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.”
Parallel translations
- WEB and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”
- KJV And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise 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 it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”
- NASB He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
- 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 adopts the young men's threat, vowing to add to the people's yoke and chastise them with scorpions. His arrogance provokes the revolt.
Overview
By echoing his peers' brutal boast word for word, Rehoboam confirms his choice of pride over prudence. The promise of heavier oppression alienates the ten northern tribes already weary of forced labor. This unwise speech becomes the immediate human cause of the kingdom's split, even as God uses it for his own purposes (v. 15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 17:14To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- 2 Chr 22:4–5And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for to his destruction they were his counselors after the death of his father.
- Jas 3:14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- Eccl 7:8The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
- Eccl 2:19And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.
- 2 Chr 10:10–11The 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!
- Prov 12:5The plans of the righteous are just, but the counsel of the wicked leads to deceit.
- Dan 6:7All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions.
- Eccl 10:16Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning.
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Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
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Original language
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