Jeroboam I

Jeroboam unveils the "golden calf" at Bethel.

Jeroboam ("increase of the people"), the son of Nebat, "an Ephrathite" (1 Kings 11:26-39), was the first king of the break-away ten tribes or Kingdom of Israel, over whom he reigned 22 years. As such, he was the founder of the northern Kingdom of Israel, which lasted under the Assyrian invasions and the exile of the Israelites in 722 B.C.E.

Biblical archaeologist William F. Albright has dated Jeroboam's reign to 922 B.C.E.-901 B.C.E., while Edwin R. Thiele offers the dates 931 B.C.E.-910 B.C.E.

Biograpphy

The prophet Ahijah predicts that Jeroboam will become king of Israel.

Jeroboam was the son of a widow named Zeruah and while still young was promoted by Solomon to be chief superintendent of the bands of forced laborers from the tribe of Joseph (normally refering to both Ephraim and Manasseh) working on projects in Jerusalem.

Solomon, however, had incurred the disapproval of the prophet Ahijah by building high places to facilitate religious worship by his foreign wives. Specially named are the gods Molech of Ammon, and Chemosh of Moab, and the goddess Ashtoreth (Astarte) of Sidon.

Ahijah, a Shilohite and thus associated withe the shrine which formerly housed the sacred Ark of the Covenent which Solomon's father King David had caused to be removed to Jerusalem, recognized Jeroboam's potential and dramatically appointed him as the future leader of the Israelite rebellion against Jerusalem's central authority.

Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe.(1 Kings 11:29-32)

Although Jeroboam's actions thereafter are not described, he soon came to be seen by Solomon as a threat, and the king now sought to kill him the potential rebel.[1] Jeroboam fled to Egypt (1 Kings 11:29-40), where he remained for a length of time under the protection of Shoshenq I, probably identical to the biblical Shishak.

King of Israel

Map of Israel and Judah shows the location of Jeroboam's capital, Shechem, in the southern center, with Bethel near the southern border, and Dan to the far north. (Click to enlarge.)

On the death of Solomon, Jeroboam returned to Israel around the time that Solomon's son Rehoboam was crowned at the northern city of Shechem. There Rehoboam rebuffed the requests of northern delegates to lighten their force labor requirements. This provoked a rebellion under the old battle cry:

What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son?

To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!"

The northern tribes rallied to Jeroboam, who was proclaimed King of Israel, while Rehoboam was left with only the tribes of Judah and Simeon, whose territory was within Judah's borders. (1 Kings 12:1-20). Jeroboam fortified Shechem as the capital of his kingdom and also rebuilt the town of Peniel, the ancient site of Jacob's famous wrestling match with the angel of Yahweh (Genesis 32:30).

The biblical record is ambiguous as to Rehoboam's military response. 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles both report that he raised a powerful army to suppress the rebellion. However a prophet named Shemaiah proclaimed God's words as: "Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites." Rehoboam thus abandoned his plans for a full scale invasion. However, there are indications that another factor in Rehoboam's change of plans may have been an attack by Jeroboam's former protector, Shishak of Egypt. According to the biblical record, in the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak and his African allies invaded Judah in a campaign so effective that even Jerusalem, the fortress capital, was taken (2 Chronicles 11:5-12). The Bible also reports attempts by Rehoboam to seize territory held by Jerooam throughout the remainder of the southern leader's reign.

The altars at Bethel and Dan

In an effort to provide an alternative place of pilgrimage for Israelites who formerly offered their tithes and sacrifices in Jerusalem, Jeroboam made the fateful decision to establish a major shrine at Bethel, an act which lost him the support of his earlier supporter Ahijah and earned him the lasting enmity of the religious establishment at Jerusalem.[2] Jeroboam established a similar shrine at the northern town of Dan, erected a golden (or bronze) bull-calf icon at each of them. Jeroboam's reported statement, "Here is elohim, O Israel," nearly certainly was meant as a invocation to the Hebrew God, and not to a plurality of deities as it is often interpreted. Although the Temple of Jerusalem itself had bronze bulls in its courtyard and golden cherubim both inside and out, these "golden calves" became infamous in southern literature denigrating Jeroboam as an idolater.

According to the Book of Kings, while Jeroboam was engaged in offering incense at Bethel, a prophet from Judah appeared before him with a warning message denouncing the unauthorized altar. Attempting to arrest the prophet for his bold words of defiance, his hand was "dried up," and the altar before which he stood was rent asunder. At his urgent entreaty his "hand was restored him again" (1 King' 13:1-6, 9; compare 2 Kings 23:15). The prophet himself was devored by a lion while returning home.

Meanwhile, the prophet Ahijah also turned against Jeroboam. When the king sent his wife to Shiloh to inquire about the prognosis for their ailing son, Ahijah denounced his former protege, declaring:

I raised you up from among the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but... you have provoked me to anger and thrust me behind your back. 'Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free.

Ahijah added that as soon as Jeroboam's wife returned hom, her son would die, which he did.

Later years

Jeroboam, however, outlived his nemesis, Rehoboam. The biblical record is ambiguous, however, as to whether he surived Rehoboam's son Abijah. 2 Chronicles 13 details a major battle between Jeroboam's army, numbering 800,000 and that of Abijah, numbering 400,000.[3] It reports that "God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah," inflicted half a million casualities. It goes on to state that Abajah "took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down and he died."

This report is contradicted by the Book of Kings, which states that Jeroboam finally died in the second year of Rehoboam's grandson Asa, having reigned 22 years. It also makes no mention of Bethel ever falling to Judah, although it mentions Bethel frequently as a center of unauthorized Israelite worship. It summarizes Jeroboam's story by stating:

Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.(1 Kings 13:33-34)

Legacy

Jeroboam was succeeded by his surviving son Nadab, who was killed in a coup by the usurper Baasha of the tribe of Issachar. Like several of the kings of Israel would later do, Baasha killed Jeroboam's whole family after taking power, thus fulfilling the reported prophecy of the prophet Ahijah years earlier.

Although Jeroboam's lineage was thus wiped out, he remained a respected figure in the northern kingdom, so much so that two centuries later another Israelite king was named for him, Jeroboam II. The second Jeroboam is recognized as one of Israel's most successful kings internally, although his reign was characterized by affluence and corruption that was denounced by the prophets. Historically, Jeroboam I was the successful founder of the northern Kingdom of Israel, a nation which lasted for two centuries in a hostile environment until it was finally destroyed by the mighty Assyrian Empire in 722 B.C.E.

Jeroboam's main legacy, however, was written not by his people of his own nation, but by scribes and priests of his enemies in Judah. These denuncations, unfortunately for him, were preserved to his detriment in the Bible, while other records of him were lost. Thus he became distinguished as the man "who made Israel to sin." His policy of supporting the national shrines at Bethel and Dan was followed by every Israelite king after him, even the Yawhist zealot Jehu, who wiped out Baal worship in the northern kingdom. Because of this "sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat," Jeroboam I came to be mentioned more than any other northern king in the Bible.

Rabbinical views

Jeroboam became for the rabbinical writers a typical evil-doer. For example in one edition of the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible (2d recension), his mother is represented not simply as a widow but as a promiscuous woman. His name is explained as "one that caused strife between the people and their Heavenly Father" (Sanh. 108b). His father's name, Nebat, is construed as implying a defect in Jeroboam's lineage. One opinion goes so far as to exclude Jeroboam from the world to come (Yalk. Kings, 196). His arrogance brought about his doom (Sanh. 101b). His political reasons for introducing idolatry are condemned (Sanh.90). As one that led many into sin, the sins of many cling to him (Abot v. 18). He is said to have invented 103 interpretations of the law in reference to the priests to justify his course of excluding the Levites and worshiping outside of Jerusalem. God had offered to raise him into Gan 'Eden; but when Jeroboam heard that David would enjoy the highest honors there, he refused.

Critical views

The account of Jeroboam's reign as contained in the Book of Kings reflects the religiously and polically pro-Jerusalem views of later times. However, the account is not entirely biased in favor of Judah. The stress laid on the popular election of the king and his initial prophetic support may indicate an Israelite source which in course of time was updated by the Judean scribes who preserved it.

The sanctuaries at Bethel and Dan, where the golden calves were enshrined, were old and recognized places of worship and pilgrimage. The king, by making them royal sanctuaries, gave these old places new significance. The prophetic party, which at first saw Jeroboam as candidate to correct Solomon's support of the high places, found Jeroboam not so pliant a tool as expected. They organized against him and began looking again to the south. His denuncation in both Kings and Chronicles is a reflection of their pro-Jerusalem bias, and the accusation of his supposed idolatry is specious.

History, it is said, is written by the victors, and in these case the priests of the Jerusalem Temple won the day, any accounts or descriptions written by the priests of Bethel and Dan are lost. The recent uncovering of a sizeable shrine at Tel Dan may yet yield insights into the practice at this sanctuary. The shine at Bethel, reportedly obliterated by King Josiah, remains undiscovered.

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Tribe of Ephraim
Preceded by: Solomon	King of Israel Albright: 922 B.C.E. – 901 B.C.E. Thiele: 931 B.C.E. – 910 B.C.E. Galil: 931 B.C.E. – 909 B.C.E.	Succeeded by: Nadab