1 Kings 12:10

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. ²When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. ³So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said, ⁴"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." ⁵Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then return to me." So the people departed. ⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How do you advise me to respond to these people?" he asked. ⁷They replied, "If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever." ⁸But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him. ⁹He asked them, "What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?" ¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him replied, "This is how you should answer these people who said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter.' This is what you should tell them: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Thus shalt thou: 2 Samuel 17:7-13

My little finger: A proverbial mode of expression: "My little finger is thicker than my father's thigh." As much as the thigh surpasses the little finger in thickness, so much does my power exceed that of my father; and the use I shall make of it to oppress and tax you shall be in proportion. 2 Chronicles 10:10, 2 Chronicles 10:11, Proverbs 10:14, Proverbs 18:6, Proverbs 18:7, Proverbs 28:25, Proverbs 29:23, Isaiah 47:6

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 8:11 - He will take 1 Kings 12:14 - My father made Proverbs 13:10 - Only Proverbs 13:20 - but Proverbs 28:16 - prince Ecclesiastes 4:16 - no end

Cross-References

Genesis 12:1
Then the LORD said to Abram, "Leave your country, your kindred, and your father's household, and go to the land I will show you.

Genesis 12:2
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you."

Genesis 12:4
So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Genesis 12:8
From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

Genesis 12:18
So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, "What have you done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife?

Genesis 42:5
So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.

Genesis 43:1
Now the famine was still severe in the land.

Genesis 47:13
Yet there was no food throughout that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.

Ruth 1:1
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the young men that were grown up with him, spake unto him, saying,.... Gave him the following advice:

thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying; as is said, 1 Kings 12:4

thus shall thou say unto them, my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins; or, "is thicker" g signifying that he had more strength and power than his father had, and that he would make them know it, and they should feel the weight of it, and instead of lessening he would increase their taxes; for also hereby was intimated, that his glory, grandeur, and magnificence, was greater than his father's, especially when he first came to the kingdom, and therefore required the same taxes, or greater, to support it; and perhaps reference may be had to the difference of their age, Solomon being a child, or a very young man, when he came to the throne; whereas Rehoboam was upwards of forty years of age, and capable of judging what was fit to be done, and not to be talked to and treated after this manner, nor to receive the kingdom upon a condition of the people's prescribing.

g עבה "grossior est", V. L. Pagninus; "densior est", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

My little finger ... - i. e., “You shall find my hand heavier on you than my father’s - as much heavier as if my little finger were thicker than his loins.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 12:10. And the young men that were grown up with him — It was a custom in different countries to educate with the heir to the throne young noblemen of nearly the same age. This, as Calmet observes, answered two great and important ends: -

1. It excited the prince to emulation; that he might, as far as possible, surpass in all manly exercises, and in all acts of prudence and virtue, those whom one day he was to surpass in the elevation and dignity of his station.

2. That he might acquire a correct knowledge of the disposition and views of those who were likely to be, under him, the highest officers of the state; and consequently, know the better how to trust and employ them. The old counsellors Rehoboam did not know; with the young nobility he had been familiar.

My little finger shall be thicker — A proverbial mode of expression: "My little finger is thicker than my father's thigh." As much as the thigh surpasses the little finger in thickness, so much does my power exceed that of my father; and the use that I shall make of it, to employ and tax you, shall be in proportion.