Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 12:9
So King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the fulfillment of God’s warning to Rehoboam, describing Shishak’s military advance against Jerusalem during the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign. This event occurs immediately after Judah’s submission to Egyptian vassalage and directly precedes Rehoboam’s production of bronze replacement shields.
The words — וַ/יַּ֨עַל (va/i.Ya.'al) literally means “and he came up,” marking the northward movement of the Egyptian army, while וַ/יִּקַּ֞ח (va/i.yi.Kach) translates “and he took,” detailing the systematic removal of the temple and palace wealth.
The thread — The gold shields originate in 1 Kings 10:16 and 2 Chronicles 9:15, while the invasion is independently noted in 1 Kings 14:25. The theme of Judah serving foreign kings to learn the difference between serving God and serving earthly rulers bridges 2 Chronicles 12:8 and 2 Chronicles 12:10.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that covenant failure produces immediate, measurable consequences for both sacred institutions and royal power. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of how material loss functions as a direct result of political and spiritual compromise.
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
So 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 all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 10:16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.
- 2 Chronicles 9:15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield.
- 1 Kings 14:25 In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 16:8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria.
- 1 Kings 15:18 So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus:
- 2 Kings 18:15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
- Lamentations 1:10 The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.