2 Chronicles 12:11 kjv
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.
2 Chronicles 12:11 nkjv
And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom.
2 Chronicles 12:11 niv
Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.
2 Chronicles 12:11 esv
And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.
2 Chronicles 12:11 nlt
Whenever the king went to the Temple of the LORD, the guards would also take the shields and then return them to the guardroom.
2 Chronicles 12 11 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Ki 14:25-28 | In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem...He took away the treasures... | Parallel account of the raid & shield replacement. |
| 2 Chr 12:9-10 | So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took away the treasures of the house... took the shields of gold. Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place. | Immediate context: the theft and replacement. |
| Lev 26:19-20 | I will break the pride of your power... your strength shall be spent in vain. | Consequences of disobedience: loss of strength/fruit. |
| Deut 28:15-16 | If you will not obey the voice of the Lord... cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed in the field. | Broader context of covenant curses for disobedience. |
| Psa 79:1 | O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple... | The defilement/plundering of God's house by enemies. |
| Jer 2:13 | My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters... hewn cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns. | Forsaking God leads to emptiness & brokenness. |
| Hos 4:6 | My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest. | Spiritual ignorance/rejection of God's ways leads to ruin. |
| Mal 3:9 | You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. | Disobedience bringing a curse on a nation. |
| Heb 12:5-8 | You have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons... Whom the Lord loves, He chastens... | Divine discipline as a sign of God's love. |
| Prov 28:13 | Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. | Concealing sin leads to lack of prosperity. |
| Matt 6:19-21 | Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy... treasures in heaven... where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. | Contrast between earthly and heavenly treasures. |
| Phil 3:7-8 | Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ... I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. | Value shift from earthly gain to Christ. |
| Isa 1:11-15 | What to Me is the multitude of your sacrifices?... Bring no more vain offerings... | Empty rituals without a heart for God. |
| Amos 5:21-24 | I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies... | God rejecting formal worship due to lack of justice/righteousness. |
| Rom 1:21-23 | They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man... | Exchanging divine truth/glory for inferior things. |
| Zech 14:14 | All the nations around shall come... much gold and silver and garments... shall be gathered in great abundance. | Future restoration and wealth in Jerusalem (contrast). |
| Rev 21:21 | The twelve gates were twelve pearls... and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. | Heavenly glory and richness, without theft or decay. |
| 1 Chr 29:16 | O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house... comes from your hand... | Acknowledging God as the source of true wealth. |
| Judg 17:6 | In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. | Doing what is right in one's eyes leads to decline. |
| Ezek 16:39 | I will give you into the hand of your lovers, and they shall pull down your shrines... shall strip you of your clothes. | Spiritual unfaithfulness leading to public disgrace. |
| Jer 17:5-6 | Cursed is the man who trusts in man... he is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. | Result of misplaced trust, not relying on God. |
| Lam 2:15 | All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. | Public scorn and derision due to humiliation. |
2 Chronicles 12 verses
2 Chronicles 12 11 Meaning
2 Chronicles 12:11 describes a ritualistic action in the aftermath of Judah's spiritual decline and the subsequent Egyptian invasion under Shishak. It reveals that whenever King Rehoboam entered the Temple of the Lord, his royal guard would bring out the bronze shields (which replaced the stolen golden shields) for a ceremonial display, only to return them to the guardroom afterward. This routine served as a tangible and humiliating reminder of the kingdom's lost glory, wealth, and divine favor, signifying the reduced state of Rehoboam's reign and Judah's prosperity after abandoning the Lord.
2 Chronicles 12 11 Context
Chapter 12 of 2 Chronicles details the spiritual and political decline during Rehoboam's reign. After forsaking the Lord (2 Chr 12:1), Judah and Rehoboam are disciplined by God through Shishak, the king of Egypt. Shishak successfully invades and plunders Jerusalem, stripping the temple and the king's palace of their treasures, including the 300 golden shields Solomon had made (2 Chr 12:9-10). In a stark demonstration of his reduced circumstances and diminished glory, Rehoboam replaces these invaluable golden shields with inferior bronze ones. Verse 11 specifically highlights the new routine surrounding these bronze shields, contrasting sharply with the permanence and intrinsic value of their golden predecessors. This constant retrieval and return of the bronze shields symbolize Judah's state of humility and God's continued discipline, yet also a partial act of maintaining outward ritual.
2 Chronicles 12 11 Word analysis
And whenever the king went into the house of the Lord,
- And whenever: Implies a regular, repeated action, making it a visible, ongoing reminder. This wasn't a one-time event but a routine.
- the king: Refers to Rehoboam, who had led Judah astray. His actions, both past sins and present ritual, are central.
- went into: Hebrew: בָּא (ba'), meaning 'to come, go, enter.' Signifies purposeful movement into the sacred space, perhaps to perform official duties or worship, highlighting the mandatory nature of this ceremonial display.
- the house of the Lord: Hebrew: בֵית יְהוָה (beit YHWH), referring to the Temple in Jerusalem. This sacred space, built by Solomon with divine guidance, was meant to embody God's presence and Israel's devotion. Now, it holds bronze substitutes for what was once gold, emphasizing the defilement and diminished glory caused by unfaithfulness.
the guard came and carried them,
- the guard: Hebrew: הָרָצִים (ha'ratzim), literally "the runners" or "footmen." These were the king's royal bodyguards or couriers, demonstrating that the display of these shields was part of royal protocol, yet carried out by servants. Their carrying the bronze shields rather than Solomon's personal display of the golden ones, suggests a level of humiliation and delegated, mundane activity.
- came and carried them: The act of 'carrying' them highlights their being mobile, not permanent fixtures as the gold ones likely were within the treasury or inner court display. This routine shows they were valuable enough for ceremonial display, but not so valuable or revered as to be left out, underscoring their inferior status and the need for protection even of these substitutes.
and then brought them back to the guardroom.
- brought them back: Hebrew: הֵשִׁיבוּם (heyshivum), 'to cause to return, restore.' This action completes the cycle, underscoring their temporary public appearance and their true place in storage, signifying a loss of honor.
- to the guardroom: Hebrew: תָּא (ta'), meaning 'chamber, cell, store-room.' This designated storage area, likely a utilitarian space, starkly contrasts with the likely place of honor or security the golden shields once held. It physically manifests the decline from glorious display to practical, secured storage of mere replicas.
2 Chronicles 12 11 Bonus section
The transition from gold to bronze carried deep symbolic weight beyond just monetary value. In biblical imagery, gold often represents purity, divine glory, heavenly value, and spiritual perfection (e.g., the gold overlay of the tabernacle, the golden items in the Temple). Bronze, while a strong and practical metal, is often associated with judgment (the bronze altar for sacrifice, the bronze serpent for healing from sin) or common earthly strength, especially in comparison to gold. The replacement visually narrated Judah's transition from a divinely blessed nation embodying heavenly glory to one experiencing God's judgment and relying on a more common, human strength. It became a perpetual memorial not of God's lavish blessing, but of Rehoboam's unfaithfulness and its consequences, etched into the very ceremonies of the king and the sacred space itself. This "bring out and put back" routine contrasted sharply with the intrinsic value and secure, possibly permanent, display of the original golden shields, emphasizing the superficiality and temporariness of Rehoboam's new 'glory.'
2 Chronicles 12 11 Commentary
2 Chronicles 12:11 provides a vivid postscript to the Egyptian invasion and its direct consequence: the replacement of Solomon's magnificent golden shields with common bronze ones. This verse captures a humiliating and repetitive ritual that visually demonstrated Judah's fall from grace. The routine of the royal guards bringing out these bronze replicas whenever the king entered the Temple, only to return them to a mere guardroom, served as a perpetual, tangible reminder of lost glory. The original golden shields symbolized divine blessing, covenant faithfulness, and unparalleled wealth during Solomon's reign, marking God's favor upon His people. Their replacement with bronze (a common and less precious metal) symbolized Rehoboam's unfaithfulness, God's consequent judgment, and the nation's spiritual impoverishment. The public display of these inferior items during religious attendance signifies a form of religious ceremony devoid of its former divine splendor and genuine heart, echoing themes of external ritualism without internal truth. It speaks to the painful reality that abandoning the Lord leads not only to material loss but also to public shame and a diminished spiritual heritage.
For example, imagine a trophy cabinet, once filled with solid gold awards, now containing mere plastic replicas that are only brought out for display on specific occasions and immediately put back into storage. The act of "carrying them out" and "bringing them back" is less about pride and more about a somber obligation, a daily or weekly performance reminding everyone present of a grandeur that was tragically forfeited.