Rehoboam

File:Rehoboam.JPG

Rehoboam rejects the advice of Israel's elders.

Rehoboam (Hebrew:רחבעם Rehav'am) was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, succeeding his father Solomon. His grandfather was David. He was the third king of the House of David and the first of the Kingdom of Judah. His mother was Naamah "the Ammonitess." His name means he who enlarges the people.

Rehoboam's reign has been dated to 922 B.C.E.-915 B.C.E. by William F. Albright and 931 B.C.E.-913 B.C.E. by E. R. Thiele. The Bible is the only historical source for his reign. His story is told in the Books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

When Rehoboam refused to lighten Solomon's policy of heavy taxation and forced labor, the northern tribes seceded from his kingdom, proclaiming Jeroboam I as their king. Only the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained under Rehoboam in what became known as the Kingdom of Judah. The Egyptian king Shishak pillaged Jerusalem in the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign and Judah became a tributary to Egypt.

The Kingdom divided

Background

Rehoboam ascended the throne at the age of 41, and he reigned seventeen years. Although the biblical account holds Solomon's toleration of the religions of his foreign wives responsible for his kingdom's division in Rehoboam's time, the immediate cause of the north's rebellion was Rehoboam's labor and taxation policies. Under his father, the people were taxed heavily to pay for the Solomon's building projects, and forced labor was also mandated. Moreover, Jeroboam, a rising young Ephraimite encouraged by the prophet Ahijah, had increasingly outspoken against Solomonic policy. Forced into exile under Solomon, he had recently returned. Solomon had also accumulated several prominent enemies during his later reign, notably Hadad, the Egyptian-backed heir to the Edomite throne; Rezon, the son of an Aramean army captain, now the de facto ruler of Damascus.

In an apparent gesture to the northern tribes, Rehoboam traveled to Schechem to be crowned, rather than holding his coronation ceremony in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 12:1). There, he was confronted by a large delegation, "the whole assembly of Israel," with the complaint:

Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.

Rehoboam asked for three days to consider the issue. He first consulted the elders who had advised Solomon, and these men counseled him: "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants." (12:7)

Rehoboam, however, prefered the advice of younger men, who exhorted him to express his authority by refusing to compromise. Rehoboam thus declared to the Israelites: Mmy father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." (1 Kings

The northerners then retracted their recognition of House of David and declared independence. The Bible preserves the political slogan of their movement:

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!"

Testing the Israelites' determination, Rehoboam he dispatched Adoram, his minister of forced labor, to conscript Israelite men. Adoram, however, was stoned stoned to death, and Rehoboam fled in haste to Jerusalem.

Jeroboam I was appointed king of the northern tribes, and their breakaway state became known as the Kingdom of Israel. Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem as king over what later became know as the Kingdom of Judah, consisting of only the areas alotted to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

Wars

Rehoboam organized a sizeable army to suppress the rebellion. Its size is given as 180,000 men by I Kings and by II Chronicles. However a prophet named Shemaiah proclaimed God's words as: "Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites." Rehoboam immediately abandoned his plans for a full scale invasion. However, he skirmished against the forces of Jeroboam I throughout the remainder of his reign.

The Temple at Karnak includes a triumphal inscription of Sheshonq I, the Shishak of the Old Testament. It lists several conquered Judean cities.

In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Pharaoh Shishak and his allies, including the Ethiopians, invaded Judah. The biblical narrative indicates widespread defeats for the Judahites. Jerusalem, too, was taken, and both the Temple and the royal palace were looted. (2 Chronicles11:5-12)

A remarkable memorial of this invasion has been discovered at Karnak, in Upper Egypt. An inscription of Pharoah Sheshonq I on a colomn of a temple there show the god Amun holding in his hand a train of prisoners and other figures, with the names of the captured towns of Judah, the towns which Rehoboam had fortified.

Rehoboam fortified the heart of the kingdom, and thus most of the approaches to Jerusalem were flanked by major fortresses. However, the ascents from the Judean Desert in the east and from the Kingdom of Israel in the north were not covered by the defensive works. The Judean Desert was a ground to which enemies were to be lured and ambushed, and the Judah-Israel border was not guarded because Rehoboam did not recognize the Kingdom of Israel as an independenent state. Thus, Chronicles reports: There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. (2 Chron. 12:15)

Religious Dimension

The biblical authors view Rehoboam's fate in presiding over the division of the United Kingdom as having been determined by his father Solomon's sin in tolerating idolatry.

Succession

Rehoboam reportedly had 18 wives and 60 concubines. These bore him 88 children, most of whom appointed to important posts across the country. His primary wife was Mahalath, who was, like Rehoboam himself, a descendant of King David. She bore him three sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. Another important wife was Maacah, daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. Chronicles 11:21 states, "Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines."

He died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem. He was succeeded by his son Abijah, the son Maacah.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

I Kings 11-12

II Chronicles 10-12

Battles of the Bible, 1978

House of David Cadet Branch of the Tribe of Judah
Preceded by: Solomon	King of Judah Albright: 922 B.C.E. – 915 B.C.E. Thiele: c.931 B.C.E. – 913 B.C.E. Galil: c.931 B.C.E. – 914 B.C.E.	Succeeded by: Abijam

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Rehoboam  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Rehoboam"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.