1 Kings 14:25

And it came to pass in the fifth year [that is, two years after king and people forsook the law of the Lord ( 2 Chronicles 12:11 ). Retribution seems to have overtaken Judah sooner than Israel. They had the less excuse, and they seem to have plunged deeper into idolatry and immorality] of King Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt [to whom Jeroboam had fled ( 1 Kings 11:26 , 1 Kings 11:40 )] came up against Jerusalem . [This expedition is related with somewhat more of detail in 2 Chronicles 12:2-4 . For Shishak, see 1 Kings 11:40 . It was in the twentieth year of his reign that Shishak, once Jeroboam's protector and friend, invaded Palestine. It has been conjectured (Ewald, al .) that he was incited so to do by Jeroboam, and that the two kings waged war against Judah in concert (see on 1 Kings 11:30 ). But as to this Scripture is silent; and moreover if Jeroboam summoned Shishak to his assistance, it is certain that his own kingdom did not altogether escape invasion; and it is perhaps more probable that the divided and weakened state of the country seemed to promise the Egyptian king an easy capture of Jerusalem, of the treasures of which he had doubtless heard. It is well known that a record of this expedition exists in the sculptures and inscriptions of the great temple at Karnak. The bassi relievi of the temple wall contain over 130 figures, representatives, as the names on the shields show, of so many conquered cities. Amongst these are found three of the "cities for defence" which Rehoboam had built, viz; Shoco, Adoraim, and Aijalon ( 2 Chronicles 11:7-10 ), while many other towns of Palestine, such as Gibeon, Taanach, Shunem, Megiddo, etc; are identified with more or less of probability. One feature in the list is remarkable, viz; the number of Levitical and Canaanite ciies—cities of Israel— which Shishak is said to have conquered. The usual inference is that such cities, although in Jeroboam's dominions, had nevertheless held out against his rule—the former for religious reasons; the latter, perhaps, in the effort to recover their independence. Mr. Peele, however (Dict. Bib; art. "Egypt" ), accounts for the names on the supposition that Shishak directed, his forces against the northern as well as the southern kingdom, and certainly this seems to agree better with the facts. It is hardly likely that Jeroboam, with the army at his command, would tolerate so many centres of disaffection in his midst. Besides, the Levites, we are told, had migrated in a body to Judah; and the Canaanites at this period can hardly have been in a position to defy any Hebrew monarch. The silence alike of our historian and of the chronicler as to the invasion of Israel is easily accounted for by the fact that Judah bore the brunt of the war.]