Chapter Twelve

1–12. The apostasy of Rehoboam from the Lord and his punishment by an Egyptian invasion; the temporary repentance of Rehoboam. 13–16. The duration and general character of Rehoboam’s reign, his successor.

2 Chronicles 12:1. When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and he became strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. Rehoboam’s unfaithfulness to the Lord (cf. verses 5 and 14) is depicted in more detail in 1 Kgs 14:21-24, “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, p. 436.

2 Chronicles 12:2. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, 2 Chronicles 12:3. with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt, Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites; 2 Chronicles 12:4. and he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. Concerning Shishak’s invasion as a punishment for the transgressions of Rehoboam, the account is given also in 1 Kgs 14:25-26 (see “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, pp. 436–437), but in 2 Chronicles this narrative is supplemented with several particulars. Thus the numbers of Shishak’s chariots (1,200) and horsemen (60,000) are given, and the multinational composition of this army is noted: besides native Egyptians, it included representatives of other peoples, apparently African peoples subject to Egypt: Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites. The Libyans (Hebrew: luvim or legavim), (Gen 10:13; Nah 3:9; Dan 11:43) inhabited the northern coast of Africa, near modern Algeria and further to the east (cf. “Explanatory Bible”, vol. I, p. 326). Cushites (Hebrew: kutim) are usually called in the Bible the inhabitants of a country corresponding to modern Nubia and Abyssinia, though sometimes this name refers to a territory and people to the north of the Persian Gulf. (See “Explanatory Bible”, vol. I, p. 71; vol. II, p. 549). Sukkites Hebrew: sukhkim, not well known (LXX, Vulgate, Slavonic: “troglodytes”), dwellers in caves and tents, according to the most accepted opinion – a nomadic tribe on the western shore of the Red Sea (related to the Cushites).

2 Chronicles 12:5. Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: You abandoned me, so I will abandon you into the hand of Shishak. 2 Chronicles 12:6. Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous. 2 Chronicles 12:7. When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak; 2 Chronicles 12:8. nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may know what it is to serve me and what it is to serve the kingdoms of the earth. The activity of the prophet Shemaiah – a contemporary and chronicler of Rehoboam (verse 15) – concerning the reproaching preaching of this prophet and the beneficial consequences of this preaching – is known only from 2 Chronicles and has all the marks of a documentary testimony of an eyewitness or a participant in the events, a prophet.

2 Chronicles 12:9. And Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took everything. He also took the golden shields that Solomon had made. 2 Chronicles 12:10. And King Rehoboam made shields of bronze instead of them, and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. 2 Chronicles 12:11. Whenever the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard came along and brought them back to the guardroom. A literal repetition of 1 Kgs 14:25-28 (cf. “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, pp. 436–437).

2 Chronicles 12:13. So King Rehoboam established himself 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, an Ammonite. 2 Chronicles 12:14. And he did evil, because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord. 2 Chronicles 12:15. Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer. And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 2 Chronicles 12:16. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And his son Abijah reigned in his stead. See 1 Kgs 14:21.