Neither will I take away the whole kingdom, but I will give one tribe to thy son for the sake of David my servant, and Jerusalem which I have chosen.

“The son of this David, Solomon by name, was caught by the same snare as his father, and out of complacence to women fell away from the God of his fathers. You see how great an evil it is not to master pleasure, not to upset the ruling principle in nature and for a man to be slave of women. This same Solomon, then, who was formerly righteous and wise but who ran a risk of being deprived of all the kingdom on account of his sin, God permitted to keep the sixth part of the government on account of the renown of his father.”

“And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite,.... Though he did not take his kingdom from him for his sin, he chastised him with the rod of men, as he said he would; suffering one, and then another, to rise up and disturb his peace in his old age, see Sa2 7:14. he was of the king's seed in Edom; of the blood royal.”

“Will give one tribe - for David my servant's sake - The line of the Messiah must be preserved. The prevailing lion must come out of the tribe of Judah: not only the tribe must be preserved, but the regal line and the regal right. All this must be done for the true David's sake: and this was undoubtedly what God had in view by thus miraculously preserving the tribe of Judah and the royal line, in the midst of so general a defection. And for Jerusalem's sake - As David was a type of the Messiah, so was Jerusalem a type of the true Church: therefore the Old Jerusalem must be preserved in the hands of the tribe of Judah, till the true David should establish the New Jerusalem in the same land, and in the same city. And what a series of providences did it require to do all these things!”

“One tribe. Besides that of Juda, his own native tribe. (Challoner) — That of Benjamin had been so reduced, that it scarcely deserved the name of a tribe. It was also invariably connected with the adjoining tribe of Juda; as many of the other tribes, after the captivities of Assyria and Babylon, went by the common title of Jews. (Tirinus) — The Levites, and many of the Israelites, came to inhabit in the land of Juda, for the sake of the true religion, chap. xii. 17., and 2 Paralipomenon xi. 13, 16. Jeroboam banished the tribe of Levi from his dominions, that he might more easily introduce a change of religion among his subjects. The two kingdoms were thus almost equal in strength. (Calmet) — Chosen for the abode of holiness, and the seat of government. (Salien) — One tribe….and Jerusalem; which latter may denote the tribe of Benjamin. (Worthington)”

“I will give one tribe to thy son--There were left to Rehoboam the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi (Ch2 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 (Kg1 12:17). These are all reckoned as one tribe.”