Verse 4

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

Referenced Verses

  • Exod 1:13-14 : 13 and they made the Israelites serve rigorously. 14 They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.
  • Exod 2:23 : 23 The Call of the Deliverer During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God.
  • 1 Sam 8:11-18 : 11 He said,“Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot. 12 He will appoint for himself leaders of thousands and leaders of fifties, as well as those who plow his ground, reap his harvest, and make his weapons of war and his chariot equipment. 13 He will take your daughters to be ointment makers, cooks, and bakers. 14 He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his own servants. 15 He will demand a tenth of your seed and of the produce of your vineyards and give it to his administrators and his servants. 16 He will take your male and female servants, as well as your best cattle and your donkeys, and assign them for his own use. 17 He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will be his servants. 18 In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD won’t answer you in that day.”
  • 1 Kgs 4:20 : 20 Solomon’s Wealth and Fame The people of Judah and Israel were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore; they had plenty to eat and drink and were happy.
  • 1 Kgs 4:25 : 25 All the people of Judah and Israel had security; everyone from Dan to Beer Sheba enjoyed the produce of their vines and fig trees throughout Solomon’s lifetime.
  • 1 Kgs 5:15 : 15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills,
  • 1 Kgs 9:22 : 22 Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces.
  • 1 Kgs 12:4 : 4 “Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.”
  • Isa 47:6 : 6 I was angry at my people; I defiled my special possession and handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; you even placed a very heavy burden on old people.
  • Matt 11:29-30 : 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”
  • Matt 23:4 : 4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.
  • 1 John 5:3 : 3 For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down,