When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned Yahweh’s law, and all Israel with him. In the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Yahweh, with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. He took the fortified cities which belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.
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2 Chronicles 12:1-4 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned Yahweh’s law, and all Israel with him. In the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Yahweh, with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. He took the fortified cities which belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, who were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Yahweh says, ‘You have forsaken me, therefore I have also left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned Yahweh’s law, and all Israel with him.
In the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Yahweh,
with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.
He took the fortified cities which belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.
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And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,
With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.
And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.
Show all 3 translations
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And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had dealt treacherously with the LORD,
with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.
And he took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah, and came unto Jerusalem.
Cross-references (48)
- 2 Chronicles 11:17 (v1) So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years; for they walked three years in the…
- 2 Chronicles 16:8 (v3) Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge army, with chariots and exceedingly many horsemen? Yet, because you relied on Yahweh, he…
- Nahum 3:9 (v3) Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength. Put and Libya were her helpers.
- 2 Chronicles 12:13 (v1) So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned; for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned…
- 1 Kings 11:40 (v2) Therefore Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the…
Show all 48 cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 11:5-12 (v4) Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath,…
- 2 Chronicles 26:13-16 (v1) Under their hand was an army, three hundred seven thousand five hundred, who made war with mighty power, to help the king against the…
- 1 Kings 14:22-24 (v1) Judah did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that…
- 2 Chronicles 7:19-20 (v2) But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and…
- Daniel 11:43 (v3) But he will have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. The Libyans and the Ethiopians…
- Genesis 10:6-8 (v3) The sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah…
- Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (v1) It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you,…
- Deuteronomy 8:10-14 (v1) You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which he has given you. Beware lest you forget Yahweh your…
- Deuteronomy 32:15 (v1) But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and…
- Deuteronomy 32:18 (v1) Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.
- Judges 2:13-15 (v2) They abandoned Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of…
- Judges 4:13 (v3) Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the…
- Judges 6:5 (v3) For they came up with their livestock and their tents. They came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without…
- 1 Samuel 13:5 (v3) The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the…
- 2 Samuel 10:18 (v3) The Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach…
- 1 Kings 9:9 (v1) and they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other…
- 1 Kings 12:17 (v1) But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
- 1 Kings 14:24-26 (v2) There were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh drove out before the children…
- 2 Kings 17:19 (v1) Also Judah didn’t keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
- 2 Kings 18:17 (v4) The king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and…
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 (v2) You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all…
- 2 Chronicles 11:3 (v1) “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
- 2 Chronicles 14:9 (v3) Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million troops and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.
- 2 Chronicles 14:12 (v3) So Yahweh struck the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
- 2 Chronicles 36:14-19 (v2) Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they…
- Psalms 106:43-44 (v2) He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded…
- Isaiah 8:8 (v4) It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through. It will reach even to the neck. The stretching out of its wings will…
- Isaiah 10:11 (v4) shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
- Isaiah 36:1 (v4) Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
- Isaiah 43:3 (v3) For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
- Isaiah 63:10 (v2) But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
- Jeremiah 2:19 (v2) “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,…
- Jeremiah 2:31 (v1) Generation, consider Yahweh’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken…
- Jeremiah 5:10 (v4) “Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not Yahweh’s.
- Jeremiah 44:22-23 (v2) Thus Yahweh could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed.…
- Lamentations 5:15 (v2) The joy of our heart has ceased. Our dance is turned into mourning.
- Ezekiel 30:5 (v3) “ ‘ “Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the mixed people, Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, will fall with them by the…
- Hosea 5:10-11 (v1) The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out my wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed…
- Hosea 13:1 (v1) When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he became guilty in Baal, he died.
- Hosea 13:6-8 (v1) According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me. Therefore…
- Micah 6:16 (v1) For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of Ahab’s house. You walk in their counsels, that I may make you a ruin, and her…
- Revelation 9:16 (v3) The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them.
- Nehemiah 9:26-27 (v2) “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 For such is the inconstancy of the people, that…
For such is the inconstancy of the people, that for the most part they follow the vices of their governors.
Or, when the Lord had established Rehoboam’s kingdom.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–4 2Ch 12:1 And it came to pass, when Rehoboam…
2Ch 12:1 And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
Ver. 1. When Rehoboam had established the kingdom.] For the first three years of his reign, when the rent was but newly made, and he might well fear the loss of his kingdom, he seemed to have some goodness in him; but when he saw himself settled, he revolted from the Lord.
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“ Luxuriant animi rebus plerunque secundis:
Nec facile est aequa commoda mente pati. ”
And all Israel with him.] Israel is here, and 2Ch 12:6, put and meant for Judah.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–3 In the fifth year; presently after the apostacy of…
In the fifth year; presently after the apostacy of the king and people, which was in his fourth year, by comparing this with 2Ch 11:17.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 Israel was very much disgraced and weakened by being…
Israel was very much disgraced and weakened by being divided into two kingdoms; yet the kingdom of Judah, having both the temple and the royal city, both the house of David and the house of Aaron, might have done very well if they had continued in the way of their duty; but here we have all out of order there.
I. Rehoboam and his people left God: He forsook the law of the Lord, and so in effect forsook God, and all Israel with him, Ch2 12:1. He had his happy triennium, when he walked in the way of David and Solomon (Ch2 11:17), but it expired, and he grew remiss in the worship of God; in what instances we are not told, but he fell off, and Judah with him, here called Israel, because they walked in the evil ways into which Jeroboam had drawn the kingdom of Israel. Thus he did when he had established the kingdom and strengthened himself. As long as he thought his throne tottered he kept to his duty, that he might make God his friend; but, when he found it stood pretty firmly, he thought he had no more occasion for religion; he was safe enough without it. Thus the prosperity of fools destroys them. Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. When men prosper, and are in no apprehension of troubles, they are ready to say to God, Depart from us.
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II. God quickly brought troubles upon them, to awaken them, and recover them to repentance, before their hearts were hardened. It was but in the fourth year of Rehoboam that they began to corrupt themselves, and in the fifth year the king of Egypt came up against them with a vast army, took the fenced cities of Judah, and came against Jerusalem, Ch2 12:2, Ch2 12:3, Ch2 12:4. This great calamity coming upon them so soon after they began to desert the worship of God, by a hand they had little reason to suspect (having had a great deal of friendly correspondence with Egypt in the last reign), and coming with so much violence that all the fenced cities of Judah, which Rehoboam had lately fortified and garrisoned and on which he relied much for the safety of his kingdom, fell immediately into the hands of the enemy, without making any resistance, plainly showed that it was from the Lord, because they had transgressed against him.
III. Lest they should not readily or not rightly understand the meaning of this providence, God by the word explains the rod, Ch2 12:5. When the princes of Judah had all met at Jerusalem, probably in a great council of war, to concert measures for their own safety in this critical juncture, he sent a prophet to them, the same that had brought them an injunction from God not to fight against the ten tribes (Ch2 11:2), Shemaiah by name; he told them plainly that the reason why Shishak prevailed against them was not because they had been impolitic in the management of their affairs (which perhaps the princes in this congress were at this time scrutinizing), but because they had forsaken God. God never leaves any till they first leave him.
IV. The rebukes both of the word and of the rod being thus joined, the king and princes humbled themselves before God for their iniquity, penitently acknowledged the sin, and patiently accepted the punishment of it, saying, The Lord is righteous, Ch2 12:6. "We have none to blame but ourselves; let God be clear when he judgeth." Thus it becomes us, when we are under the rebukes of Providence, to justify God and judge ourselves. Even kings and princes must either bend or break before God, either be humbled or be ruined.
V. Upon the profession they made of repentance God showed them some favour, saved them from ruin, and yet left them under some remaining fears of the judgment, to prevent their revolt again.
1. God, in mercy, prevented the destruction they were now upon the brink of. Such a vast and now victorious army as Shishak had, having made themselves masters of all the fenced cities, what could be expected but that the whole country, and even Jerusalem itself, would in a little time be theirs? But when God saith, Here shall the proud waves be stayed, the most threatening force strangely dwindles and becomes impotent. Here again the destroying angel, when he comes to Jerusalem, is forbidden to destroy it: "My wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem; not at this time, not by this hand, not utterly to destroy it," Ch2 12:7, Ch2 12:12. Note, Those that acknowledge God righteous in afflicting them shall find him gracious. Those that humble themselves before him shall find favour with him. So ready is the God of mercy to take the first occasion to show mercy. If we have humbled hearts under humbling providences, the affliction has done its work, and it shall either be removed or the property of it altered.
2. He granted them some deliverance, not complete, but in part; he gave them some advantages against the enemy, so that they recruited a little; he gave them deliverance for a little while, so some. They reformed but partially, and for a little while, soon relapsing again; and, as their reformation was, so was their deliverance. Yet it is said (Ch2 12:12), in Judah things went well, and began to look with a better face. (1.) In respect of piety. There were good things in Judah (so it is in the margin), good ministers, good people, good families, who were made better by the calamities of their country. Note, In times of great corruption and degeneracy it is some comfort if there be a remnant among whom good things ar found; this is a ground of hope in Israel. (2.) In respect of prosperity. In Judah things went ill when all the fenced cities were taken (Ch2 12:4), but when they repented the posture of their affairs altered, and things went well. Note, If things do not go so well as we could wish, yet we have reason to take notice of it with thankfulness if they go better than was to have been expected, better than formerly, and better than we deserved. We should own God's goodness if he do but grant us some deliverance.
3. Yet he left them to smart sorely by the hand of Shishak, both in their liberty and in their wealth.
(1.) In their liberty (Ch2 12:8): They shall be his servants (that is, they shall lie much at his mercy and be put under contribution by him, and some of them perhaps be taken prisoners and held in captivity by him), that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. They complained, it may be, of the strictness of their religion, and forsook the law of the Lord (Ch2 12:1) because they thought it a yoke to hard, too heavy, upon them. "Well," saith God, "let them better themselves if they can; let the neighbouring princes rule them awhile, since they are not willing that I should rule them, and let them try how they like that. They might have served God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, and would not; let them serve their enemies then in hunger and thirst (Deu 28:47, Deu 28:48), till they think of returning to their first Master, for then it was better with them," Hos 2:7. This, some think, is the meaning of Eze 20:24, Eze 20:25. Because they despised my statutes, I gave them statutes that were not good. Note, [1.] The more God's service is compared with other services the more reasonable and easy it will appear. [2.] Whatever difficulties or hardships we may imagine there are in the way of obedience, it is better a thousand times to go through them than to expose ourselves to the punishment of disobedience. Are the laws of temperance thought hard? The effects of intemperance will be much harder. The service of virtue is perfect liberty; the service of lust is perfect slavery.
(2.) In their wealth. The king of Egypt plundered both the temple and the exchequer, the treasuries of both which Solomon left very full; but he took them away; yea, he took all, all he could lay his hands on, Ch2 12:9. This was what he came for. David and Solomon, who walked in the way of God, filled the treasuries, one by war and the other by merchandise; but Rehoboam, who forsook the law of God, emptied them. The taking away of the golden shields, and the substituting of brazen ones in their place (Ch2 12:9-11), we had an account of before, Kg1 14:25-28.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–4 And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established…
And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom,.... Or when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established; the tribes of Judah and Benjamin being firmly attached to him, and great numbers from the other tribes coming over to him, and things going on peaceably and prosperously during the three years that he and his people abode by the pure worship of God:
and had strengthened himself; built fortified cities for the defence of himself and kingdom, Ch2 11:5, he forsook the law of the Lord; after he had reigned three years, and was become strong, and thought himself safe and secure on the throne, trusting to his strength:
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and all Israel with him; the greater part of them following the example of their king; of this defection, and the sins they fell into, see Kg1 14:22.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Rehoboam forsaking God is oppressed by Shishak, ver. 1-4.…
Rehoboam forsaking God is oppressed by Shishak, ver. 1-4. He humbles himself, and is preserved in his kingdom, but spoiled of his treasures, ver. 6-12. His character and death, ver. 13-16.
And all Israel - So called, because they forsook God, as Israel had done.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–3 Rehoboam and his subjects, forsaking the Lord, are delivered
CHAPTER XII
Rehoboam and his subjects, forsaking the Lord, are delivered
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into the hands of Shishak, king of Egypt, 1-4.
Shemaiah the prophet remonstrates with them, and they humble
themselves, and Jerusalem is not destroyed; but Shishak takes
away all the treasures, and the golden shields, instead of
which Rehoboam makes shields of brass, 5-12.
He reigns badly seventeen years, dies, and is succeeded by his
son Abijah, 13-16.
NOTES ON CHAP. XII
Verse 1. He forsook the law of the Lord] This was after the three years mentioned 2Ch 11:17.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1–3 2Ch 12:1. When Rehoboam had established the kingdom —…
2Ch 12:1. When Rehoboam had established the kingdom — Israel was very much disgraced and weakened by being divided into two kingdoms; yet the kingdom of Judah, having both the temple and the royal city, both the house of David and the house of Aaron, might have done very well if they had continued in the way of their duty: but here we have all out of order there. For Rehoboam forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him — That is, all his people, all Judah, here called Israel, because they walked in the evil ways into which Jeroboam had drawn the kingdom of Israel. Of this defection from God and his service, see 1Ki 14:22-24. Observe, reader; as long as he thought his throne in an insecure state, he kept to his duty, that he might make God his friend; but when he judged that he was established in his kingdom, he acted as if he thought he had no more occasion for religion. Thus the prosperity of fools destroys them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–4 All Israel with him - i. e., “all Judah…
All Israel with him - i. e., “all Judah and Benjamin” - all the Israelites of those two tribes.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 Israel, in his dominions. The kingdom of Jeroboam had…
Israel, in his dominions. The kingdom of Jeroboam had long before apostatized, though there were still many true servants of God, who would not bend the knee before Baal, ver. 12. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–3 Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem--He was…
Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem--He was the first king of the twenty-second or Bubastic Dynasty. What was the immediate cause of this invasion? Whether it was in resentment for some provocation from the king of Judah, or in pursuance of ambitious views of conquest, is not said. But the invading army was a vast horde, for Shishak brought along with his native Egyptians an immense number of foreign auxiliaries.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v3 3. The Lubim — Libyans, Dan_11:43; probably identical with…
3. The Lubim — Libyans, Dan_11:43; probably identical with the Lehabim of Gen_10:13. They were an African nation, apparently under Egyptian rule, and are repeatedly mentioned in connexion with the Egyptians and Ethiopians. Compare 1Ch_16:8; Nah_3:9. They peopled the African coast along the Mediterranean, west of Egypt.
The Sukkiim — “This name does not occur elsewhere. The Seventy, who rendered the word by ‘Troglodytes,’ regarded the Sukkiim probably as the ‘cave-dwellers’ along the western shore of the Red Sea, who are mentioned by Strabo and others; but the conjecture of Gesenius, that the word means ‘tent dwellers,’ is plausible, and would point rather to a tribe of Arabs.” — Rawlinson. The Ethiopians inhabited the country south of Egypt, which was watered by the Upper Nile. Compare 2Ki_19:9; Est_1:1.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Ch. 2Ch_12:1-12 (cp. 1Ki_14:22; 1Ki_14:25-28). The Invasion of Shishak
Ch. 2Ch_12:1-12 (cp. 1Ki_14:22; 1Ki_14:25-28). The Invasion of Shishak
1. all Israel] i.e. all the Southern Kingdom; cp. note on 2Ch_11:3. The details of Judah’s apostasy are given, 1Ki_14:22-24.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 (1) When Rehoboam had established the kingdom.—Rather, when Rehoboam’s…
(1) When Rehoboam had established the kingdom.—Rather, when Rehoboam’s kingdom had been established. The construction is impersonal: when one had established Rehoboam’s kingdom. The narrative is resumed from 2Ch_11:17.
And had strengthened himself.—And when he had become strong (hezqâh, an infinitive, used again at 2Ch_26:16; Dan_11:2, and nowhere else).
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He forsook the law of the Lord—i.e., lapsed into idolatry. (See 1Ki_14:22-24, where the offence is more precisely described.)
All Israel.—The southern kingdom being regarded as the true Israel. (Comp. 2Ch_12:6.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–3 This chapter finishes for us the history of Rehoboam,…
This chapter finishes for us the history of Rehoboam, his "acts" and his character; and, with the preceding two chapters, it may be counted among the masterpieces of Scripture biography. In so short a compass, how well marked, how distinctly limned, are the features of the man! The name of Rehoboam is, undoubtedly, one of the more important, if not taking rank among the most important, of Scripture, and no one can rise from the study of the fifty-eight verses of these three chapters without a very satisfactory conception of the man Rehoboam and what he was. It will be seen from the language of the second verse, compared with 2Ch_11:17, that, roughly speaking, this chapter stretches over the last sad and evil twelve of the whole seventeen years of Rehoboam"s reign. This, however, does not negative the possibility of the anticipation in ch. 11. of what, in point of chronology, belongs to this ch. 12. The parallel ofthis chapter is 1Ki_14:21-31, which gives us more than our vers. 1, 6, 12, 14, of what is personal to the evil-doing of Rehoboam, but much less than our text respecting Shishak and his army, and Shemalah and his messages.
When Rehoboam had established the kingdom strengthened himself; i.e. while insecure and full of apprehensions, Rehoboam walked humbly and surely, but when he thought his object, simply safety, was gained, his true and worse self appeared or reappeared, and, clothed with self-confidence, he forsakes the "Law," to bring sure retribution on himself. All Israel with him. When we turn to the fuller statements of the parallel, (1Ki_14:22-24) we see that the sins that were at work were not those of king merely, but of people, especially in abominations such as those of sodomy and the immoral practices of the "groves," as well as the ecclesiastical and irreligious iniquities of "high places" and "image" worship!
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Vers. 1-16.
A model instance of Divine goodness and opportunity prolonged to one who annulled all, and vitiated every highest privilege vouchsafed to him, by the one fact of his own infidelity of heart.
We are strikingly taught, and we vividly recall from the contents of this chapter, the following lessons and facts.
I HOW VERY PRONE FORGETFULNESS OF OUR PAST SINS IS TO FOLLOW WITH SWIFT RAPIDITY ON PRESENT RESPITE FROM FEAR, RELIEF FROM SUFFERING, REMISSION OF PUNISHMENT, RESTORATION OF OUR FORMER STATUS, IN WHATSOEVER KIND! Yet retentive memory of that sin would constitute our duty, our best wisdom, one of our surest cautions for the future, one of the likeliest fertilizings of penitence, and springs of humble gratitude.
II HOW VERY PRONE SECURITY, ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN SELF, AND THE SPIRIT OF EITHER DEFIANCE OR RECKLESS DISREGARD TOWARDS WHAT MAY AGAIN INVADE, IN FEAR, IN PAIN, IN PUNISHMENT, IN LOSS OF EVEN THE EARTHLY POSITION WE LOVE SO WELL, ARE TO FOLLOW QUICKLY ON PRESENT RELIEF! Too often, when the deeply useful memory of the sin is put far away out of sight and out of memory, it is but the precursor of the springing up of a very crop of positively harmful growth. The ground that is unoccupied by sweet pasture will be sure to seed itself, of all floating ill weeds; and to bring forth even of its own self, and own emptiness, or own pravity, the baneful, the noxious, the poisonous herb!
III HOW KIND THE PUNISHMENTS OF GOD ARE! They are essentially so. Their intent is to recover, to reform, to improve. With lesson in them, with suggestion in them, with caution and warning in them, with course and system of discipline, they offer exactly what it were impossible to get of self, or to get of others, or to get from anywhere except from the touch of the hand or the finger, or the rod of that tenderest to smite, the all-knowing Father of us all! So ver. 8 says deliberately, distinctly, that God would teach Rehoboam and condescendingly wait near him some while, to teach him, the comparison of services, the difference by experience of his yoke, burden, and service most ennobling, and those of such a one as Shishak King of Egypt. Rehoboam would find a greater difference between the two than that of his own well-known figurative language, the "whip" and the "scorpion." In tenderer connection, equally truly and sweet, did Caroline Fry, once on a time, teach every chastened child of God, and of sorrow, and of smart, and of even woe, to sing
Often the clouds of deepest woe So sweet a message bear, Dark though they seem, "twere hard to find One frown of anger there!
It needs our hearts be weaned from earth, It needs that we be driven, By loss of every earthly stay, To find our hope in heaven!
IV How READY TO FORGIVE, TO GRANT RESPITE AND FURLOUGH, TO GIVE ROOM AND SPACE FOR REPENTANCE," THE LORD GOD OF US ALL IS! Fully thirteen years, as it appears, did such manner of long-suffering, of forgivingness, even when it could not be precipitated into objective forgiveness, hold out sparing, pitying, prolonging probation, repeating trial, accepting the words, the posture, the fastings, the tears, the petitions of humiliation, the partial and transient amendments of life and conduct, in case anything real, deep, lasting, might haply come of them. Fully thirteen years (see vers. 2, 13) was Rehoboam kept on the throne, and all this long-suffering, considerate mercy shown to him, as though for him alone, or for him first, or for him chiefly, it bad been written, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" who all the while was neutralizing and cancelling Divine goodness, gift, opportunity, by the one damning vice that wrote itself as his epitaph, itself history"s last memorandum of him, the lamentable summary in a sentence, "Because he fixed not his heart to seek the Lord!
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Ver. 1.
The peril of security.
The King of Judah, whose career had been marked By such a strange admixture of good and evil, of wisdom and folly (see homily on, (2Ch_11:18-23) here takes another turn in his varied course, and this time a decisive one; but we mark first
I THE GOOD WORK OF CONSOLIDATION. He "had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself." The reference is, principally though not perhaps exclusively, to the action chronicled in the previous chapter (vers. 5-12, 22, 23). When he found that it was not open to him to regain the seceded tribes by force of arms, he set himself, like a wise man, to secure the fraction that was left him. He may have consoled himself with the thought which is not only a thought but a truth that a small estate that is well governed and well kept is far better than a large one that is ill managed, and that, consequently, soon shows signs of feebleness and decline. Those three years of consolidation, spent in the service of Jehovah, and under the sanction of his priests and prophets, were years of real worth to the country, and probably of happiness to Rehoboam. In the conduct of our estate, whether that be some business in which we are engaged, or some institution or Church we are serving, or some character (another"s or our own) that we are building up, we spend our time and our strength well in the work of "establishing and strengthening." In the supreme matter of human character we can hardly lay too much emphasis on this matter of consolidation. Character must be fortified by knowledge, by the understanding and the cordial acceptance of Christian principles, by exercise, by the nourishment and growth of a strong love for what is pure and true and generous, and by a hearty hatred of all that is corrupt and mean and false.
II THE TEMPTATION OF SUPPOSED SECURITY. When Rehoboam had attained to a position in which he felt himself secure, then he relaxed his hold on his early convictions, he surrendered his trust in God, he abandoned the faith and practice of his fathers. While conscious of danger from without, be was glad to be able to look for help to the lower that was above, and he remained loyal to Jehovah; as soon as he felt or fancied himself secure within his ramparts, he flung away his spiritual support. Here we have guilt and folly in equal measure guilt, for it was singularly ungrateful of him to forsake the God who had so clearly placed his dynasty on the throne, and impious of him to turn from the worship of him whom he believed to be the one true and living God; folly, for he might have known that his material defences would avail him nothing if the anger of the Lord was enkindled and the hand of the Lord directed against him.
Supposed security is a strong temptation.
1. When we believe ourselves to be possessed of a sufficiency of materialtreasure, we think we can afford to be independent of the aid of the Divine provision.
2. When we think we have surrounded ourselves with all needful sourcesof earthly and human joy, we are apt to think we can dispense with the consolations and the satisfactions which are in Jesus Christ; when we have attained to some strength of mind and of will, to some measure of maturity, we are tempted to suppose that there is less necessity, if any at all, to look upward for Divine support, to lean on the Divine arm. To yield to this temptation is to err sadly, to sin grievously.
(1) To err sadly; for we shall find that no defences or securities that are of earth or that are of man will avail us against all the difficulties and hazards that are around and against us, without the aid of an almighty arm; and the end will be failure and dishonour.
(2) To sin grievously; for God is demanding of us, in terms we cannot fail to understand and with a frequency we cannot fail to mark, that we should put our trust in him, and not in man; in him, and not in ourselves; in him, and not in "the chariots and horses" of this world.
III THE RESPONSIBILITY OF HIGH POSITION. Rehoboam "forsook the Law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. " His people were not unaccountable for following him, but how weighty was his responsibility for leading them astray! C.
HOMILIES BY T. WHITELAW
Vers. 1, 2.
The apostasy of Rehoboam.
I EARLY IN ITS COMMENCEMENT. After the three years already mentioned. (2Ch_11:17) Rehoboam"s piety was short-lived, like the morning cloud and early dew, (Hos_6:4) and like the seed upon stony ground. (Mat_13:5) Want of stability and permanence is a chief defect in man"s goodness. Many begin well who neither continue long nor end aright.
II PRESUMPTUOUS IN ITS SPIRIT. Rehoboam"s declension began after he had established the kingdom and strengthened himself. His fit of reforming zeal continued no longer than the fear which caused it. When this expired that vanished. So long as the country was defenceless, Rehoboam deemed it prudent to have Jehovah on his side, and with that end in view he patronized Jehovah"s altars. The moment his garrisons were erected, manned, and stored, he began to reckon that Jehovah"s aid was not so indispensable, and that his reforming zeal need not be so extremely hot. So men still think of God, and assume a semblance of religion when they feel themselves in peril, but the instant peril passes they doff the cloak of piety they have erstwhile worn like Pharaoh, (Exo_8:8, 15 9:27, 34) like the Israelites (Num_21:7 Num_25:1; Psa_78:31 Psa_106:6) like Ahab, (1Ki_21:29) and others.
III THOROUGH-GOING IS ITS CHARACTER.
1. Negative. He forsook the Law of the Lord, probably by violating its moral precepts and discontinuing its ceremonial rites, by abandoning the worship and deserting the altars of Jehovah.
2. Positive. He returned to the heathen idolatries which for three years he had neglected, (1Ki_11:7, 1Ki_11:8) like a dog to his vomit, etc.. (2Pe_2:22) So a merely negative declension in religion is impossible. He who abandons the service of God cannot stop short of serving the devil. No man can serve two masters; (Mat_6:24) but every man must serve one.
IV CONTAGIOUS IN ITS INFLUENCE. As Achan perished not alone in his iniquity, (Jos_22:20) so Rehoboam sinned not alone in his apostasy, but by means of his royal example or command drew all Israel after him. "One sinner destroyeth much good"; (Ecc_9:18) "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump". (1Co_5:6) One asks, where were the priests and Levites who had so bravely, resisted the profanations of Jeroboam, and rather sacrificed their suburbs and possessions than defile their consciences? (2Ch_11:14) and where were the pious Israelites who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel? (2Ch_11:16) In one short year their fervour had been quenched, their fidelity shaken, their courage damped.
V DISASTROUS IN ITS CONSEQUENCE. "Evil pursueth sinners", (Pro_13:21) and in two years Nemesis overtook Rehoboam in the shape of an Egyptian invasion. Of all sinners it is true, "their feet shall slide in due time"; (Deu_32:35) of apostates it is written, "I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord". (Eze_11:21)
Learn:
1. The sin of apostasy.
2. The danger of prosperity.
3. The impossibility of neutrality.
4. The fickleness of crowds in religion as in politics.
5. The corrupting influence of evil example.
6. The certainty of retribution. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 He forsook the law of the Lord, and all…
2Ch_12:1-2
He forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
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Rehoboam, first king of Judah
Individual lives attract and reward attention; hence the interest and fascination of fiction and history. What others have experienced and done comes to us as a revelation of a life in which we share.
I. Its waste of opportunities exceptionally grand.
1. He was the first king of Judah. Unless forfeited by misconduct, special honour and grateful appreciation are the inheritance of the founders of a dynasty. Conspicuous in time and relative position, they have an acknowledged leadership, though dead for centuries.
2. He inherited institutions and traditions of a prestige sacred and commanding. His was the city of David, with all its history, radiant with the Divine presence; his the temple, of which God was the architect and his father the master builder; his the unbroken priesthood, exalted to a genuine mediatorship between God and His people; his all the costly and sacred relics upon which the Queen of Sheba looked with amazement; about himself centred the hope of a coming prophet, ruler; his the sole honour of continuing the royal line.
3. He was of mature age and superior abilities.
4. He had the best material of all Israel as well. Jeroboam and his sons had cast off the Levites from executing the priests office unto the Lord, and they emigrated to Jerusalem in a body, and after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. Thus all the land of Canaan was sifted for his benefit.
5. The very smallness of Judah was an element of strength. He could and did intrench himself in his central fortress on Zion, and surround himself with a chain of fortresses mutually supporting from their proximity. His people were homogeneous, and not liable to the jealous rivalries which imperilled the ten divisions of Israel. But alas! the example of Rehoboam reveals the insufficiency of opportunities, however golden, to command a wise improvement.
II. His inability to Bear prosperity. When strengthened in his little kingdom of Judah, he at once repeated the folly which had only recently dispossessed him of the grand unbroken empire left by Solomon. Like multitudes, before and since, he was willing to use Gods help when in extremity, but when successful, when apparently sailing in smooth waters, he and all Israel forsook the law of the Lord. How inexplicable that blindness which increases with added light, that moral and spiritual weakness which grows when supplemented with all Divine help, that confidence in self built out of dependence and gracious gifts! Rehoboam and his numberless imitators in all time illustrate this. Left to himself, he mars and almost ruins the grandest schemes of infinite wisdom, and foils the gracious designs of a long-suffering God for his own rescue and elevation.
III. Chastisement brought partial repentance and humility. There is such a thing as final permanence of character, upon which all Divine warnings or dealings are unavailing except to harden. All moral character is voluntary, but the absoluteness of moral inability is only the measure and result of obdurate wilfulness. We are inclined to credit the humility of Rehoboam, because it vindicated God in the midst of His judgments. He and his princes said, The Lord is righteous. Their lips, and possibly their hearts, may have been free from murmuring when city after city crumbled before invading hosts. Repentance is safe to the degree in which it acknowledges and enthrones God. We cannot omit passing mention of the superior inheritance of those who submissively suffer. The tragedy of life comes from hopeless, helpless opposition to the irresistible.
IV. Nevertheless, religion was not its controlling influence. Though he never quite cast off God, he did evil because he fixed not his heart to seek the Lord. When the service of God dominates affections, plans, and deeds, then, and not until then, is true and steady progress possible. There can be no harmony, no worthy enthusiasm, nor any noble elevation to life which enthrones self. We live in a time of special peril, because of its wealth of opportunity. Never were the resources of the world so placed at mans disposal. But this wealth of opportunity brings a corresponding peril. Nothing but a heart fixed to seek the Lord can withstand its temptations to indulgence, to pride of power, to high looks and vain imaginations.
V. A change of masters for the worse. This change of masters, and opportunity to compare their respective service, which was thus true of Rehoboam, has a perfect parallel in the lives of all wanderers from God. Man will have some master, and he cuts loose from glad allegiance to God--the only true liberty--only to give servile obedience to a tyrant. It is one of the reassuring signs of progress to-day that man as an individual--his rights, his essential worth, and dignity--is valued and talked about more than the collective State or nation; but danger lurks in the shadow of the gain. That individuality is in danger of becoming overweening and imperious. The ego may, and sometimes does, glory in a self-sufficiency that looks almost patronisingly upon the Divine existence, or denies it altogether. Virtue is a queen whose subjects note her faintest wish, but their service is perfect liberty. It springs from the gladness of pure hearts, and knows no compulsion but sweet willingness. (Monday Club Sermons.)
Established in life
An accursed word is that sometimes--established or strengthened, or prospered, or succeeded. It was the mark of the place where we turned hell-ward. We prayed when we were poor. We went to the sanctuary when we were weak. Who can stand fatness, sunshine, all the year round? Where are the rich? How delicate in health they became when their riches multiplied! How sensitive to cold when they rolled round in gorgeous chariot drawn by prancing and foaming steeds! How short-tempered when they became long-pursed! What a change in their public prayers when they became the victims of social status and reputation! (J. Parker, D.D.)
Because they had transgressed against the Lord.--
Transgression against the Lord
See how religious the Bible is! We should now say that men are punished because they have transgressed the laws of nature; men are suffering because they have transgressed the laws of health; men are in great weakness because they have tempted debility, and brought it upon themselves by neglect or by indulgence. Even atheists have explanations. They cannot treat life as a piece of four-square wood, the whole of which can be seen at once; even they have laws, ministries, spectral actions, physiological explanations; it would seem as if the Bible gathered up all these and glorified them with a Divine name, and said, This is the Lords doing. (J. Parker, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 CRITICAL NOTES.] This chapter parallel with 1Ki_14:21-31, but considerably…
CRITICAL NOTES.] This chapter parallel with 1Ki_14:21-31, but considerably enlarges the narrative contained in that passage. The account of Shishak’s chariots and horsemen, the composition of his army, the warning and the promise of Shemaiah are wholly new features [Speak. Com.].
2Ch_12:1-12.—The invasion of Shishak. Forsook, details in Kings. All Isa., i.e., all Judah and Benjamin—all Israelites of these tribes. Shishak (Shishonk), first king of 22nd or Bubastic dynasty, which, after the fall of Thebes from proud position of capital, 990 B.C., succeeded to the sovereignty of the whole country [Jam.]. Came to resent provocation or carry out ambitious design, with great number of foreign auxiliaries. 2Ch_12:3. Lubim, Libyans west of Egypt (cf. ch. 2Ch_16:8; Neh_3:9). Suk., called Troglodytes, cave-dwellers, by Sept. Some think they are Semitio Arabs, dwellers in tents. Ethiop., Heb. Cushim, from south of Egypt. 2Ch_12:4. Fenced (ch. 2Ch_11:5-12), fortified with so much trouble. Shem. (ch. 2Ch_11:2). The message not in Kings; addressed to Rehoboam and princes while Shishak before Jerusalem. 2Ch_12:6. Humbled, bowed themselves (chs. 2Ch_7:14; 2Ch_13:18; 2Ch_32:26). Jehovah is just (Ezr_9:15; Neh_9:33). 2Ch_12:7. Some deliverance, i.e., deliverance in a little or short time (cf. Ezr_9:8); respite from total destruction, yet tributary to Egypt. 2Ch_12:8. Know the difference between God’s rule and foreign yoke. 2Ch_12:9-11. Came up, &c., resumes description of attack upon Jerusalem. Took everything valuable. Shields borne like maces by owners or guard of the palace when they attended the King in public procession. 2Ch_12:12. Instead of destruction, lit., these were good words; signs of national repentance and amendment; good things, purposes, and practices to which God had regard. “Ver. 12. Concludes the narrative, is additional to Kings and characteristic. It aptly terminates the writer’s history of the invasion, which he has presented to us throughout in a strictly moral and didactic aspect” [Speak. Com.].
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2Ch_12:13-16.—Rehoboam’s reign and death. Strengthened, new life and vigour after invasion; revival of religion and long reign. Years, on age of Rehoboam (cf. 1Ki_12:8; 1Ki_14:21). Naamah, probably a daughter of Nahash (1Ch_19:1). Evil, through unhappy influence of his mother, a heathen foreigner, he received a bias towards idolatry. Prepared not, fixed not; lacked earnestness and consistency. Book, refers to authorities of the reign of which he gives account. Wars, not open war, but incursions and skirmishes on borders for plunder.
HOMILETICS
NATIONAL IDOLATRY AND NATIONAL PUNISHMENT.—2Ch_12:1-3; 2Ch_12:9-12
Rehoboam did not check introduction of heathen abominations. The lascivious worship of Ashtoreth allowed to exist by side of true religion. “Images” of Baal and fellow-divinities set up, and the worst corruptions tolerated. For fuller account see 1Ki_14:22-24. These evils punished and put down by terrible calamity of Egyptian invasion.
I. The national Sins. “They had transgressed against the Lord.”
1. In provoking him to jealousy. God announced Himself to be “a jealous God” (Exo_20:5); a God “whose name is jealous.” A figure of marriage, in which God, like a husband of his people, is provoked to jealousy by the unfaithfulness of his wife. A strong, suggestive term.
2. In public worship of idols. Altars and high places built, woods planted, gods and graven images publicly patronised in utter disobedience to God’s command.
3. In rapid spread of immorality. “There were also Sodomites in the land.” They did according to all the abominations of the nations, &c. (1Ki_14:24). Paramours consecrated to the gods, a degraded class who practised immorality, traded in wickedness under the sanction of religion. Judah’s abominations worse than former days. The splendour of the temple and the pomp of the priesthood; secular privileges and religious teachers restrained not. Their sins were grievous and universal; sins “above all that their fathers had done.”
II. The national punishment. Shishak, king of Egypt, incited by Jeroboam, or ambitious of conquest, invaded the land and humbled the nation in a successful campaign.
1. The capital was disgraced. Jerusalem entered and pillaged by a heathen army! A national disgrace for a city to be broken down, without walls or defence (Pro_25:28; Neh_2:17).
2. The cities were taken. Places on which he spent such time and treasure to repair and defend. Great Canaanite towns and Levitical cities east and west of Jordan fell without a struggle. High towers and fortified places no defence against wickedness. “A man shall not be established by wickedness.”
3. The treasures carried away. The palace and the temple robbed. The shields of gold and everything valuable taken away. Deep humiliation, grievous bondage the price of ignominious peace and the retribution of a watchful providence! “I also left you in the hand of Shishak.”
THE BELEAGURED COURT.—2Ch_12:5-8
While Shishak was before the city, Rehoboam and the princes were deliberating in solemn assembly. Warned of sin and punishment, and spared on account of repentance. Notice—
I. The sins committed. “Ye have forsaken me.” This the gravamen of offence. Though possessing the temple and the priesthood, yet idolatry mixed with worship of Jehovah. Impure rites and unchecked licence.
II. The danger threatened.
1. Forsaken of God. “Therefore have I also left you.” Many would think this through negligence in preparations, impolicy in government. Bereft of strength and defence because God had forsaken them.
2. Besieged by Shishak. “In the hand of Shishak.” A hand strong and oppressive. This a natural result. When God forsakes, we are unable to resist, and the enemy conquers.
III. The humiliation produced. Calamity traced to national sins, repentance and contrition followed. When rebuked we should be humbled, justify God, and judge ourselves. “Even kings and princes must bend or brake before God, either be humbled or be ruined.”
IV. The deliverance granted. “I will grant them some deliverance.” A short space was given for amendment, wrath was not poured out like a flood upon the city, yet suzerainty of Egypt had to be accepted. Punishment delayed, not escaped. Destruction of Jerusalem reserved for Nebuchadnezzar. Escape only through Christ and righteous conduct.
SHEMAIAH’S PREACHING.—2Ch_12:7-12
I. It was divinely taught in its matter. “The word of the Lord came to Shemaiah.” Not truth from second-hand or traditional forms. The message not argument nor speculation; but simple, entire word of God. “The preaching that I bid thee” was the command to Jonah. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.”
II. It was direct in its aim. A simple, clear utterance, direct as an arrow to its end. Preaching toned down, lacks point, goes not from the heart to the heart. The end missed for want of vitality and definite aim. We must not merely arouse emotion to find vent in action; but preach to save sinners. Chrysostom’s hearers admired and applauded; he rebuked and desired amendment of life. “Show your approbation by obedience; that is the only praise I seek.” Massillon’s hearers felt the word to “strike and stick.” Peter’s audience “were pricked to the heart” by his earnest appeal.
III. It was practical in its results. Very great and encouraging; illustrating the power of the Divine word faithfully preached.
1. In the minds of the people. Why not? Are there not laws in the moral, like chemical affinities in the natural world; between religious truth and the deepest feelings of the human heart? Where one is spoken, why should not the other respond? (a) In acknowledgment of guilt. “They said, The Lord is righteous.” (b) In contrition of spirit. “They have humbled themselves.”
2. In the procedure of God. (a) Divine decree revoked. “The wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy altogether.” (b) Certain deliverance given. “I will grant them some deliverance.” (c) Measure of prosperity restored. “Also in Judah things went well” (2Ch_12:12). With results like these pulpit power will never decay. The revivals of Pentecost, of Whitfield and Wesley, may be accomplished again by right men. “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet.”
BRASS FOR GOLD, OR COUNTERFEIT PRINCIPLES.—2Ch_12:9-11
In the plunder of Egyptian king were “golden shields,” splendid insignia of Solomon. Old court etiquette kept up notwithstanding its loss, on public and solemn occasions. Inferior metal replaced the gold. This typical of counterfeits in personal conduct, Christian worship, and Christian organisations.
I. Worthless profession instead of real piety in personal life. Form of godliness without power. Profession “sounding brass or tinkling cymbal,” hollow, vain, and useless. Professors degenerate in character, influence, and solid worth. “Thy silver is become dross.” Worse even than this, for baser and harder metals express debased and degenerate life. “They are brass and iron” (Jer_6:28).
II. Idolatrous practices instead of pure worship of God. Men exchange the glory of God for idols of gold and silver. The ritual takes the place of the spiritual. God is forgotten, and images and saints are adored; Mammon and the world worshipped. “They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image like to corruptible man” (Rom_1:23)—(The infinite, spiritual, and divine changed into something finite, material, and human).
III. False representations by which institutions hide their decline. What folly for Rehoboam to carry shields of brass in customary procession! Vain and proud, he was anxious not to appear degraded by absence of gold shields! In churches deadness and divisions cannot be hidden by noise, numbers, and display. In kingdoms rottenness and decay will not be healed by bribery, court splendour, and successful war. “How is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed!”
REHOBOAM THE UNREADY.—2Ch_12:12
This is the summing-up of Rehoboam’s life. He was not so bad as some, but did evil in various ways, not from design as from neglect. Evil effects of the father’s sin and mother’s idolatry seen in their son; yet another cause, viz., a want of heart. He was not thoroughly consecrated to worship of Jehovah.
I. He did not begin life with seeking the Lord.
1. He was young, should have sought wisdom; but went to Shechem without prayer or sacrifice. That which commences without God will end in failure.
2. He leaned on counsellors, saying, “What advice give ye?” Of those counsellors, he chose worst, younger and prouder nobles. Those who reject divine wisdom generally refuse all other Wisdom
3. He committed great folly by threatening the people and refusing just demands; and that before he was accepted as their king. None of his father’s wisdom. How can they act prudently and prosperously who are not guided of the Lord?
II. He showed no heart in seeking the Lord afterwards.
1. He obeyed the voice when the man of God forbade him to fight with Israel; yet afterward forsook the law (2Ch_12:1). He is said to have been “young and tender-hearted,” which means soft (2Ch_13:7).
2. He winked at most horrible crimes among people whom he ought to have judged (1Ki_14:24).
3. He fell into his father’s sins.
4. He busied himself more for the world than for God. We hear nothing of his worship, but much of his building; nothing of his faith, but much of his fickleness (2Ch_11:5-12).
III. He was not fixed and persevering in seeking the Lord.
1. For three years loyalty to God made him prosper, by bringing better sort from calf worship into Judah (2Ch_11:13-17), yet he forsook the Lord who prospered him.
2. He grew proud; and God handed him over to Shishak.
3. Humbled himself, was pardoned, yet stripped the Lord’s house to buy off King of Egypt.
4. Wrought no great reforms, celebrated no great passover, yet owned “the Lord is righteous” (2Ch_12:6).
IV. He had no care to seek the Lord thoroughly. Yet no man good by accident; no one goes right without intention to do so. Without heart religion must die.
1. Human nature departs from the right way, especially in kings tolerated in more sin than others.
2. Courtiers usually run the wrong way, especially young, proud, and frivolous. Rehoboam lived gay and proud, and gave himself up to their lead.
3. Underlings apt to follow us and applaud if we go in an evil path, even as Judah followed Rehoboam. Thus those who should lead are led.
The kind of preparation required in diligent and acceptable seeking of the Lord. To feel and confess need in whole of life. Cry unto him for help and wisdom. Yield to his guidance and not follow counsel of vain persons. Be anxious to be right in everything, searching the Scriptures and seeking by prayer to know what to do. Serve the Lord carefully and earnestly, leaving nothing to chance, fashion, or whim. Are there any professors like Rehoboam? Any hopeful young men who lack whole-hearted devotion to the Lord? Any older men who have suffered for vacillation, hesitation, or double-mindedness? Any just escaped from such trouble, but are not firm and ready even now? Oh, for a clear sense of the evil and folly of such a condition! Oh, for the confirming power of the Holy Ghost! Oh, for vital reunion with the Lord Jesus [Spurgeon].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
2Ch_12:1. Strong, and forsook the law. No danger, no watchfulness. Prosperity leading to apostasy. In poverty men pray, in weakness and affliction attend God’s house, &c. “Established” and “strengthened” leads to say, “Depart from us.” “The prosperity of fools destroys them.” All Israel with him.
1. The force of bad example.
2. The readiness of men to follow it.
3. The guilt of those who follow, when they should reprove. Example contagious; beneficially or perniciously men influence others; raise them up or bring them down. “Be not partaker of other men’s sins.”
2Ch_12:5. Forsaken me. Conditions of enjoyment, prosperity and success. Awful results of abandonment by God. Prevalent corruption, deeper disgrace, and national disaster.
2Ch_12:7. Humiliation the means of deliverance. From the message which was sent them from the Lord we properly observe—I. That sin will surely bring the judgment of God upon us. Nor is there any possibility of escape but by repentance, since God has ordained—II. That sin, in order to its being forgiven, must be repented of. It is, however, no little consolation to know—III. That sin, truly repented of, shall assuredly be forgiven. Application—
1. Have you repented?
2. Are you pardoned? [C. Simeon, M.A.]. Wrath of God.
1. Its reality.
2. Its cause.
3. Its agencies.
4. Its suspense. In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy.
2Ch_12:8. Know. The discipline of punishment, or great contrasts.
1. Between the Theocracy, or rule of God, and foreign rule or “servants” of Shishak.
2. Between the freedom of Christ and the bondage of sin.
3. Between correction of providence and left alone in folly.
2Ch_12:12. Went well.
1. Many good men in general defection in whom good things were found (1Ki_14:13).
2. Many good things, in prevalent corruption. Temple, priesthood, sacrifices and ordinances. A few may be “the holy seed, the substance thereof,” the preserving principle. Few in Sardis (Rev_3:4).
2Ch_12:14. Prepared not. Learn—
1. That serving God will prevent from evil.
2. That for God’s service the heart should be prepared and fixed.
3. That when the heart is not fixed or prepared men are easily drawn away.
4. That when men are drawn away from God into evil, consequences are fearful. Weakness ensues, corruptions spread, temptations increase, enemies prevail, and ruin inevitable!
“And he that will be cheated to the last,
Delusions strong as hell shall bind him fast.”
2Ch_12:15. Book of Shem. Not now extant, though God, if he had pleased, could as well have preserved those books for the use of the church, as he did the holy vessels of the temple from the spoil of Shishak [Trapp]. Providence and goodness of God in preserving and handing down Scriptures to our times. Why not lost, like many classic authors, amid the ruins of the barbarians? From the whole chapter we see—
1. Rehoboam forsaking the law.
2. Rehoboam punished for his defection.
3. Rehoboam spared on repenting.
4. Rehoboam ruined at last for want of decision in religion [Ing. Cobbin].
“But evil is wrought for want of thought
As well as want of heart” [Hood].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 12
2Ch_12:1. Forsook. A man cannot have been three years wise and then have returned to old courses without his return being marked by aggravations of evil. The last state of the man is worse than the first. “The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” To have been halfway to heaven, and then to have been thrown down—what agonies of recollection! [Dr. Parker].
2Ch_12:5-8. Shemaiah the prophet. Ministers of the gospel should be gentle, tender, and affectionate. They should be kind in feeling and courteous in manner, like a father or mother. Nothing is ever gained by a sour, harsh, crabbed, dissatisfied manner. Sinners are never scolded either into duty or into heaven [A. Barnes.] I never was fit to say a word to a sinner except when I had a broken heart myself; when I was melted into penitency, and felt as though I had just received pardon to my soul, when my heart was full of tenderness and pity [Payson].
2Ch_12:6. Humbled themselves.
“If hearty sorrow
Be a sufficient ransom for offence,
I tender it here; I do as truly suffer
As e’er I did commit” [Shaks.].
2Ch_12:8. Servants. It is not in man’s nature to be out of all service, and to be self-dependent. We may choose our master, but God or mammon we must serve. We cannot possibly be in a neutral or intermediate state. Such a state does not exist. If we will not be Christ’s servants we are forthwith Satan’s, and Christ set us free from Satan only by making us His servants [J. H. Newman].
2Ch_12:10. Shields of brass.
“Thus men go wrong with an ingenious skill,
Bend the straight rule to their own crooked will,
And with a clear and shining lamp supplied,
First put it out, then take it for a guide” [Cowper].
2Ch_12:12. Things went well. We are called upon to observe the relation and progress of events and to inquire into the moral reasons which explain either their ill-going or their happy advancement. We often speak of things going well in too narrow a sense, simply meaning that property increases, that health is continued, and that the whole outward environment is comfortable and satisfactory. That is not a proper estimate of the whole question. Things can only go well when the heart goes well. When things do not go well we should inquire into moral reasons; why this affliction, why this loss, why this discontent? Out of such faithful self-dealing will come the humbleness, the penitence which are always followed by pardon, restoration, and spiritual harmony [Dr. Parker].
2Ch_12:15. Wars.
“Then time turns torment when man turns a fool” [Young].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 2Ch 12:8
2Ch 12:8
The history of life is made up of different services. Every man serves something. "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?"
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I. In the service of the world you are always dealing with uncertainties. The things of God are sure and for ever. He who gives is the unchangeable Jehovah, who never recalls a gift, and all His gifts have in them eternity.
II. In the service of the world nothing ever thoroughly satisfies; nothing meets all the aspirations of a man. In God’s service a man has just what his soul wants.
III. The Christian service of religion does not work up to get its great objects. It has them. It does not work for wages, for it has received what it wants as a gift. It works out a salvation which it has.
IV. The one service is a service of freedom, the other of bondage. It is bondage to serve where there is no affection. It is bondage to work for what you can get, and not even to be sure that you shall ever get it. But to feel that you are your Father’s child, that His eye is looking at you and His hand holding you while you work—that is liberty. It is the same service with that of those servants who serve Him indeed in heaven.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 10th series, p. 93.
2Ch 12:14
Religion is not a matter that can be taken up in a loose, careless, slipshod manner. It claims the whole purpose and energy of the heart, and only then will it prove a blessing and a power in life, when a man makes it his first and supreme concern.
I. The first condition of a fixed heart is a sight of the Cross.
II. The next thing is to "look upon your broidered coat." I want a faultless righteousness to cover me. With no merits of my own to plead, I want the perfect obedience of another laid to my account.
III. In order to fix his heart, Bunyan’s pilgrim looked also oftentimes into the roll which he carried in his bosom. Habitual study of the Scriptures is indispensable to a healthy condition of the soul.
IV. "When his thoughts waxed warm about whither he was going," that gave fixedness to Christian’s heart. It could not do otherwise to one who was a pilgrim, passing through a strange land. If we were more mindful of our pilgrim state, we would think more of the better country.
J. Thain Davidson, Forewarned—Forearmed, p. 47.
These words contain, in a very short compass, a statement of our great duty in life, of the way in which alone it can be done, and of the certain consequence of neglecting it.
I. "To seek the Lord." This is the one duty of life. Not in the sense of an intellectual discovery; that is partly impossible and partly unnecessary. That which we can know is taught us; that which is not taught us we cannot know. The acquaintance with God which is the life and the glory of man is not an intellectual, but a personal, acquaintance. We must begin by feeling after God, as a man seeks in the dark for an object which he can only discern by touch. By degrees endeavour gives courage, and courage hope. The faith of the understanding passes into the faith of the heart.
II. The text reminds us that there is a condition, a requisite, for this search after God, without which it will fail. "He prepared not his heart to seek the Lord." A preparation of the heart is the condition of our search after God. To seek the Lord is a serious matter, in one sense a difficult and laborious matter; therefore the heart must be prepared, the mind made up, the cost counted beforehand, and the eye fixed steadfastly on an object, not of sight, but of faith.
III. The result. "He did evil," etc. Forgetfulness of God is itself sin. The state of a created being who has broken loose from the bonds of his Creator’s love, who is indifferent to his Creator’s honour, who is indisposed for his Creator’s presence—this is a state of sin, a life of evil; this man has the mark of God’s enemy upon his forehead, and shall be pronounced his servant in the day of the manifestation of the sons of God.
C, J. Vaughan, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 469.
Reference: 2Ch 13:8, 2Ch 13:12; 2Ch 13:15—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 96.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Reign of Rehoboam (concluded)
Reign of Rehoboam (concluded)
This chapter is parallel to 1Ki_14:21-31, but supplies additional particulars respecting Shishak's army and the prophet Shemaiah.
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3. The Lubims, the Sukkiims] The Lubims were probably Libyans; the Sukkiims, who are not mentioned elsewhere, are called in LXX 'Troglodytes,' i.e. 'cave-dwellers.'
6. The princes of Israel] The term 'Israel' is often applied in Chronicles to the people of Judah, as more nearly realising the ideal of the true Israel than the sister kingdom: cp. 2Ch_20:34; 2Ch_21:2, 2Ch_21:4; 2Ch_23:2; 2Ch_24:5; 2Ch_28:19, 2Ch_28:23.
12. Things went well] RV 'there were good things, found': cp. 2Ch_19:3; 1Ki_14:13. The king's repentance was accompanied by a moral reformation on the part of the people.
15. The book of.. Iddo] The writings of Iddo are also mentioned in 2Ch_9:29; 2Ch_13:22.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 CHAPTER 12 Rehoboam’s Apostasy, Punishment, and Death
CHAPTER 12 Rehoboam’s Apostasy, Punishment, and Death
1. Rehoboam’s apostasy (2Ch 12:1)
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2. Punishment through Shishak (2Ch 12:2-12)
3. Death of Rehoboam (2Ch 12:13-16)
The kingdom had been established; Rehoboam had strengthened himself and lived in the indulgence of the flesh. Then followed the awful plunge into apostasy. “He forsook the law of the Lord and all Israel with him.” Idolatry in the high places and under every green tree was established and fostered by him. “And there were also Sodomites in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel” (1Ki 14:22-24).
Then Shishak came from Egypt against Jerusalem with an immense army. He was the first king of the twenty-second, or Bubastic dynasty. In his army were the Lubims (Libyans), Sukkims (desert tribes) and the Ethiopians. The cities which Rehoboam had built and fortified could not keep him out, for the LORD had brought him to punish Jerusalem. When Jerusalem was threatened and the Egyptian hordes were about to proceed against Jerusalem, Shemaiah, the man of God, appeared once more. He brought the solemn message from the LORD, “Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I left you in the hand of Shishak.” That for which the LORD always looks first of all, when His people have sinned and departed from Him, was done by the princes and the king. “They humbled themselves.” And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves and were returning to Him, He had compassion on them. Some deliverance was granted and the wrath was not poured out upon the city. And He is still the same gracious LORD, always ready to forgive His people, when they return unto Him. However, the pride of Rehoboam had to be dealt with and, therefore, Shishak was permitted to take away the immense riches which Solomon had stored up in the treasures of the house of the LORD and in the king’s house. The shields of gold were also carried away. Sad is the record of this son of Solomon: “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.” Had he prepared his heart to seek the LORD, he would not have done the evil which he did. The only thing which can keep from evil is to seek the LORD and walk in obedience to His Word. Rehoboam’s reign, with the exception of three years in which he walked in the way of David and Solomon, was a reign of trouble. Besides Shishak’s invasion “there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually” (verse 15).
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Rehoboam Subdued by Shishak
Rehoboam Subdued by Shishak
v. 1. And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, his encouragement of the right worship of Jehovah bringing him many people from the northern kingdom, 2Ch 11:16-17, and causing his undertakings to be attended by the blessings of God, he forsook the Law of the Lord, and all Israel with him, luxury, security, and ease led to religious decline, an experience which is not unusual, and the people in his own kingdom very readily followed him in his apostasy, thereby causing the designation "Israelites" to be applied to them, to their shame and disgrace.
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v. 2. And it came to pass that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, the very next year after his defection, Shishak, king of Egypt, stirred up probably by Jeroboam, with whom he was united in friendship, 1Ki 11:40, came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, the punishment of Jehovah coming upon the apostate king and people very quickly in this case,
v. 3. with twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen, his cavalry being the strongest part of his army; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt, a vast horde: the Lubims, the Libyans of the country northwest of Egypt proper, the Sukkiims, probably the inhabitants of the mountains of Eastern Egypt, and the Ethiopians, the Abyssinians, all of these being allies of the Egyptian king.
v. 4. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, the fortresses built by Rehoboam proving too weak to withstand the onslaught of his immense forces, and came to Jerusalem.
v. 5. Then came Shemaiah, the prophet, the same man who had issued the warning against civil war, 2Ch 11:3, to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, having sought the security of the capital before the advance of the Egyptian army, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken Me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak, the calamity which had befallen them was directly due to their apostasy, and therefore they might expect the subjection of their entire country if they continued in their evil way.
v. 6. Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves, they acknowledged their transgression in deep humility and contrition; and they said, The Lord is righteous, they admitted the justice of the punishment which He had sent upon them.
v. 7. And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, that their repentance was of the right kind, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves, the Lord, who searches the heart, saw the sincerity of their sorrow; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, let relief come to them to some extent; and My wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak, the capital would not be entirely destroyed at this time.
v. 8. Nevertheless, they shall be his servants, be tributary to him for awhile, that they may know My service, realize that true service of the Lord requires all the heart at all times, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries, finding out what the oppressive rule of a heathen sovereign meant.
v. 9. So Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, the capital being obliged to open its gates to him, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all, many millions of dollars worth of precious metals. He carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made, 1Ki 10:16-17, whose value has been estimated at between $1,200,000 and $1,500,000.
v. 10. Instead of which King Rehoboam made shields of brass, of inferior metal, but brightly burnished, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard that kept the entrance of the king’s house, ready for use, especially on public and solemn occasions.
v. 11. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, by a special gate leading there from his palace, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber.
v. 12. And when he humbled himself, proved that his repentance was of the right and lasting kind, the wrath of the Lord turned from him that He would not destroy him altogether, His promise thus being made true and the kingdom preserved in existence; and also in Judah things went well, literally, "and also in Judah there were good things," many of the people serving the Lord in all sincerity, with good works, such as pleased Him. The Lord is long-suffering and of tender mercies and glad to turn back to His children in kindness if they will but acknowledge their transgressions in true sorrow.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–2 It came about
It came about
This phrase is used here to mark the beginning of a new part of the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.
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when Rehoboam's reign was established
This can be translated in active form. AT: "when Rehoboam had established his reign" (See: Active or Passive)
all Israel with him
Here the words "all Israel" refer specifically to the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, over which Rehoboam was king. The verb may be supplied from the previous phrase. AT: "all the Israelite people whom he ruled also abandoned the law of Yahweh" (See: Metonymy and Ellipsis)
translationWords
Rehoboam
reign
law
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–3 12:1-2 The book of Kings states no theological reason…
12:1-2 The book of Kings states no theological reason for Egypt’s invasion, but the Chronicler does: The Egyptians attacked Jerusalem because Rehoboam had abandoned the covenant and rebelled against the Lord.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.