1 Kings 11:18

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁴Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. ¹⁵Earlier, 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. ¹⁶For Joab and all Israel had stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom. ¹⁷But Hadad, still just a young boy, had fled to Egypt, along with some Edomites who were servants of his father. ¹⁸Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took men from Paran with them and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.¹⁹There Hadad found such great favor in the sight of Pharaoh that he gave to him in marriage the sister of Queen Tahpenes, his own wife. ²⁰And the sister of Tahpenes bore Hadad a son named Genubath. Tahpenes herself weaned him in Pharaoh's palace, and Genubath lived there among the sons of Pharaoh. ²¹When 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, so I may return to my own country." ²²But Pharaoh asked him, "What have you lacked here with me that you suddenly want to go back to your own country?" "Nothing," Hadad replied, "but please let me go." ²³And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Midian: Probably not the Midian east of the Red Sea, to which Moses fled - Exodus 2:15, etc. but the Midian east of the Dead Sea, and south of Moab. These Midianites, whose daughters seduced the Israelites to commit idolatry - Numbers 22:4, Numbers 22:7, Numbers 25:15, Numbers 31:2, etc. were descendants of Midian, son of Abraham - Genesis 25:2. Their capital city was called Midian, and its remains were to be seen in the time of Eusebius and Jerome: it was situated on the Arnon, south of the city Ar, or Areopolis. Genesis 25:2, Genesis 25:4, Numbers 22:4, Numbers 25:6, Numbers 25:14, Numbers 25:18

Paran: Probably the city of Paran, or the district around it, situated in the south of Idumea, and according to Eusebius, three days' journey east from Elah or Elath, at the head of the eastern branch, or Elamitic gulf of the Red Sea. Genesis 14:6, Genesis 21:21, Numbers 10:12, Deuteronomy 1:1, Deuteronomy 33:2, Habakkuk 3:3

Cross-References

Luke 3:35
the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they arose out of Midian,.... A country which lay in their way to Egypt, and where it seems they made some stay, and then departed:

and came to Paran; near to which was a wilderness of the same name, in which the Israelites wandered when they came out of Egypt, and which lay between Edom and Egypt:

and they took men with them out of Paran; either as guides and guards through the wilderness, or to make the better appearance before Pharaoh, and that they might meet with the better reception:

and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; and told their case, and informed him who Hadad was: who, pitying an unfortunate young prince,

gave him an house; for him and his servants to dwell in:

and appointed him victuals; a daily provision for him and his men:

and gave him land; for his servants to cultivate, and from thence to raise a revenue for his support; the Jewish writers say he gave him cities to rule over; but as he was but a little child when he came, it cannot be thought that was done, at least directly.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Midian - A town in the south of Judah. Paran is the desert tract immediately to the south of Judaea, the modern desert of et-Tih.

Pharaoh - King of the twenty-first (Tanite) dynasty; probably he was Psusennes I, Manetho’s second king. It appears to have been the policy of the Pharaohs about this time to make friends and contract alliances with their eastern neighbors.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 11:18. These arose out of Midian — They at first retired to Midian, which lay to the southwest of the Dead Sea. Not supposing themselves in safety there, they went afterwards to Paran in the south of Idumea, and getting a number of persons to join them in Paran, they went straight to Egypt, where we find Hadad became a favourite with Pharaoh, who gave him his sister-in-law to wife; and incorporated him and his family with his own.