2 Crônicas 10

ARC · Chapter 10/36

1E foi Roboão a Sichem, porque todo o Israel tinha vindo a Sichem para o fazerem rei.

2Succedeu pois que, ouvindo-o Jeroboão, filho de Nebat (o qual estava então no Egypto para onde fugira da presença do rei Salomão), voltou Jeroboão do Egypto.

3Porque enviaram a elle, e o chamaram: e veiu pois Jeroboão com todo o Israel: e fallaram a Roboão dizendo:

4Teu pae fez duro o nosso jugo, allivia tu pois agora a dura servidão de teu pae, e o pesado jugo d'elle, que nos tinha imposto, e servir-te-hemos.

5E elle lhes disse: D'aqui a tres dias tornae a mim. Então o povo se foi.

6E teve Roboão conselho com os anciãos, que estiveram perante Salomão seu pae, emquanto viveu, dizendo: Como aconselhaes vós que se responda a este povo?

7E elles lhe fallaram, dizendo: Se te fizeres benigno e affavel com este povo, e lhes fallares boas palavras, todos os dias serão teus servos.

8Porém elle deixou o conselho, que os anciãos lhe deram: e teve conselho com os mancebos, que haviam crescido com elle, e estavam perante elle.

9E disse-lhes: Que aconselhaes vós, que respondamos a este povo? que me fallou, dizendo: Allivia-nos o jugo que teu pae nos impoz?

10E os mancebos, que com elle haviam crescido, lhe fallaram, dizendo: Assim dirás a este povo, que te fallou, dizendo: Teu pae aggravou o nosso jugo, tu porém allivia-nos: assim pois lhes fallarás: O meu dedo minimo é mais grosso do que os lombos de meu pae

11Assim que se meu pae vos fez carregar d'um jugo pesado, eu ainda accrescentarei sobre o vosso jugo: meu pae vos castigou com açoites, porém eu vos castigarei com escorpiões.

12Veiu pois Jeroboão, e todo o povo a Roboão, no terceiro dia, como o rei tinha ordenado, dizendo: Tornae a mim ao terceiro dia.

13E o rei lhe respondeu asperamente: porque o rei Roboão deixou o conselho dos anciãos.

14E fallou-lhes conforme ao conselho dos mancebos, dizendo: Meu pae aggravou o vosso jugo, porém eu lhe accrescentarei mais: meu pae vos castigou com açoites, porém eu vos castigarei com escorpiões.

15Assim o rei não deu ouvidos ao povo, porque esta mudança vinha de Deus, para que o Senhor confirmasse a sua palavra, a qual fallara pelo ministerio d'Ahias, o silonita, a Jeroboão, filho de Nebat.

16Vendo pois todo o Israel, que o rei lhes não dava ouvidos, então o povo respondeu ao rei, dizendo: Que parte temos nós com David? já não temos herança no filho d'Isai; Israel, cada um ás suas tendas! Olha agora pela tua casa, ó David. Assim todo o Israel se foi para as suas tendas.

17Porém, quanto aos filhos de Israel, que habitavam nas cidades de Judah, sobre elles reinou Roboão.

18Então o rei Roboão enviou a Hadoram, que tinha cargo dos tributos; porém os filhos d'Israel o apedrejaram com pedras, de que morreu: então o rei Roboão se esforçou a subir para o seu carro, e fugiu para Jerusalem.

19Assim se rebellaram os israelitas contra a casa de David, até ao dia d'hoje.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

After Solomon's death, his son Rehoboam takes the throne, but refuses to lighten the heavy workloads imposed on the people, following the arrogant advice of young counselors instead of the experienced elders. This sparks the rebellion of the ten northern tribes, who break away to form the kingdom of Israel.

Explanation

This is the decisive moment of the division of the united kingdom of Israel into two rival kingdoms: Judah in the south (led by Rehoboam) and Israel in the north (led by Jeroboam). The immediate cause is Rehoboam's political arrogance, choosing to intimidate rather than negotiate, but the text makes clear that this division had already been anticipated by God as a consequence of Solomon's idolatry in his later years, mentioned in 1 Kings 11. The northern people's striking declaration — 'what portion have we in David?' — marks a rupture that would never be fully healed in Israel's history, giving rise to centuries of rivalry, occasional wars, and, eventually, separate fates before foreign empires.

Fun facts

  • The division of the kingdom took place around 930 BC and resulted in two kingdoms that would never fully reunite: Israel (north, with ten tribes) fell to Assyria in 722 BC, and Judah (south, with Judah and Benjamin) fell to Babylon in 586 BC.
  • The chronicler, writing centuries later solely for the people of Judah, devotes the rest of his book almost exclusively to the history of the southern kingdom, mentioning the northern kingdom only when it directly interacts with Judah.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Crônicas 10:1Rehoboam travels to Shechem because it is there, not in Jerusalem, that all Israel gathers to crown him king — a detail that already shows the tension between the northern kingdom and the southern capital.
  2. 2 Crônicas 10:2Jeroboam, who had fled to Egypt to escape Solomon, returns as soon as he hears the news of the gathering at Shechem — he was already seen as an alternative leader.
  3. 2 Crônicas 10:3The people call Jeroboam back specifically to represent their demands before the new king Rehoboam.
  4. 2 Crônicas 10:4The people’s request is direct: Solomon had placed a heavy yoke on them, and they ask that Rehoboam lighten that burden in exchange for their loyalty.
  5. 2 Crônicas 10:5Rehoboam asks for three days to think it over before giving an answer, and the people agree to wait that long.
  6. 2 Crônicas 10:6Rehoboam first consults the elders who had served alongside Solomon, asking how he should answer the people’s request.
  7. 2 Crônicas 10:7The elders advise a simple path: if Rehoboam treats the people kindly and speaks good words to them, they will stay loyal forever.
  8. 2 Crônicas 10:8Rehoboam ignores the elders’ advice and turns instead to the young men who grew up with him at court.
  9. 2 Crônicas 10:9Rehoboam repeats the same question to these young advisers: how to answer the people’s request to lighten the heavy yoke Solomon had imposed.
  10. 2 Crônicas 10:10The young men advise the opposite of the elders: answer with arrogance, saying that Rehoboam’s little finger is thicker than his own father’s waist.
  11. 2 Crônicas 10:11The young men’s suggestion is even harsher: if Solomon punished with whips, Rehoboam should punish with scorpions — a symbol of even more severe punishment.
  12. 2 Crônicas 10:12On the agreed third day, Jeroboam and all the people return to Rehoboam exactly as the king had asked.
  13. 2 Crônicas 10:13Rehoboam answers harshly, because he decides to follow the young men’s advice instead of the experienced elders’ advice.
  14. 2 Crônicas 10:14Rejecting the elders’ advice, Rehoboam repeats almost word for word the young advisers’ threat: if his father was already harsh, he will be even harsher. It is this arrogant answer, decided at a crucial moment right at the start of his reign, that sets off the split of the kingdom in two.
  15. 2 Crônicas 10:15The text explains this disastrous decision in an unexpected way: “the cause was of God,” fitting even Rehoboam’s mistake into a larger plan, tied to a promise already made to Jeroboam earlier, told in detail in the book of Kings.
  16. 2 Crônicas 10:16Seeing that the king will not meet their demands, the people of the north publicly declare they want nothing more to do with the house of David and go back home — the cry that marks the kingdom’s rupture.
  17. 2 Crônicas 10:17Despite the general revolt, Rehoboam goes on reigning over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah, in the south — the core of the kingdom left to him.
  18. 2 Crônicas 10:18Rehoboam sends the man in charge of forced labor to negotiate with the people, but he is stoned to death — the king himself has to flee in haste by chariot to Jerusalem.
  19. 2 Crônicas 10:19The chapter closes by recording that this rebellion of Israel against the house of David still stood firm up to the time the book was written.

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