1 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.
2 And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord,
3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.
4 And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.
5 Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.
6 Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous.
7 And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the 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; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.
9 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.
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.
11 And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber.
12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.
13 So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
14 And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.
15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.
16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.
<html><b>They have humbled themselves; I shall not destroy them</b> A similar instance is found below (14: 6): “The land is still before us for we have sought, etc. we have sought.” So is the custom of the Scriptures, that when it interrupts in the middle, it repeats the word. An example is (Num. 10:32): “And it will be, if you go with us, it will be that the good, etc.”</html>
<html><b>For they will be his slaves</b> [i.e., slaves] of Shishak and the other nations, as is explained. <b>and they will know My service</b> When they repent, no ruler of the kings of the nations will be over them, but when you abandon My Law, you will experience servitude to the kings of the lands, and you will serve them.</html>
<html><b>and he entrusted them in the hands of the chiefs of the runners</b> He took them from the house of the forest of Lebanon and entrusted them to the chiefs of the runners and afterwards they returned them <b>to the chamber of the runners</b> The room of the runners, i.e., to their place. Another explanation I heard from my mentor is that because he was afraid of the king of Egypt and the king of Israel, they would carry them [the shields] before him.</html>
<html><b>And when he humbled himself, the Lord’s wrath returned from him</b> He should have stated this above immediately when he said, “And Shishak… marched,” but he interrupted in between because he had to mention, “And…made instead of them shields of copper.”</html>
<html><b>And King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem</b> And he explains why, because when he was first made king, he was forty-one years old; therefore, he had the strength and the power to strengthen himself. He was a year old when David died, for Solomon reigned forty years, and Solomon had not yet reigned when Rehoboam was born. We find that Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he reigned. <b>the city that the Lord had chosen wherein to place His name, out of all the tribes of Israel</b> but they deteriorated in their deeds, as it is written: “And he did that which was evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord,” and they caused the Shechinah to leave them, and it was as if they were complaining and demonstrating about that.</html>
<html><b>in the words of Shemaiah the prophet</b> Every prophet would write his book, containing that which he prophesied, and this is the Shemaiah who was mentioned above (11:2, 12:5). And the verse written further (13:22), “And the rest of the deeds of Abijah and his ways and his words are written in the midrash of the prophet Iddo,” proves this, [that each prophet wrote a book of his prophecies, and] his [Iddo’s] book was called midrash.</html>