1 Kings 11:18

_AND THEY AROSE OUT OF MIDIAN, AND CAME TO PARAN: AND THEY TOOK MEN WITH THEM OUT OF PARAN, AND THEY CAME TO EGYPT, UNTO PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT; WHICH GAVE HIM AN HOUSE, AND APPOINTED HIM VICTUALS, AND GAVE HIM LAND._ They arose out of Midian. [Thenius, in his 'Commentary,' suggests that instead of _ MIDYAAN_ (H4080) there should be substituted Maa`own, in the Negeb of Palestine, which he supposes might he the temporary residence of the Edomite royal family; and the Septuagint has: ek tees poleoos Madiam.] But there is no reason to suspect the genuineness of the Hebrew text, which gives an intelligible account of the young prince's flight, first among some of the nomadic tribes of that Midian which lay east of Edom (Numbers 22:4; Numbers 22:7;...

14-25 While Solomon kept close to God and to his duty, there was no enemy to give him uneasiness; but here we have an account of two. If against us, he can make us fear even the least, and the very grasshopper shall be a burden. Though they were moved by principles of ambition or revenge, God used them to correct Solomon....

Verse 1 Kings 11:18. _THESE AROSE OUT OF MIDIAN_] They at first retired to Midian, which lay to the southwest of the Dead Sea. Not supposing themselves in safety there, they went afterwards to _Paran_ in the south of Idumea, and getting a number of persons to join them in Paran, they went straight to Egypt, where we find Hadad became a favourite with Pharaoh, who gave him his sister-in-law to wife; and incorporated him and his family with his own....

MIDIAN - A town in the south of Judah. Paran is the desert tract immediately to the south of Judaea, the modern desert of et-Tih. PHARAOH - King of the twenty-first (Tanite) dynasty; probably he was Psusennes I, Manetho’s second king. It appears to have been the policy of the Pharaohs about this time to make friends and contract alliances with their eastern neighbors....

EXPOSITION SOLOMON'S ADVERSARIES.—As the historian has collected together in 1 Kings 6:1; 1 Kings 7:1; 1 Kings 8:1, all the information he can convey respecting the _temple, _and in 1 Kings 9:1; 1 Kings 10:1. all the scattered notices respecting Solomon's _power _and _greatness, _so here he arranges in one section the history of Solomon's _adversaries_._ _It must not be supposed that the following records stand in due chronological order. The enmities here mentioned did no

AND THEY AROSE OUT OF MIDIAN,.... A country which lay in their way to Egypt, and where it seems they made some stay, and then departed: AND CAME TO PARAN; near to which was a wilderness of the same name, in which the Israelites wandered when they came out of Egypt, and which lay between Edom and Egypt: AND THEY TOOK MEN WITH THEM OUT OF PARAN; either as guides and guards through the wilderness, or to make the better appearance before Pharaoh, and that they might meet with the better reception: AND THEY CAME TO EGYPT, UNTO PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT; and told their case, and informed him who Hadad was: who, pitying an unfortunate young prince, GAVE HIM AN HOUSE; for him and his servants to dwell in: AND APPOINTED HIM VICTUALS; a daily provision for him and his men: AND GAVE HIM LAND; for his servants to cultivate, and from thence to raise a revenue for his support

7. SOLOMON'S FAILURE: JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED AND THE BEGINNING OF DISRUPTION CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Solomon's polygamy and departure from God (1 Kings 11:1)_ 2. Hadad the Edomite (1 Kings 11:14) 3. Rezon the second adversary (1 Kings 11:23) 4. Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:26) 5. Solomon's reign and death (1 Kings 11:41) “But--.” An ominous word with which this chapter begins. It introduces us to the sad picture of Solomon's great apostasy. “He shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people

SIN OF SOLOMON, AND THE ADVERSARIES RAISED UP IN CONSEQUENCE. From various differences in the arrangement of the earlier verses in the LXX and Heb., it has been supposed that in its original form the narrative merely recorded the fact that Solomon had a number of wives, and that he built sanctuaries and offered sacrifice to their gods. In its present form the influence of a Deuteronomic editor is unmistakable. But the account of Solomon's adversaries (1 Kings 11:14 ff.) must be derived from an earlier source; and even as it stands does not necessarily mean that they were raised up in punishment of his sin. Hadad, the Edomite (1 Kings 11:14) must have troubled him early in his reign (1 Kings 11:21 f.), and Rezon wa

_And they arose out of Midian_ It is not easy to decide what place or district is meant by Midian. The country so called in the time of Moses (Exodus 2:15; Exodus 3:1) could not have been far away from Mt. Sinai, and the fugitives from Edom would hardly have made their way to such a distance before setting out on their journey to Egypt. If the Midianites wandered about in the desert it may be that there was some more northern district nearer to the south-west of Edom which was called after them. Of this however we have no information. The LXX. here reads ἐκ τῆς πόλεως Μαδιάμ, thus explaining the word as the name of a city. There is however a difference of reading in Judges 10:12 which may help us. There we read -The Zidonians and

II. SOLOMON'S TROUBLES 11:14-40 While reading the preceding Chapter s, one has the impression that Solomon enjoyed a reign of uninterrupted peace and splendor. But here at the close of the account of this king the author has gathered all the significant information concerning Solomon's adversaries. Owing to the fact that these accounts stand at the end of his history, many students have jumped to the conclusion that all Solomon's troubles arose at the end of his reign. This conclusion is, however, not justified. The hated opposition of Hadad began at an early period of Solomon's reign. So also, it would seem did the opposition of Rezon. These accounts are placed here because (1) it is the habit of the author to collect into one passage material related to a particular facet of Solomon's reign;[303] (2) it was only in his later life that these adversaries materially affected Solomon's pos...