What is the context?
After establishing his royal power, Rehoboam and the people forsake the Lord’s Law. Shishak’s invasion in the fifth year is explicitly related to their unfaithfulness.
The Egyptian king’s forces capture the fortified cities and reach Jerusalem. The defenses described in the preceding chapter cannot guarantee safety apart from the people’s faithfulness to God.
This explanation belongs to the narrator’s account of this invasion. It does not give later observers authority to diagnose every military defeat through an accusation of unknown wrongdoing.
How is this passage commonly understood?
The USCCB notes connect this account with 1 Kings 14:21–26, where Judah’s wrongdoing and Shishak’s attack are also recorded. Wesley discusses the peoples in the army, but those proposed identifications need not be settled to understand the stated failure of the defenses.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.
Where can I study this further?
No deeper study linked yet.