What Does 1 Kings 11:25 Mean?
And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the harm that Hadad did, and he recoiled from Israel, and reigned over Aram.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.THE KEY
“Adversary” names a function, standing against Israel, so even a ruler can embody opposition.
THE MEANING
Opposition can take a concrete, political form: an adversary is a ruler whose hostility reaches into the life of a people. The verse names that hatred directly, he abhors Israel, and shows how power gives hostility duration and reach.
THE ROOT
שָׂטָן
satan
GROWS FROM
שׂטן
to oppose or act as an adversary
“an adversary” in this verse is satan. The Hebrew word describes a role: one who stands against another. Here it names a ruler’s opposition to Israel, while elsewhere the same word can describe an obstacle placed in someone’s path.
ALSO GROWS
satan: adversary, opponent
שָׂטָן
This is the word used here for the ruler’s stance toward Israel.
sitnah: accusation, hostility
שִׂטְנָה
This related form shows the root’s reach from opposing someone to the accusation or hostility that opposition carries.
THE PATTERN
Opposition is named by the work it does: standing against another, whether as a ruler, an accuser, or an obstacle.
And the burning of God's anger flared because he went, and the messenger of the LORD stood in the road as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the messenger of the LORD, and the Adversary standing at his right hand to stand against him.THE THREAD
And the burning of God's anger flared because he went, and the messenger of the LORD stood in the road as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.The shared Hebrew word שָׂטָן (satan, adversary) names Rezon’s stance toward Israel and the LORD’s messenger standing against Balaam. The same word moves between political hostility and a divinely placed obstacle, showing that its core is the work of opposing a path.
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