And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines:(for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

2 CHRONICLES 11:21KJV
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2 Chronicles 11:21 (KJV)

What does 2 Chronicles 11:21 mean?

2 Chronicles 11:21 describes Maachah’s favored place in King Rehoboam’s large family. By saying that he loved her more than all his other wives and concubines, the verse identifies a relationship that helps explain the attention given to her children in the passage.

The verse follows a list of Rehoboam’s wives and children. It calls Maachah the “daughter of Absalom,” identifying her family connection, and counts Rehoboam’s children across his household: twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

The Hebrew behind 2 Chronicles 11:21

  • “daughter” — בַּת (bat): This word can mean a daughter or a later female descendant. Here it identifies Maachah’s connection to Absalom; the word itself does not settle how many generations separate them.

  • “concubines” — פִּילֶגֶשׁ (pilegesh): This word refers to women in recognized relationships with a man, distinct from wives. The verse counts Rehoboam’s concubines separately from his wives.

Why 2 Chronicles 11:21 matters

  • Maachah’s favored place helps explain the attention given to her son Abijah. In verse 22, Rehoboam puts Abijah in a leading position among his brothers.

  • The family totals give a sense of the number of people involved in the royal household. The KJV’s “threescore” means sixty, so Rehoboam had sixty concubines and sixty daughters.

Where else these words appear

“Maachah” Hebrew H4601 · used in 23 verses

  • Genesis 22:24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
  • 1 Kings 15:10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
  • 1 Chronicles 9:35 And in Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jehiel, whose wife's name was Maachah:

“concubinesfor” Hebrew H6370 · used in 35 verses

  • Genesis 22:24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
  • Judges 19:27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.
  • 2 Samuel 20:3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

“Rehoboam” Hebrew H7346 · used in 41 verses

  • 1 Kings 11:43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
  • 1 Kings 14:29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
  • 2 Chronicles 11:1 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.

“threescore” Hebrew H8346 · used in 56 verses

  • Genesis 5:15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
  • Numbers 31:34 And threescore and one thousand asses,
  • 2 Chronicles 12:3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.