2 Chronicles 10:11
For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
The counsel recorded in the verse came from Rehoboam's young advisers, urging him to answer the people's request for relief by refusing reform and making the heavy burdens laid on them under Solomon even heavier. Instead of easing what had been imposed, he was advised to increase it and to meet the plea for lighter treatment with a threat of harsher punishment than the people had already endured. The comparison of whips with scorpions expresses that intended severity, presenting scorpions as a far more painful and severe chastisement than whips. By choosing to continue and intensify the oppressive policies begun under Solomon rather than grant reform, Rehoboam took a course that helped provoke revolt. That revolt resulted in the rending of the nation into the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel.