列王纪上 12:7

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

長老對他說：“今天如果王作這民的僕人，服事他們，用好話回答他們，他們就常作王的僕人。”

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
老 年 人 对 他 说 ： 现 在 王 若 服 事 这 民 如 仆 人 ， 用 好 话 回 答 他 们 ， 他 们 就 永 远 作 王 的 仆 人 。

Contextual Overview

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all the Israelites had gone to make him king. ² Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt, where he had gone to escape from Solomon. When Jeroboam heard about Rehoboam being made king, he was living in Egypt. ³ After the people sent for him, he and the people went to Rehoboam and said to him, ⁴ "Your father forced us to work very hard. Now, make it easier for us, and don't make us work as hard as he did. Then we will serve you." ⁵ Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days, and then come back to me." So the people left. ⁶ King Rehoboam asked the elders who had advised Solomon during his lifetime, "How do you think I should answer these people?" ⁷ They said, "You should be like a servant to them today. If you serve them and give them a kind answer, they will serve you always." ⁸ But Rehoboam rejected this advice. Instead, he asked the young men who had grown up with him and who served as his advisers. ⁹ Rehoboam asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who said, ‘Don't make us work as hard as your father did'?" ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him answered, "Those people said to you, ‘Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work easier.' You should tell them, ‘My little finger is bigger than my father's legs.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

If thou wilt: 2 Chronicles 10:6, 2 Chronicles 10:7, Proverbs 15:1, Mark 10:43, Mark 10:44, Philippians 2:7-11

speak good: 1 Kings 12:13, 2 Samuel 15:3-6, Ecclesiastes 10:4, Zechariah 1:13

Reciprocal: Exodus 21:6 - for ever 1 Chronicles 13:2 - If it seem

Cross-References

Genesis 8:20
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord . He took some of all the clean birds and animals, and he burned them on the altar as offerings to God.

Genesis 12:8
Then he traveled from Shechem to the mountain east of Bethel and set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai was to the east. There Abram built another altar to the Lord and worshiped him.

Genesis 12:9
After this, he traveled on toward southern Canaan.

Genesis 12:12
When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This woman is his wife.' Then they will kill me but let you live.

Genesis 13:4
and where he had built an altar. So he worshiped the Lord there.

Genesis 13:15
All this land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.

Genesis 13:18
So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at the city of Hebron. There he built an altar to the Lord .

Genesis 15:18
So on that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram and said, "I will give to your descendants the land between the river of Egypt and the great river Euphrates.

Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty. Obey me and do what is right.

Genesis 17:3
Then Abram bowed facedown on the ground. God said to him,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they spake unto him, saying,.... They gave their advice as follows:

if thou wilt be servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them; condescend to them, behave in an humble manner towards them, for this day however, and gratify and oblige them; though indeed a king is but a servant to his people, and his administration of government a doing service to them; hence Antigonus f, a king, mild, humble, and gentle, perceiving his son to behave in a fierce and violent manner towards his subjects, said to him, my son, dost thou not know that our glorious kingdom is a servitude?

and answer them, and speak good words unto them; give them a soft answer, and speak kindly and gently to them, and make them fair promises, and give them reason to expect that their requests will be granted:

then they will be thy servants for ever; such conduct would so win upon them, and make such an impressions upon them, that they would for ever after entertain high opinion of him, and be strongly affected and attached to him, and readily serve him.

f Apud Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 2. c. 20.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The advice was not that the king should permanently resign the office of ruler, but that he should “for once” be ruled by his people.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 12:7. If thou wilt be a servant unto this people — This is a constitutional idea of a king: he is the servant, but not the slave of his people; every regal act of a just king is an act of service to the state. The king is not only the fountain of law and justice; but as he has the appointment of all officers and judges, consequently he is the executor of the laws; and all justice is administered in his name. Properly speaking, a good and constitutional king is the servant of his people; and in being such he is their father and their king.

They will be thy servants for ever. — The way to insure the obedience of the people is to hold the reins of empire with a steady and impartial hand; let the people see that the king lives for them, and not for himself; and they will obey, love, and defend him. The state is maintained on the part of the ruler and the ruled by mutual acts of service and benevolence. A good king has no self-interest; and such a king will ever have obedient and loving subjects. The haughty, proud tyrant will have a suspicious and jealous people, hourly ripening for revolt. The king is made for the people, not the people for the king. Let every potentate wisely consider this; and let every subject know that the heaviest cares rest on the heart, and the heaviest responsibility rests on the head, of the king. Let them therefore, under his government, fashion themselves as obedient children; acknowledge him their head; and duly consider whose authority he has; that they may love, honour and obey him. Happy are the people who have such a king; safe is the king who has such a people.