2 Chronicleschapter 10
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Speaks with:1 Kings 12×71 Kings 11×52 Samuel 17×32 Chronicles 10×3Matthew 1×1Judges 9×1
Summary
Chapter summary
The kingdom splits in one conversation. Rehoboam goes to Shechem, and Jeroboam returns from Egypt with the assembly's request: lighten the grievous yoke and we will serve thee. The old men who had stood before Solomon counsel him to speak good words and be their servant for ever; the young men he grew up with give him a boast instead: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins… my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.' Israel answers, 'What portion have we in David?' and goes to its tents. Hadoram the taskmaster is stoned; Rehoboam flees to Jerusalem in his chariot. The Chronicler notes that the turn of affairs was brought about of God.
Context
History · Ezra — 2 Chronicles overview
- A. 1–11 Old men counsel kindness, young men counsel scorpions
- B. 12–19 To your tents, O Israel: the kingdom torn in two
The outline
A.Old men counsel kindness, young men counsel scorpionsvv. 1 to 11
Read vv. 1 to 11 →B.To your tents, O Israel: the kingdom torn in twovv. 12 to 19
Read vv. 12 to 19 →
The world behind this chapter
2 Chronicles 10The history
Rehoboam has to go north to Shechem to be made king, which tells you the balance of power. Shechem was the north's ancient assembly place, where Joshua had gathered Israel to renew the covenant. Going there meant negotiating on their ground.
The grievance is specific and economic. The 'heavy yoke' was the forced labor levy and the taxation that funded the building programme. Solomon's projects had been paid for by conscripted work gangs and district taxes, and the north had carried the weight while Jerusalem got the buildings.
Jeroboam had fled to Egypt after an earlier revolt and returns for this assembly — an exile with a following, back at the moment of a weak succession.
The advisers split by generation. The elders who had stood before Solomon counsel a soft answer that would buy lifelong loyalty; the young men who grew up with Rehoboam counsel escalation. Then Rehoboam sends Hadoram, the officer in charge of the labor levy, to face the crowd — the most hated man in the kingdom, sent to negotiate with the people who hated him. They stoned him to death, and the king fled to his chariot.
What it meant to them
The writer tells the story from Judah's side and still does not make Rehoboam a victim. The demand was reasonable, the elders' advice was right, and the king chose the answer that felt strong.
The province the first hearers lived in was the last remnant of the half that stayed. This chapter explained, without excuses, why there was only half a family left to come home.
Sources cited
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on 2 Chronicles 10. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.