But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and who stood before him:
All Commentaries on 1 Kings 12:8 Go To 1 Kings 12
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Him. They were young, compared with the former, though they might be 40 years old. (Menochius)
It was frequently the custom in the eastern courts, to educate young noblemen along with the heir to the crown. Such formed the captains of Alexander, (1 Machabees i. 7,) and the warriors of Sesostris, whose father ordered all the male children who were born on the same day in his dominions, to be brought to court, to be educated with his son. (Diodorus i.)
The Persian nobility were brought up at the gate of the prince, that they might learn temperance and the art of governing. (Xenophon, Cyrop. i.)
The endeavours of Solomon were frustrated by the evil disposition of his son, and of those about his person.
