2 Chronicles 11 KJV
Rehoboam Fortifies Judah
2 Chronicles Chapter 11: Rehoboam Fortifies Judah
Rehoboam's obedience to Shemaiah's prophetic command not to fight Israel marks a brief theological pivot from the hubris of chapter 10, illustrating how divine sovereignty can restrain human kings even after the kingdom's division has been decreed.
1nd when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.
2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
4 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.
6 He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
7 And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,
8 And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
9 And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,
10 And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities.
11 And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.
12 And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts.
14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priestโs office unto the LORD:
15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.
17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.
18 And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;
19 Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.
20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.
23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.
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Did You Know?
Rehoboam's obedience to Shemaiah's prophetic command not to fight Israel marks a brief theological pivot from the hubris of chapter 10, illustrating how divine sovereignty can restrain human kings even after the kingdom's division has been decreed.
The mass migration of Levites and priests from the north, abandoning their pasture lands, underscores a deliberate centralization of Yahwistic worship in Jerusalem that effectively severs cultic ties with the northern sanctuaries Jeroboam established.
The fifteen fortified cities Rehoboam strengthened cluster along the strategic Shephelah corridor and approaches to the hill country, forming an integrated defensive network whose locations later prove critical in conflicts with both Egypt and Philistia.
Rehoboam's choice to make Abijah, son of his favorite wife Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom, chief among his twenty-eight sons reveals a deliberate dynastic strategy that echoes yet complicates the earlier promise to David concerning an enduring house.
The chapter's closing notice that Rehoboam dispersed his many sons throughout the fortified cities functions as both administrative policy and implicit warning, prefiguring the internal fractures that will surface in the next generation.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain Rehoboam... gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin... to fight against Israel โ (See 1Ki 12:21-24).
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on 2 Chronicles 11 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Rehoboam, raising an army to subdue Israel, is forbidden by shemaiah; His wives and children.
- 1-4
- Rehoboam... gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin... to fight against Israel โ (See 1Ki 12:21-24).
- 5-11
- built cities for defence in Judah โ This is evidently used as the name of the southern kingdom. Rehoboam, having now a bitter enemy in Israel, deemed it prudent to lose no time in fortifying several cities that lay along the frontier of his kingdom. Jeroboam, on his side, took a similar precaution (1Ki 12:25). Of the fifteen cities named, Aijalon, now Yalo, and Zorah, now Surah, between Jerusalem and Jabneh [ROBINSON], lay within the province of Benjamin. Gath, though a Philistine city, had been subject to Solomon. And Etham, which was on the border of Simeon, now incorporated with the kingdom of Israel, was fortified to repel danger from that quarter. These fortresses Rehoboam placed under able commanders and stocked them with provisions and military stores, sufficient, if necessary, to stand a siege. In the crippled state of his kingdom, he seems to have been afraid lest it might be made the prey of some powerful neighbors.
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