21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah . Rehoboam was forty-one e years old when he became king , and he reigned seventeen e years in Jerusalem , the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there . And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess . 22 Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord , and they provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done , with the sins which they committed . 23 For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree . 24 There were also male cult prostitutes in the land . They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before e the sons of Israel . 25 Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam , that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem . 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house , and he took everything , even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made . 27 So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place , and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the doorway of the king's house . 28 Then it happened as often as the king entered the house of the Lord , that the guards would carry them and would bring them back into the guards' room . 29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did , are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles e of the Kings of Judah ? 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually e . 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David ; and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess . And Abijam his son became king in his place .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 14:21-31
Commentary on 1 Kings 14:21-31
(Read 1 Kings 14:21-31)
Here is no good said of Rehoboam, and much said to the disadvantage of his subjects. The abounding of the worst crimes, of the worst of the heathen, in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen for his temple and his worship, shows that nothing can mend the hearts of fallen men but the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. On this alone may we depend; for this let us daily pray, in behalf of ourselves and all around us. The splendour of their temple, the pomp of their priesthood, and all the advantages with which their religion was attended, could not prevail to keep them close to it; nothing less than the pouring out the Spirit will keep God's Israel in their allegiance to him. Sin exposes, makes poor, and weakens any people. Shishak, king of Egypt, came and took away the treasures. Sin makes the gold become dim, changes the most fine gold, and turns it into brass.