2 Chronicles 12

7, 8. when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves--Their repentance and contrition was followed by the best effects; for Shemaiah was commissioned to announce that the phial of divine judgment would not be fully poured out on them--that the entire overthrow of the kingdom of Judah would not take place at that time, nor through the agency of Shishak; and yet, although it should enjoy a respite from total subversion, [Judah] should become a tributary province of Egypt in order that the people might learn how much lighter and better is the service of God than that of idolatrous foreign despots.

9. So Shishak . . . came up against Jerusalem--After the parenthetical clause ( 2 Chronicles 12:5-8 ) describing the feelings and state of the beleaguered court, the historian resumes his narrative of the attack upon Jerusalem, and the consequent pillage both of the temple and the palace.
he took all--that is, everything valuable he found. The cost of the targets and shields has been estimated as about $1,200,000 [NAPIER, Ancient Workers in Metal].
the shields of gold--made by Solomon, were kept in the house of the forest of Lebanon ( 2 Chronicles 9:16 ). They seem to have been borne, like maces, by the guards of the palace, when they attended the king to the temple or on other public processions. Those splendid insignia having been plundered by the Egyptian conqueror, others were made of inferior metal and kept in the guard room of the palace, to be ready for use; as, notwithstanding the tarnished glory of the court, the old state etiquette was kept up on public and solemn occasions. An account of this conquest of Judah, with the name of "king of Judah" in the cartouche of the principal captive, according to the interpreters, is carved and written in hieroglyphics on the walls of the great palace of Karnak, where it may be seen at the present day. This sculpture is about twenty-seven hundred years old, and is of peculiar interest as a striking testimony from Egypt to the truth of Scripture history.

12. when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him--The promise ( 2 Chronicles 12:7 ) was verified. Divine providence preserved the kingdom in existence, a reformation was made in the court, while true religion and piety were diffused throughout the land.

2 Chronicles 12:13-16 . HIS REIGN AND DEATH.

13, 14. Rehoboam strengthened . . . and reigned--The Egyptian invasion had been a mere predatory expedition, not extending beyond the limits of Judah, and probably, erelong, repelled by the invaded. Rehoboam's government acquired new life and vigor by the general revival of true religion, and his reign continued many years after the departure of Shishak. But
he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord--that is, he did not adhere firmly to the good course of reformation he had begun, "and he did evil," for through the unhappy influence of his mother, a heathen foreigner, he had no doubt received in his youth a strong bias towards