Difference between revisions of "Jeroboam II" - New World Encyclopedia

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While his reign was the most prosperous that Israel had yet known, the prophets [[Hosea]] and [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] declared that sin widely prevailed in the land, and Amos predicted (wrongly) that he would die by the sword as a result (Amos 2:6-8; 4:1; 6:6; Hos. 4:12-14). He is also denounced by the authors of [[2 Kings]] (2 Kings 14) for repeating the sin of the first [[Jeroboam I|Jeroboam]] by supporting the shrines at [[Dan]] and [[Bethel]]. However, the same text also preserves an opinion of the prophet [[Jonah]] which portrays Jeroboam II as the savior sent by God to deliver Israel from opression.
 
While his reign was the most prosperous that Israel had yet known, the prophets [[Hosea]] and [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] declared that sin widely prevailed in the land, and Amos predicted (wrongly) that he would die by the sword as a result (Amos 2:6-8; 4:1; 6:6; Hos. 4:12-14). He is also denounced by the authors of [[2 Kings]] (2 Kings 14) for repeating the sin of the first [[Jeroboam I|Jeroboam]] by supporting the shrines at [[Dan]] and [[Bethel]]. However, the same text also preserves an opinion of the prophet [[Jonah]] which portrays Jeroboam II as the savior sent by God to deliver Israel from opression.
 
==Archaeology==
 
==Archaeology==
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[[Image:JPF-TelMegiddo.JPG|thumb|250px|Tel Megiddo, site of the discovery of the seal belonging to "Shema, Servant of Jeroboam"]]
 
A number of archaelogical finds confirm Jeroboam's historicity and the apparent prosperity of his kingdom. In 1904 during an early excavation of Megiddo under the direction of Gottlieb Schumacher, a bronze seal was discovered belonging to a royal minister of Jeroboam. It is skillfully engraved with a figure of a roaring lion. Its inscription reads "Shema, Servant of Jeroboam."  
 
A number of archaelogical finds confirm Jeroboam's historicity and the apparent prosperity of his kingdom. In 1904 during an early excavation of Megiddo under the direction of Gottlieb Schumacher, a bronze seal was discovered belonging to a royal minister of Jeroboam. It is skillfully engraved with a figure of a roaring lion. Its inscription reads "Shema, Servant of Jeroboam."  
  
In [[1910]], [[G. A. Reisner]] found 63 inscribed potsherds while excavating the royal palace at [[Samaria]], which were later dated to the reign of Jeroboam II. These [[ostraca]] contain valuable information about the script, language, religion, and administrative system of the period.
+
In [[1910]], [[G. A. Reisner]] found 63 inscribed potsherds while excavating the royal palace at [[Samaria]], which were later dated to the reign of Jeroboam II. These [[ostraca]] contain valuable information about the script, language, economy, and administrative system of the period. The indicate a well organized administration and substantial trade network. Egyptian artifacts indicate trade with the court of the pharaohs.  
  
 
More recent archaeological finds at Samaria and elsewhere confirm the picture of Jeroboam's reign as one of domestic peace and prosperity, and also confirm that the prophetic warnings against [[idolatry]] did not prevent the Israelite populace from possessing numerous statuettes of a goddess, possibly [[Astarte]], who was worshiped together with Yahweh and possibly other deities.
 
More recent archaeological finds at Samaria and elsewhere confirm the picture of Jeroboam's reign as one of domestic peace and prosperity, and also confirm that the prophetic warnings against [[idolatry]] did not prevent the Israelite populace from possessing numerous statuettes of a goddess, possibly [[Astarte]], who was worshiped together with Yahweh and possibly other deities.

Revision as of 19:05, 13 November 2007

Seal belonging to "Shema, Servant of Jeroboam" found at Megiddo

Jeroboam II (ירבעם השני) was the the fourteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, over which Jeroboaruled for 41 years (2 Kings 14:23). Under his leadership, Israel reached its greatest geographical extent and the height of its economic and military power. He even reportedly captured the mighty city of Damascus (2 Kings 14:28). However, his reign was criticized by the prophets for its spiritual and moral corruption. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 786 B.C.E.-746 B.C.E., while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 782 B.C.E.-753 B.C.E.

The son and successor of Jehoash, Jeroboam's long reign was contemporary with those of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:23) and Uzziah (15:1), kings of Judah. He was victorious over the Syrians (13:4; 14:26, 27), and reportedly expanded Israel the limits indicated during the reign of Solomon, extending north into Lebanon, east into the transjordan and south to the Dead Sea. Jeroboam II's name occurs in the Old Testament only in 2 Kings 13:13; 14:16, 23, 27, 28, 29; 15:1, 8; 1 Chronicles 5:17; Hosea 1:1; and Amos 1:1; 7:9, 10, 11. In all other passages it is Jeroboam I, the son of Nebat that is indicated.

While his reign was the most prosperous that Israel had yet known, the prophets Hosea and Amos declared that sin widely prevailed in the land, and Amos predicted (wrongly) that he would die by the sword as a result (Amos 2:6-8; 4:1; 6:6; Hos. 4:12-14). He is also denounced by the authors of 2 Kings (2 Kings 14) for repeating the sin of the first Jeroboam by supporting the shrines at Dan and Bethel. However, the same text also preserves an opinion of the prophet Jonah which portrays Jeroboam II as the savior sent by God to deliver Israel from opression.

Archaeology

Tel Megiddo, site of the discovery of the seal belonging to "Shema, Servant of Jeroboam"

A number of archaelogical finds confirm Jeroboam's historicity and the apparent prosperity of his kingdom. In 1904 during an early excavation of Megiddo under the direction of Gottlieb Schumacher, a bronze seal was discovered belonging to a royal minister of Jeroboam. It is skillfully engraved with a figure of a roaring lion. Its inscription reads "Shema, Servant of Jeroboam."

In 1910, G. A. Reisner found 63 inscribed potsherds while excavating the royal palace at Samaria, which were later dated to the reign of Jeroboam II. These ostraca contain valuable information about the script, language, economy, and administrative system of the period. The indicate a well organized administration and substantial trade network. Egyptian artifacts indicate trade with the court of the pharaohs.

More recent archaeological finds at Samaria and elsewhere confirm the picture of Jeroboam's reign as one of domestic peace and prosperity, and also confirm that the prophetic warnings against idolatry did not prevent the Israelite populace from possessing numerous statuettes of a goddess, possibly Astarte, who was worshiped together with Yahweh and possibly other deities.

Character

A man of great energy, Jeroboam succeeded in developing the northern Kingdom of Israel to its greatest extent. The Syrian kingdom of Damascus, since the very first days of the independent northern kingdom established by Jeroboam's namesake, Jeroboam I, had been a thorn in the flesh of the northern kings. Damascus had been weakened when it was attacked by Assur-dan III, King of Assyria (773). This enabled Jeroboam to carry extend the boundaries of his kingdom, in accordance with claims never totally relinquished. A note in 2 Kings 14:28 indicates that Jeroboam conquered the capital of Damascus as will as the Syrian city of Hamath. However, some scholars believe he may have had to pay tribute to the rising power of Assyria for its acquiescence in his military expeditions and conquests, among which were included the Gileadite cities of Lo Debar in Gilead and Ashteroth Karnaim east of the Jordan.

The prophet Jonah saw in these successes signs of messianic import, as is evidenced from an oracle of Jonah retained by the compilers of the Books of Kings (2 Kings 14:25), which characterize Jeroboam as Israel's savior. The triumphs of the king, however, engendered a haughty spirit of arrogant overconfidence at home (Amos 6:13). Samaria, Israel's capital, boasted of beautiful and substantial buildings of hewn stone with ivory decorations. Abundance, comfort and luxury reportedly abounded. However, the division between rich and poor increased and social corruption, and the oppression of the poor and helpless—even by priests—was common. Amos therefore declared:

You who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, "Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?" But the Lord God Almighty declares, "I will stir up a nation against you, O house of Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah." (Amos 6:13-14)

According to Amos 7, Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, saying: "Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. For this is what Amos is saying:'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.'" Amos' prophecy concerning Jeroboam turned out to be false, for the king died of natural causes, but his prediction concerning Israel's long term fate proved true in 722 when the northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians.

Jeroboam is remembered as having "saved" Israel from oppression and having won back for Israel the territories it had formerly lost. In 2 Chron. 6:17 he is credited with having classified by genealogies the inhabitants of the recovered (transjordanic) territory.

Critical view

The Book of Kings is ambivalent in its attitude toward Jeroboam II. Like all of the northern kings, it denounces him for "doing evil" by supporting the national shrines at Bethel and Dan, which completed with the Temple of Jerusalem, which the authors of Kings promoted as the only authorized place of Yahweh worship. Yet, Kings begrudgingly retains a contrary assessment him as well:

He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. The Lord had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. And since the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.(2 Kings 14:25-27)

Contrary to the usual method of the Books of Kings, in which prophetic experiences and predictions are elaborately introduced, the actual words of Jonah ben Amittai are not given. The boundaries mentioned correspond with the ideal limits given in Amos 5:14.

Jonah seems to have recognized Jeroboam as the "savior" and "helper" (moshia) of Israel, two titles with messianic implications. Some critics see the denunciation of the corruption of his regime by Amos and Hosea as the expression of profound disappointment born of expectations that his military and economic successes would be accompanied by religious reforms in which the worship of foreign deities would be forbidden and steps would be taken to do away with corruption among the priest of Yahweh as well. These prophets, however, do not seem to go as far as the Books of Kings, insisting not that alternative altars to that of Jerusalem be destroyed, only that they be more sincerely devoted to true religion, in which ethics play just as an essential part as ceremony.


House of Jehoshaphat
Preceded by:
Jehoash
King of Israel
Albright: 786 B.C.E. – 746 B.C.E.
Thiele: 782 B.C.E. – 753 B.C.E.
Galil: 790 B.C.E. – 750 B.C.E.
Succeeded by: Zachariah


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