Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 12:1
After Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he and all Israel with him forsook the Law of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative positions Rehoboam at the outset of his reign, documenting his actions immediately after consolidating his throne alongside the nation of Israel. This moment precedes the fifth-year events of the following verse, marking the transition from political stabilization to spiritual decline.
The words — The Hebrew עָזַב ('azav) carries the literal sense "he forsook" or "he abandoned," denoting a deliberate departure from covenant obligation. It directly governs the phrase תּוֹרַת (torat), meaning "the law of," which the verse identifies as the specific standard Rehoboam and Israel rejected.
The thread — This abandonment contrasts with the three-year covenant faithfulness noted in 2 Chronicles 11:17, follows the later political restoration in 2 Chronicles 12:13, and parallels the reliance on military strength over divine instruction highlighted in 2 Chronicles 26:13.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that political consolidation and royal authority do not automatically produce covenant faithfulness, demanding a clear assessment of whether leadership and national identity remain anchored in divine instruction or temporary power.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 11:17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, because they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
- 2 Chronicles 12:13 Thus King Rehoboam established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
- 2 Chronicles 26:13 Under their authority was an army of 307,500 trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies.
- 1 Kings 14:22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done.
- Deuteronomy 6:10 And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,
- Deuteronomy 8:10 When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Deuteronomy 32:18 You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
- 1 Kings 9:9 And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, the LORD has brought all this disaster upon them.’”
- 1 Kings 12:17 but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.