2 Chronicles 11:2

But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) The Lord.—Kings has “God” twice. The chronicler does not always avoid the name Jehovah.

Shemaiah.—So Kings. The chronicler writes the longer form, Shemayāhu; and so Ahiyāhu in 2Chronicles 10:15.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:1-12 A few good words might have prevented the rebellion of Rehoboam's subjects; but all the force of his kingdom cannot bring them back. And it is in vain to contend with the purpose of God, when it is made known to us. Even those who are destitute of true faith, will at times pay some regard to the word of God, and be kept by it from wrong actions, to which they are prone by nature.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The narrative of Kings (marginal reference) is repeated with only slight verbal differences.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 11

2Ch 11:1-17. Rehoboam, Raising an Army to Subdue Israel, Is Forbidden by Shemaiah.

1-4. Rehoboam … gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin … to fight against Israel—(See 1Ki 12:21-24).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem,.... After he had been at Shechem, and had given his answer to the request of the men of Israel, upon which they revolted from him: this and the three following verses are the same with 1 Kings 12:21. See Gill on 1 Kings 12:21.

Geneva Study Bible

But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. Shemaiah] See 2 Chronicles 12:5; 2 Chronicles 12:15.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - Shemaiah the man of God. This is the first historical mention (1 Kings 12:22) of Shemaiah. The second is found in 2 Chronicles 12:5, 7, on occasion of the invasion of Judah and Jerusalem by Shishak King of Egypt; and the third, in the same chapter, ver. 15, that he wrote a book respecting the acts of Rehoboam. The expression, "man of God," owns to a somewhat unexplained history. It is first found in the added part of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 33:1), where it is applied to Moses. It occurs once in Joshua (Joshua 14:6); twice in Judges (Judges 13:6, 8); four times in Samuel (1 Samuel 2:27; 1 Samuel 9:6-8); twenty-nine times in Kings; six times in Chronicles; once each in Ezra, Nehemiah and Jeremiah. 2 Chronicles 11:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Rehoboam's attitude to the ten rebel tribes. Cf. 1 Kings 12:21-24. - Rehoboam's purpose, to subdue these tribes by force of arms, and bring them again under his dominion, and the abandonment of this purpose in consequence of the command of the prophet Shemaiah, belong in a certain measure to the history of the revolt of the ten tribes from the house of David; for the revolt only became an accomplished fact when the prophet Shemaiah proclaimed in the name of the Lord that the matter was from the Lord. 2 Chronicles 11:3. Of Jahve was the thing done; He had ordained the revolt as a chastisement of the seed of David for walking no more in His ways. Solomon had, by allowing himself to be seduced by his many foreign wives into departing from the Lord, exposed himself to the divine displeasure, and his successor Rehoboam increased the guilt by his impolitic treatment of the tribes dissatisfied with Solomon's rule, and had, if not brought about the revolt, yet hastened it; but yet the conduct of these tribes was not thereby justified. Their demand that the burdens laid upon them by Solomon should be lightened, flowed from impure and godless motives, and at bottom had its root in discontent with the theocratic rule of the house of David (see on 1 Kings 12:21.). The expression, "to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin," is deeper than "the whole house of Judah and Benjamin and the remnant of the people," i.e., those belonging to the other tribes who were dwelling in the tribal domains of Judah and Benjamin (1 Kings 12:23); for it characterizes all who had remained true to the house of David as Israel, i.e., those who walked in the footsteps of their progenitor Israel (Jacob).