1 Raja-raja 12:7

12:7 They said to him, “Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward.” ¹ 

1 Raja-raja 12:9-10

12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me ²  to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ³  12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ⁴  had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ ⁵  Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ⁶ 

1 Raja-raja 12:14

12:14 and followed ⁷  the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ⁸  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” ⁹ 

[12:7]  ¹ tn Heb “If today you are a servant to these people and you serve them and answer them and speak to them good words, they will be your servants all the days.”

[12:9]  ² tn In the Hebrew text the verb “we will respond” is plural, although it can be understood as an editorial “we.” The ancient versions have the singular here.

[12:9]  ³ tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

[12:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”

[12:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger. As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.

[12:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and spoke to them according to.”

[12:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.”

[12:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” See the note on the same phrase in v. 11.