Bible Strands
1 Kings 12:11
Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rehoboam speaks to the northern tribes of Israel who have returned after three days, responding to their demand that he lighten the heavy yoke his father Solomon imposed. (1 Kings 12:10-12)
The words — The Hebrew עֹל כָּבֵד (‘ol kāḇêḏ) literally means “heavy yoke,” and אוֹסִיף (’ôsîp) means “I will add.” Rehoboam declares he will intensify the burden and replace whips with scorpions. (1 Kings 12:11)
The thread — This escalation of forced labor directly echoes the ruthless Egyptian bondage recorded in Exodus 1:13, 5:5, and 5:18.
Why it lands — The text records a ruler’s explicit threat to increase oppression rather than alleviate it. It demands recognition of how political pride directly weaponizes institutional suffering. (1 Kings 12:11)
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
Cross-references
- Exodus 1:13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
- Exodus 5:5 Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.”
- Exodus 5:18 Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.”
- 1 Samuel 8:18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.”
- 1 Kings 12:14 and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.”
- 2 Chronicles 16:10 Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
- Isaiah 58:6 Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
- Jeremiah 27:11 But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.”
- Jeremiah 28:13 “Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the LORD says: ‘You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.’
- Ezekiel 2:6 But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.