the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Bible Encyclopedias
Shishak
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
(Heb. Shishak', שַׁישִׁק [so the margin] but the text has Shushak' or Shoshak', שושק ]; Sept Σούσακος; Vulg. Sesac), a king of Egypt contemporary with Jeroboam, to whom he gave an asylum when he fled from Solomon (1 Kings 11:40). This was indicative of his politic disposition to encourage the weakening of the neighboring kingdom, the growth of which; under David and Solomon, was probably regarded by the kings of Egypt with some alarm. After Jeroboam had become king of Israel, and probably at his suggestion, Shishak invaded the kingdom of Judah, B.C. 971, at the head of an immense, army and after having taken the fortified places, advanced against Jerusalem. Satisfied with the submission of Rehoboam, and with the immense spoils of the Temple the king of Egypt withdraw without imposing any onerous conditions on the humbled grandson of David, (14:25, 26; 2 Chronicles 12:2-9) The importance of this connection beteen the Hebrew and Egyptian annals justifies a full treatment of the subject, which we get from the latest archaelogical investigations. (See JUDAH, KING OF).
I. Name.— We see above an uncertainty in the Hebrew, form of Shishak's name. Josephus Graecizes the name as Susacus (Σούσακος, Ant. 7, 5, 3; 8, 7, 8). He has generally been recognized as the Sesonchis: (Σεσώγχις ) of Manetho, and the Sheshenk or Sheshonk I of the monuments, first sovereign of the Bubastite, or twenty-second, dynasty. The accompanying cartouches present his name as written in hieroglyphics. The followig is a transcription aind translation of the second oval, containing more particularly his royal title, which reads Amenem Sheshenk, i.e. "Sacred to Shishak."
II. History. — In order to render the following observations clear, it will be necessary to say a few words on the history of Egypt before the accession of Sheshenk I. On the decline of the Theban line or Rameses family (the twentieth dynasty), two royal houses appear to have arisen. At Thebes the high priests of Amen, after a virtual usurpation; at last took the regal title, and in Lower Egypt a Tanitic dynasty (Manetho's twenty-first) seems to have gained royal power. But it is possible that there was but one line between the twentieth and twenty-second dynasties, and that the high priest kings belonged to the twenty-first. The origin of the royal line of which Sheshenk I was the head is extremely obscure. Mr. Birch's discovery that several of the names of the family are Shemitic has led to the supposition that, it was of Assyrian or Babylonian origin. Shishak, שַׁישִׁק, may be compared with Copyright Statement
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