Shishak's Invasion

In the fifth year of the reign of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt advanced against the city of Jerusalem (1 Kings 14:25). The biblical record specifies the timing of this military action but does not state the size of the Egyptian forces or the specific route taken to reach the city. Upon arriving at the capital of Judah, Shishak seized the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace (1 Kings 14:26). The text does not say whether a formal battle occurred or if the city surrendered to avoid destruction.

Among the items confiscated by the Egyptian king were all the gold shields that King Solomon had previously commissioned. The passage notes that Shishak took everything, leaving no gold shields in the possession of the Judean crown (1 Kings 14:26). The text does not say where Shishak transported these items after removing them from Jerusalem, nor does it detail the specific weight or value of the stolen goods beyond their identification as the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king's house.

Following the loss of the original gold shields, King Rehoboam manufactured replacement shields made of bronze to take their place. He assigned these bronze shields to the commanders of the guard who were responsible for protecting the entrance to the royal palace (1 Kings 14:27). The text does not say how much time elapsed between the theft and the creation of these replacements. Whenever the king entered the temple of the Lord, the guards carried the bronze shields and then returned them to the guardroom (1 Kings 14:28).