Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 11:40
Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
40. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam ] No doubt the aspirations of Jeroboam, and the prophetic act and words of Ahijah would come to the king’s ears, and make him anxious to remove a rival who had such special encouragement to prosecute his designs.
unto Shishak king of Egypt ] This is the first Egyptian king whose name, as distinguished from his title, is recorded in the Old Testament. He has been identified with Sesonchosis, who is mentioned by Manetho as the first king of the twenty-second dynasty. He appears to have come to the throne about 988 B. C. i.e. in the 27th year of Solomon, though some calculations place him a little later. He is mentioned again (1Ki 14:25) as coming up against Jerusalem in the reign of Rehoboam, and taking away much treasure from the temple and the king’s house.
41 43. Solomon’s death and burial (2Ch 9:29-31)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare 1Ki 11:26. The announcement of Ahijah was followed within a little while by rebellion on the part of Jeroboam. As Solomons luster faded, as his oppression became greater and its objects more selfish, and as a prospect of deliverance arose from the personal qualities of Jeroboam 1Ki 11:28, the tribe of Ephraim to which he belonged, again aspired after its old position (see Jos 17:14 note). Jeroboam, active, energetic, and ambitious, placed himself at their head. The step proved premature. The power of Solomon was too firmly fixed to be shaken; and the hopes of the Ephraimites had to be deferred until a fitter season.
The exact date of Jeroboams flight into Egypt cannot be fixed. It was certainly not earlier than Solomons twenty-fourth year, since it was after the building of Millo 1Ki 11:27. But it may have been several years later.
Shishak – This king is the first Pharaoh mentioned in Scripture who can be certainly identified with any known Egyptian monarch. He is the Sheshonk (Sheshonk I) of the monuments, and the Sesonchosis of Manetho. The Egyptian date for his accession is 980 or 983 B.C., which synchronizes, according to the ordinary Hebrew reckoning, with Solomons 32nd or 35th year. Sheshonk I has left a record of his expedition against Judah, which accords well with what is related of Shishak 1Ki 14:25-26; 2Ch 12:2-4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 40. Sought – to kill Jeroboam.] He thought by this means to prevent the punishment due to his crimes.
Unto Shishak king of Egypt] This is the first time we meet with the proper name of an Egyptian king, Pharaoh being the common name for all the sovereigns of that country. Some suppose that this Shishak was the Sesostris so renowned for his wars and his conquests. But it is likely that this king lived long before Solomon’s time.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This might come to the ears of Solomon, either,
1. By Jeroboam himself, who might speak of this, either out of vain-glory and ostentation, or with design to prepare the people for his purpose. Or,
2. By the servants. See Poole “1Ki 11:29“.
Shishak king of Egypt; who was either,
1. Solomons brother-in-law, who yet might be jealous of, him, or alienated from him, because he had taken so many other wives to his sister, as is here noted, 1Ki 11:1; or might cast a greedy eye upon the great riches and glorious things which Solomon had amassed together, and upon which, presently after Solomons death, he laid violent hands, 2Ch 12:9. All this was known to Jeroboam, who therefore durst put himself into Shishaks protection; especially, considering how little such relations commonly signify in the affairs of princes; and withal, being made confident by Gods promise of the kingdom. Or,
2. One of another line or house, to whom that crown might descend for want of issue.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
40. ShishakHe harbored andencouraged the rebellious refugee, and was of a different dynastyfrom the father-in-law of Solomon.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam,…. Which is another instance of his folly, to seek to detest the counsel of God, when he himself was assured by the Lord the kingdom should be rent, and given to his servant, 1Ki 11:11 and especially if he was informed of what passed between Ahijah and Jeroboam, as it should seem by this he was; either through Ahijah’s making no secret of it, or through Jeroboam not being able to keep his own counsel, or through the report of the servants what they saw done, 1Ki 11:29, which Solomon would easily understand:
and Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt; the common sanctuary of persons in distress in those days:
unto Shishak king of Egypt; either the father in law or the brother in law of Solomon, or one of another family, on whom the kingdom devolved; and who might not have any good respect for Solomon, and therefore Jeroboam thought himself safe with him: this is the only king of Egypt, in Scripture, that is called by his own name, and not Pharaoh; he is generally supposed to be the same with the Sesostris of Herodotus t, and the Vexoris or Vexosis of Justin u; and the rather he may be meant, since, according to Herodotus w, he was the only king of Egypt that ruled over the Ethiopians: and Strabo says x he was the first that subdued Ethiopia and the country of the Troglodytes; also Diodorus Siculus affirms y, that he fought with the Ethiopians dwelling to the south, and obliged them to pay tribute; out of which countries Shishak brought many with him in his expedition against Jerusalem, 2Ch 12:2
and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon; not daring to return till that time, and then he did.
t Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 102. u E Trogo, l. 1. c. 1. w Ut supra, (Euterpe, sive, l. 2.) c. 110. x Geograph. l. 16. p. 529. y Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 50.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(40) Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam.The knowledge of the promise in itself would be sufficient to excite the jealousy of the old king, and incite him to endeavour to falsify it by the death of Jeroboam. But from 1Ki. 11:26 it may be inferred that Jeroboam, characteristically enough, had not patience to wait for its fulfilment, and that he sought in some way by overt act to clutch, or prepare to clutch, at royalty. The addition to the LXX. describes him, before his flight into Egypt, as collecting three hundred chariots, and assuming royal pretensions, taking advantage of his presidency over the house of Joseph.
Shishak king of Egypt.The Shishak of the Old Testament is certainly to be identified with the Sheshenk of the Egyptian monuments, the Sesonchis or Sesonchosis of the Greek historians; and the identification is an important point in the Biblical chronology, for the accession of Sheshenk is fixed by the Egyptian traditions at about B.C. 980. It is a curious proof of historical accuracy that the generic name Pharaoh is not given to Shishak here. For it appears that he was not of the old royal line, but the founder of a new dynasty (the 23rd), called the Bubastite dynasty, in which several names are believed to have a Semitic origin, arguing foreign extraction; and in one genealogical table his ancestors appear not to have been of royal rank. It seems that he united (perhaps by marriage) the lines of the two dynasties which previously ruled feebly in Upper and Lower Egypt, and so inaugurated a new era of prosperity and conquest. His invasion of Judah in the fifth year of Rehoboam (see 1Ki. 14:25) is chronicled in the monuments as belonging to the twentieth year of his own reign. He was, therefore, king for the last fifteen years of Solomons reign; and his favourable reception of the rebel Jeroboam indicates a natural change of attitude towards the Israelite power. The LXX. addition describes Jeroboam (in a passage clearly suggested by what is recorded in 1Ki. 11:19-20 about Hadad) as receiving from Shishak Ano, the elder sister of Thekemina (Tahpenes), his queen, which involves an anachronism, for Tahpenes belonged to an earlier Pharaoh. But the whole history implies a close political alliance of Shishak with Jeroboam, both as an exile and as a king.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
40. Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam He probably not only heard of Ahijah’s prophecy, but also saw in the youthful Ephraimite an insubordinate spirit and disposition to usurp his throne. Solomon’s relations to Jeroboam were strikingly similar to those of Saul to David. Solomon, like Saul, drew down upon himself by disobedience the anger of Heaven; and to him, as to Saul, the word of the Lord announced judgments that darkened all his future. Like Saul, he knew, and sought to kill, his rival. The beginning of his reign, like that of Saul’s, was popular and auspicious, but its end was sad and dark. But Jeroboam, unlike David, who would not lift up his hand against the Lord’s anointed, was ambitious to reign, and acted not with modesty and prudence towards his king.
Shishak This is the first instance in sacred history where the name of an Egyptian king is given as other than the common title Pharaoh, and it becomes therefore important in adjusting Egyptian and Hebrew chronology. The fact that he received and entertained the enemy and rival of Solomon clearly indicates that he was not the king whose daughter Solomon had married, (1Ki 3:1,) and of this it is a noticeable confirmation that in Manetho’s table, where he is called Sesonchis, his name stands at the head of a new dynasty. On the Egyptian monuments his name is written Sheshonk. He was probably a usurper, who succeeded in dethroning the Pharaoh with whom Solomon had formed such a close alliance, and would therefore be no friend of Israel. See more at 1Ki 14:25-28.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 11:40. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam How Solomon came to know what was transacted between Ahijah and Jeroboam alone, is a question of no great difficulty; for, perhaps, the prophet made no scruple to report what he had delivered in the name of the Lord; perhaps Jeroboam himself, being puffed up with this assurance, could not contain, but told it to some of his confidents, who spread it abroad; or perhaps his servants, though they heard not the words of the prophet, yet, seeing him rend the garment into twelve parts, and give ten to him, might speak of this strange and unaccountable action, which Solomon, as soon as he came to hear of it, might easily understand; because the same prophet, very likely, had told him but just before, that the kingdom should be rent from him, and given to his servant; 1Ki 14:8.
Shishak king of Egypt All the kings of Egypt, from the time of Abraham, are in the sacred history called by the name of Pharaoh, except Rameses (mentioned Gen 47:11.) be the name of a king, and not a country; so that this is the first we meet with, called by his proper name, different from the rest of the Pharaohs. Who this Egyptian prince was, the learned are not agreed. The opinion is pretty general, that it was the famous Sesostris, mentioned in Herodotus; but his life could hardly be extended to this period. Our great Usher sets him a vast way backward, even to the time of the Israelites’ peregrination, and some chronologers carry it further. But, be that as it may, it is very probable, that the prince had taken some offence at Solomon, otherwise he would hardly have harboured such seditious refugees as Jeroboam was.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(40) Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
No doubt as the prophet Ahijah had signified the advance of Jeroboam, the king became acquainted with it, alas! how could Solomon be led away to conceive his weak attempts should be able to defeat the Lord’s designs.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 11:40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
Ver. 40. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. ] And with him Ahijah also, as saith the Chaldee Paraphrast, whereupon they both fled into Egypt
Unto Shishak king of Egypt.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Egypt. This explains much. He must have thought of Joseph’s exaltation, and the blessing pronounced on Ephraim (Gen 49:13-20; Gen 49:22-26); and by Moses (Deu 33:13-17). It explains also the origin of the “golden calves” (1Ki 12:28).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
God threatened Solomon, on account of his setting up other gods, that he would rend away a great part of the kingdom from him, and that he would set up another king in his place.
1Ki 11:40-43. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jereboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
After great mountains there usually come low hills. After Solomon comes Rehoboam. Grace does not run in the blood, we may be sure, for even human wisdom does not descend from father to son. There is no necessary transmission of gifts and talents, much less of grace, from one generation to another.
This exposition consisted of readings from 1Ki 11:40-43; 1 Kings 12.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Solomon sought: 2Ch 16:10, Pro 21:30, Isa 14:24-27, Isa 46:10, Lam 3:37
Shishak: This is the first time we meet with the proper name of an Egyptian king in Scripture, Pharaoh being the general appellation for all the sovereigns of that country. Some are of opinion that Shishak is the same with the celebrated Sesostris of the Greek historians; but it is probable that this king lived long before Solomon’s time. Usher thinks him to be Sesonchis, and places the beginning of his reign, am 3026, bc 978. 1Ki 14:25, 1Ki 14:26, 2Ch 12:2-9
Reciprocal: 1Ki 12:2 – Jeroboam the son of Nebat 2Ch 10:2 – Jeroboam Mat 2:20 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 11:40. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam How Solomon came to know what was secretly transacted between Ahijah and Jeroboam alone, is a great question: perhaps the prophet made no scruple to report what he had delivered in the name of the Lord. Or, Jeroboam himself, being puffed up with the expectation of ascending the throne, could not conceal it, nor keep his own counsel, but told the matter to some of his confidants, who spread it abroad. But that Solomon should ever entertain a thought of endeavouring to defeat the purpose of God, is astonishing indeed! Jeroboam arose and fled unto Shishak king of Egypt Solomons brother-in-law, as is probable, who yet might be jealous of him, or alienated from him, because he had taken so many other wives to his sister; or might cast a greedy eye upon the great riches which Solomon had amassed together, and upon which, presently after Solomons death, he laid violent hands, 2Ch 12:9. We may observe here that all the kings of Egypt, from the time of Abraham, are in the sacred history called by the name of Pharaoh, unless Rameses (mentioned Genesis 47.) be the name of a king, not of a country; so that this is the first we meet with called by his proper name, different from the rest of the Pharaohs. The opinion is pretty general that this was the great king, called by the Greeks Sesostris, who, having subdued Ethiopia, extended his conquests into Asia, as far as the Assyrians and Medes, as Josephus tells us, who calls him Sethosis.