2 Chronicles 12:10

Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) Instead of which king Rehoboam made.—See Note on 1Kings 14:27, with which this verse coincides.

Chief of the guard.—Literally, captains of the runners, or couriers.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:1-16 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That they may know my service, and the service of the kingdom - i. e., that they may contrast the light burthen of the theocracy with the heavy yoke of a foreign monarch.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. So Shishak … came up against Jerusalem—After the parenthetical clause (2Ch 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 at about £239,000 [Napier, Ancient Workers in Metal].

the shields of gold—made by Solomon, were kept in the house of the forest of Lebanon (2Ch 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.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem,.... The Vulgate Latin version is,"departed from Jerusalem,''as he did, having taken it, and spoiled it of its riches, and settled a yearly tax on the inhabitants of the land; of this, and the two following verses; see Gill on 1 Kings 14:26. 1 Kings 14:27. 1 Kings 14:28.

Geneva Study Bible

Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. the chief] R.V. the captains.

the guard] R.V. mg. (more literally) the runners. These derived their name from the duty of running before the king’s chariot to clear the way for him; cp. 2 Samuel 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - Instead of which King Rehoboam made shields of brass. A most humbling reversal of the glowing promise afterwards given, "For brass I will bring gold" (Isaiah 9:17). 2 Chronicles 12:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

With 2 Chronicles 12:9 the account of the war is taken up again and continued by the repetition of the words, "Then marched Shishak ... against Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 12:4). Shishak plundered the treasures of the temple and the palace; he had consequently captured Jerusalem. The golden shields also which had been placed in the house of the forest of Lebanon, i.e., the palace built by Solomon in Jerusalem, which Solomon had caused to be made (cf. 2 Chronicles 9:16), Shishak took away, and in their place Rehoboam caused brazen shields to be prepared; see on 1 Kings 14:26-28. - In 2 Chronicles 12:12 the author of the Chronicle concludes the account of this event with the didactic remark, "Because he (Rehoboam) humbled himself, the anger of Jahve was turned away from him." להשׁחית ולא, and it was not to extermination utterly (לכלה, properly to destruction, i.e., completely; cf. Ezekiel 13:13). And also in Judah were good things. This is the other motive which caused the Lord to turn away His wrath. Good things are proofs of piety and fear of God, cf. 2 Chronicles 19:3.