1 Kings 12:4
in 1 Kings 12“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
KJV
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
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This verse in 1 Kings 12
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe grievous service - and - heavy yoke - They seem here to complain of two things - excessively laborious service, and a heavy taxation. At first it is supposed Solomon employed no Israelite in drudgery: afterwards, when he forsook the God of compassion, he seems to have used them as slaves, and to have revived the Egyptian bondage.
This site's exposition
all the congregation of Israel
on 1 Kings 12:3-5
The whole congregation, not a faction, brings one grievance: lighten the yoke and the heavy service Solomon laid on us, and we will serve thee. The complaint names no idol and asks for no new god, only relief from labor and taxation spent on a court, a temple, and a harem the text has already itemized in the chapters before this one. Rehoboam's three-day delay is itself sound counsel, taken from the old men, before it is thrown away.
This site's exposition
Your father put a heavy yoke
Solomon raised a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel at 5:13, though 9:22 says he made none of them slaves. Adam Clarke hears two complaints in the yoke, hard labor and heavy taxes. John Wesley adds the cost of Solomon's large court.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Grievous - By heavy taxes and impositions, not only for the temple and his magnificent buildings, but for the expenses of his numerous court, and of so many wives and concubines. And Solomon having so grossly forsaken God, it is no wonder if he oppressed the people.
Thy father made our yoke grievous,....
The grave experienced men of his council advised him by all means to give the petitioners a kind answer, to give them good words, to promise them fair, and this day, this critical day, to serve them, that is, to tell them that he was their servant, and that he would redress all their grievances and make it his business to please them and make them easy.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The complaint was probably twofold. The Israelites no doubt complained in part of the heavy weight of taxation laid upon them for the maintenance of the monarch and his court 1Ki 4:19-23. But their chief grievance was the forced labor to which they had been subjected 1Ki 5:13-14; 1Ki 11:28. Forced labor has been among the causes leading to insurrection in many ages and countries. It helped to bring about the French Revolution, and it was for many years one of the principal grievances of the Russian serfs. Jeroboam’s position as superintendent of the forced labors of the tribe of Ephraim 1Ki 11:28 revealed to him the large amount of dissatisfaction which Solomon’s system had produced, and his contemplated rebellion in Solomon’s reign may have been connected with this standing grievance.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָבִ֖יךָ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| הִקְשָׁ֣ה | hikshah | he made hard | H7185 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֻלֵּ֑נוּ | ʾulenu | yoke our | H5923 → | 40 times |
| וְאַתָּ֡ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| הָקֵל֩ | hakel | lighten | H7043 → | 82 times |
| מֵעֲבֹדַ֨ת | meavodat | some of [the] service of | H5656 → | |
| אָבִ֜יךָ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| הַקָּשָׁ֗ה | hakashah | <the> hard | H7186 → | 36 times |
| וּמֵעֻלּ֧וֹ | umeulo | and some of yoke his | H5923 → | 40 times |
| הַכָּבֵ֛ד | hakaved | <the> heavy | H3515 → | 41 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָתַ֥ן | natan | he put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| עָלֵ֖ינוּ | ʾaleinu | on us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְנַעַבְדֶֽךָּ׃ | venaavdeka | and we will serve you | H5647 → | 288 times |
אָבִ֖יךָfather your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
הִקְשָׁ֣הhe made hard
hikshahH7185 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֻלֵּ֑נוּyoke our
ʾulenuH5923 →40 times
וְאַתָּ֡הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
עַתָּ֣הnow
ʾatahH6258 →433 times
הָקֵל֩lighten
hakelH7043 →82 times
מֵעֲבֹדַ֨תsome of [the] service of
meavodatH5656 →
אָבִ֜יךָfather your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
הַקָּשָׁ֗ה<the> hard
hakashahH7186 →36 times
וּמֵעֻלּ֧וֹand some of yoke his
umeuloH5923 →40 times
הַכָּבֵ֛ד<the> heavy
hakavedH3515 →41 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
נָתַ֥ןhe put
natanH5414 →2011 times
עָלֵ֖ינוּon us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
וְנַעַבְדֶֽךָּ׃and we will serve you
venaavdekaH5647 →288 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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
Matthew 23:4They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
it leads to
- Luke 11:46
“Woe to you as well, experts in the law!” He replied. “You weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load.
- Acts 15:10
Now then, why do you test God by placing on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
- Galatians 6:13
For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
- Matthew 11:28–30
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced…
- Luke 11:46
Through
1 Kings 4:7Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 27:1–15
This is the list of the Israelites—the heads of families, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in every matter concerning the divisions on rotating military duty…
- 1 Chronicles 27:1–15
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); 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.