“And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?”
King James Version (KJV)
10:4 Grievous - It is probable, when Solomon had declined from God, that God left him to himself to act thus impolitically.
10:7 If thou be kind, &c. - Moderate counsels are generally best. Gentleness will do what violence will not do. Good words cost nothing but a little self - denial, and yet they purchase great things.