and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!”
Parallel translations
- WEB and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”
- KJV And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
- BSB and 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.”
- NKJV and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”
- NLT and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people, “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
Rehoboam threatens to make the yoke heavier and the punishment harsher, following his peers' advice. He chooses tyranny over compassion.
Overview
Adopting the young men's words, Rehoboam vows to increase the people's burden and chastise them with scorpions. His arrogance answers a reasonable plea with cruelty. The folly of this reply directly provokes the northern tribes to rebel, demonstrating how pride in leadership brings ruin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Exod 5:5–9Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”
- 1 Kgs 12:10–11The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Tell these people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter to us;’ tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.
- Exod 5:16–18No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”
- Eccl 7:8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
- 2 Chr 22:4–5He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, as did Ahab’s house, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.
- Esth 2:2–4Then the king’s servants who served him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.
- Jas 3:14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
- Prov 17:14The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam, therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.
- Dan 6:7All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
- Prov 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Isa 19:11–13The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?”
- Exod 1:14and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
- Esth 1:16–21Memucan answered before the king and the princes, “Vashti the queen has not done wrong to just the king, but also to all the princes, and to all the people who are in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus.
- Prov 13:10Pride only breeds quarrels, but with ones who take advice is wisdom.
- Prov 12:5The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
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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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