1 Kings 12:7

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

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. Taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.

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 12:9
And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

Genesis 12:12
and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will allow you to live.

Genesis 13:4
to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Genesis 13:15
For all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

Genesis 13:18
So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Genesis 15:18
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land-from the river of Egypt to 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. Walk before Me and be blameless.

Genesis 17:3
Then Abram fell facedown, and 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.