1 Kings 11:15-22

11:15 During David’s campaign against Edom,¹ Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom. 11:16 For six months Joab and the entire Israelite army² stayed there until they had exterminated every male in Edom.³ 11:17 Hadad,⁴ who was only a small boy at the time, escaped with some of his father’s Edomite servants and headed for Egypt.⁵ 11:18 They went from Midian to Paran; they took some men from Paran and went to Egypt. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, supplied him with a house and food and even assigned him some land.⁶ 11:19 Pharaoh liked Hadad so well⁷ he gave him his sister-in-law (Queen Tahpenes’ sister) as a wife.⁸ 11:20 Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to his son,⁹ named Genubath. Tahpenes raised¹⁰ him in Pharaoh’s palace; Genubath grew up in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s sons. 11:21 While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away¹¹ and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave¹² so I can return to my homeland.” 11:22 Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?”¹³ Hadad replied,¹⁴ “Nothing, but please give me permission to leave.”¹⁵

¹tn Heb “when David was [fighting (?)] with Edom.”

²tn Heb “and all Israel.”

³tn Heb “until he had cut off every male in Edom.”

⁴tn The MT reads “Adad,” an alternate form of the name Hadad.

⁵tn Heb “and Adad fled, he and Edomite men from the servants of his father, to go to Egypt, and Hadad was a small boy.”

⁶tn Heb “and they arose from Midian and went to Paran and they took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and he gave to him a house and food and he said to him, and a land he gave to him.” Something seems to be accidentally omitted after “and he said to him.”

⁷tn Heb “and Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh.”

⁸tn Heb “and he gave to him a wife, the sister of his wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.”

⁹tn Heb “bore him Genubath his son.”

¹⁰tc The Hebrew text reads וַתִּגְמְלֵהוּ (vattigmÿlehu, “weaned him”) but a slight alteration of the consonantal text yields וַתִּגְדְלֵהוּ (vattigdÿlehu, “raised him”), which seems to make better sense.

¹¹tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

¹²tn Heb “send me away.”

¹³tn Heb “Indeed what do you lack with me, that now you are seeking to go to your land?”

¹⁴tn Heb “and he said.”

¹⁵sn So Hadad asked Pharaoh… This lengthy description of Hadad’s exile in Egypt explains why Hadad wanted to oppose Solomon and supports the author’s thesis that his hostility to Solomon found its ultimate source in divine providence. Though Hadad enjoyed a comfortable life in Egypt, when the Lord raised him up (apparently stirring up his desire for vengeance) he decided to leave the comforts of Egypt and return to Edom.