(4) Made . . . grievous . . . ease thou.--Made hard . . . lighten.

Now therefore.--And now. Kings and the Syriac here, "and thou now"--w'attah 'attah: an assonance which the chronicler has avoided, at the expense of the proper emphasis, which lies on thou. (Some Hebrew MSS. and the Vulgate and Arabic read, and thou.) (Comp. 2Chronicles 10:10, and thou . . . lighten it.)

Verse 4. - The grievous servitude... heavy yoke. These may, for conciseness' sake, be supposed to correspond with the naturally enough hated "forced labour" (1 Kings 4:6, 7; 1 Kings 5:13-16; 1 Kings 11:27, 28) and the burdensome "taxes" (1 Kings 4:19-28) which had not failed to become more odious to the people as familiarity with them grew. The refreshing New Testament contrast to all this (Matthew 11:28-30) will occur to every memory.

10:1-19 The ten tribes revolt from Rehoboam. - Moderate counsels are wisest and best. Gentleness will do what violence will not do. Most people like to be accosted mildly. Good words cost only a little self-denial, yet they purchase great things. No more needs to be done to ruin men, than to leave them to their own pride and passion. Thus, whatever are the devices of men, God is doing his own work by all, and fulfilling the word which he has spoken. No man can bequeath his prosperity to his heirs any more than his wisdom; though our children will generally be affected by our conduct, whether good or bad. Let us then seek those good things which will be our own for ever; and crave the blessing of God upon our posterity, in preference to wealth or worldly exaltation.See Chapter Introduction