2 Chronicles 12:7

2Ch 12:7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; [therefore] I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

Ver. 7. They have humbled themselves, &c.] After a sort they had. Now if the leaves of this tree of humiliation be so sovereign, what are the fruits? If the shadow so effectual, what the substance?

But I will grant them some deliverance.] Or, A little deliverance. So gracious is the Lord, and liberal to all.

And my wrath shall not be poured out.] See on 2Ch 12:5. "In the midst of judgment he remembereth mercy": and suffereth not his whole wrath to arise against sinners, lest they should be utterly taken away by that tempest.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 12:7. They have humbled themselves — Which though they did by constraint and with reluctance, yet God was pleased so far to regard it, as to mitigate their calamity. I will not destroy them — Such a vast, and now victorious army as Shishak had, having made themselves masters of all the fenced cities, what else could be expected, but that the whole country; and even Jerusalem itself, would in a little time be theirs? But when God says, Here shall the proud waves be stayed, the most threatening force strangely dwindles, and becomes impotent. I will grant them some deliverance — I will give some stop to the course of my wrath, which was ready to be poured forth upon them to their utter destruction. Those who acknowledge God is righteous in afflicting them, shall find him gracious. They that humble themselves before him, shall find favour with him. So ready is the God of mercy to take the first occasion to show mercy. Reader, if thy heart be humbled, and made contrite under humbling and distressing providences, the affliction has done its work, and it shall either be removed, or the property of it altered.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, drop down.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves--Their repentance and contrition was followed by the best effects; for Shemaiah was commissioned to announce that the phial of divine judgment would not be fully poured out on them--that the entire overthrow of the kingdom of Judah would not take place at that time, nor through the agency of Shishak; and yet, although it should enjoy a respite from total subversion, [Judah] should become a tributary province of Egypt in order that the people might learn how much lighter and better is the service of God than that of idolatrous foreign despots.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(7) But I will grant them some deliverance.—Rather, and I will give them a few for a remnant. (Comp. 2Ch_12:12, “that he would not destroy him altogether.”) For the phrase “to give a remnant,” see Ezr_9:13. The word rendered “few” is kim‘at. (Comp. 1Ch_16:19 : Isa_1:9.) The pointing kim‘ât is peculiar to this passage.

My wrath shall not be poured out.—Or, pour itself out, wreak itself. The phrase denotes a judgment of extermination. (Comp. its use in 2Ch_34:25.)

By the hand of Shishak.—The destruction of Jerusalem was reserved for the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. some deliverance] Rather (as R.V. mg.), deliverance within a little while.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves,.... Though but externally; the Lord takes notice of external humiliation, as he did of Ahab's, Kg1 21:29,

the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, they have humbled themselves, therefore I will not destroy them; not now, at least not altogether, Ch2 12:12,

but I will grant them some deliverance; yet not a complete one, for they were brought into servitude by Shishak, Ch2 12:8, or only for a short time:

and my wrath shall not be poured out against Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak; that is, to the uttermost; that was reserved to another time, and to be done by another hand, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Compare the repentance of Ahab (marginal reference) and that of the Ninevites Jon 3:5-10 which produced similar revocations of divine decrees that had been pronounced by the mouth of a prophet.

Some deliverance - Rather, “deliverance for a short space” (see the margin). Because of the repentance, the threat cf immediate destruction was withdrawn; but the menace was still left impending, that the people might be the more moved to contrition and amendment.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A little help. I will not suffer them to be quite destroyed. Hebrew also signifies, "shortly." (Calmet) --- Fall, (stillabit) like drops of water, even to the last. (Haydock) --- How soon is God appeased! (Tirinus) --- Even when he punishes, he does not let the whole flood of his indignation fall upon the guilty. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They humbled themselves; which though they did but forcedly, yet God was pleased so far to regard it, as to mitigate their calamity.

My wrath shall not be poured out; I will give some stop to the course of my wrath, which was ready to be poured forth upon them to their utter destruction.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Some deliverance. The Hebrew for "some" here is f"mKi. There is plain authority (Rth_2:7; Psa_38:10) for translating this word as of time, and the rendering "a little while" of the margin, will, therefore, seem preferable. But see next note, and the" altogether" of ver. 12. It has often been most justly remarked what grateful note should betaken of the fact that God always is recorded as turning such a wistful, loving eye to any symptom of repentance (1Ki_21:27-29; Jon_2:5-9) Who can estimate the loss of men, that the symptoms have been so frequent, so comparatively easily found as compared with the reality of lastingness?

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Some deliverance - I will give some stop to the course of my wrath, which was ready to be poured forth upon them to their utter destruction. Those who acknowledge God is righteous in afflicting them, shall find him gracious.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

they had humbled themselves

"the princes of Israel and the king had humbled themselves"

the word of Yahweh came ... saying

This is an idiom that is used to introduce something that God told his prophets or his people. AT: "Yahweh spoke this message ... and he said" or "Yahweh spoke these words ... and he said" (See: Idiom)

I will rescue them to some extent

Possible meanings are 1) Yahweh will permit Shishak to attack Jerusalem and cause trouble for the people, but he will rescue them from total destruction or 2) the words "to some extent" can be translated as soon, meaning that Yahweh will rescue the people of Jerusalem before Shishak can completely destroy the city.

my anger will not pour out on Jerusalem

Yahweh speaks of his anger as if it were a liquid, and of expressing his anger as if he were to pour out that liquid. AT: "I will not express my anger against Jerusalem" or "Jerusalem will not suffer the effects of my anger" (See: Metaphor)

by means of Shishak's hand

Here the word "hand" represents Shishak himself. AT: "by means of Shishak" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

word of God

ruin

anger

hand

servant

servant

rule

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

They have humbled themselves; I shall not destroy them A similar instance is found below (14: 6): “The land is still before us for we have sought, etc. we have sought.” So is the custom of the Scriptures, that when it interrupts in the middle, it repeats the word. An example is (Num. 10:32): “And it will be, if you go with us, it will be that the good, etc.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.