Verse Lens · Concise explanation
1 Kings 11:22 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 22. 22Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Hadad survives Edomite slaughter and returns as an adversary.”
Hadad is a child who survived a slaughter
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Kings 11:14–22. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 11:14–22
Read 1 Kings 11:22 with 11:14–22. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Introduces Hadad, an Edomite royal survivor, as an adversary raised against Solomon; preserves Hadad's insistence on returning despite Pharaoh's claim that he lacks nothing.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Hadad survives Edomite slaughter and returns as an adversary,” 1 Kings 11:22 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: Hadad's survival from David and Joab's Edomite killing gives human history to the adversary who appears after Solomon's judgment; opposition is not an ethnic defect.
Read 1 Kings 11:14–22 together
Why these verses belong together: Hadad survives Edomite slaughter and returns as an adversary is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 11:14–11:22.
Verse 14. 14 And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king’s seed in Edom.
Verse 15. 15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;
Verse 16. 16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:)
Verse 17. 17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child.
Verse 18. 18 And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.
Verse 19. 19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
Verse 20. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.
Verse 21. 21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.
Verse 22. 22 Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.
What Remains True
Power remains accountable for every person exposed, silenced, displaced, injured, or killed even when the narrative also reports fulfillment or victory. This unit tests that truth through introduces Hadad, an Edomite royal survivor, as an adversary raised against Solomon; preserves Hadad's insistence on returning despite Pharaoh's claim that he lacks nothing. In 1 Kings 11:22, the concrete line “Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Kings 11:14–22 — Hadad survives Edomite slaughter and returns as an adversarySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 ↗