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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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.’ ”
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Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.
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Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them: 'Thus saith the LORD: Ye have forsaken Me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.'
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to 2 Chronicles 12:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Chronicles 11:2 But Yahweh’s word came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
- 2 Chronicles 15:2 and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
- 1 Kings 12:22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
- Deuteronomy 28:15-68 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you and overtake you. You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out. Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land where you go in to possess it. Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish. Your sky that is over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed. Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away. Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. Yahweh will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you. You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always, so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. Yahweh will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone. You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away. You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever. Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young. They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which Yahweh your God has given you. You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH your God, then Yahweh will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring fearful, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you until you are destroyed. You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. It will happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.
- Judges 10:9-14 The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was very distressed. The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals.” Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “Didn’t I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!”
- 2 Samuel 24:14 David said to Gad, “I am in distress. Let us fall now into Yahweh’s hand; for his mercies are great. Let me not fall into man’s hand.”
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 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 hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
- 2 Chronicles 12:1-2 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,
- Psalms 37:33 Yahweh will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
- Jeremiah 2:19 “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
- Jeremiah 4:18 “Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.”
- Jeremiah 5:19 It will happen when you say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
- Jeremiah 23:33 “When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, asks you, saying, ‘What is the message from Yahweh?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘ “What message? I will cast you off,” says Yahweh.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Signifying, that no calamity can come unto us except…
Signifying, that no calamity can come unto us except we forsake God, and that he never leaveth us till we have cast him off.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Ch 12:5 Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam,…
2Ch 12:5 Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and [to] the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.
Ver. 5. Then came Shemaiah the prophet.] See 1Ki 12:12. This was a great mercy that a prophet was sent unto them to exhort them to repentance, and to prescribe them a course.
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Because of Sishak.] Who was but the vial through whose hands God poured out his wrath. {2Ch 12:7}
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam,.... The same…
Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam,.... The same as in Ch2 11:2, there called the man of God:
and to the princes of Judah that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak; through fear of him, and for safety and protection from him, and to consult what was to be done at this critical juncture, whether to fight him, or make peace with him on the best terms they could:
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and said unto them, thus saith the Lord, ye have forsaken me; his law, his word, worship, and ordinances, Ch2 12:1,
and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak; suffered him to invade their land, take their fenced cities, and come up to Jerusalem without any opposition, as a punishment of their apostasy; and to explain this providence to them, and call them to repentance, was the prophet sent.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Ch 12:5. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam…
2Ch 12:5. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah — Lest they should not readily or rightly understand the meaning of this providence, God sends a prophet to explain it, namely, the same Shemaiah that had brought them an injunction from God not to fight against the ten tribes, who plainly tells them, that the reason why Shishak prevailed against them was, not because they had been impolitic in the management of their affairs, but because they had forsaken God.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. Shemaiah the prophet — See note on 1Ki_12:22.…
5. Shemaiah the prophet — See note on 1Ki_12:22. The powerful influence of this prophet over the king and the princes is here very noticeable. The time had not yet come when the kings of Judah dared treat Jehovah’s prophets with contempt. Compare 2Ch_16:10; 2Ch_24:19; 2Ch_33:10.
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 5. Then came Shemaiah] This intervention of Shemaiah is…
5. Then came Shemaiah] This intervention of Shemaiah is not mentioned in 1 Kin. For an earlier appearance of the prophet see 2Ch_11:2 ff. = 1Ki_12:22 ff.
have I also left you in the hand] Rather, I also have forsaken you and delivered you into the hand.
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 (5) Then.—And.
(5) Then.—And.
Shemaiah the prophet.—The section relating to his mission and its results (2Ch_12:5-8) is peculiar to the chronicle.
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The princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem.—Repulsed by the Egyptian arms, they had fallen back upon Jerusalem, to defend the capital. While the invading host lay before the city, Shemaiah addressed the king and princes.
Ye have forsaken.—There is emphasis on the pronoun. Literally, Ye have forsaken me, and I also have forsaken you, in (into) the hand of Shishak. The phrase “to leave into the hand” of a foe occurs Neh_9:28. (Comp. also 2Ch_15:2; 2Ch_24:20; and Deu_31:16-17.) Here the words amount to a menace of utter destruction. (Comp. Jon_3:4.)
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 Shemaiah (see Exposition,. (2Ch_11:2) The princes. These seem to…
Shemaiah (see Exposition,. (2Ch_11:2) The princes. These seem to have been a fruit of some original organization with Solomon, as they are not found with David. (1Ki_4:2-6) Ye have forsaken me therefore have I also left you. The same Hebrew verb is employed in both members of this sentence, and the rendering should follow in like manner. (see 2Ch_7:19-22)
Vers. 5-8.
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Two messages from Jehovah.
I A MESSAGE OF WARNING. (Vers. 5, 6.)
1. By whom sent. Shemaiah the prophet, or man of God. (2Ch_11:2) When Jehovah has a message for any age, people, or individual, he can always find a messenger to bear it a Moses to go to Pharaoh, a Samuel to speak to Saul, a Nathan to send to David, an Elijah or a Micaiah to warn Ahab, a John the Baptist to preach to Israel and testify against Herod. The hour never comes without the man. When a Paul or a Polycarp, an Athanasius or an Augustine, a Calvin or a Luther, a Knox or a Wesley, is needed in the New Testament Church, he appears at the moment when most required.
2. To whom addressed. To Rehoboam and the princes of Judah whom Shishak"s invasion had caused to convene in Jerusalem. They had come together to consult about the safety of the capital; they had not called Jehovah to the council. They had not realized that in such a crisis as had arisen "vain was the help of man," and "through God alone could they do valiantly"; (Psa_60:11, Psa_60:12) that unless God kept the city, they the watchers would watch in vain. (Psa_127:1) Yet they seem to have discerned that their best efforts would prove ineffectual, and they were filled with fear. Happily Jehovah thought of them, though they forgat him.
3. In what terms it ran.
(1) It intimated a fact: "Ye have forsaken me." This showed that Jehovah had been cognizant of all that had taken place since Rehoboam got his garrisons erected, had witnessed the idolatries and unspeakable abominations of the faithless king and his coward princes, though perhaps they had reasoned that, as God was in the height of heaven, he could not know what transpired upon the earth. (Job_22:12-14) But though they had not seen him, he had observed them (Pro_15:3; Amo_9:8)
(2) It announced a consequence: "Therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak." Thus did Jehovah signify that it was he himself even more than Shishak that had come up against Rehoboam and his princes; Shishak had not appeared before their gates without his permission; and without his assistance nothing they could do would prevent them falling into Shishak"s hand. Jehovah, indeed, could avert that calamity. He could put a hook into Shishak"s nose and lead him back by the way he came, as he afterwards did to Sennacherib (2Ki_19:28; Isa_37:29) but in the mean time, as they had left him for the calves of Egypt, he had left them to be the prey of Egypt"s lord.
4. What effect it produced.
(1) Contrition, or at least seeming contrition: "They humbled themselves." To be sure, their penitence, like their previous reformation, was only skin deep. Nevertheless, it had the semblance of reality, and God accepted it as such.
(2) Confession: "They said, The Lord is righteous," i.e. in punishing them as he had done; in which was implied an acknowledgment that they had sinned. This the design of all God"s chastisements, whether national or individual, to excite personal humiliation and hearty recognition of the holiness and justice of God (Deu_8:5, Deu_8:16; Eze_20:37, . (Hos_5:15) Only confession may be on the lip where no real contrition is in the heart.
II A MESSAGE OF MERCY. (Vers. 7, 8.)
1. Its occasion. The success of the first message in the (at least seeming) penitence of the king and his princes. "God speaketh once, yea twice, (Job_33:14) to men, even to his people, who often fail to understand his first voice (1Sa_3:4; Dan_12:8; Mar_9:32; Joh_11:13) or understand but refuse to hear, (Isa_65:12) thoughoccasionally also they listen and submit. (Jon_3:5) In the first case,his second speaking may be nothing more than a repetition of the first, or an explanation of its contents; in the second, it commonly assumes the form of increased warnings and severer threatenings; in the thirds it is usually a voice of mercy following on a voice of judgment. It was so with Rehoboam and the princes of Judah.
2. Its contents.
(1) Their humiliation had been observed and accepted: "They have humbled themselves." So God still sees and regards with favour all who abase themselves before him (Jer_31:18; Psa_9:12 Psa_10:17; 1Ki_21:29)
(2) A degree, at least, of clemency would be extended towards them: "I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and. my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak." So God delights to meet the first advances of returning penitents with such foretastes of mercy as will lure them on to desire its full fruition.
(3) Nevertheless, a measure of correction would be laid upon them. Though Shishak should not be suffered to work his will either upon them or their city, they would, nevertheless, fall into his hand. They" should be his servants, either as captives or as tributaries; and would learn the difference between Jehovah"s rule and the domination of foreign kings. So God still deals with his people forgives them, but permits them to reap the temporal fruits of their transgression, that they may know what an evil and bitter thing it is to forsake God, (Jer_2:19) and how much more easy is Christ"s yoke (Mat_11:29, Mat_11:30) than that of sin. (Lam_1:14)
Learn:
1. The omniscience of God: "All things are naked," etc., (Heb_4:13)
2. God"s compact with the soul: "The Lord is with us," etc. (2Ch_15:2)
3. The mercifulness of God: he is "long-suffering, and slow to wrath" (Exo_34:6; Psa_78:38)
4. The misery of sin: it ever entails sorrow. (Psa_32:10)
5. God"s ability to execute his own sentences: "It is a fearful thing," etc.; (Heb_10:31) "Though hand join in hand," etc. W. (Pro_11:21)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 This is the name of a man. See how…
Shemaiah
This is the name of a man. See how you translated this word in 2 Chronicles 11:2. (See: How to Translate Names)
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so I have also given you over into Shishak's hand
Here the word "hand" represents power. Yahweh speaks of enabling Shishak's army to defeat the king and the others in Jerusalem as if he were placing them into Shishak's hand. AT: "so I have enabled Shishak to defeat you" or "so I have given you to Shishak as captives" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
translationWords
prophet
forsake
prince
humble
righteous
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.