1 Kings 12:8

8 But he didn't take the advice the older men gave him; instead he consulted the young men he had grown up with, who were now his attendants.

1 Kings 12:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 12:8

But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given
him
He did not rightly relish it, nor cordially receive it; it did not suit with his haughty temper, he could not brook it, to stoop to his people; he thought it a lessening of his dignity to do anything that looked like courting their favour; and therefore determined not to take the advice given him by the old men, but to seek for other:

and consulted with the men, that were grown up with him, and which
stood before him;
the sons of nobles, with whom he had his education, and who were his companions from his youth upwards, and who were now officers in his court, and of his privy council, being his favourites, and those he consulted on this occasion; and though they are called young men, as they were in comparison of the old men, yet since they were contemporary with Rehoboam, who was now forty one years of age, they must be about forty, or not much under, and at an age to be wiser than they appeared to be.

1 Kings 12:8 In-Context

6 King Rechav'am consulted the older men who had been in attendance on Shlomo his father during his lifetime and asked, "What advice would you give me as to how to answer these people?"
7 They said to him, "If you will start today being a servant to these people - if you will serve them, be responsive to them and give them favorable consideration, then they will be your servants forever."
8 But he didn't take the advice the older men gave him; instead he consulted the young men he had grown up with, who were now his attendants.
9 He asked them, "What advice would you give me, so that we can give an answer to these people who said to me, 'Lighten the yoke that your father laid on us'?"
10 The young men he had grown up with said to him, "These people who said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy; but you, make it lighter for us' - here's the answer you should give them: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.