Introduction: The Rise and Fall of Rechavam
Chapter 12 of Divrei HaYamim II is the concluding chapter of Rechavam's reign. The chapter opens at the pinnacle of his kingdom - "when the kingdom of Rechavam was established and grew strong" - and precisely from there the downfall begins. From strength comes the abandonment of the Torah; immediately following it comes the invasion of Shishak king of Egypt; and out of the blow come surrender and repentance. The entire chapter is a lesson in understanding the Holy One, Blessed be He's relationship with the House of David: not destruction but healing, not wrath to consume, but anger meant to rectify.
Pasuk 1: Service Driven by Ulterior Motives
וַיְהִי כְּהָכִין מַלְכוּת רְחַבְעָם וּכְחֶזְקָתוֹ עָזַב אֶת־תּוֹרַת יְהֹוָה וְכָל־יִשְׂרָאֵל עִמּוֹ׃ - And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rechavam was established and he had grown strong, that he abandoned the Torah of Hashem, and all Israel with him.
The Malbim explains: One who serves Hashem out of love, without any ulterior motive, purely for the sake of Hashem, will never depart from his service under any circumstances. But one who serves Hashem for external goals and ulterior motives will abandon Hashem the moment those incentives disappear. For if a person serves for another end, once that end ceases, the love ceases and the service ceases. A person who serves Hashem for honor, the moment honor is withheld from him, he walks away. One who serves for power, when the power is gone, it is over. One who serves for money, if he is demoted and no longer receives a salary, it is over. But one who serves out of love, with no ulterior motive, purely for the sake of Heaven, will never abandon the service of Hashem.
With this, the Malbim explains Rechavam: he served the Holy One, Blessed be He, for an ulterior purpose. What was his goal? That through this his kingdom would be strengthened against Yarovam, since Yarovam practiced idolatry. "Come to me - I continue the dynasty of the House of David, the Beis HaMikdash is with me, here there is freedom of worship for Hashem Yisbarach," and so people were drawn to him. But once his kingdom was consolidated, once he had built fortified cities and no longer feared Yarovam's realm, he felt he no longer needed those people and did not need to be subservient to Hashem Yisbarach - and then "he abandoned the Torah of Hashem."
"And all Israel with him" - the people served the Holy One, Blessed be He, following the king's lead, and the moment the king abandoned it, they abandoned it along with him. We have seen this throughout the generations: almost always, when the kings were righteous, the people walked in the way of Hashem, and when the kings were wicked, the people did not walk in the way of Hashem. There were rare cases where the king was on one level and the generation on another, as we saw with Tzidkiyahu, or as is written of Yoshiyahu, whose generation was not fittingly like him. But in the vast majority of cases, the people were drawn after the kings and followed their lead.
Pasuk 2: Punishment That Does Not Delay
וַיְהִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַחֲמִישִׁית לַמֶּלֶךְ רְחַבְעָם עָלָה שִׁישַׁק מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַיִם עַל־יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם כִּי מָעֲלוּ בַּיהֹוָה׃ - And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rechavam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against Hashem.
The Malbim informs us that what the Holy One, Blessed be He, promised to David is fulfilled here. We learned this at length in Shmuel II, Chapter 7: "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to Me a son; when he strays, I will chasten him with the rod of men... but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him." The Holy One, Blessed be He, told him: The son who issues from your loins will be a son to Me, and when he perverts his way I will rebuke him with the rod of men - meaning, he will suffer blows, and those blows will be to straighten him out, but I will never bring him to a state where I abandon him completely.
This is the difference between him and Yarovam: with Yarovam, Hashem did not punish him until his measure was full, and then complete annihilation came, leaving not a single male descendant behind. But to the descendants of David, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: It shall not be so. When they deviate from the path, they receive slaps to bring them back to the way, and I will not allow them to deteriorate into total destruction until nothing of them remains.
See, therefore, how immediate it was in the case of Rechavam: we saw earlier, "So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and fortified Rechavam the son of Solomon, for three years; for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years" - for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon, which means the deviation occurred in the fourth year. And here: "And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rechavam, that Shishak came up." They strayed in the fourth year, and immediately in the fifth year Shishak arrives. This is why the text specifies "because they had transgressed against Hashem" (me'alu) rather than "because they sinned" - for Hashem did not wait until sins multiplied; rather, as soon as they committed treachery, He rebuked them. And so it turned out that all the vast multitude he had gathered from Israel availed him nothing: you were confident that you now had the strength to fortify your kingdom and had no need for Hashem - now let us see you confront Shishak.
Verses 3-4: The Collapse of the Defensive Line
בְּאֶלֶף וּמָאתַיִם רֶכֶב וּבְשִׁשִּׁים אֶלֶף פָּרָשִׁים וְאֵין מִסְפָּר לָעָם אֲשֶׁר־בָּאוּ עִמּוֹ מִמִּצְרַיִם לוּבִים סֻכִּיִּים וְכוּשִׁים׃ וַיִּלְכֹּד אֶת־עָרֵי הַמְּצֻרוֹת אֲשֶׁר לִיהוּדָה וַיָּבֹא עַד־יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ - "With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen, and without number were the people who came with him from Egypt: Lubim, Sukkiim, and Kushim. And he captured the fortified cities of Judah, and came up to Jerusalem."
This refers to an immense army: twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen, and in addition to the chariots and cavalry there was also an infantry - "and without number were the people who came with him from Egypt." And who were they? Lubim - from the land of Libya; Sukkiim - from Succoth; and Kushim - from the land of Cush.
"And he captured the fortified cities of Judah" - this marks the collapse of the defensive line. Rehavam had built fortified cities for himself, believing they would serve as the first barrier and line of defense. He equipped them with spears, shields, and bucklers, and stocked them with food - yet in the end, it all collapsed. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: Here are the cities you relied upon, and Shishak walks right through them and reaches Jerusalem. That which you placed your trust in - see how worthless it is. You should not have relied upon "my strength and the might of my hand."
Verse 5: The Rebuke of Shemaiah the Prophet
וּשְׁמַעְיָה הַנָּבִיא בָּא אֶל־רְחַבְעָם וְשָׂרֵי יְהוּדָה אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם כֹּה־אָמַר יְהֹוָה אַתֶּם עֲזַבְתֶּם אֹתִי וְאַף־אֲנִי עָזַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בְּיַד־שִׁישָׁק׃ - "And Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehavam and the princes of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them: 'Thus said Hashem: You have forsaken Me, and I also have forsaken you into the hand of Shishak.'"
The prophet shows them that the Holy One, blessed be He, deals with them as a father with his son. A father who chastises his son does not do so out of cruelty; rather, he explains that everything he does is to guide and correct him. So too here: know that this is no coincidence - Shishak's arrival is the direct consequence of forsaking Hashem.
Verses 6-7: The Submission, and the Distinction Between Wrath and Fury
וַיִּכָּנְעוּ שָׂרֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמְרוּ צַדִּיק יְהֹוָה׃ וּבִרְאוֹת יְהֹוָה כִּי נִכְנָעוּ הָיָה דְבַר־יְהֹוָה אֶל־שְׁמַעְיָה לֵאמֹר נִכְנְעוּ לֹא אַשְׁחִיתֵם וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם כִּמְעַט לִפְלֵיטָה וְלֹא־תִתַּךְ חֲמָתִי בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם בְּיַד־שִׁישָׁק׃ - "Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves, and they said: 'Hashem is righteous.' And when Hashem saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of Hashem came to Shemaiah, saying: 'They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and My fury shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.'"
Here we see their virtue: they repented immediately; they did not persist in rebellion or remain obstinate. With Yerovam, a prophet was sent, and instead of repenting he ordered, "Seize him!" - his hand withered, and yet he still continued burning incense as before. With Rehavam, this was not the case: the moment rebuke came, he altered his course, submitted, and acknowledged that he was justly punished for his sins - "Hashem is righteous."
On the words "They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them," the Malbim explains that there is a distinction between punishment inflicted for the sake of destruction, as vengeance, and punishment administered as a remedy, to rectify and restore a person to the proper path. Parallel to this is the distinction between af (anger) and cheimah (fury): af is indignation and anger visible externally, as in "Smoke went up in His nostrils [b'apo]" - the anger is seen, the nostrils redden, and steam begins to rise; this is anger manifested externally. Cheimah, on the other hand, is the deep-seated hatred within the heart.
An example of this is found with Achashverosh: "And the king was exceedingly angry, and his fury [chamato] burned within him." The anger (ketzef) is external - like froth on the surface of the water; "his fury burned within him" refers to the internal wrath. As explained in the commentary on Megillat Esther based on the Malbim, there were two dimensions to Achashverosh's anger: the revealed and the concealed. His hidden schemes were also thwarted by what Vashti had done, and that aspect he could not allow himself to show externally out of shame; therefore, the core of the anger remained within - "and his fury burned within him." We learn from this that cheimah is internal burning, whereas ketzef and af are external manifestations of anger.
From here we see: punishment that comes by way of destruction stems from wrath (cheimah) and hatred in the heart, whereas punishment that comes by way of healing is an external anger (af) merely for appearance - like a father who punishes his son, which is "anger of the face, not anger of the heart." He must show him an angry countenance, for otherwise the son will say, "I acted and nothing happened," and will stretch the rope even further. Therefore, external anger is required. When dealing with punishment intended to destroy, it comes from an inner wrath; but when dealing with punishment intended only to deter in order to heal, it is an anger for outward appearance alone.
And this is precisely what is stated here: after they humbled themselves, Hashem says, "I will not destroy them" - it will not be by way of destruction, but by way of healing. First, "and I will grant them some measure of deliverance (kimet lifleitah)": had it been by way of destruction, He would have destroyed them all, but here a remnant will survive for deliverance. And "kimet" here does not mean "almost" as in modern usage ("it almost happened"), but rather "like a little" (k'mo me'at). As it is said, "kimet oyveihem akhnia" (Tehillim 81:15) - one who does not understand Lashon HaKodesh might think David is saying, "I almost subdued them, but failed," and fails to understand what he is singing about! Rather, the meaning is: as if they were few, I subdued them instantly. So too here: "and I will grant them a small remnant for deliverance" - not in the temporal sense of "soon" or "almost." Second, "and My wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak" - the punishment will not stem from inner wrath, which consumes and comes by way of vengeance, but only from af, the outward anger intended to rectify.
Pasuk 8: "And they shall know My service and the service of the kingdoms of the lands"
כִּי יִהְיוּ־לוֹ לַעֲבָדִים וְיֵדְעוּ עֲבוֹדָתִי וַעֲבוֹדַת מַמְלְכוֹת הָאֲרָצוֹת׃ - "For they shall be servants to him, and they shall know My service and the service of the kingdoms of the lands."
How will that constructive anger express itself? In that they will become servants to Shishak. The Malbim explains: through being servants to him, they will realize the difference between serving Me and serving the kingdoms of the lands. A person will then understand and say: How foolish I was! I had the opportunity to serve Hashem, and now I am forced to serve Shishak and the kingdoms of the earth. Then one will say, "It was better for me with my first husband" (Hoshea 2:9) - it is better for me to return to the Holy One, blessed be He, whose service is light. For when we stray from the path, the Torah promises that instead of serving Hashem, "you shall serve your enemies" in siege and distress. And once they know the difference, they will not continue along that path and will not return to ruin.
Pesukim 9-10: The Shields of Gold and the Shields of Copper
וַיַּעַל שִׁישַׁק מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַיִם עַל־יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם וַיִּקַּח אֶת־אֹצְרוֹת בֵּית־יְהֹוָה וְאֶת־אֹצְרוֹת בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־הַכֹּל לָקָח וַיִּקַּח אֶת־מָגִנֵּי הַזָּהָב אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה שְׁלֹמֹה׃ וַיַּעַשׂ הַמֶּלֶךְ רְחַבְעָם תַּחְתֵּיהֶם מָגִנֵּי נְחֹשֶׁת וְהִפְקִיד עַל־יַד שָׂרֵי הָרָצִים הַשֹּׁמְרִים פֶּתַח בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ - "So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the House of Hashem and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took the gold shields that Solomon had made. And King Rehoboam made shields of copper in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard who kept the entrance of the king’s house."
Shishak takes everything: the treasures of the House of Hashem and the treasures of the royal palace, including the gold shields - those six hundred gold shields that Solomon had made, as we saw earlier. And since Rehoboam no longer possessed such wealth and could not afford to make gold shields, he made copper shields in their place, copper being a far cheaper metal. He committed them to the hands of the captains of the runners (the royal guards) who guarded the entrance to the king's house; he did not make them for any practical military purpose, as he did not use them in going out to war, but merely to be entrusted to the guards.
Pasuk 11: The Purpose of Carrying the Shields
וַיְהִי מִדֵּי־בוֹא הַמֶּלֶךְ בֵּית יְהֹוָה בָּאוּ הָרָצִים וּנְשָׂאוּם וֶהֱשִׁבוּם אֶל־תָּא הָרָצִים׃ - "And whenever the king entered the House of Hashem, the runners came and carried them, and brought them back to the runners' chamber."
This was comparable to a red carpet rolled out in honor, or trumpets heralding the king's arrival: whenever the king went to the House of Hashem, the runners would come and carry the copper shields before him, and afterward return them to their place - "and brought them back to the runners' chamber."
The commentary attributed to Rashi explains that the king took the shields from the House of the Forest of Lebanon, entrusted them to the captains of the runners, and afterward returned them to the runners' chamber - that is, to their designated place. This is one explanation, resolving the discrepancy between what was described earlier as the "House of the Forest of Lebanon" and what is written here as the "runners' chamber." He brings another explanation in the name of his teacher: since Rehoboam was apprehensive about the king of Egypt and the king of Israel, they kept the shields always before him, meaning close to him, rather than in distant storehouses where he feared war might break out against him and they would be looted from before him.
The Malbim explains: when the king arrives at the House of Hashem to pray, he does not require guards and protection; nevertheless, the runners would come and carry the shields before him - why? "In order that his heart be humbled when going to the House of Hashem, for he would remember that in place of gold he had brought bronze on account of his sin, and his heart would be humbled." The aim was that he be humbled: that each time he would remember that in place of gold he brought bronze, and that this was because of his actions and because he corrupted his ways. In this way, the matter would always serve as a reminder of iniquity, and thereby he would do teshuvah.
Pasuk 12: The Second Humbling
וּבְהִכָּנְעוֹ שָׁב מִמֶּנּוּ אַף־יְהֹוָה וְלֹא לְהַשְׁחִית לְכָלָה וְגַם בִּיהוּדָה הָיָה דְּבָרִים טוֹבִים׃ - And when he humbled himself, the wrath of Hashem turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also in Judah there were good things.
The commentary attributed to Rashi notes a difficulty here: presumably this matter should have been written earlier. Already in verse 6 it states, "And the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves," and in verse 7, "And when Hashem saw that they were humbled... I will not destroy them," and afterward "Shishak came up" - and that would have been the natural place for "And when he humbled himself, the wrath of Hashem turned from him." Why does Scripture return to the matter of humbling only after the entire episode of the shields? The commentary attributed to Rashi answers: Scripture interrupted in the interim for the sake of "and he made bronze shields in their place" - once Shishak took the golden shields, Scripture relates that Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and that they would bring them out before him when he came to the House of Hashem; and once it concluded this matter, it returned to the initial subject. "So as not to destroy him completely" - that Hashem did not destroy him to utter annihilation. "And also in Judah there were good things" - there were good, upright, and proper things found in them, and as the Metzudat David explains, these had the power to protect them, which was an additional reason He did not bring utter destruction upon them.
The Malbim also senses this difficulty and explains differently: "When he humbled himself" - through submission, but not the submission we saw earlier when Shishak invaded, rather the humbling mentioned in the preceding verse: that he made sure to always have the bronze shields brought out before him when going to the House of Hashem, so that this would awaken him to humility. This is the humbling being spoken of here - what he established for himself as a reminder of sin: "Behold, see what you have corrupted." And in the wake of this humbling, additional compassion was granted to him from Hashem.
The Malbim observes with precision: the first submission, when Shishak marched against him, was not fully effective in turning away Hashem's wrath so that he would not be punished at all. The heimah - the internal fury - departed from him, but the af - the external anger - remained, which is why they became servants to Shishak. But now, when his humbling was genuine and came about through continuous action, where each time he would have the shields brought out to remind himself - this brought about that "also in Judah there were good things" and "King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned," meaning that Shishak withdrew from him entirely. In the end, he succeeded in removing the decree from himself completely.
And what is the meaning of "so as not to destroy him completely"? The Malbim presents a profound insight: sometimes Hashem's burning anger turns away from a person specifically in order to destroy him. When a person sins excessively and stiffens his neck, the Holy One, Blessed be He, removes His anger from him - and anger always denotes punishment, as we have noted - so that he will continue to sin, until his measure of guilt is full, and so that he will be destroyed completely. Scripture therefore comes to tell you that here this was not the case: "the wrath of Hashem turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely" - do not think that this was the removal of anger after the manner of the wicked, where Hashem turns His wrath from them so that they may multiply their transgressions and perish. Here, the wrath turned away entirely because the king humbled himself, and because there were also good things found among the people, on account of which they were saved.
Pasuk 13: A Second Strengthening and Independent Reign
וַיִּתְחַזֵּק הַמֶּלֶךְ רְחַבְעָם בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם וַיִּמְלֹךְ כִּי בֶן־אַרְבָּעִים וְאַחַת שָׁנָה רְחַבְעָם בְּמָלְכוֹ וּשְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר־בָּחַר יְהֹוָה לָשׂוּם אֶת־שְׁמוֹ שָׁם מִכֹּל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ נַעֲמָה הָעַמֹּנִית׃ - And King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned; for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that Hashem had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His name there; and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.
The Malbim explains: "And he strengthened himself" - an additional strengthening beyond what we saw earlier, meaning he strengthened himself a second time. And "and reigned" - but had he not already been reigning earlier? Rather, now he reigns on his own; previously he was king but subject to Shishak, and from now on he reigns independently. Although five years of his reign had already passed, Scripture informs us that he reigned seventeen years - his kingship endured and lasted seventeen years. Furthermore, the merit of Jerusalem stood by him, which is why it says, "he reigned in Jerusalem, the city that Hashem had chosen" - for its merit aided him.
Pasuk 14: "Because He Did Not Prepare His Heart"
וַיַּעַשׂ הָרָע כִּי לֹא הֵכִין לִבּוֹ לִדְרוֹשׁ אֶת־יְהֹוָה׃ - And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek Hashem.
This is linked to the conclusion of the previous verse: "and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess." The Metzudat David explains: because his mother was from idolaters, she taught him to do evil. As Chazal said: "Throw a stick into the air, and it falls back to its root" - take a stick, throw it in the air, and it falls back to the point from which it came. Where did this offspring originate? From his mother Naamah the Ammonitess, and descendants resemble their origin. Therefore, do not wonder that he continued in his corruption. Furthermore: "for he did not prepare his heart" - he did not investigate or apply himself wisely to seek Hashem, but rather relied on what his mother taught him, and that is why you see what became of him.
The Malbim adds: even though we saw that through his submission he was strengthened in his kingship, one cannot say he was like King David, for "he did evil." On the other hand, his sin is not considered intentional (meizid) but rather an unintentional lapse (shegagah) - "for he did not prepare his heart to seek Hashem." Had he prepared his heart to seek Hashem, he would not have stumbled in this, and all his failures stemmed from not preparing his heart. Scripture does not say of him that he went and did evil out of spite (lehach'is), as we find with other kings, such as Menasheh who did evil deliberately to provoke Hashem. With Rechavam, it says only: "And he did evil, for he did not prepare his heart to seek Hashem" - thus, he was judged as negligent and careless, not as one who sinned intentionally to act wickedly. Therefore, Hashem spared Jerusalem, leaving him on his throne and not stripping the kingdom from him.
Verse 15: The Lost Books of the Prophets
וְדִבְרֵי רְחַבְעָם הָרִאשֹׁנִים וְהָאַחֲרוֹנִים הֲלֹא־הֵם כְּתוּבִים בְּדִבְרֵי שְׁמַעְיָה הַנָּבִיא וְעִדּוֹ הַחֹזֶה לְהִתְיַחֵשׂ וּמִלְחֲמוֹת רְחַבְעָם וְיָרָבְעָם כָּל־הַיָּמִים׃ - Now the acts of Rechavam, first and last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemayah the prophet and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rechavam and Yerovam continually.
The Malbim explains: "the first" refers to before he sinned, and "the last" to after he sinned. And what are "the chronicles of Shemayah the prophet"? The commentary attributed to Rashi writes that every prophet would write a book recording what he prophesied, and this refers to Shemayah's prophecy that we saw here, when he rebuked Rechavam. Similarly, we find: "And the rest of the acts of Aviyah, his ways and his deeds, are written in the Midrash of the prophet Iddo" - they would write a "Midrash," meaning a record of their prophecies. These books no longer exist today and we do not possess them; what remains are the books written by Yeshayahu, Yirmeyahu, and their contemporaries, but the Midrash of the prophet Iddo and the chronicles of Shemayah are lost to us.
And what does "concerning genealogies" (lehit'yacheis) mean? The Radak explains that the records of Shemayah and Iddo the prophets dealt with the history of the kings and their lineages, and therein genealogical matters were addressed. "And there were wars between Rechavam and Yerovam continually" - initially we saw that Rechavam did not go to war against Yerovam, but later he resumed fighting him continuously until his death, as the Metzudat David notes, which is why their wars are mentioned here. Although the prophet initially restrained him, he subsequently returned to battle, and we will later see the staggering number of casualties - something truly shocking - showing that the restraint was not effective in the long run. The Malbim explains "lehit'yacheis": Iddo recorded the book of genealogies of the House of David and also recorded the wars between Rechavam and Yerovam throughout their days, while Shemayah the prophet recorded the other matters.
Verse 16: The Conclusion of Rechavam's Reign
וַיִּשְׁכַּב רְחַבְעָם עִם־אֲבֹתָיו וַיִּקָּבֵר בְּעִיר דָּוִיד וַיִּמְלֹךְ אֲבִיָּה בְנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃ - And Rechavam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David, and Aviyah his son reigned in his place.
Rechavam passed away and was buried in the royal tombs, the tombs of David his father, and Aviyah his son reigned in his place - which will be the subject of the next chapter.
In summary:
Chapter 12 teaches us that divine service tainted by an ulterior motive cannot endure: once Rechavam's kingdom was firmly established and he no longer needed the end for which he had served, he abandoned the Torah of Hashem, and all of Israel with him. The response came immediately, in the fifth year, for with the House of David, Hashem does not wait for the measure of guilt to become full; rather, He chastises "with the rod of men" to set them straight. The fortified cities collapsed, Shishak took everything, and the shields of gold were replaced by bronze. Yet here lies the great lesson: the initial submission removed the burning fury (cheimah) but not the anger (af), and only continuous submission - those bronze shields carried before him every time he entered the House of Hashem as a reminder of his sin - removed the anger completely. Rechavam's sin was judged as an unintentional lapse rather than deliberate malice, "for he did not prepare his heart to seek Hashem," and therefore Hashem spared Jerusalem and left him on his throne for seventeen years, until he slept with his fathers and Aviyah his son reigned in his place.