1 Kings 8:58

8:58 May he make us submissive, ¹  so we can follow all his instructions ²  and obey ³  the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors.

1 Kings 12:4

12:4 “Your father made us work too hard. ⁴  Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” ⁵ 

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¹ tn Heb “to bend our hearts toward him.” The infinitive is subordinate to the initial prayer, “may the Lord our God be with us.” The Hebrew term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the people’s volition and will.

² tn Heb “to walk in all his ways.”

³ tn Heb “keep.”

⁴ tn Heb “made our yoke burdensome.”

⁵ tn Heb “but you, now, lighten the burdensome work of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.” In the Hebrew text the prefixed verbal form with vav (וְנַעַבְדֶךָ, [vÿna’avdekha] “and we will serve you”) following the imperative (הָקֵל [haqel], “lighten”) indicates purpose (or result). The conditional sentence used in the translation above is an attempt to bring out the logical relationship between these forms.