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1 Kings 11:14–22, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Kings 11:14–22
Hadad survives Edomite slaughter and returns as an adversary
Hadad is a child who survived a slaughter
The LORD stirs up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He is of the king's seed in Edom. When David was in Edom, Joab, captain of the host, had gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom. Joab remained there six months with all Israel, until he had cut off every male.
Hadad fled, a little child, with certain Edomites of his father's servants, to go into Egypt. They arose out of Midian, came to Paran, took men with them, and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh, who gave Hadad a house, appointed him victuals, and gave him land. The adversary of Solomon's old age begins as a boy running from David and Joab's campaign. Opposition is not an Edomite defect. The killing must not be romanticized or mapped onto modern peoples.
Egypt gives him a royal marriage; he still wants to go home
Hadad finds great favour in Pharaoh's sight. Pharaoh gives him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. Tahpenes weans Genubath, Hadad's son, in Pharaoh's house; Genubath is in Pharaoh's household among Pharaoh's sons.
When Hadad hears in Egypt that David sleeps with his fathers and that Joab is dead, he says to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country. Pharaoh asks what he lacks. He answers, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise. A provided life in Egypt does not cancel the pull of the land where the males were cut off. God-stirred adversary in this theology still has this human history.
How this should shape us
When a later enemy appears, look for the earlier violence that taught him to run. Do not ethnicize the threat, and do not praise a campaign that hunted every male.
Teach it back
Explain 1 Kings 11:14–22 in your own words: include the movement “Hadad survives Edomite slaughter and returns as an adversary,” one source-supported observation, one limit, and one harm the unit does not authorize.
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The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where does uncertainty remain?
Best judgment: The received Hebrew narrative and its KJV presentation are clear enough to follow this movement, while precise source history, chronology, motives, textual development, and external correlation require graded confidence rather than invented certainty.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
1 Kings 11:14–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 11:14–22
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 605–608, translation and translator notes for 11:14–22
Supports: Inspected full-text literary, compositional, historical, and theological orientation used as one synthesis rather than consensus.
Dietrich, '1 and 2 Kings,' Oxford Bible Commentary (2001), printed pp. 240–241, exposition covering 1 Kings 11:14–22
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Masoretic, Greek, and other textual witnesses; the full chapter was not inspected.
Tekoniemi, 'Textual History,' Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 55–66
Supports: Only publisher-visible discussion of links with Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History.
Müller, 'Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 83–97
Supports: Only publisher-visible authorship, dating, source, and redaction framing; detailed proposals remain alternatives.
Römer, 'Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 98–122
Supports: Abstract-level current framing of Solomon and Jeroboam traditions, history, and literary development.
Robker, 'Solomon and Jeroboam I,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 139–155
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 11:14–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 11:14–22
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 605–608, translation and translator notes for 11:14–22
Open source ↗scholarly commentary chapter
1 and 2 Kings
Walter Dietrich
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2001
Supports: Inspected full-text literary, compositional, historical, and theological orientation used as one synthesis rather than consensus.
Exact location: Dietrich, '1 and 2 Kings,' Oxford Bible Commentary (2001), printed pp. 240–241, exposition covering 1 Kings 11:14–22
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Textual History
Timo Tekoniemi
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Masoretic, Greek, and other textual witnesses; the full chapter was not inspected.
Exact location: Tekoniemi, 'Textual History,' Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 55–66
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History
Reinhard Muller
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Only publisher-visible discussion of links with Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History.
Exact location: Müller, 'Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 83–97
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings
Thomas Romer
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Only publisher-visible authorship, dating, source, and redaction framing; detailed proposals remain alternatives.
Exact location: Römer, 'Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 98–122
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Solomon and Jeroboam I
Jonathan Miles Robker
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Abstract-level current framing of Solomon and Jeroboam traditions, history, and literary development.
Exact location: Robker, 'Solomon and Jeroboam I,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 139–155
Open source ↗