Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Chronicles 11:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence: “Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Shemaiah stops a civil war.”
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 11:1–4
Read 2 Chronicles 11:3 with 11:1–4. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Rehoboam mobilizes Judah and Benjamin, but Shemaiah declares the division to be from God and the army obeys by returning home.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Shemaiah stops a civil war,” 2 Chronicles 11:3 advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence through the wording “Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: Prophetic speech interrupts retaliatory war at the moment Judah might answer political loss with mass violence. 2 Chronicles 10:12–19 has just established this prior movement: Rehoboam rejects the elders, threatens heavier service, Israel invokes its separation from David, Adoram is killed, and the northern tribes withdraw. Together those details explain why “Shemaiah stops a civil war” belongs here rather than merely following a database record.
Read 2 Chronicles 11:1–4 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Chronicles 11:1–4 forms the complete movement “Shemaiah stops a civil war”: Rehoboam mobilizes Judah and Benjamin, but Shemaiah declares the division to be from God and the army obeys by returning home.
Verse 1. 1 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.
Verse 2. 2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
Verse 3. 3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
Verse 4. 4 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
What Remains True
Leadership that refuses a just burden complaint can fracture a community, while restraint and humility can limit further harm without erasing responsibility. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Rehoboam mobilizes Judah and Benjamin, but Shemaiah declares the division to be from God and the army obeys by returning home. In 2 Chronicles 11:3, the concrete line “Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin….” Receive burden complaints without retaliation, compare counsel by its evidence and human cost, stop escalation, and make humility visible through repair rather than public language alone. This response follows from the unit's own movement: Rehoboam mobilizes Judah and Benjamin, but Shemaiah declares the division to be from God and the army obeys by returning home.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 11:1–4 — Shemaiah stops a civil warSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Chronicles 11:1–4, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 11:1–4
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 2 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 11:1–4, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗