
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
Isaiah 58:6Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
it leads to
- Nehemiah 5:10–12
I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury.
- Isaiah 58:9
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and…
- 1 Timothy 6:1
All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.
- Jeremiah 34:8–11
After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD
- Micah 3:2–4
You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.
- Nehemiah 5:10–12
Through
2 Chronicles 16:10Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 18:26
and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”
- Jeremiah 51:34
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies…
- 2 Samuel 12:31
David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all…
- 2 Chronicles 18:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.