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 all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
So Shishak ... came up against Jerusalem. After the parenthetical clause (2 Chronicles 12:5-8) describing the feelings and state of the beleaguered court, the historian resumes his narrative of the attack upon Jerusalem, and the consequent pillage both of the temple and the palace.
He took all - i:e., everything valuable he found. The cost of the targets and shields has been estimated at about, 239,000 British pounds sterling (Napier's 'Ancient Workers in Metal,' p. 114.)
The shields of gold - made by Solomon, were kept in the house of the forest of Lebanon (2 Chronicles 12:9-16). They seem to have been borne, like maces, by the owners or guard of the palace, when, they attended the king to the temple or on other public processions. Those splendid insignia having been plundered by the Egyptian conqueror, others were made of inferior metal, and kept in the guard-room of the palace, to be ready for use, as, notwithstanding the tarnished glory of the court, the old state etiquette was kept up on public and solemn occasions. An account of this conquest of Judah, with the name of 'king of Judah' in the cartouche of the principal captive, according to the interpreters, is carved and written in hieroglyphics on the walls of the temple of Karnak, where it may be seen at the present day, by the side of the records of the great Rameses' conquests (see 'Egyptian Court at Sydenham Palace,' p. 62). This sculpture is about 2,700 years old, and is of special interest, as a striking testimony from Egypt to the truth of Scripture history.