2 Chronicles 12

Egypt Plunders Jerusalem

1 ¹When the rule of Rehoboam was established ²and he was strong, ³he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.

2 ⁴In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, ⁵Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem

3 with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt--⁶Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians.

4 And he took ⁷the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

5 Then ⁸Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, ⁹'You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.'"

6 Then the princes of ¹⁰Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ¹¹"The LORD is righteous."

7 When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: ¹²"They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, ¹³and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

8 Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, ¹⁴that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."

9 ¹⁵So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away ¹⁶the shields of gold that Solomon had made,

10 and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.

11 And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

12 And when ¹⁷he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, ¹⁸conditions were good^[a] in Judah.

13 ¹⁹So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.

14 And he did evil, ²⁰for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

15 ²¹Now the acts of Rehoboam, ²²from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of ²³Shemaiah the prophet and of ²⁴Iddo ²⁵the seer?^[b] There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and ²⁶Abijah^[c] his son reigned in his place.

2 Chronicles 12 Commentary

Chapter 12

Rehoboam, forsaking the Lord, is punished.

- When Rehoboam was so strong that he supposed he had nothing to fear from Jeroboam, he cast off his outward profession of godliness. It is very common, but very lamentable, that men, who in distress or danger, or near death, seem much engaged in seeking and serving God, throw aside all their religion when they have received a merciful deliverance. God quickly brought troubles upon Judah, to awaken the people to repentance, before their hearts were hardened. Thus it becomes us, when we are under the rebukes of Providence, to justify God, and to judge ourselves. If we have humbled hearts under humbling providences, the affliction has done its work; it shall be removed, or the property of it be altered. The more God's service is compared with other services, the more reasonable and easy it will appear. Are the laws of temperance thought hard? The effects of intemperance will be found much harder. The service of God is perfect liberty; the service of our lusts is complete slavery. Rehoboam was never rightly fixed in his religion. He never quite cast off God; yet he engaged not his heart to seek the Lord. See what his fault was; he did not serve the Lord, because he did not seek the Lord. He did not pray, as Solomon, for wisdom and grace; he did not consult the word of God, did not seek to that as his oracle, nor follow its directions. He made nothing of his religion, because he did not set his heart to it, nor ever came up to a steady resolution in it. He did evil, because he never was determined for good.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Chronicles 11:17
• 2. 2 Chronicles 26:16
• 3. See 1 Kings 14:22-24
• 4. 1 Kings 14:25
• 5. 1 Kings 11:40
• 6. 2 Chronicles 16:8; Nahum 3:9; [Daniel 11:43]
• 7. See 2 Chronicles 11:5-12
• 8. 2 Chronicles 11:2; 1 Kings 12:22
• 9. [2 Chronicles 15:2]
• 10. [2 Chronicles 21:2]
• 11. Exodus 9:27
• 12. [2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Kings 21:29; James 4:10]
• 13. [2 Chronicles 34:25]
• 14. [Deuteronomy 28:47, 48; Isaiah 26:13]
• 15. For ver. 9-11, see 1 Kings 14:26-28
• 16. 2 Chronicles 9:15, 16; 1 Kings 10:16, 17
• 17. [2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Kings 21:29; James 4:10]
• 18. [2 Chronicles 19:3]
• 19. 1 Kings 14:21
• 20. [2 Chronicles 19:3]
• 21. [1 Kings 14:29]
• 22. 2 Chronicles 9:29; 1 Chronicles 29:29
• 23. ver. 5; 1 Kings 12:22
• 24. 2 Chronicles 9:29; 2 Chronicles 13:22
• 25. See 1 Samuel 9:9
• 26. [1 Kings 14:31]

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew good things were found
• [b]. After seer, Hebrew adds according to genealogy
• [c]. Spelled Abijam in 1 Kings 14:31

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 12

Rehoboam and his people forsaking the law of the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt is allowed by God to invade his land, and take his fenced cities, 2Ch 12:1-4, upon which a prophet of the Lord was sent to him and his princes, to show them the reason of it; whereupon they humbled themselves, and the Lord was pleased not to allow the enemy utterly to destroy them, yet to reduce them to servitude, and take away their riches, 2Ch 12:5-12, and the chapter is closed with an account of the reign and death of Rehoboam, 2Ch 12:13-16.