1 Kings 11:31

31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I [am about] to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten tribes,

1 Kings 11:31 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 11:31

And he said to Jeroboam, take thee ten pieces
Of the twelve, an emblem of the ten tribes he was to have:

for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, behold, I will rend the kingdom
out of the hand of Solomon;
that is, out of his family:

and will give ten tribes unto thee;
to rule over.

1 Kings 11:31 In-Context

29 It happened at that time that Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, and he accidentally met Ahijah the Shilonite the prophet on the way. Now he had clothed himself with new clothing. While the two of them [were] alone in the field,

30 Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which [was] on him and tore it into twelve pieces.

31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I [am about] to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten tribes,

32 but one tribe shall be for him, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel;

33 because he has forsaken me, and they bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of [the] Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Molech, the god of the {Ammonites}. They did not walk in my ways to do right in my eyes, my ordinances, or my judgments, as [did] David his father.