34 1 a This event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, b even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth. Jeroboam I, born in the town of Zereda of the tribe of Ephraim, was the first king of Israel, the northern kingdom, after the division of the kingdom. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak, king of Egypt, brought a huge army and took many cities. They organized against him and began looking again to the south. 77a). 21, 31; II Chron. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia the good that Abijah did for which he would be laid in the grave:"Rabbinical Literature:The passage, I Kings, xiv. When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king, and Jeroboam went with representatives of the northern tribes to ask Rehoboam to lighten the load of their labor, claiming Solomon had placed a heavy yoke on them. This left the descendants of Solomon with the southern kingdom of Judah. - American Standard Version (1901) 6 Things to know about Ahab in the Bible Clarence L. Haynes Jr. Join our email list, and well send you some of our best free resourcesplus well tell you whenever we make something new. As one that led many into sin, the sins of many cling to him (Abot v. 18). 15:45b). Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Ten of the twelve tribes rebelled against his rule and formed the northern kingdom of Israel under the leadership of Jeroboam. Answer. God pledged to support Jeroboam and promised him a lasting dynasty, saying: "If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. The Septuagint contains some additional details (such as the claim that his mother was a prostitute), but scholars question or outright dismiss the reliability of these additions. Judah had just been conquered and turned into a vassal of Egypt, while Israel stood between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian empires. (8th century bce), son of Joash, was the last of the great kings of Israel, after whose death the country fell into confusion and ultimate servitude. But, he went to Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died. God's grace is the only reason why His kingdom continues at all. The final book of the Bible recounts the nation's history, but what it emphasizes and de-emphasizes is telling. Yet, God has gra The biblical account states that his elite warriors fended off a pincer movement to rout Jeroboam's troops, killing 500,000 of them. This provoked a rebellion under the old battle cry: The northern tribes rallied to Jeroboam, who was proclaimed King of Israel, while Rehoboam was left with only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, whose territory was within Judah's borders (1 Kings 12:1-20). Ahijah's message, however, is that Abijah will die, which he does. The writers of the Books of Kings considered these shrines a central issue in their view of the northern kings, often basing their assessment of these rulers on whether or not they continued to commit the "sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat" by supporting these allegedly idolatrous public sanctuaries. 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 reaction of the people should not have come as a surprise to Rehoboam. Upon the death of Solomon, Jeroboam returned to Israel around the time that Solomon's son, Rehoboam, was crowned at the northern city of Shechem. [12] Jeroboam offered hospitality to the man of God but this was declined, not out of contempt but in obedience to the command of God. Jeroboams action is better understood as a reversion to an old agrarian calendar followed in the N which had been altered when a full-scale synchronization of divergent calendars was instituted by David or Solomon (Talmon 1958: 5657). xii. Specifically named are the gods Molech of Ammon, and Chemosh of Moab, and the goddess Ashtoreth (Astarte) of Sidon. The Egyptian campaign cut off trade with south Arabia via Elath and the Negev that had been established during Solomon's reign. The king, by making these royal sanctuaries, gave these old places new significance. The two sections had acted independently until David, by his victories, succeeded in uniting all the tribes, though the Ephraimitic jealousy was ever ready to develop into open revolt. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Jeroboam_I&oldid=1115370, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. Rehoboam (/ribo.m/; Hebrew: , Ram; Greek: , Rovoam; Latin: Roboam, transl. Ahab in the Bible, 6 Things to Know - Crosswalk At the very least, its obvious that the author of Kings is uh, not a fan of Jeroboam. Mentioned in Exodus 32 and I Kings 12 in the Old Testament, worship of the golden calf is seen as a supreme act of apostasy, the rejection of a faith once confessed. Geologists believe they have found evidence of this big earthquake in sites throughout Israel and Jordan. Jeroboam ordained a change in the times for festivals in order to discourage pilgrimages to the Jerusalem Temple (i Kings 12:33). Despite the negative opinion displayed toward Jeroboam in the Bible, it is becoming increasingly clear that his actions were based on an earlier . Thus he became distinguished as the man "who made Israel to sin." Its unclear if this prophetic encounter triggered Jeroboams rebellion or if Solomon simply caught wind of it, but immediately after this prophecy, Solomon attempted to kill Jeroboam, and Jeroboam fled to Egypt (1 Kings 11:40). His reign is described in 1 Kings 12 and 1 Kings 14:2131[7] and in 2 Chronicles[8] in the Hebrew Bible. THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM OVER ISRAEL - ministrysamples.org He seized the treasures of the Lord's temple and the royal palace",[17] whereas the Bubastite Portal lists do not include Jerusalem or any city from central Judea among the surviving names in the list of Shoshenq's conquests.[18]. From the standpoint of the scribes who wrote and preserved the books of Kings and Chronicles, Jeroboam abandoned the Torah and set in motion the eventual fall of the Northern Kingdom to the Assyrians. "The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel", likely compiled by or derived from these kings' own scribes, is likely the source for the basic facts of Jeroboam's life and reign, though the compiler(s) of the extant Book of Kings clearly made selective use of it and added hostile commentaries. Thus before the death of Solomon, the apparently unified kingdom of David began to disintegrate. These ostraca, while unremarkable in themselves, contain valuable information about the script, language, religion and administrative system of the period. On one of those occasions, a prophet of the tribe of Judah saw Jeroboam burning incense in the altar and prophesied that one day a king by the name of Josiah would destroy that altar. Although we a fortunate to have received the story of Jeroboam's calling by the prophet Ahijah as well as Israel's rally to him after Rehoboam's cruel treatment of them, any accounts of Jeroboam or descriptions of his sanctuaries written by the priests of Bethel and Dan are lost. [15] Gerard Hoet, Ahijah 's prophecy to Jeroboam, 1728. One he Jeroboam reigned for 22 years. Solomon had laborers build terraces in Jerusalem and fill in a gap in the wall. 'Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of 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. He fled to Egypt but was recalled by the northern tribes on the refusal of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, to accept the constitutional terms offered to him at his accession. Jeroboam is portrayed by Nickolas Grace in Solomon & Sheba (1995) and by Richard Dillane in Solomon (1997). But in his effort to bring the Israelites back to God, Jeroboam embraced the wrong traditions and replaced the wrong habits. The account of Jeroboam's reign as contained in the Book of Kings reflects the religiously and politically pro-Jerusalem views of later times. William F. Albright has dated his reign from 922 to 901 BC, while Edwin R. Thiele offers the dates 931 to 910 BC. As Jeroboam left Jerusalem to return home, he met the prophet Ahijah. He reigned for 22 years, from 930-909 BC. So the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh would have looked to Jeroboam as a leader and someone who could speak to the king on their behalf. The Hebrew Bible describes the reign of Jeroboam to have commenced following a revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy. To the author, Jeroboam wasnt just yet another king who ignored Gods commandments. His name is explained as "one that caused strife between the people and their Heavenly Father" (Sanh. The shrine at Bethel, reportedly obliterated by King Josiah (2 Kings 23), remains undiscovered. appears to be the largest yet documented on the Dead Sea transform fault zone during the last four millennia."[16]. 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. 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. 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: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. He later became the first king of the divided northern kingdom of Israel. [10] Oppression and exploitation of the poor by the mighty, luxury in palaces of unheard-of splendor, and a craving for amusement were some of the internal fruits of these external triumphs.[6]. 1 Kings 12:25-33 - KJV - Then Jeroboam built Shechem i - Christianity [9] The account in Chronicles states that Shishak marched with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen and troops who came with him from Egypt: Libyans, Sukkites, and Kushites. Golden calf | Old Testament | Britannica Deut. On account of his severe illness when a youth, his father sent his wife to consult the prophet Ahijah regarding his recovery. The Bible records his rise to power in 1 Kings 11:26-14:20. Although the Bible indicates that Ahijah objected to Jeroboam's erecting "golden calves" at Bethel and Dan, the fact that the king overlooked Ahijah's home shrine at Shiloh in favor of the more southerly Bethel may also have been a factor. 24) Naamah is said to have been the daughter of Hanun (), son of Nahash, a king of Ammon (II Sam. And he immediately fought God's enemies by besieging Jezreel. The people gathered together with the new king Rehoboam. Jeroboam I of Israel (reigned 922-901 bce) attempted to bring about religious and political reforms. Jeroboam II - Wikipedia Hosea and Amos share prophetic concern for a nation in turmoil. [20] During his short reign of three years, Abijah went to considerable lengths to bring the Kingdom of Israel back under his control. He fortified the city of Tirzah in Shechem and lived there, then built up the city of Peniel, which was in the territory belonging to the tribe of Manasseh. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 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). "This magnitude 8 event of 750 B.C. You have done more evil than all who lived before you. Kings of Judah - Wikipedia [14], This "man of God" who warned Jeroboam has been equated with a seer named Iddo.[15]. [23] In all other passages it is Jeroboam I, the son of Nebat that is meant. Rehoboam was 41 years old (16 in Chapter 12 of Kings III in the Septuagint) when he ascended the throne. Why did God choose Jehu to be king of Israel? - BibleAsk One of the few background details the Bible gives us about Jeroboam is that he was an Ephraimite. Corrections? 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. Jeroboam worried that if the northern Israelites continued making sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem, they would turn against him (1 Kings 12:26-27). Scholars debate whether this meant Jeroboam established two capitals (one on each side of the Jordan River), but Shechem was his primary base of operations. But while the account in 1 Kings saw tenth century events through a much later perspective, theres still a lot we can learn from it: Even though this account of Jeroboams career has been shaped to conform to the later perspectives of its author, most scholars believe that critical investigation of this complexevidently drawn from archival texts, historical reports, prophetic oracles, and legends, etc.can yield reliable information about the 10th-century situation. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. There Rehoboam rebuffed the requests of northern delegates to lighten their forced labor requirements. [5] In the Revised Version she is referred to as "the Ammonitess". My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions. 1 Kings 12:14. He became infamous in the Bible for creating national shrines at Bethel and Dan that competed with the Kingdom of Judah's Temple of Jerusalem. 1 Kings 12:25-14:20 NASB95 - Then Jeroboam built | Biblia The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them until the Lord removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. Near the end of Jeroboams rule, God spoke to him through Ahijah again, but this time, he delivered one of the strongest rebukes in the Bible: You have done more evil than all who lived before you. 1 Kings 14:9. "an enlarged people") was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the split of the united Kingdom of Israel. Jeroboams choice of date for this festival was thus an integral part of his overall plan to restore traditional practices in the N.. With Damascus independent and a powerful man of Ephraim, the most prominent of the Ten Tribes, awaiting his opportunity, the future of Solomon's kingdom became dubious".[2]. Exodus 32, anyone?). These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. If he obeyed God, he would have a dynasty as enduring as Davids (1 Kings 11:38). JEROBOAM IN THE BIBLE - King James Bible Online 14). It reports that "God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah," inflicting half a million causalities. In that city Joram, son of Ahab, went to heal from his injury that he got in a war with the Arameans (2 Kings 9:1-16). Some scholars suggest that a later success by Asa, obtained with the help of Ben-Hadad of Syria (1 Kings 15:20) may be the basis for the report in Chronicles. [14] Archeologists Yigael Yadin and Israel Finkelstein date the earthquake level at Tel Hazor to 760 BC based on stratigraphic analysis of the destruction debris. Everything we know about Jeroboam comes from 1 Kings 11:2614:20 and 2 Chronicles 9:2913:20. Fr. After this event, he returned and participated in a delegation sent to ask the new king Rehoboam to reduce taxes. In fact, Jeroboam is remembered throughout the books of Kings as the one who made Israel sin (2 Kings 17:22). His political reasons for introducing idolatry are condemned (Sanh.90). These cookies do not store any personal information. Despite his blindness and the queens disguise, the old prophet recognized her and told her that the child would die as soon as she returned to Tirzah, as Gods punishment for having sinned and worshiped idols. He expelled the priestly Levites, who were loyal to the kingdom of Judah, and recruited in their stead priests from the common people, whom he personally appointed and ordained. 2 Chronicles 13:6 chapter context similar meaning copy save. Grateful, Jeroboam asked the prophet to come to the palace, have some refreshment, and receive a gift. So after seeking advice, he brought back a familiar form of worship: the good ol golden calf. The king sent his wife in disguise to Shiloh to consult with the prophet Ahijah, who was now old and blind, to ask whether the child would recover. Aided, perhaps, by Assyrian pressure from the east, he brought to an end the long struggle between Syria and Israel and definitely established the superiority of the latter over Damascus. According to the Book of Chronicles Abijah had a force of 400,000 and Jeroboam 800,000. Recognizing the need for religious independence from Jerusalem, he set up official sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel, at the, Jeroboam I of Israel (reigned 922901 bce) attempted to bring about religious and political reforms. God promised Jeroboam an everlasting dynasty if he would be faithful like David (11:38). Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria. Rehoboam was stricken with a running sore as a punishment for the curse which David had invoked upon Joab (II Sam. His arm became paralyzed, and he could not move it. [1] The account of his reign is briefly told in 2 Kings ( 2 Kings 15:8-12 ). . Although Jeroboam's actions immediately thereafter are not described, he soon came to be seen by Solomon as a threat, and the king now sought to kill the potential rebel. According to the biblical account, this kingdom was founded after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. In the eighteenth year of Jeroboam's reign, Abijah (also known as Abijam), Rehoboam's son, became king of Judah. 33 After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but a again he made priests of the high places from among 1 all the people; b any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places. 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). Even David sinned. He was succeeded by his son Abijam. His people are sinful and can make no claim on the Lord to sustain His church. 119a). He waged a major battle against Jeroboam in the mountains of Ephraim. The Fall of Jeroboam I and Rehoboam - Ligonier Ministries His wives included Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and Abihail, the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse. 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. Naamah is praised, in B. . His arm became paralyzed, and he could not move it. The wife of Jeroboam is a character in the Hebrew Bible. The new king resided at first in Shechem; then for a period in Penuel, across the Jordan River; and finally in Tirzah, a town about 12 kilometers northeast of Shechem, which became his capital. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Abijah (Jeroboam's son) | Bible Wiki | Fandom The prophet did so, and the king was again able to move his arm. Jeroboam I was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, which included ten (ish) of Israel's twelve tribes. In any case, 1 Kings makes no mention of Bethel ever falling to Judah, although it mentions Bethel frequently as a center of unauthorized Israelite worship. On that day, he would go to Beth-el and sacrifice on the altar to the golden calf. The elders recommended that he reach a compromise with his northern subjects concerning their justified complaints. 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). The moment his wife set foot in the city of Tirzah (the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel), her son died. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary argues that: The account in its present form, however, has been reworked and expanded by the Deuteronomistic historian, who uses the prophets denunciation as the occasion to introduce the notion that because of Jeroboams great sins which he led Israel to commit Yahweh would bring an end to the nation and scatter its people beyond the Euphrates . Zechariah of Israel - Wikipedia [11] He had at least two sonsAbijah [12] and Nadab, the latter of whom succeeded him on the throne of Samaria. After King Solomon's death his son, Rehoboam, became king. The end result was that Yahweh sent the nation into exile when it fell to the Assyrians (2 Kgs 17:2123).. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Rehoboam went to war against the new Kingdom of Israel with a force of 180,000 soldiers. Establishing his capital at Shechem, he set aside two pilgrimage sites (Dan in the north and Bethel in the south) as shrine centres. The events of their reigns are recorded chiefly in 1 and 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles both report that Rehoboam raised a powerful army to suppress Jeroboam's rebellion. 2 Chronicles 13 details a major battle between Jeroboam's army and Abijah's. He was a king for 17 years in Samaria. x. The altar broke down, and its ashes were spilled. Ahijah added that Jeroboams descendants would die and be eaten by dogs and birds. The recent uncovering of a sizable ancient shrine at Tel Dan may yet yield insights into the practice at this sanctuary. Updates? Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines. He was attended by Ahaziah, king of Judah, who was also his nephew, son of his sister Athaliah. However, there are indications that another possible factor in Rehoboam's change of plans may have been an attack by Jeroboam's former protector, Shishak of Egypt. The very first thing the Bible says about Jeroboam is that he rebelled against the king (1 Kings 11:26), but the details of that initial act of rebellion are a little fuzzy. Attempting to arrest the prophet for his bold words of defiance, Jeroboam's hand was "dried up," and the altar before which he stood was rent asunder. Rehoboam - Wikipedia And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. While Jeroboam may have seen his choices as a return to ancient Jewish traditions, they were at least in part motivated by his desire to retain power, and they amounted to a deviation from Gods commands. 28b) as an allusion to Abijah's courageous and pious act in removing the sentinels placed by his father on the frontier between Israel and Judah to prevent pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Jehu destroyed Baal worship Then, the Lord appointed Jehu to be the king of Israel for his godliness and driving energy. As the author of 1 Kings compiled the various documents available to them into a cohesive narrative, they examined Israels history from a contemporary lens.