1 Kings 11:34

34 But I won't take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will keep him as ruler throughout his lifetime on account of my servant David, who did keep my commands and my laws.

1 Kings 11:34 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 11:34

Howbeit, I will not take the kingdom out of his hand
Not any part of it, ( 1 Kings 11:12 ) ,

but I will make him prince all the days of his life;
that is, he shall continue to hold the government of all the tribes so long as he lives:

for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my
commandments and my statutes;
see ( 1 Kings 11:12 ) , or was well pleased with, as the Targum; for keeping the commands of God from right principles, and with right views, is well pleasing to him.

1 Kings 11:34 In-Context

32 But I will leave him one tribe on account of my servant David and on account of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel.

33 I am doing this because they have abandoned me and worshipped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They haven't walked in my ways by doing what is right in my eyes—keeping my laws and judgments—as Solomon's father David did.

34 But I won't take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will keep him as ruler throughout his lifetime on account of my servant David, who did keep my commands and my laws.

35 I will take the kingdom from the hand of Solomon's son, and I will give you ten tribes.

36 I will give his son a single tribe so that my servant David will always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city that I chose for myself to place my name.