2 Chronicles 21:17

17. Brake into it Made a forcible irruption into the kingdom, and captured many of the chief cities, if not Jerusalem itself.

Carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives This most naturally implies the capture of Jerusalem and the plunder of the royal palace. And yet, it must be confessed, that such a plunder of the capital city is usually described in a more direct and unmistakable way. Compare 2 Chronicles 12:9; 2 Chronicles 25:24: 2 Kings 14:13. Keil therefore argues that the capital was not captured, and that “the substance that was found in the king’s house” was the treasures belonging to the king’s family, which were stored in various cities, villages, and castles of the kingdom. 1 Chronicles 27:25. He supposes also that the king’s sons and wives were captured, not in Jerusalem, but in the camp of the men of Judah, (2 Chronicles 22:1,) where they were surprised and taken by the enemy. Owing to the brevity of the narrative, the exact sense is somewhat obscure; but we cannot resist the conviction that the king of Judah’s wives would scarcely have been found in the camp, and the whole passage is most easily and naturally explained by supposing that, on this occasion as on a number of others, Jerusalem was broken into, and largely plundered by the invading forces.