And God stirred him up another adversary ,.... One from the north, as the other was from the south: Rezon, the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah : when David fought with him; and this man seeing the battle go against his master, and that he was like to be worsted, deserted him and fled, see 2 Samuel 8:3 . read more
Rezon the son of Eliadah - Thus God fulfilled his threatening by the prophet Nathan: If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; 2 Samuel 7:14 . read more
Premonitions of Wrath. Though the full weight of the judgment of God upon the sin of Solomon was not to come upon him in his lifetime, yet did he not, in this world, go altogether without punishment. The foreknowledge of the evils to come upon his family and people was in itself a heavy affliction. But in addition to this, the evening of his days was doomed to be disturbed. To this end— I. GOD STIRRED UP ADVERSARIES AGAINST HIM . 1 . In themselves these were... read more
The Divine Chastisements. I. CHASTISEMENT IS MERCY . Though the judgment was kept back, Solomon was meanwhile made to feel the rod of correction. We may be forgiven and yet chastised—yea, chastised because we are forgiven. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth," etc. This, too, was mercy, for— 1 . It was fitted to lead him to seek God in truth . It is easier to feel and confess our folly and sin in adversity than when all is well with us, 2 . It revealed to... read more
And God stirred him up another adversary [almost identical with 1 Kings 11:14 ], Rezon the son of Eliadah [Often identified with the Hezion of 1 Kings 15:18 , but on insufficient grounds. Whether he was a usurper, who had dethroned Hadad (see Jos; Ant; 6.5. 2), or an officer of Hadadezer's, who escaped either before or after the battle of 2 Samuel 8:3-5 , is uncertain. The following words agree equally well with either supposition], which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah ... read more
Rezon - Possibly the same as the Hezion of 1 Kings 15:18; but probably one who interrupted the royal line of the Damascene Hadads, which was restored after his death. We may arrange the Damascus-kings of this period as follows:RE-DO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!Hadadezer (or Hadad I), about 1040 B.C. (conquered by David).Rezon (usurper) was contemporary with Solomon.Hezion (Hadad II) was contemporary with Rehoboam.Tabrimon (Hadad III) was contemporary with Abijam.Ben-hadad (Hadad IV) was contemporary... read more
1 Kings 11:23-24. Which fled from his lord Hadadezer When David had defeated him. King of Zobah A part of Syria, between Damascus and Euphrates. And he gathered men unto him Some of those that fled when David defeated Hadadezer, 2 Samuel 10:18. And became captain over a band Who listed themselves under him as their commander, with others, who readily joined them, and lived by robbery, as many Arabians did. And they went to Damascus And took it while Solomon was wallowing in... read more
Solomon’s idolatry (11:1-43)Although some of Solomon’s marriages were for political purposes, most of his wives and concubines were probably given to him as gifts. These women usually brought their gods into Israel, and Solomon’s weakness in worshipping these gods led finally to his downfall (11:1-8). God’s judgment on Solomon and Israel was to bring the long-standing friction between northerners and southerners to a climax in the division of the kingdom. Only Solomon’s tribe Judah (which had... read more
GOD RAISED UP REZON ANOTHER ADVERSARY TO SOLOMON"And God raised up another adversary unto him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a troop, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria."The two adversaries... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 11:14-25
While Solomon kept closely to God and to his duty there was no adversary nor evil occurrent (1 Kgs. 5:4), nothing to create him any disturbance or uneasiness in the least; but here we have an account of two adversaries that appeared against him, inconsiderable, and that could not have done any thing worth taking notice of if Solomon had not first made God his enemy. What hurt could Hadad or Rezon have done to so great and powerful a king as Solomon was if he had not, by sin, made himself mean... read more