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2 Chronicles 12:6

in 2 Chronicles 12

So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, Jehovah is righteous.

KJV

Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous.

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This verse in 2 Chronicles 12

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves,.... Both by words acknowledging their sins, and the justice of God, and by deeds, perhaps putting on sackcloth, as was usual on such occasions, and betaking themselves to fasting and prayer: and they said, the Lord is righteous; in giving them up into the hand of their enemies, seeing they had forsaken him, and sinned against him.

This site's exposition

Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam

on 2 Chronicles 12:5-6

Shemaiah the prophet is the Chronicler's own witness, absent from the parallel in 1 Kings. His word is measure for measure: “You have forsaken Me; therefore, I have forsaken you into the hand of Shishak”. The leaders and the king humble themselves and say, “The LORD is righteous”.

This site's exposition

The LORD is righteous

The king and the leaders humbled themselves, and Clarke observes that 1 Kings 14:25-29 has no record of this humbling. He holds it was the one reason Jerusalem and the house of David survived an army they could never have resisted. Gill pictures sackcloth, fasting and prayer beside the confession.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

"We have none to blame but ourselves; let God be clear when he judgeth." Thus it becomes us, when we are under the rebukes of Providence, to justify God and judge ourselves.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves - This is not mentioned in the parallel place, 1Ki 14:25-29: this was the sole reason why Jerusalem was not at this time totally destroyed, and the house of David entirely cut off; for they were totally incapable of defending themselves against this innumerable host.
They said, The Lord is righteous - i. e., they acknowledged the justice of the sentence which had gone forth against them 2Ch 12:5.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

They have humbled themselves; I shall not destroy them A similar instance is found below (14: 6): “The land is still before us for we have sought, etc. we have sought.” So is the custom of the Scriptures, that when it interrupts in the middle, it repeats the word.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 12:7:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

7 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.

  • וַיִּכָּנְע֥וּand they humbled themselves

    vaiyikaneuH3665 →36 times

  • שָׂרֵֽי־[the] leaders of

    sarei-H8269 →421 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וְהַמֶּ֑לֶךְand the king

    vehamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וַיֹּאמְר֖וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • צַדִּ֥יק׀[is] righteous

    tzadikH6662 →

  • יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

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

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 9:27Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.5 worksDaniel 9:14Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.4 works2 Chronicles 21:2Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; these were all sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.3 worksJeremiah 18:8But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.3 works2 Chronicles 33:12And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.2 works2 Chronicles 32:26Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart—he and the people of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.2 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Psalms 129:4The LORD is righteous; He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.2 worksRomans 10:3Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.2 worksJeremiah 13:18Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”2 worksDaniel 5:22But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.2 worksJob 33:27Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.2 works2 Chronicles 33:23but he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done; instead, Amon increased his guilt.2 works1 Kings 8:37–39When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,2 worksJeremiah 13:15Listen and give heed. Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.2 worksJudges 1:7Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.2 worksLuke 18:14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”2 worksJames 4:6But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”2 worksJeremiah 44:10To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.2 works

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

    Daniel 9:14

    Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.

    it leads to

    • Daniel 9:7

      To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Nehemiah 9:33

      You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 33:12

    And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 10:3

      So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people…

    • Psalms 50:15

      Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

    • 2 Chronicles 32:26

      Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart—he and the people of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.

    • James 4:10

      Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Psalms 129:4

    The LORD is righteous; He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 119:137

      Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.

    • Lamentations 3:22

      Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.

About 2 Chronicles

Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
2 Chronicles: the study guide →Read 2 Chronicles 12 →

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

Read on in 2 Chronicles 12 →