1 Kings 11:14

1Ki 11:14 And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he [was] of the king’s seed in Edom.

Ver. 14. And the Lord stirred up an adversary to Solomon. ] So that we may say of him, as Pliny a did of Metellus, qui infelix dici non debet, felix non potest, since

“ Ante obitum felix supremaque funera nemo. ”

Now God is said to have stirred up Solomon’s adversaries, not by infusing this malice into them, but as using it to punish his wickedness by them; even as a workman worketh by tools that another made; and by crooked tools oft maketh straight and smooth work.

a Lib. vii. cap. 47.