Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
Parallel translations
- WEB Now my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”
- KJV And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
- NKJV And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’ ”
- NASB Now then, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke; yet I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!’ ”
- NLT Yes, my father laid heavy burdens on you, but I’m going to make them even heavier! My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions!’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The young men advise threatening even heavier burdens, trading whips for scorpions. They counsel escalating oppression.
Overview
The proposed reply promises to increase the people's yoke and intensify their punishment, with scorpions likely referring to a more severe form of scourging. This boast of cruelty stands in stark contrast to the elders' call to serve. The advice exposes a heart bent on tyranny rather than righteous rule.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ezek 2:6But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.
- Jer 28:13–14“Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the LORD says: ‘You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.’
- Exod 1:13–14They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
- 1 Kgs 12:14and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.”
- Isa 58:6Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
- 2 Chr 16:10Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
- Jer 27:11But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.”
- Exod 5:18Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.”
- Exod 5:5–9Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.”
- Rev 9:3–10And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.
- 1 Sam 8:18When that day comes, you will beg for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.”
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Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
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Original language
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