2 Chronicles 12:1 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes

2 Chronicles 12:1

Egypt Attacks Judah

1 Now ^ait came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that ^bhe forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him.

2 ^aAnd it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord,

3 with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—^athe Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.

4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.

5 Then ^aShemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”

6 So the leaders of Israel and the king ^ahumbled themselves; and they said, ^b“The Lord is righteous.”

7 Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, ^athe word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

8 Nevertheless ^athey will be his servants, that they may distinguish ^bMy service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

9 ^aSo 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 carried away the gold shields which Solomon had ^bmade.

10 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them ^ato the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house.

11 And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom.

Book Notes:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes

I & II Chronicles

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF CHRONICLES were also considered as one by the ancient Jews, who called them "words of days," that is, diaries or journals, being probably compiled from those registers that were kept by the king's historiographers of passing occurrences. In the Septuagint the title given them is Paraleipomenon, "of things omitted," that is, the books are supplementary because many things unnoticed in the former books are here recorded; and not only the omissions are supplied, but some narratives extended while others are added. The authorship is commonly ascribed to Ezra, whose leading object seems to have been to show the division of families, possessions, etc., before the captivity, with a view to the exact restoration of the same order after the return from Babylon. Although many things are restated and others are exact repetitions of what is contained in Kings, there is so much new and important information that, as JEROME has well said, the Chronicles furnish the means of comprehending parts of the New Testament, which must have been unintelligible without them. They are frequently referred to by Christ and the Apostles as forming part of "the Word of God" (see the genealogies in Mat. 1:1-16; Luk. 3:23-38; compare II Chronicles 19:7 with I Peter 1:17; II Chronicles 24:19-21 with Matthew 23:32-35).