Bible Strands
1 Kings 12:13
And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rehoboam addresses the assembled people of Israel after a three-day delay, having instructed them to return so he could deliver his final decision.
The words — קָשָׁ֑ה (ka.shah) literally means "hard" or "harshly," describing the king's tone, while עֲצָת (at.zat) denotes the "counsel" of the elders that he actively forsook.
The thread — This dismissal of elder guidance aligns with the pattern in Proverbs 10:32 that the lips of the wicked are perverse, and stands opposite to Proverbs 10:11's description of the righteous mouth as a fountain of life.
Why it lands — The passage records a concrete leadership choice: rejecting measured advice in favor of severity, which immediately sets the stage for the escalated burden described in the following verse.
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 the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him;
Cross-references
- Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- Proverbs 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.
- Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Proverbs 18:23 The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.
- Ecclesiastes 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.
- James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
- Genesis 16:6 “Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.
- Genesis 42:7 And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”
- Genesis 42:30 “The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.
- Exodus 5:2 But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”