2 Chronicles 11:21
in 2 Chronicles 11Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines, and begat twenty and eight sons and threescore daughters).
KJV
And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 11
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines, &c. Who is called Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel, 2Ch 13:2, for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines; led thereunto by the example of his father Solomon, contrary to the command of God, Deu 17:17. and begat twenty eight sons and sixty daughters; to have many children was reckoned a great blessing, but it was not honourable to have them in such a way.
This site's exposition
bare him Abijah, and Attai
on 2 Chronicles 11:20-21
Maachah, daughter of Absalom, bears Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith, and Rehoboam loves her above all his other wives and concubines. The parenthesis totals the household: eighteen wives, threescore concubines, and twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters, the same pattern of multiplied wives Deut 17:17 forbade a king of Israel to pursue, though less extreme than his father Solomon's. 2 Chr 13:2 later calls this same woman Michaiah, daughter of Uriel, a discrepancy the commentators resolve by a second name or a grandfather counted as father, without agreement on which.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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 Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines--This royal harem, though far smaller than his father's, was equally in violation of the law, which forbade a king to "multiply wives unto himself" [De 17:17].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Eighteen wives and threescore concubines - Bad enough, but not so abandoned as his father. Of these marriages and concubinage the issue was twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters; eighty-eight children in the whole, to the education of the whole of whom he could pay but little attention. Numerous families are often neglected; and children by different women, must be yet in a worse state.
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֶּאֱהַ֨ב | vaiyeehav | and he loved | H157 → | 211 times |
| רְחַבְעָ֜ם | rechavam | Rehoboam | H7346 → | 50 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַעֲכָ֣ה | maakhah | Maacah | H4601 → | 23 times |
| בַת־ | vat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| אַבְשָׁל֗וֹם | ʾavshalom | Absalom | H53 → | |
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | more than all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נָשָׁיו֙ | nashav | wives his | H802 → | 781 times |
| וּפִ֣ילַגְשָׁ֔יו | ufilagshav | and concubines his | H6370 → | |
| כִּ֠י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נָשִׁ֤ים | nashim | wives | H802 → | 781 times |
| שְׁמוֹנֶֽה־ | shemoneh- | eight- | H8083 → | 109 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵה֙ | ʾesreh | teen | H6240 → | 338 times |
| נָשָׂ֔א | nasa' | he had taken | H5375 → | 656 times |
| וּפִֽילַגְשִׁ֖ים | ufilagshim | and concubines | H6370 → | |
| שִׁשִּׁ֑ים | shishim | sixty | H8346 → | 59 times |
| וַיּ֗וֹלֶד | vaiyoled | and he fathered | H3205 → | 496 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֧ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| וּשְׁמוֹנָ֛ה | ushemonah | and eight | H8083 → | 109 times |
| בָּנִ֖ים | banim | sons | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְשִׁשִּׁ֥ים | veshishim | and sixty | H8346 → | 59 times |
| בָּנֽוֹת׃ | banot | daughters | H1323 → | 588 times |
וַיֶּאֱהַ֨בand he loved
vaiyeehavH157 →211 times
רְחַבְעָ֜םRehoboam
rechavamH7346 →50 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַעֲכָ֣הMaacah
maakhahH4601 →23 times
בַת־[the] daughter of
vat-H1323 →588 times
אַבְשָׁל֗וֹםAbsalom
ʾavshalomH53 →
מִכָּל־more than all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
נָשָׁיו֙wives his
nashavH802 →781 times
וּפִ֣ילַגְשָׁ֔יוand concubines his
ufilagshavH6370 →
כִּ֠יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נָשִׁ֤יםwives
nashimH802 →781 times
שְׁמוֹנֶֽה־eight-
shemoneh-H8083 →109 times
עֶשְׂרֵה֙teen
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
נָשָׂ֔אhe had taken
nasa'H5375 →656 times
וּפִֽילַגְשִׁ֖יםand concubines
ufilagshimH6370 →
שִׁשִּׁ֑יםsixty
shishimH8346 →59 times
וַיּ֗וֹלֶדand he fathered
vaiyoledH3205 →496 times
עֶשְׂרִ֧יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
וּשְׁמוֹנָ֛הand eight
ushemonahH8083 →109 times
בָּנִ֖יםsons
banimH1121 →4930 times
וְשִׁשִּׁ֥יםand sixty
veshishimH8346 →59 times
בָּנֽוֹת׃daughters
banotH1323 →588 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Judges 8:30Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
it leads to
- Judges 9:5
He went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 9:5
Through
2 Samuel 5:13After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 17:17
He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 3:9
These were all the sons of David, besides the sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister.
- Deuteronomy 17:17
Through
Deuteronomy 17:17He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 13:26
Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all…
- Proverbs 30:8–9
Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.
- Matthew 19:5
and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
- Psalms 62:10
Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
- Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
- Nehemiah 13:26
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.