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1 Kings14:25–31

Shishak Raids Jerusalem

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1 Kings 14:25–31 — Shishak Raids Jerusalem. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

25

In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî ha·ḥă·mî·šîṯ baš·šā·nāh rə·ḥaḇ·‘ām lam·me·leḵ šū·šaq me·leḵ- miṣ·ra·yim ‘ā·lāh ‘al- yə·rū·šā·lim

Word by word11 · parsed
וַיְהִ֛יway·hîH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
hâyâh, to exist, to come to pass (Qal consecutive imperfect) Untranslated in the English, yet it is the load-bearing joint of the paragraph. Verses 22 to 24 have just catalogued Judah's high places, pillars and cult prostitutes; way·hî makes Shishak the next thing that happened, not a separate topic. Benson and Poole both read the sequence as deliberate: judgment arrives "presently after his and his people's apostacy."
הַחֲמִישִׁ֖יתha·ḥă·mî·šîṯIn the fifthH2549
√ chămîyshîy — fifthArticleNumberordinal feminine singular
chămîyshîy, fifth (ordinal) The regnal date is the point of the note. Pulpit and Gill both compute it as two years after king and people forsook the law (2 Chronicles 12:1), which is why the number, not the battle, opens the verse.
בַּשָּׁנָ֥הbaš·šā·nāhyearH8141
√ shâneh — a year (as a revolution of time)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular
רְחַבְעָ֑םrə·ḥaḇ·‘āmof Rehoboam’sH7346
√ Rᵉchabʻâm — Rechabam, an Israelite kingNounpropermasculine singular
לַמֶּ֣לֶךְlam·me·leḵreignH4428
√ melek — a kingPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular
שׁוּשַׁקšū·šaqShishakH7895
√ Shîyshaq — Shishak, an Egyptian kingNounpropermasculine singular
Shîyshaq, Shishak, an Egyptian king (H7895) A rare name: the Verifier finds it in only six verses of the whole Hebrew Bible. He is the same protector to whom Jeroboam fled in 1 Kings 11:40, which is why Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit all weigh (without asserting) whether Jeroboam prompted the raid. K&D and Barnes anchor him externally in the Karnak relief of Sheshonk.
מֶֽלֶךְ־me·leḵ-kingH4428
√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct
מִצְרַ֖יִםmiṣ·ra·yimof EgyptH4714
√ Mitsrayim — Mitsrajim, iNounproperfeminine singular
עָלָ֛ה‘ā·lāhvvvH5927
√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
ʻâlâh, to ascend, to mount (Qal perfect) The verb of going up to Jerusalem, here in an enemy's mouth. Egypt is the place Israel was brought up out of; now Egypt comes up to the city of the temple and takes back in tribute what the exodus gave. The Hebrew does not say this; the resonance is the reader's to weigh.
עַל־‘al-attackedH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
ʻal, upon, over, against (with a downward aspect) The preposition is what makes the ascent hostile.
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃yə·rū·šā·limJerusalemH3389
√ Yᵉrûwshâlaim — Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of PalestineNounproperfeminine singular
Yᵉrûwshâlaim, Jerusalem (H3389) Named as the object, not the fortress cities. Ellicott and Barnes note from 2 Chronicles 11:5-12 and the Karnak list that the fenced cities fell first; 1 Kings compresses the campaign to its one decisive destination.
26

He seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yiq·qaḥ ’eṯ- ’ō·ṣə·rō·wṯ bêṯ- Yah·weh wə·’eṯ- ’ō·wṣ·rō·wṯ ham·me·leḵ wə·’eṯ- bêṯ lā·qāḥ hak·kōl way·yiq·qaḥ ’eṯ- kāl- haz·zā·hāḇ mā·ḡin·nê ’ă·šer šə·lō·mōh ‘ā·śāh

Word by word20 · parsed
וַיִּקַּ֞חway·yiq·qaḥHe seizedH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
lâqach, to take, in the widest variety of applications (Qal) The first of three. Note what the Hebrew does not say: there is no verb of storming, sacking or burning anywhere in the verse. Ellicott reads exactly this silence: "There is no notice of any sack of Jerusalem, nor ... of any desecration of the Temple." The record is of a taking, which is why Benson and Poole think surrender, not siege.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
אֹצְר֣וֹת’ō·ṣə·rō·wṯthe treasuresH214
√ ʼôwtsâr — a depositoryNounmasculine plural construct
ʼôwtsâr, a depository (H214) The storehouse word, and it is said twice in one verse: the depositories of the house of YHWH, then the depositories of the house of the king. What David dedicated and Solomon amassed (Gill traces the temple hoard to 1 Kings 7:51) is emptied in a single clause, and the sanctuary's store is emptied first. The noun is neutral, a place where things are kept; the whole force of the verse is that a keeping-place kept nothing.
בֵּית־bêṯ-of the houseH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
יְהוָ֗הYah·wehof the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉhôvâh, the divine name (H3068) The treasuries of the house of YHWH are named first, before the king's. The order is theological: the covenant LORD's house is stripped first, and the narrator offers no protest and no miracle. Compare the pointed reversal in 1 Kings 15:18, where a later king of Judah spends what is left of both treasuries himself.
וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-andH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
אֽוֹצְרוֹת֙’ō·wṣ·rō·wṯH214
√ ʼôwtsâr — a depositoryNounmasculine plural construct
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְham·me·leḵof the royalH4428
√ melek — a kingArticleNounmasculine singular
וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
בֵּ֣יתbêṯpalaceH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
לָקָ֑חlā·qāḥHe tookH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
lâqach (Qal perfect) The middle occurrence breaks the consecutive chain into a flat perfect, and its object is hak·kōl: the summary verdict of the raid.
הַכֹּ֖לhak·kōleverythingH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeArticleNounmasculine singular
kôl, the whole (H3605, with article) Absolute in form, limited in fact. Gill's caution is the honest one: "all" means all he could reach, since 1 Kings 15:18 still finds silver and gold in both treasuries a generation later.
וַיִּקַּח֙way·yiq·qaḥincludingH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
כָּל־kāl-allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
הַזָּהָ֔בhaz·zā·hāḇthe goldH2091
√ zâhâb — gold, figuratively, something gold-colored (iArticleNounmasculine singular
zâhâb, gold (H2091) Gold is the unit's controlling metal. It is Solomon's signature (1 Kings 10:16-17, cited here by Gill, K&D, Cambridge and Pulpit), and it leaves the story permanently in this verse.
מָגִנֵּ֣יmā·ḡin·nêshieldsH4043
√ mâgên — a shield (iNouncommon plural construct
mâgên, a shield (H4043) Ceremonial, not battlefield, gear: Solomon's beaten-gold shields hung in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. They are the visible index of the kingdom's glory, which is why their replacement in v. 27 reads as a public downgrade.
אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerthatH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
שְׁלֹמֹֽה׃šə·lō·mōhSolomonH8010
√ Shᵉlômôh — Shelomah, David's successorNounpropermasculine singular
Shᵉlômôh, Solomon (H8010) The last word of the Hebrew clause, and the sting of it. What Solomon made (ʻâsâh, H6213) is carried to Egypt; in the next verse Rehoboam makes (the same verb) the replacements. Father and son are measured by the same verb and different metals.
עָשָׂ֖ה‘ā·śāhhad madeH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
27

Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ham·me·leḵ rə·ḥaḇ·‘ām way·ya·‘aś nə·ḥō·šeṯ mā·ḡin·nê taḥ·tām wə·hip̄·qîḏ ‘al- yaḏ śā·rê hā·rā·ṣîm haš·šō·mə·rîm pe·ṯaḥ ham·me·leḵ bêṯ

Word by word15 · parsed
הַמֶּ֤לֶךְham·me·leḵThen KingH4428
√ melek — a kingArticleNounmasculine singular
רְחַבְעָם֙rə·ḥaḇ·‘āmRehoboamH7346
√ Rᵉchabʻâm — Rechabam, an Israelite kingNounpropermasculine singular
וַיַּ֨עַשׂway·ya·‘aśmadeH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
ʻâsâh, to do or make (Qal consecutive imperfect) Deliberately the same verb as v. 26's last clause, where Solomon "had made" the gold ones. Rehoboam does exactly what his father did, at one metal's remove. The narrator passes no verdict; he simply repeats the verb and changes the noun.
נְחֹ֑שֶׁתnə·ḥō·šeṯbronzeH5178
√ nᵉchôsheth — copper, hence, something made of that metal, iNounfeminine singular
nᵉchôsheth, copper, bronze (H5178) The cheaper metal, and the theological center of the verse for every commentator here. Henry: "Sin makes the gold become dim, changes the most fine gold, and turns it into brass." Ellicott hears the same echo of Lamentations 4:1 and calls the substitution "perhaps intended as a symbolic representation of the change which had passed upon Judah." Gill supplies the plain economic cause: there was no gold left to replace gold with.
מָגִנֵּ֖יmā·ḡin·nêshieldsH4043
√ mâgên — a shield (iNouncommon plural construct
תַּחְתָּ֔םtaḥ·tāmin their placeH8478
√ tachath — the bottom (as depressed)Prepositionthird person masculine plural
tachath, the bottom, in place of (H8478) A substitution word. It governs this verse and closes the unit at v. 31, framing the whole passage between two replacements: bronze under gold, and a son under a father.
וְהִפְקִ֗ידwə·hip̄·qîḏand committed [them]H6485
√ pâqad — to visit (with friendly or hostile intent)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular
pâqad, to visit, to appoint, to muster (Hiphil) The causative stem makes Rehoboam the one who sets the arrangement in place. A king who could not keep his treasure can still organise its imitation.
עַל־‘al-toH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
יַד֙yaḏthe careH3027
√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine singular construct
שָׂרֵ֣יśā·rêof the captainsH8269
√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)Nounmasculine plural construct
sar, a head person of any rank (H8269) Captains, officers. The same noun appears in 2 Chronicles 12:5 of the princes of Judah who humbled themselves before Shemaiah, a scene 1 Kings does not report.
הָרָצִ֔יםhā·rā·ṣîmof the guardH7323
√ rûwts — to run (for whatever reason, especially to rush)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural
rûwts, to run, especially to rush (Qal participle, H7323) Literally "the runners." Benson explains the office: "so called, because they ran, some before and others behind the king." Cambridge draws the sharper historical inference, that David's and Solomon's Cherethites and Pelethites are gone and Rehoboam has only native troops "much more meanly armed."
הַשֹּׁ֣מְרִ֔יםhaš·šō·mə·rîmon dutyH8104
√ shâmar — properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), iArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural
shâmar, to hedge about, to keep, to guard (Qal participle) The covenant verb, employed here for palace sentries. Set against 1 Kings 14:22-24, where Judah did not keep the LORD's way, the word is quietly ironic: what Rehoboam appoints men to keep is a doorway and a rack of bronze.
פֶּ֖תַחpe·ṯaḥat the entranceH6607
√ pethach — an opening (literally), iNounmasculine singular construct
pethach, an opening, a doorway (H6607) The post is the palace entrance, not the temple's. K&D and Pulpit both note the bodyguard's varied duties from 2 Kings 11:6.
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ham·me·leḵto the royalH4428
√ melek — a kingArticleNounmasculine singular
בֵּ֥יתbêṯpalaceH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
28

And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards would bear the shields, and later they would return them to the guardroom.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî mid·dê- ham·me·leḵ ḇō bêṯ Yah·weh hā·rā·ṣîm yiś·śā·’ūm we·hĕ·šî·ḇūm ’el- hā·rā·ṣîm tā

Word by word12 · parsed
וַיְהִ֛יway·hîAndH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
מִדֵּי־mid·dê-wheneverH1767
√ day — enough (as noun or adverb), used chiefly with preposition in phrasesPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
day, enough, sufficiency (H1767, in the idiom mid·dê) The grammar of habit. Because the phrase means "as often as," the verse describes a standing ceremonial practice, which is the basis for both Barnes's and Poole's inference that Rehoboam kept attending the temple in state.
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְham·me·leḵthe kingH4428
√ melek — a kingArticleNounmasculine singular
בֹ֥אḇōenteredH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalInfinitive construct
bôwʼ, to go or come (Qal infinitive construct) The king still goes in to the house of YHWH. Ellicott builds on this: "Hence we see that Rehoboam still worshipped in the house of the Lord." Whether that is repentance (Poole, Gill) or vanity (Ewald, reported by Pulpit) the Hebrew does not say.
בֵּ֣יתbêṯthe houseH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
יְהוָ֑הYah·wehof the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉhôvâh (H3068) The same house whose treasuries were emptied in v. 26 is the destination of the procession in v. 28. The narrator sets the plunder and the pomp two verses apart and lets the reader hold them together.
הָֽרָצִ֔יםhā·rā·ṣîmthe guardsH7323
√ rûwts — to run (for whatever reason, especially to rush)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural
יִשָּׂאוּם֙yiś·śā·’ūmwould bear the shieldsH5375
√ nâsâʼ — to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relativeVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine pluralthird person masculine plural
nâsâʼ, to lift, to bear (Qal imperfect) A verb of raising up and of carrying. The runners lift bronze in the posture in which Israel once lifted gold; the action is preserved exactly, the substance is not. This is the unit's characteristic move: the form continues, the glory does not.
וֶהֱשִׁיב֖וּםwe·hĕ·šî·ḇūmand [later] they would return themH7725
√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectthird person common pluralthird person masculine plural
shûwb, to turn back, to return (Hiphil) The causative: they bring the shields back. The root that carries Scripture's whole vocabulary of repentance is spent here on returning props to a cupboard. 1 Kings records no returning of Rehoboam; 2 Chronicles 12:6-12, which the commentators supply, records his humbling.
אֶל־’el-toH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
הָרָצִֽים׃hā·rā·ṣîmthe guardroomH7323
√ rûwts — to run (for whatever reason, especially to rush)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural
תָּ֥אtā. . .H8372
√ tâʼ — a room (as circumscribed)Nounmasculine singular construct
tâʼ, a room as circumscribed (H8372) A rare word (eleven verses). Its one other use in this story's parallel is 2 Chronicles 12:11, making the guardroom a genuine verbal link between the two accounts. Pulpit's judgment on the cell is blunt: these shields "were of so little value that the guard chamber sufficed for their custody."
29

As for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, along with all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ye·ṯer diḇ·rê rə·ḥaḇ·‘ām wə·ḵāl ’ă·šer ‘ā·śāh hêm·māh hă·lō- ḵə·ṯū·ḇîm ‘al- sê·p̄er diḇ·rê hay·yā·mîm lə·mal·ḵê yə·hū·ḏāh

Word by word15 · parsed
וְיֶ֛תֶרwə·ye·ṯerAs for the restH3499
√ yether — properly, an overhanging, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
yether, an overhanging, a remainder (H3499) The formula word of the regnal frame. It recurs across Kings (the Verifier pairs this verse with 1 Kings 15:7, sharing yether, çêpher and kâthab), which is what makes verses 29 to 31 a template rather than a narrative.
דִּבְרֵ֥יdiḇ·rêof the actsH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordNounmasculine plural construct
dâbâr, a word (H1697, construct plural) "Words" carrying the sense of matters, affairs, deeds. Hebrew historiography does not separate what a king said from what he did; both are his dᵉbārîm, and both are filed.
רְחַבְעָ֖םrə·ḥaḇ·‘āmof RehoboamH7346
√ Rᵉchabʻâm — Rechabam, an Israelite kingNounpropermasculine singular
וְכָל־wə·ḵālalong with allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerthatH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
עָשָׂ֑ה‘ā·śāhhe didH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
הֵ֣מָּהhêm·māh[are] theyH1992
√ hêm — they (only used when emphatic)Pronounthird person masculine plural
הֲלֹא־hă·lō-notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
כְתוּבִ֗יםḵə·ṯū·ḇîmwrittenH3789
√ kâthab — to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe)VerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine plural
kâthab, to grave, to write, to inscribe (Qal passive participle) The unnamed archive outlasts the gold. Shishak carried off everything portable; what could not be carried off was the written record, and it is the written record the narrator appeals to. Ellicott, Gill and Geneva all identify it with the sources named in 2 Chronicles 12:15, the books of Shemaiah and Iddo.
עַל־‘al-inH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
סֵ֛פֶרsê·p̄erthe BookH5612
√ çêpher — properly, writing (the art or a document)Nounmasculine singular construct
çêpher, writing, a document (H5612) JFB draws the necessary boundary: this is the state annals, "not the book so called and comprehended in the sacred canon." The inspired text cites an uninspired source without embarrassment.
דִּבְרֵ֥יdiḇ·rêof the ChroniclesH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordNounmasculine plural construct
הַיָּמִ֖יםhay·yā·mîm. . .H3117
√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)ArticleNounmasculine plural
yôwm, a day (H3117, plural with article) Divrê hayyāmîm, "words of the days," is the Hebrew title of what English calls Chronicles. The same plural hayyāmîm closes the very next verse, where the war runs "all the days."
לְמַלְכֵ֥יlə·mal·ḵêof the KingsH4428
√ melek — a kingPreposition-lNounmasculine plural construct
יְהוּדָֽה׃yə·hū·ḏāhof JudahH3063
√ Yᵉhûwdâh — Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉhûwdâh, Judah (H3063) The archive is specifically Judah's; 1 Kings 14:19 has just cited the parallel book for the kings of Israel. Two kingdoms, two sets of annals, one narrator drawing from both.
30

There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·yə·ṯāh ū·mil·ḥā·māh ḇên- rə·ḥaḇ·‘ām ū·ḇên yā·rā·ḇə·‘ām kāl- hay·yā·mîm

Word by word8 · parsed
הָיְתָ֧הhā·yə·ṯāhThere wasH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular
hâyâh, to exist, to come to pass (Qal perfect, feminine) A perfect of settled condition rather than event. The verse reports no battle because it reports a permanent situation.
וּמִלְחָמָ֨הū·mil·ḥā·māhwarH4421
√ milchâmâh — a battle (iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular
milchâmâh, a battle, war (H4421) The interpretive crux of the verse, and the commentators divide on it. K&D reads it as attitude only, since 1 Kings 12:24 forbade Rehoboam's campaign; Poole and Gill split the difference (defensive war and border skirmishes, no pitched battles); Pulpit and JFB press the noun's ordinary force. Ellicott's honesty is the most useful: "in the scantiness of the record we can have no certainty."
בֵין־ḇên-betweenH996
√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Preposition
bêyn, between (repeated before each noun, H996) The doubling is standard Hebrew idiom, but here the idiom carries the theme: the united kingdom of 1 Kings 1-11 has become a preposition said twice.
רְחַבְעָ֛םrə·ḥaḇ·‘āmRehoboamH7346
√ Rᵉchabʻâm — Rechabam, an Israelite kingNounpropermasculine singular
וּבֵ֥יןū·ḇên. . .H996
√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Conjunctive wawPreposition
יָרָבְעָ֖םyā·rā·ḇə·‘āmand JeroboamH3379
√ Yârobʻâm — Jarobam, the name of two Israelite kingsNounpropermasculine singular
Yârobʻâm, Jeroboam (H3379) The chapter opened with Jeroboam's sick child and Ahijah's oracle against his house; it closes with his name beside Rehoboam's in a single unresolved clause. The judgment on the north and the judgment on the south share one chapter.
כָּל־kāl-throughoutH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
הַיָּמִֽים׃hay·yā·mîm[their] daysH3117
√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)ArticleNounmasculine plural
yôwm, a day (H3117, plural with article) "All the days": the same noun that named the archive in v. 29 ("words of the days") now measures the war. What is written down and what is lived through are counted in the same unit.
31

And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David; his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And his son Abijam reigned in his place.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

rə·ḥaḇ·‘ām way·yiš·kaḇ ‘im- ’ă·ḇō·ṯāw way·yiq·qā·ḇêr ‘im- ’ă·ḇō·ṯāw bə·‘îr dā·wiḏ ’im·mōw wə·šêm na·‘ă·māh hā·‘am·mō·nîṯ bə·nōw ’ă·ḇî·yām way·yim·lōḵ taḥ·tāw

Word by word17 · parsed
רְחַבְעָ֜םrə·ḥaḇ·‘āmAnd RehoboamH7346
√ Rᵉchabʻâm — Rechabam, an Israelite kingNounpropermasculine singular
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֨בway·yiš·kaḇrestedH7901
√ shâkab — to lie down (for rest, sexual connection, decease or any other purpose)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
shâkab, to lie down, for rest or decease (Qal consecutive imperfect) The dynastic formula, identical to Solomon's at 1 Kings 11:43. Barnes reads the care with which it is recorded as itself theological: "a continuation of God's mercy to David." A king who lost the gold still lies down in the city of David, and the line continues.
עִם־‘im-withH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition
אֲבֹתָ֗יו’ă·ḇō·ṯāwhis fathersH1
√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
וַיִּקָּבֵ֤רway·yiq·qā·ḇêrand was buriedH6912
√ qâbar — to interConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
qâbar, to inter (Nifal) Passive voice for the end of a reign. Burial with the fathers in David's city is the honour denied to later kings of Judah who died under judgment; it is quietly granted here.
עִם־‘im-withH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition
אֲבֹתָיו֙’ă·ḇō·ṯāw[them]H1
√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
בְּעִ֣ירbə·‘îrin the CityH5892
√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct
דָּוִ֔דdā·wiḏof DavidH1732
√ Dâvid — David, the youngest son of JesseNounpropermasculine singular
Dâvid (H1732) The name is the hinge of the whole unit's hope. Everything Solomon made has gone to Egypt; the city still belongs, by name, to the man with whom the covenant of 2 Samuel 7 was cut.
אִמּ֔וֹ’im·mōwhis mother’sH517
√ ʼêm — a mother (as the bond of the family)Nounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
וְשֵׁ֣םwə·šêmnameH8034
√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
נַעֲמָ֖הna·‘ă·māhwas NaamahH5279
√ Naʻămâh — Naamah, the name of an antediluvian woman, of an Ammonitess, and of a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular
Naʻămâh, Naamah (H5279) A rare name (five verses). She was already named at 1 Kings 14:21; the repetition ten verses later is one of the clearest seams in the book. Cambridge and K&D both take it as evidence that the compiler was drawing from more than one source, and Cambridge notes the LXX (Vatican) omits it here.
הָעַמֹּנִ֑יתhā·‘am·mō·nîṯthe AmmoniteH5984
√ ʻAmmôwnîy — an Ammonite or (the adjective) AmmonitishArticleNounproperfeminine singular
ʻAmmôwnîy, an Ammonite (H5984) The detail that draws the theological verdicts. Geneva glosses it "Whose idolatry Rehoboam her son followed"; Gill says it is repeated "that it might be observed as what was the leading step to his idolatry." Pulpit resists: he grants she was one of the Ammonite wives of 1 Kings 11:1, but calls the deliberate-repetition theory of Bahr and Wordsworth unlikely, preferring a source-critical explanation. The text itself simply names her twice.
בְּנ֖וֹbə·nōwAnd his sonH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
אֲבִיָּ֥ם’ă·ḇî·yāmAbijamH38
√ ʼĂbîyâm — Abijam (or Abijah), a king of JudahNounpropermasculine singular
ʼĂbîyâm, Abijam (H38) A rare form (four verses), and a disputed one. Barnes and Rawlinson hold that Abijah was the real name and that pious scribes removed the divine element JAH from a bad king's name; K&D holds the opposite, that ʼĂbîyâm, "father of the sea," is the older form later assimilated to ʼĂbîyâh; Pulpit calls Lightfoot's version of the first theory "too fanciful" and prefers a copyist's confusion of hê and final mem. Three explanations, no consensus.
וַיִּמְלֹ֛ךְway·yim·lōḵreignedH4427
√ mâlak — to reignConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
תַּחְתָּֽיו׃פtaḥ·tāwin his placeH8478
√ tachath — the bottom (as depressed)Prepositionthird person masculine singular
tachath, the bottom, in place of (H8478) The last word of the unit, and the same word as v. 27. Read together, the two occurrences are the passage in miniature: what stands in the place of what is lost is always lesser, and always still standing.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The fifth year: a date before a battle — 14:25

⚙ The Hebrew opens with וַיְהִ֛י, the narrative hinge BSB does not translate, so that Shishak's invasion arrives grammatically as the next clause of the apostasy catalogued in verses 22 to 24. The verse then spends four words on a date before it names a king. Benson and Poole (Benson is clearly working from Poole, and we count them as one tradition) both read the timing as deliberate: judgment fell on Judah "presently after his and his people's apostacy," while the north was spared for a while, because Judah sinned "against clearer light." Gill puts it plainest: "this was suffered as a chastisement from the Lord for their abominations." JFB names Shishak "the instrument in the hand of Providence for punishing the national defection." That reading is the commentators'; the narrator himself says only that Shishak עָלָ֛ה עַל, went up against, Jerusalem. On who set him moving, the sources genuinely split: Ellicott judges it "not unlikely that the whole invasion was instigated by Jeroboam"; Cambridge allows it "may have been at Jeroboam's prompting"; Pulpit refuses both, replying that "as to this Scripture is silent," and proposing instead that a divided and weakened country simply looked like easy plunder. Barnes and K&D add the one control outside the Bible: the Karnak relief of Sheshonk, where Barnes finds Shoco, Adoraim and Aijalon (fortified by Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 11:5-12) among the conquered names.

ii. Three takings and a whole — 14:26

⚙ One verb, לָקַח (lâqach, H3947), is struck three times in a single verse: he took the treasuries of the house of YHWH and of the house of the king; the whole he took; and he took all the shields of gold that Solomon made. BSB varies the English each time and the drumbeat is lost. What is equally striking is the verb that never appears: nothing is stormed, burned or desecrated. Ellicott builds his reading on exactly that silence, noting "There is no notice of any sack of Jerusalem" and that "the record seems to imply surrender of the city and its treasures," then drawing the consequence that theories making Shishak's raid the destroyer of Israel's ancient archives "must pass away." Benson, citing Josephus, says Rehoboam "delivered up the city to him without striking a stroke," and measures the loss against the calendar: within twenty-five years of the temple's completion it was plundered of everything David and Solomon had amassed. Gill alone checks the absolute "all" against the later record and limits it, since 1 Kings 15:18 still finds treasure in both houses. Cambridge reports that the LXX reads a different clause here altogether. The Hebrew ends the verse on the word Solomon: what he made is the last thing said before it leaves for Egypt.

iii. Bronze in the place of gold, and the ceremony that continued — 14:27-28

⚙ The grammar does the theology before any commentator arrives. מָגִנֵּ֣י הַזָּהָ֔ב, "shields of the gold," becomes מָגִנֵּ֖י נְחֹ֑שֶׁת, "shields of bronze," the identical construct with a cheaper noun in the slot, and the adverb of substitution is תַּחְתָּ֔ם, "in their place." Ellicott calls the substitution "perhaps intended as a symbolic representation of the change which had passed upon Judah," its "fine gold had become brass"; Henry, commenting on the whole block, says flatly that sin "changes the most fine gold, and turns it into brass"; Gill supplies the unromantic cause, that Rehoboam "was not able to replace golden ones." Cambridge draws a harder military inference: the Cherethites and Pelethites of David and Solomon have disappeared, and Rehoboam has only native troops "much more meanly armed." Then verse 28 keeps the ceremony running. The rare idiom מִדֵּי־ (Cambridge: "The Hebrew word is not common") means "as often as," so this is settled routine: the runners lift the bronze exactly as gold was lifted, and cause it to return to a cell. K&D's observation is the decisive one, that these shields were kept not in the House of the Forest of Lebanon but in the guard-chamber (תָּ֥א, a rare word he links to Ezekiel 40:7). What the procession means, the sources dispute: Poole and Barnes and Ellicott see a king still worshipping, perhaps chastened; Pulpit reports Ewald's verdict that it is vanity, the shields "borne before him in solemn procession, as if everything were the same as before."

iv. The archive, the war, and the word that ends the unit — 14:29-31

⚙ The closing formula turns on דִּבְרֵ֥י (dâbâr), said twice: the words of Rehoboam are filed in the book of the words of the days. JFB draws the boundary the formula requires, that this is "the national archives of Judah," not canonical Scripture; Ellicott, Gill and Geneva connect it to the books of Shemaiah and Iddo named in 2 Chronicles 12:15, though only Geneva states that as fact. Verse 30 then leaves one word contested. K&D, weighing Shemaiah's prohibition of the campaign, concludes that מִלְחָמָה "can only denote the hostile feelings and attitude of the two rulers towards one another"; Pulpit answers him directly that the noun "surely implies more than angry feelings"; Poole and Gill take a middle road of border skirmishes without pitched battles; Ellicott concedes that "in the scantiness of the record we can have no certainty." Verse 31 closes with two repetitions and one echo. With his fathers is said twice, which is how Pulpit argues the formula means the grave and not Sheol. Naamah the Ammonitess is named a second time in eleven verses, which Cambridge and K&D both take as a compiler's seam between two sources and which Geneva and Gill take as a theological verdict on where Rehoboam's idolatry came from. And the last word of the unit is תַּחְתָּֽיו, "in his place," the same noun that put bronze where gold had hung.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Offered as this tool's own fallible reading, to be tested against the text. Read by the Hebrew rather than by the English, this unit is held together by one noun: תַּחַת, "in the place of." It occurs twice, at the beginning of the decline (bronze shields made in their place, v. 27) and at the very last word of the unit (Abijam reigning in his place, v. 31). Between those two substitutions the passage does something stranger than simple judgment. It records that the ceremony was preserved. The runners still lift, still go up to the house of the LORD, still bring the shields back, and the verb for bringing them back is שׁוּב, the covenant verb of returning to God, spent here on carrying props to a cupboard. That is the specific danger this text names, and it is not poverty. Judah is not punished by losing its worship; it is left with its worship intact and hollow, gold replaced by an alloy that still shines at a distance. Henry's line, that sin turns the most fine gold into brass, is the right diagnosis, but the sharper point is that nobody watching the procession could tell. Yet the unit does not close on the bronze. It closes on a burial in the city of David and a son on the throne, and the passive Nifal וַיִּקָּבֵר is the tell: at the end, Rehoboam is no longer the one acting. What keeps the line alive is not anything he made. If the covenant with David held through a king who could not even keep his father's shields, then it was never being held up by shields.

Judah was not left without worship; it was left with worship in bronze, and no one watching the procession could tell. (This is the tool's own fallible reading, not a verse.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The fuller account: what 1 Kings leaves out and Chronicles supplies structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ 2 Chronicles 12 narrates the same campaign at length, and supplies the one thing 1 Kings omits entirely: Shemaiah's oracle, the humbling of the king and the princes, and the LORD's answer that he would not destroy them (2 Chronicles 12:5-8, 12). K&D, Barnes, Pulpit, Ellicott and Cambridge all read 1 Kings here through that parallel; Pulpit states outright that "the historian omits to mention the interposition of Shemaiah." The Verifier confirms the link lexically: 2 Chronicles 12:2 shares the rare name שִׁישַׁק with this unit along with the fifth-year dating, and 2 Chronicles 12:9 shares Shishak, Solomon and the shields. The two accounts are not in conflict, but 1 Kings tells the story with the mercy taken out, which is worth noticing rather than harmonising away.

2 Chronicles 12:2 · 2 Chronicles 12:5 · 2 Chronicles 12:9

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H7895 Shîyshaq (rare, in only 6 vv) plus H2549 chămîyshîy (44 vv) and H7346 Rᵉchabʻâm (41 vv) at 2 Chronicles 12:2; H7895 plus H8010 Shᵉlômôh and H4043 mâgên at 12:9. Deliberately downgraded from verbal despite the rare lexeme: the shared rare item is the proper name of the actor both accounts are about, which two narratives of one event must share, so it evidences parallel reporting rather than a verbal link. Neither text quotes the other

The guard-chamber: a rare word shared with the Chronicler verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ 1 Kings 14:28 stores the bronze shields in a תָּא (tâʼ, H8372), a small circumscribed cell that the Verifier finds in only eleven verses of the Hebrew Bible; K&D links its architectural use to Ezekiel 40:7. The same rare noun stands in 2 Chronicles 12:11, together with the runners (rûwts, H7323) twice over. Two independent accounts of the same ceremony reach for the same uncommon word, which is strong evidence that both are drawing a shared source description rather than composing freely. The interpretive payload is Pulpit's: Solomon's gold hung in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, while these were "of so little value that the guard chamber sufficed for their custody."

2 Chronicles 12:10 · 2 Chronicles 12:11

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H8372 tâʼ (rare, in only 11 vv) and H7323 rûwts (92 vv, twice) at 2 Chronicles 12:11; H4043 mâgên (60 vv), H8269 sar (368 vv) and H7346 Rᵉchabʻâm (41 vv) at 12:10. The rarity of tâʼ carries the verbal tier; no text quotes the other

The regnal frame: this unit is a template, not only a story structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Verses 29 to 31 are a formula, and the Verifier shows it by lexeme. 1 Kings 15:7 shares yether (the rest), çêpher (book) and kâthab (written); 1 Kings 15:1 and 15:8 share the rare name אֲבִיָּם (ʼĂbîyâm, four verses in all) with mâlak (to reign) and qâbar (to bury). Barnes notices the same thing from the other side: "slept with his fathers and was buried" is "a sort of formula, and is used with respect to all the kings of Judah, except two or three." The shared vocabulary is real, but what it establishes is a structural pattern in the book's composition, not one passage citing another, so we tier this structural rather than verbal despite the rare name.

1 Kings 15:1 · 1 Kings 15:7 · 1 Kings 15:8 · 1 Kings 11:43

basis: Verifier: H3499 yether (95 vv), H5612 çêpher (174 vv), H3789 kâthab (212 vv) shared with 1 Kings 15:7; H38 ʼĂbîyâm (rare, 4 vv), H4427 mâlak (284 vv), H6912 qâbar (122 vv) shared with 1 Kings 15:1 and 15:8; H7346 and H8010 shared with 1 Kings 11:43. Deliberately downgraded from verbal: the rare name is shared by narrative continuity within one composition, which is a compositional pattern rather than a quotation

Naamah and bronze: a lexical coincidence we decline to build on flagged: verify source

⚙ The Verifier surfaces Genesis 4:22 for this unit, because that verse contains both נְחֹשֶׁת (nᵉchôsheth, bronze, from Tubal-cain the forger of bronze and iron) and נַעֲמָה (Naʻămâh, a rare name in only five verses, there the sister of Tubal-cain). Joshua 15:41 carries the same name as a town in the Shephelah. Both lexemes really do stand in 1 Kings 14:27 and 14:31. We record the computed basis and then decline the link: Cain's line and Rehoboam's Ammonite mother are separated by everything except two words that happen to land in the same chapter, and no commentator in this unit's sources draws any such connection. This entry exists as a worked example of a Verifier basis that is arithmetically true and interpretively empty.

Genesis 4:22 · Joshua 15:41

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H5178 nᵉchôsheth (119 vv) and H5279 Naʻămâh (rare, 5 vv) at Genesis 4:22; H5279 alone at Joshua 15:41. The lexeme overlap is real but the two words belong to unrelated clauses in unrelated contexts, and no source in this unit proposes the link. Flagged as coincidence, not connection

Wealth that still looks like wealth structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ A cross-Testament link, and therefore one that cannot rest on shared Strong's numbers at all, since 1 Kings is Hebrew and Revelation is Greek. The structural pattern is nonetheless exact: a community that retains the appearance of gold while the substance has gone, and is told to buy gold refined by fire. Judah's downgrade is involuntary and Laodicea's is self-deceived, which is a real difference, and it is why we tier this motif rather than typology and claim nothing about authorial intent. Ellicott's phrase for Rehoboam's bronze, that "only the semblance of its old glory remained," is the hinge the comparison turns on, and it is his phrase, not Scripture's.

Revelation 3:17-18 · Lamentations 4:1

basis: No shared Strong's lexeme is possible across Testaments (Hebrew to Greek), so no verbal tier is available. Basis is a shared motif of substituted or counterfeit wealth: bronze in the place of gold (H5178 for H2091 in vv. 26-27) against Laodicea's imagined riches and the counsel to buy refined gold. Lamentations 4:1 (Hebrew, gold grown dim) is the echo Ellicott and Henry both reach for and is offered as allusion, not as a verified lexeme pair

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The treasure that cannot be carried to Egypt ancient/widely-held

⚙ The house of YHWH in this unit has treasuries, and the treasuries can be emptied in one clause by a foreign king with no miracle to stop him. That is the structural fact the passage insists on: whatever God's presence among his people rests on, it is demonstrably not the gold in the storerooms, because the gold left and the house remained. The apostolic reading of the temple as finding its fulfilment in Christ is ancient and widely held, grounded in Jesus' own words over the temple in John 2:19-21 and in Paul's claim that in Christ "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Applied here, the point is not allegory but contrast: Solomon's treasure was portable and Shishak took it; the treasure Colossians names is hidden in a person and no invasion reaches it. ⚙ The specific application to Shishak's raid is our own, offered to be tested; the temple typology it rests on is not ours.

John 2:19-21 · Colossians 2:2-3 · Matthew 6:19-20

In his place: the line that survived its kings ancient/widely-held

⚙ The last word of the unit is תַּחְתָּֽיו, "in his place," and it is the same word used four verses earlier for bronze standing where gold had hung. Rehoboam lost the treasure, kept the ceremony, and died; and a son reigned in his place, buried in the city of David. Barnes reads the careful recording of that formula as itself significant, "a continuation of God's mercy to David." The covenant of 2 Samuel 7:12-16 promised exactly this and promised it unconditionally as to the line, and Matthew's genealogy carries Rehoboam and Abijah forward in it without a word of excuse. The redemptive-historical reading, held from the apostles onward, is that the persistence of this failed and stripped dynasty is not dynastic luck but the keeping of an oath, whose terminus Matthew 1 names. ⚙ Our added observation, fallible: the repeated tachath sets the two substitutions side by side, and the contrast is the gospel in miniature. Bronze in the place of gold is loss; a son in the place of a father is promise, and the final substitution the line arrives at is one Son taking the place of many.

2 Samuel 7:12-16 · Matthew 1:7 · Luke 1:32-33

A king who goes up with borrowed shields novel

⚙ Verse 28 gives a picture the text does not interpret: as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the runners lifted the shields before him and carried them back to a cell. It is a procession of protection that protects nothing, performed by a king whose real defence had already been surrendered. Pulpit, reporting Ewald, calls it vanity, "as if everything were the same as before"; Poole and Barnes see a chastened man still attending worship. Either way the glory is borrowed and the metal is wrong. ⚙ Read against the one who enters the true sanctuary not with an escort but by his own blood (Hebrews 9:11-12), and who is himself called a shield to those who take refuge in him (Psalm 84:9-11, where the anointed and the sun and shield stand in one psalm), the bronze procession reads as the last thin echo of a kingship that could not keep itself. We mark this application novel: no commentator in this unit's sources draws it, and it should be weighed, not assumed.

Hebrews 9:11-12 · Psalm 84:9-11

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. Text. Two places where the Greek tradition differs are reported by Cambridge and should be weighed by readers: at v. 26 the LXX reads, in place of "he even took away all," a clause about the golden shields David took from the servants of Hadadezer of Zobah (compare 2 Samuel 8:7), and adds at the verse's close that Shishak brought the booty into Egypt; at v. 31 the LXX (Vatican) omits the second mention of Naamah the Ammonitess altogether. Cambridge's own judgment is that "the authority of the addition in the LXX. is not very great." The doubled Naamah. Cambridge and K&D both explain the repetition from 1 Kings 14:21 as a compiler's seam between two sources; Geneva and Gill read it as a deliberate theological verdict on Rehoboam's idolatry; Pulpit reports and doubts that view. No reading here is certain and we have not chosen one. Abijam or Abijah. Three incompatible explanations stand in the sources: Barnes (with Rawlinson) holds that scribes removed the divine element JAH from a bad king's name; K&D holds ʼĂbîyâm, "father of the sea," to be the older form; Pulpit calls Lightfoot's form of the first theory "too fanciful" and prefers a confusion of hê and final mem. We report all three. The Karnak evidence. Barnes, K&D, JFB, Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit all appeal to Sheshonk's relief, but the specific reading "YUDeH-MALK" as "Judah, king" is disputed: Barnes says "it is still a question," and K&D records that Champollion's rendering was "rejected by Lepsius and Brugsch as philologically inadmissible." The relief confirms a Palestinian campaign; it does not by itself confirm the reading of that one escutcheon. Who prompted the invasion. Ellicott and Cambridge conjecture Jeroboam's instigation; Pulpit answers that Scripture is silent and prefers other causes. Conjecture on both sides. What 1 Kings omits. Shemaiah's oracle and the repentance of king and princes (2 Chronicles 12:5-12) are absent here; every reading of Rehoboam's later temple attendance as repentance depends on the Chronicles account, not on this text. Interlinear order. The Berean interlinear word indices used for the notes follow the BSB English ordering at several points, not the Hebrew word order (clearest at 14:25, 14:26 and 14:27); the literal renderings above are built from the Hebrew order, so a note index and its position in the literal line will not always match. One voice is composite. Matthew Henry's Concise entry comments on 14:21-31 as a single block and is quoted here against v. 27; it is his verdict on the whole unit. Benson at v. 25 follows Poole closely enough that the two should be counted as one witness, not two.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)