Research Report on 2 Chronicles 12

The wars between Israel, Judah, and surrounding peoples generate a form of census count that appears prophetic for events in future time. This page explores an Egyptian attack against Judah.

Background

There are various places in the Bible where there are counts of things given in the text. Simple counts usually involve days, but certain objects extend the count. An example is in 2 Chronicles 12 where an Egyptian attack against Rehoboam is recorded.

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1וַיְהִ֗י כְּהָכִ֞ין מַלְכ֤וּת רְחַבְעָם֙ וּכְחֶזְקָת֔וֹ עָזַ֖ב אֶת־ תּוֹרַ֣ת יְהוָ֑ה וְכָל־ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עִמּֽוֹ׃

2וַיְהִ֞י בַּשָּׁנָ֤ה הַֽחֲמִישִׁית֙ לַמֶּ֣לֶךְ רְחַבְעָ֔ם עָלָ֛ה שִׁישַׁ֥ק מֶֽלֶךְ־ מִצְרַ֖יִם עַל־ יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם כִּ֥י מָעֲל֖וּ בַּיהוָֽה׃ 3בְּאֶ֤לֶף וּמָאתַ֙יִם֙ רֶ֔כֶב וּבְשִׁשִּׁ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף פָּרָשִׁ֑ים וְאֵ֣ין מִסְפָּ֗ר לָעָ֞ם אֲשֶׁר־ בָּ֤אוּ עִמּוֹ֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם לוּבִ֥ים סֻכִּיִּ֖ים וְכוּשִֽׁים׃ 4וַיִּלְכֹּ֛ד אֶת־ עָרֵ֥י הַמְּצֻר֖וֹת אֲשֶׁ֣ר לִֽיהוּדָ֑ה וַיָּבֹ֖א עַד־ יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ (WLC)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 2And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD, 3With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubim, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. 4And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.(KJV)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 2And it came to pass, that in year 5 of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD, 3With 1200 chariots, and 60000 horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubim, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. 4And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.(KJV/NC)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him. 2And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Jehovah, 3with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen. And the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. 4And he took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah, and came unto Jerusalem. (ASV)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1AND it came to pass when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 2And it came to pass that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD, 3With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims and the Ethiopians. 4And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. (LAM)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1When the rule of Rehobo'am was established and was strong, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 2In the fifth year of King Rehobo'am, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt--Libyans, Suk'ki-im, and Ethiopians. 4And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. (RSV)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD. 2Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. 3With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites that came with him from Egypt, 4he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.(NIV)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1It happened, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him. 2It happened in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Yahweh, 3with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. 4He took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. (WEB)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1It happened, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 2It happened in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against the LORD, 3with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. 4He took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. (WEB/HNV)

38 Second Chronicles 12:1-4 1AND it came to pass when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of Yahvah, and all Israel with him. 2And it came to pass that in the 5th year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against Yahvah, 3With 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims and the Ethiopians. 4And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. (BRB)

This passage gives counts in the usual pattern but those things have numeric values that appear to drive this story.

Expanding the Chariots

In this case chariots, especially chariots from Egypt, have value. Chariots were imported from Egypt for 6001 Shekels. Horses, similarly were imported for 1502 Shekels.

These values drive the prophetic story found a few chapters later. When Pharaoh attacks he brings these objects to the fight. This amplifies the values. The following table shows the amplification.

Original Count Factor Net Amount
1200 Chariots 600 Shekels/Chariot 720,000 Shekels

The following is the report.

Prophetic dates from 2 Chronicles 12
DayBible DateModern DateRoman DateNumber
Thu10021/1/1 AA 22 Aug -967 NS 2 Mar 288 BAUC AA:3655261
521/1/1 FE  31 Aug -967 OS 2 Mar 1041 BC JD:1368104
Forward 720,000 days is:
Fri11994/9/1 AA 7 Dec 1004 NS 1 Dec 1757 AUC AA:4375261
2494/9/1 FE  1 Dec 1004 OS 1 Dec 1004 AD JD:2088104
Forward another 60,000 days is:
Mon12159/2/1 AA 17 Mar 1169 NS 10 Mar 1922 AUC AA:4435261
2659/2/1 FE  10 Mar 1168 OS 10 Mar 1169 AD JD:2148104

This interval hits the millennium break at about the year 1000. This is a major prophetic time, and it adds weight to the idea that this is a correct prophetic placement.

Alternative -- expanding the horses

Original Count Factor Net Amount
1200 Chariots 600 Shekels/Chariot 720,000 Shekels
60,000 Horsemen 150 Shekels/Horse 9,000,000 Men-Shekels

A "shekel" is a standard wage for a day of work so the conversion of Chariots into shekels also converts the Chariots into days. Using a starting point at the start of the 5th year of Rehoboam's reign these 720,000 days can be "run out". The horsemen are strange because the "men" part of the count would normally run out as 60,000 days. If the value of horses in included the 9,000,000 days runs well beyond the end of any time otherwise known in the Bible Time project.

Prophetic dates from 2 Chronicles 12
DayBible DateModern DateRoman DateNumber
Thu10021/1/1 AA 22 Aug -967 NS 2 Mar 288 BAUC AA:3655261
521/1/1 FE  31 Aug -967 OS 2 Mar 1041 BC JD:1368104
Forward 720,000 days is:
Fri11994/9/1 AA 7 Dec 1004 NS 1 Dec 1757 AUC AA:4375261
2494/9/1 FE  1 Dec 1004 OS 1 Dec 1004 AD JD:2088104
Forward another 9,000,000 days is:
Sun36665/9/1 AA 4 Feb 25646 NS 29 Jul 26398 AUC AA:13375261
27165/9/1 FE  29 Jul 25645 OS 29 Jul 25645 AD JD:11088104

This latter version is likely not right as there are no known stories in this future era. The problem with this second scenario is that it leaves weird units... Men-Shekels, which is like a squared unit that has been shown in other places to be wrong.

1Second Chronicles 1:17    
2Second Chronicles 1:17    
 

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http://bibletime.com/tool/report/2Ch12/