Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 10:8
But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rehoboam acts immediately after the northern tribes demand relief from Solomon’s heavy yoke and the elders propose a conciliatory reply. He addresses his court, discarding the older advisors and turning to the younger men who served him.
The words — The verse contrasts וַֽ/יַּעֲזֹ֛ב (va/i.ya.'a.Zo), "he abandoned," with וַ/יִּוָּעַ֗ץ (va/i.yi.va.'Atz), "he consulted." Both verbs share the Hebrew root עוץ, which denotes counsel, marking a deliberate pivot in advisory sources.
The thread — The pattern of rejecting counsel runs through Proverbs 1:25, where neglecting correction precedes judgment. The contrast between effective and flawed advice appears in 2 Samuel 17:14, while 2 Chronicles 25:15 records divine anger when a leader pursues the wrong counsel.
Why it lands — The text first records Rehoboam’s factual choice of advisors before noting the inevitable shift in policy. It requires the reader to identify which circle of influence dictates their decisions when facing pressure.
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
But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 17:14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.
- Proverbs 1:25 because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,
- 2 Chronicles 25:15 Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet, who said, “Why have you sought this people’s gods, which could not deliver them from your hand?”
- Proverbs 9:9 Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.
- Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Proverbs 19:20 Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days.
- Proverbs 25:12 Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.
- Ecclesiastes 10:2 A wise man’s heart inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.
- Ecclesiastes 10:16 Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning.
- Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.