1 Kings 11:40

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

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.

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 "". Shishak king of Egypt; who was either, 1. Solomon’ s 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, ; or might cast a greedy eye upon the great riches and glorious things which Solomon had amassed together, and upon which, presently after Solomon’ s death, he laid violent hands, . All this was known to Jeroboam, who therefore durst put himself into Shishak’ s protection; especially, considering how little such relations commonly signify in the affairs of princes; and withal, being made confident by God’ s promise of the kingdom. Or, 2. One of another line or house, to whom that crown might descend for want of issue.

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.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.] Who might haply be offended with Solomon for taking so many wives besides his sister.

(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 1 Kings 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 1 Kings 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 Solomon’s 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 1 Kings 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.

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.

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 (1 Kings 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 (2 Chronicles 9:29-31)

Compare 1 Kings 11:26. The announcement of Ahijah was followed within a little while by rebellion on the part of Jeroboam.

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.