Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
I will give one tribe to thy son - i:e., the large and populous tribe of Judah, including the small tribe of Benjamin, which was contiguous, and, in fact, divided with it the possession of Jerusalem. Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 7:, ch. 7:, sec. 5) expressly mentions 'two tribes.' There were left to Rehoboam the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi (2 Chronicles 11:12-13), and multitudes of Israelites, who, after the schism of the kingdom, established their residence within the territory of Judah, to enjoy the privileges of the true religion (1 Kings 12:17). These are all reckoned as one tribe. Respecting Solomon's multiplication of wives, it may be observed that the sin was his own. 'His heart was turned away after other gods;' but the apostasy was personal, not national. The people at large were not involved in its guilt, and therefore did not forfeit the tenure of the land of Canaan. But Solomon was punished; as the kingdom was taken from his family-not wholly, indeed (a small remnant being reserved, from regard to David and to Jerusalem, the place which Yahweh had chosen), nor in his lifetime, although the latter period of his reign was disturbed by foreign adversaries in the remote parts of his kingdom-empire.