Bible Strands
1 Kings 12:16
When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The northern tribes address King Rehoboam immediately after he refuses to lighten the heavy yoke his father imposed. Their declaration marks the precise moment the united monarchy fractures into two rival polities.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיָּרָא (va.yar') means "and he saw," recording the tribes' direct observation of the king's refusal. The prepositional phrase אֲלֵי/הֶם ('a.lei./hem) translates literally "to them," underscoring the directness of the king's rejection.
The thread — The pattern of disbanding and returning to one's own inheritance recurs in 2 Samuel 20:1 and 1 Kings 22:36, where similar dispersal commands reflect tribal fragmentation. These passages trace a consistent biblical motif where failed leadership triggers immediate political separation.
Why it lands — The text demonstrates that institutional refusal severs communal loyalty and forces immediate realignment of allegiance. It asks the reader to observe how political legitimacy collapses when authority ignores the grievances of those it governs.
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
So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 20:1 Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!”
- 1 Kings 22:17 So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
- 1 Kings 22:36 As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”
- 2 Chronicles 10:16 When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So all the Israelites went home,
- Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
- Jeremiah 33:15 In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
- Jeremiah 33:21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne.
- Judges 8:35 They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.
- 2 Samuel 7:15 But My loving devotion will never be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
- 2 Samuel 15:13 Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”