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2 Chronicles 11:23

in 2 Chronicles 11

Rehoboam also acted wisely by dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and sought many wives for them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fortified city: and he gave them victuals in abundance. And he sought for them many wives.

KJV

And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.

This verse in 2 Chronicles 11

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Rehoboam’s wisdom was shown: (1) In dispersing his other sons instead of allowing them to remain together in Jerusalem, where they might have joined in a plot against Abijah, as Adonijah and his brothers had done against Solomon 1Ki 1:5-10; (2) In giving his sons positions which might well content them and prevent them from being jealous of Abijah. He desired many wives - (Compare 2Ch 11:21). Some prefer to connect the words with the preceding words. If so, they denote another point in which Rehoboam was careful to please his sons.

This site's exposition

Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah

on 2 Chronicles 11:22-23

Rehoboam makes Abijah son of Maacah “chief prince among his brothers, intending to make him king,” though Scripture never calls him the firstborn. Deuteronomy 21:15-17 guards the firstborn's right whichever wife a father loves best. He “acted wisely” with the rest, dispersing his sons through the fortified cities.

This site's exposition

Rehoboam also acted wisely

Barnes names the danger the dispersal avoided: brothers gathered in Jerusalem might plot against Abijah, as Adonijah had plotted against Solomon. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Eastern kings kept their sons apart with offices of their own. The Berean reads the wives as sought for the sons.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

In this he was more wise than his father, that he does not appear to have married strange wives. The wives mentioned here were not only daughters of Israel, but of the family of David; one was a descendant from Eliab, David's brother (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And he dealt wisely,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

After-wisdom is better than none at all; nay, they say, "Wit is never good till it is bought;" though he was dearly bought with the loss of a kingdom.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

They had formerly sat loose to that family ( 2 Sam. xx. 1, 2 ), and now they quite threw it off, not considering how much it would weaken the common interest and take Israel down from that pitch of glory at which it had arrived in the last reign. But thus the kingdom must be corrected as well as the house of David.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

But Eastern monarchs ensure peace and tranquillity to their kingdom by bestowing government offices on their sons and grandsons. They obtain an independent provision, and being kept apart, are not likely to cabal in their father's lifetime.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

He dealt wisely - It was true policy to disperse his own sons through the different provinces who were not likely to form any league with Jeroboam against their father. He desired many wives - He was much addicted to women; yet we do not find that he formed any heathenish alliances of this nature. And as no particulars are given, we do not know how far he indulged himself in this propensity. He probably strengthened his political connections by these means.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיָּבֶן֩and he acted wisely

    vaiyavenH995 →170 times

  • וַיִּפְרֹ֨ץand he distributed

    vaiyifrotzH6555 →49 times

  • מִכָּל־some of all

    mikolH3605 →5413 times

  • בָּנָ֜יוsons his

    banavH1121 →4930 times

  • לְֽכָל־to all

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • אַרְצ֧וֹת[the] lands of

    ʾartzotH776 →2504 times

  • יְהוּדָ֣הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • וּבִנְיָמִ֗ןand Benjamin

    uvinyaminH1144 →166 times

  • לְכֹל֙to all

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • עָרֵ֣י[the] cities of

    ʾareiH5892 →1090 times

  • הַמְּצֻר֔וֹת<the> fortifications

    hametzurotH4694 →8 times

  • וַיִּתֵּ֥ןand he gave

    vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times

  • לָהֶ֛םto them

    lahem

  • הַמָּז֖וֹן<the> food

    hamazonH4202 →

  • לָרֹ֑בto abundance

    laroH7230 →149 times

  • וַיִּשְׁאַ֖לand he sought

    vaiyishalH7592 →171 times

  • הֲמ֥וֹןa multitude of

    hamonH1995 →83 times

  • נָשִֽׁים׃wives

    nashimH802 →781 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Genesis 25:6

    But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 21:14

      Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of…

    • Judges 6:3

      Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,

    • Acts 14:17

      Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

  • Through

    Luke 16:8

    The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:5

      For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

    • Ephesians 5:8

      For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

    • Proverbs 6:6–8

      Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

    • Luke 16:10

      Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

    • John 12:36

      While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of light.” After Jesus had spoken these things, He went away and was hidden from them.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About 2 Chronicles

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.