Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt

[2 Chronicles 12:9] “So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made.”

Shishak is the first Egyptian king mentioned by name in the Bible, and the first foreign king for whom we have extra-biblical evidence. Before the 10th century BC, Egyptian kings were typically referred to simply as “Pharaoh.” The first pharaoh explicitly identified by his personal name is Shishak, who reigned during the time of Solomon and his son Rehoboam. Shishak’s name first appears in 1 Kings 11:40. Because Solomon practiced idolatry, God declared through the prophet Ahijah that He would tear ten tribes away from Solomon and give them to Jeroboam, an official in his household (1 Kings 11:26-39). As a result, Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, who then fled to Egypt and found refuge with Shishak (1 Kings 11:40).

Although the Bible records Shishak’s conquest of Jerusalem, there is no record of him capturing Jerusalem in Shishak’s own Egyptian inscriptions. Shishak died shortly after his campaign against Jerusalem. Egyptian records state that his son Osorkon I (reigned 922-887 BC) dedicated 373 tons of gold and silver to various Egyptian temples, much of which was likely plundered from Jerusalem. He also buried Shishak’s grandson, his own son Shoshenq II, in a coffin made of pure silver. When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they used the plundered Egyptian gold and silver to build the tabernacle (Exodus 12:35-36; 35:22). Now, the wealth and glory Solomon had accumulated throughout his life—”gold and silver and the treasure of kings and provinces” (Ecclesiastes 2:8)—were all taken by the Egyptian pharaoh and used to worship Egyptian false gods.

Less than five years after Solomon’s death, his kingdom divided, peace vanished, and the people apostatized. The wealth and glory he had accumulated throughout his life were completely seized by the Egyptian pharaoh. Solomon had married the old pharaoh’s daughter, yet the new pharaoh took everything from him. The power that people rely on either vanishes in an instant or becomes a snare to themselves.