2 Chronicles 12:6
in 2 Chronicles 12So 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.
⋯
This verse in 2 Chronicles 12
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhereupon 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
Ye have forsaken me
on 2 Chronicles 12:5-6
Shemaiah the prophet is the Chronicler's own witness, absent from the parallel in 1 Kings, and his word to Rehoboam and the princes is measure for measure: Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. The princes and the king answer the accusation rather than the invader, and they humbled themselves and said, The Lord is righteous. A confession of God's justice, offered to a prophet rather than to a general, is the response the chapter credits with everything that follows.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
"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
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּכָּנְע֥וּ | vaiyikaneu | and they humbled themselves | H3665 → | 36 times |
| שָׂרֵֽי־ | sarei- | [the] leaders of | H8269 → | 421 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְהַמֶּ֑לֶךְ | vehamelekh | and the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| צַדִּ֥יק׀ | tzadik | [is] righteous | H6662 → | |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
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.
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
Daniel 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.
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.
- Daniel 9:7
Through
2 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.
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.
- Exodus 10:3
Through
Psalms 129:4The 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.
- Psalms 119:137
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.