Reading for August 21st

 Read 1 Kings12.1-15. In 12.1-24: The division of the kingdom. In verses 2-3a: These verses are contradicted by v. 20, in which Jeroboam does not return until after the succession of the northern tribes. Verses 2-3a are not in the Greek (Septuagint LXX) version of 1 Kings and are probably a secondary scribal gloss. In verse 10: My fathers loins is a euphemism. Rehoboam is saying that he is more of a man than his father so that the people can expect hasher treatment from him than from Solomon. In verse 11: Rehoboam makes the same point here, where scorpions may refer to a particularly vicious kind of whip. In verse 12: Jeroboam's name is secondary here, having been added under the influence of  vv. 2-3a. In verse 15: The author interprets the events is explicitly theological terms as the Lord's doing to fulfill Ahijah's oracle in 11.29-39. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 20th

 Read 1 Kings 11.26--41. In verse 26: Jeroboam was Solomon's third adversary. In verse 27: The reason he rebelled against Solomon was Ahijah's oracle (vv. 29-39) promising him kingship over the northern tribes. In verses 29-32: One tribe is either missing or presumed in Ahijah's symbolic division of the kingdom, since Jeroboam receives ten pieces and only one of the twelve pieces is kept for David. Different scholars have proposed that the tribes of Benjamin, Simeon, or Levi are assumed to accompany Judah. In verse 36: The word translated lamp can refer to a "fiefdom" or minor domain. In verses 37-38; Jeroboam receives the same promise of an enduring dynasty that was given to David. if he will be obedient to Yahweh. In verse 40: It is not clear how Solomon found out about Ahijah's oracle to Jeroboam. In verses 41-43 This is typical of the concluding notices the Deuteronomist supplies for the reign of kings. The Book of the Acts of Solomon is no longer extant. Forty years (v. 42) is a round number for the length of a generation. that Solomon slept with the ancestors is an idiomatic way of saying that he died. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 19th

 Read 1 Kings 11.1-25. In 11.143: Solomon's troubles. The writer has divided the account of Solomon's reign into two parts for theological reasons. The first part (chs. 1-10) told of his successes, the greatest of which was the building of the Temple. But the division of the kingdom after Solomon required an explanation, which the writer furnishes in the account of Solomon's religious failures in ch. 11. In verse 1: Solomon's many foreign wives were partly the result of treaties with other nations. In verse 2: See Deut 7.1-4for the law prohibiting foreign marriages. In verse 3: A large harem was also a symbol of royal grandeur. The princesses were not all of royal birth but had gained royal status through marriage. Concubines, on the other hand, had no royal status but were female slaves used for sexual purposes. In verse 4: The statement that Solomon's heart was not true is a pun on his name. The word "true" in Hebrew is "shalem," which sounds like 'Shelomoh," Solomon in Hebrew. In verse 5: Astate was a prominent Phoenician and Canaanite goddess. The Hebrew text deliberately distorts her name to "Ashroreth" to rhyme with the word "bosheth," meaning "abomination/" Milcom was the chief god of the Ammonites who lived in the area of modern northern Jordan. In verse 7:Chemosh was the chief god of the Moabites in central Jordan. Molech is a distortion of the name Milcom. In verses 11-13: The announcement of Solomon's punishment anticipates the story of the division of the kingdom, under Rehoboam in the next chapter. In verses 14-25: Solomon's first two adversaries are foreign. The word adversary is "stan," which does not imply any supernatural force in this case. The fact that both Hadad the Edomite and Rezon began their careers during David's reign indicates that they caused trouble for Solomon early in his reign. However, the writer has paced their stories here because of the positioning of the account of Solomon into 'positive" and "negative sections. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 18th

 Read 1 Kings 10.14-29. In 10.14-29: More on Solomon's wealth and activities. In  verse 14: Six hundred sixty-six talents of gold would be an enormous sum-between thirty and eighty-five tons! See comment on 9.914. In verses 16-17: There were 50 shekels in a mina and 60 minas in a talent, which could weigh between 45 and 130 pounds. Thus the large shields would have weighed between 9 and 26 pounds and the small ones half as much. Inverse 22: Ships of Tarshish were probably large ships capable of making a long voyage. Tarshish was a site in south Spain that represented the western extreme of the world known to the biblical writers. In verse 27: The Shephelah is the lowland area in southern Palestine between the Mediterranean coastland and the central highlands. In verse 28:Kue was in southern Anatolia (Turkey) near Cilicia. Egypt (Heb.,"Misrayirn") may be a mistake for Musri, also Anatolia north of Kue. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 17th

 Read 1 Kings 10.1-13. In 10.1-13: The queen of Sheba visits. Sheba was in Arabia, perhaps modern Yemen. The queen may have come on a trade mission from one of the tribes living in the area. The story has been greatly elaborated as a display of Solomon's wealth and wisdom. In verse 5: Spirit may mean "breath." In verse 9: It is rather surprising that a foreigner blesses by the name of Israel's God, Yahweh. This  may be what the writer thinks she must have said. In verse 10: On the weight of a talent, see comment on 9.14. In verse 12: The reference to almug wood occurs only here in the Bible, the exact species is unknown. Comments or Questions...

Reading for August 16th

 Read 1 Kings 8.15-28. In verses  15-22: The Millo probably meaning "fill," seems to have been earthwork connecting the Temple area to the palace complex on the south. Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer (v.15) were all important administrative centers for Solomon. The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (v. 20) are names the Bible uses for different native Canaanite peoples. They are familiar from the book of Genesis (Gen 15.19-20). The claim (v. 22) that Solomon did not force Israelites to work in his levy of slaves seems contradicted by 5.13;11.28 and the events in ch. 12. In verse 24: Pharaoh's daughter is a subtheme in chs. 1-11 (see 3.1;9.16) that leads up to the report of his sin in ch.11. In verses 26-28: The location of Ophar is unknown, it may have been in southern Arabia. On the weight of a talent see comment on v. 14. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 15th

 Read 1 Kings 9.10-14. In 9.10-28: Other activities of Solomon.  In verses 10-14: Solomon seems to be in financial difficulties and is forced to sell land though his bargaining appears shrewd. Cabul (v.13) is explained as meaning "as nothing." This is a popular etymology or even an etiology (a story or report that explains something's origin). The real meaning of the name is unknown. The talent was a measure of weight . Its amount varied, but it could be as much as 130 pounds. Comments or Questions..