Rehoboam

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who sets the people at liberty
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


Solomon's son by the Ammonite Naamah (1Ki_14:21; 1Ki_14:13; 1Ki_11:43; 2Ch_12:13). Succeeded his father in his 41st year. In 2Ch_13:7 "young and tender hearted" means inexperienced (for he was not young in years then) and faint-hearted, not energetic in making a stand against those who insolently rose against him. In his reign Ephraim's gathering jealousy of a rival (Jdg_8:1; Jdg_12:1) came to a crisis, the steps to which were the severance of Israel under Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 2) from Judah under David; the removal of the political capital from Shechem, and the seat of national worship from Shiloh to Jerusalem; and finally Solomon's heavy taxation for great national and monarchical buildings, and Rehoboam's injudicious reply to the petition for lightening the burden. The maschil (Psalm 78) of Asaph is a warning to Ephraim not to incur a fresh judgment by rebelling against God's appointment which transferred Ephraim's prerogative, for its sins, to Judah; he delicately avoids wounding Ephraim's sensitiveness by not naming revolt as likely (compare 2Sa_20:2).
He leaves the application to themselves. Rehoboam selected Shechem as his place of coronation, probably to conciliate Ephraim. But Ephraim's reason for desiring Shechem for the place of coronation was their intention to rebel; so they made Jeroboam the spokesman of their complaints. (See JEROBOAM.) It would have saved Rehoboam the loss of the majority of his kingdom, had he heeded his father's wise old counselors (Pro_27:10), and shown the same conciliatory spirit in reply to Israel's embassy; but he forgot his father's proverb (Pro_15:1). In the three days' interval between their mission and his reply he preferred the counsel of the inexperienced young men, his compeers, who had been reared in the time of Solomon's degeneracy, "my father chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions," i.e. scourges armed with sharp points. Solomon in Ecc_2:19 expresses his misgiving as to Rehoboam, "who knoweth whether the man after me shall be a wise man or a fool?" His folly was overruled by Jehovah to perform His prophecy by Ahijar unto Jeroboam. (See AHIJAR; JEROBOAM.)
With the same watchword of revolt as under Sheba (2Sa_19:43; 2Sa_20:1), Israel forsook Rehoboam (1Ki_12:16), "what portion have we in David? To your tents, O Israel." They then stoned Adoram who was over the tribute, Rehoboam retained, besides Judah, Levi, Simeon, Dan, and parts of Benjamin. (See ADORAM; ISRAEL.) Rehoboam with 180,000 sought to regain Israel; but Jehovah by Shemaiah forbade it (1Ki_12:21-24). Still a state of war between the two kingdoms lasted all his reign (1Ki_14:30). Rehoboam built fortresses round on the S. side of Jerusalem, apprehending most danger from the quarter of Egypt (2Ch_11:1; 2Ch_11:12-13; 2Ch_11:16-17). Moreover, the calf worship in northern Israel drove the Levites and many pious Israelites to the southern kingdom where Jehovah's pure worship was maintained.
Thus, Rehoboam became strengthened in his kingdom, but after three years' faithfulness and consequent prosperity from God the tendency to apostasy inherited from his mother Naamah the Ammonitess, and her bad early training, led him to connive at, and like Solomon join in, the abominations of idolatry, the "high places, standing images, and groves on every high hill and under every green tree" (1Ki_14:22-24). Rehoboam "forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him." So God sent Shishak, Jeroboam's ally, with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen, to punish him, in the fifth year of his reign (1Ki_11:40; 1Ki_14:25-28; 2Ch_12:2-4, etc.). (See JEROBOAM.) Shemaiah explained the cause from Jehovah; "ye have forsaken Me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak" (Shishak was first of the 22nd or Bubastite dynasty; whereas his predecessor, the Pharaoh whose daughter Solomon married, was the last of the 22nd or Tanite dynasty). Rehoboam and the princes thereupon humbly accepted their punishment, and justified Jehovah (Jas_4:10; Exo_9:27; Psa_51:4; Lev_26:41-42).
Therefore, the Lord "granted them some deliverance," at the same time that He gave them up to Shishak's service, who took the Jews' fenced cities and came to Jerusalem, that they might know to their sorrow its contrast to "His service" (Deu_28:47-48; Isa_47:13; 1Jn_5:3; Hos_2:7). So Shishak took away the temple and the palace treasures, and the golden shields (200 larger and 300 smaller, 1Ki_10:16-17), for which Rehoboam substituted brazen shields, to be borne by the bodyguard before him in state processions, characteristic of his vanity which comforted itself with a sham after losing the reality; but the Lord did not let Shishak destroy Rehoboam altogether, for He saw, amidst abounding evil, with His tender compassion, some "good things in Judah."
Shishak's success against the kingdom of Judah (malchi Judah) is found commemorated outside of the Karnak temple, the very features of the Jews being characteristically represented. Rehoboam reigned for 17 years; his acts were recorded in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies. His doing evil is traced to his "not preparing (fixing) his heart to seek Jehovah." His polygamy ("desiring many wives," 2Ch_11:23) is another blot on his character. Besides Mahalath and Maacbah, granddaughters of David, and Abihail descended from Jesse, he had 18 wives and 60 concubines; his sons, with worldly wisdom, he dispersed through the fenced cities as their governors, and made Abijah, son of his favorite wife Maachah, his successor on the throne.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Rehobo'am. (enlarger of the people). Son of Solomon, by the Ammonite princess, Naamah, 1Ki_14:21; 1Ki_14:31, and his successor. 1Ki_11:43. Rehoboam selected Shechem as the place of his coronation, (B.C. 975), probably as an act of concession to the Ephraimites. The people demanded a remission of the severe burdens imposed by Solomon, and Rehoboam, rejecting the advice of his father's counsellors, followed that of his young courtiers, and returned an insulting answer, which led to an open rebellion among the tribes, and he was compelled to fly to Jerusalem, Judah and Benjamin alone remaining true to him.
Jeroboam was made king of the northern tribes. See Jeroboam. An expedition to reconquer Israel was forbidden by the prophet, Shemaiah, 1Ki_12:21, still, during Rehoboam's lifetime, peaceful relations between Israel and Judah were never restored. 2Ch_12:15; 1Ki_14:30. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, the country was invaded by a host of Egyptians, and other African nations, under Shishak. Jerusalem itself was taken and Rehoboam had to purchase an ignominious peace, by delivering up the treasures, with which Solomon had adorned the Temple and palace.
The rest of Rehoboam's life was unmarked by any events of importance. He died B.C. 958, after a reign of 17 years, having ascended the throne B.C. 975, at the age of 4. 1Ki_14:21; 2Ch_12:13. He had 18 wives, 60 concubines, 28 sons and 60 daughters.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

the son and successor of Solomon; his mother was Naamah, an Ammonitish woman, whom Solomon had married, 1Ki_14:20-21. He was forty-one years of age when he began to reign, and, consequently, was born in the first year of his father's reign, A.M. 2990, or the year before. This prince reigned seventeen years at Jerusalem, and died A.M. 3046. After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam came to Shechem, because all Israel was there assembled to make him king, 1 Kings 12. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had headed a sedition against Solomon, and had been compelled, toward the close of his reign, to take refuge in Egypt, as soon as he heard that this prince was dead, returned into Judea, and came to the assembly of the people of Shechem. The Israelites would have made terms with Rehoboam; but, being a poor politician, and following the advice of some junior counsellors, he managed his business so imprudently that he lost the whole house of Israel, save the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

Upon the death of Solomon, Rehoboam his son became king of Israel (930 BC). He inherited the judgment that God had previously prepared for the throne of Solomon (1Ki_11:11-13).
Aware that the northern tribes were dissatisfied with the Jerusalem government, Rehoboam tried to hold their allegiance by going north to Shechem for his coronation ceremony (1Ki_12:1). He also decided to take a firm stand against any tendency to weaken Jerusalem’s control of the north. But his efforts were in vain, with the result that the ten northern tribes broke away from David’s dynasty and formed their own kingdom under Jeroboam (1Ki_12:2-20). The Davidic kingdom, though still centred on Jerusalem, was reduced to the tribe of Judah and one neighbouring tribe.
Though Rehoboam thought of sending his army to force his rule upon the north, he changed his mind when a prophet told him that the division was a judgment sent by God (1Ki_12:21-24). For three years Rehoboam followed the way of God faithfully. This was partly because of the good influence of a large number of priests and Levites who had fled from the north to Jerusalem rather than cooperate with Jeroboam’s idolatry (2Ch_11:13-17). During this time he ruled well, improving the nation’s defences and training his sons to be administrators (2Ch_11:5-12; 2Ch_11:23).
As Rehoboam’s strength increased, so did his pride. Soon he tried to show himself independent of God by copying the Canaanite religions (1Ki_14:21-24; 2Ch_12:1; 2Ch_12:14). God punished him by allowing Egypt to invade and plunder the land. Only a last minute confession of sin from Rehoboam and his governors saved Judah from destruction (2Ch_12:2-13).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.

rē-hṓ-bō?am (רחבעם, reḥabh‛ām, ?the people is enlarged,? or perhaps ?Am is wide? Ῥοβοάμ, Rhoboám; ?Roboam,? Mat_1:7 the King James Version):
1. The Disruption of the Kingdom
2. Underlying Causes of Disruption
3. Shemaiah Forbids Civil War
4. Rehoboam's Prosperity
5. Shishak's Invasion
6. His Death
The son and successor of Solomon, the last king to claim the throne of old Israel and the first king of Judah after the division of the kingdom. He was born circa 978 BC. His mother was Naamah, an Ammonitess. The account of his reign is contained in 1Ki_14:21-31; 2 Ch 10 through 12. The incidents leading to the disruption of the kingdom are told in 1 Ki 11:43 through 12:24; 2 Ch 9:31 through 11:4.

1. The Disruption of the Kingdom:
Rehoboam was 41 years old (2Ch_12:13) when he began to reign Septuagint 1Ki_12:24 says 16 years). He ascended the throne at Jerusalem immediately upon his father's death with apparently no opposition. North Israel, however, was dissatisfied, and the people demanded that the king meet them in popular assembly at Shechem, the leading city of Northern Israel. True, Israel was no longer, if ever, an elective monarchy. Nevertheless, the people claimed a constitutional privilege, based perhaps on the transaction of Samuel in the election of Saul (1Sa_10:25), to be a party to the conditions under which they would serve a new king and he become their ruler: David, in making Solomon his successor, had ignored this wise provision, and the people, having lost such a privilege by default, naturally deemed their negligence the cause of Solomon's burdensome taxes and forced labor. Consequently, they would be more jealous of their rights for the future, and Rehoboam accordingly would have to accede to their demand. Having come together at Shechem, the people agreed to accept Rehoboam as their king on condition that he would lighten the grievous service and burdensome taxes of his father. Rehoboam asked for three days' time in which to consider the request. Against the advice of men of riper judgment, who assured him that he might win the people by becoming their servant, he chose the counsel of the younger men, who were of his own age, to rule by sternness rather than by kindness, and returned the people a rough answer, saying: ?My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions? (1Ki_12:14). Rehoboam, however, misjudged the temper of the people, as well as his own ability. The people, led by Jeroboam, a leader more able than himself, were ready for rebellion, and so force lost the day where kindness might have won. The threat of the king was met by the Marseillaise of the people: ?What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David? (1Ki_12:16). Thus the ten tribes dethroned Rehoboam, and elected Jeroboam, their champion and spokesman, their king (see JEROBOAM). Rehoboam, believing in his ability to carry out his threat (1Ki_12:14), sent Adoram, his taskmaster, who no doubt had quelled other disturbances, to subdue the populace, which, insulted by indignities and enraged by Rehoboam's renewed insolence, stoned his messenger to death. Realizing, for the first time, the seriousness of the revolt, Rehoboam fled ignominiously back to Jerusalem, king only of Judah and of the adjacent territory of the tribe of Benjamin. The mistake of Rehoboam, was the common mistake of despots. He presumed too much on privilege not earned by service, and on power for which he was not willing to render adequate compensation.

2. Underlying Causes of Disruption:
It is a mistake, however, to see in the disruption the shattering of a kingdom that had long been a harmonious whole. From the earliest times the confederation of tribes was imperfectly cemented. They seldom united against their common foe. No mention is made of Judah in the list of tribes who fought with Deborah against Sisera. A chain of cities held by the Canaanites, stretching across the country from East to West, kept the North and the South apart. Different physical characteristics produced different types of life in the two sections. Old jealousies repeatedly fanned into new flame intensified the divisions due to natural and artificial causes. David labored hard to break down the old antagonisms, but even in his reign Israel rebelled twice. Northern Israel had produced many of the strongest leaders of the nation, and it was not easy for them to submit to a ruler from the Judean dynasty. Solomon, following David's policy of unification, drew the tribes closely together through the centralization of worship at Jerusalem and through the general splendor of his reign, but he, more than any other, finally widened the gulf between the North and the South, through his unjust discriminations, his heavy taxes, his forced labor and the general extravagances of his reign. The religion of Yahweh was the only bond capable of holding the nation together. The apostasy of Solomon severed this bond. The prophets, with their profound knowledge of religious and political values, saw less danger to the true worship of Yahweh in a divided kingdom than in a united nation ruled over by Rehoboam, who had neither political sagacity nor an adequate conception of the greatness of the religion of Yahweh. Accordingly, Ahijah openly encouraged the revolution, while Shemaiah gave it passive support.

3. Shemaiah Forbids Civil War:
Immediately upon his return to Jerusalem, Rehoboam collected a large army of 180,000 men (reduced to 120,000 in the Septuagint's Codex Vaticanus), for the purpose of making war against Israel. The expedition, however, was forbidden by Shemaiah the prophet on the ground that they should not fight against their brethren, and that the division of the kingdom was from God. Notwithstanding the prohibition, we are informed that ?there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually? (1Ki_14:30; 2Ch_12:15).

4. Rehoboam's Prosperity:
Rehoboam next occupied himself in strengthening the territory which still remained to him by fortifying a number of cities (2Ch_11:5-12). These cities were on the roads to Egypt, or on the western hills of the Judean Shephelah, and were doubtless fortifled as a protection against Egypt. According to 2Ch_11:13-17, Rehoboam's prosperity was augmented by an immigration of priests and Levites from Israel, who came to Jerusalem because of their opposition to the idolatrous worship instituted by Jeroboam. All who were loyal to Yahweh in the Northern Kingdom are represented as following the example of the priests and Levites in going to Jerusalem, not simply to sacrifice, but to reside there permanently, thus strengthening Rehoboam's kingdom. In view of the fact that Rehoboam added to the innovations of his father, erected pillars of Baal in Jerusalem long before they were common in Northern Israel, and that he permitted other heathen abominations and immoralities, it seems that the true worship of Yahweh received little encouragement from the king himself. As a further evidence of his prosperity, Chronicles gives an account of Rehoboam's family. Evidently he was of luxurious habit and followed his father in the possession of a considerable harem (2Ch_11:18-23). He is said to have had 18 wives and 60 concubines, (2Ch_11:21; the Septuagint's Codex Vaticanus and Josephus, Ant., VIII, x, 1 give ?30 concubines?).

5. Shishak's Invasion:
One of the direct results of the disruption of the kingdom was the invasion of Palestine by Shishak, king of Egypt, in the 5th year of Rehoboam. Shishak is Sheshonk. I, the first king of the XXIId or Bubastite Dynasty. He is the same ruler who granted hospitality to Jeroboam when he was obliged to flee from Solomon (1Ki_11:40). The Septuagint (1Ki_12:24) informs us that Jeroboam married Ano, the sister of Shishak's wife, thus becoming brother-in-law to the king of Egypt. It is therefore easy to suppose that Jeroboam, finding himself in straits in holding his own against his rival, Rehoboam, called in the aid of his former protector. The results of this invasion, however, are inscribed on the temple at Karnak in Upper Egypt, where a list of some 180 (Curtis, ?Chronicles,? ICC) towns captured by Shishak is given. These belong to Northern Israel as well as Judah, showing that Shishak exacted tribute there as well as in Judah, which seems scarcely reconcilable with the view that he invaded Palestine as Jeroboam's ally. However, the king of Israel, imploring the aid of Shishak against his rival, thereby made himself vassal to Egypt. This would suffice to make his towns figure at Karnak among the cities subjected in the course of the campaign. The Chronicler saw in Shishak an instrument in the hand of God for the punishment of R. and the people for the national apostasy. According to 2Ch_12:3, Shishak had a force of 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen to which Josephus adds 400,000 foot-soldiers, composed of Lubim, Sukkum and Ethiopians. No resistance appears to have been offered to the advance of the invading army. Not even Jerusalem seems to have stood a siege. The palace and the temple were robbed of all their treasures, including the shields of gold which Solomon had made. For these Rehoboam later substituted shields of brass (2Ch_12:9, 2Ch_12:10).

6. His Death:
Rehoboam died at the age of fifty-eight, after having reigned in Jerusalem for 17 years. His son Abijah became his successor. He was buried in Jerusalem. Josephus says that in disposition he was a proud and foolish man, and that he ?despised the worship of God, till the people themselves imitated his wicked actions? (Ant., VIII, x, 2).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Rehoboam (he enlarges the people), only son of Solomon, born of an Ammonitess, called Naamah (1Ki_14:21; 1Ki_14:31). His reign commenced B.C. 975, when he was at the age of forty-one, and lasted seventeen years. This reign was chiefly remarkable for the political crisis which gave rise to it, and which resulted in the separation of the previously single monarchy into two kingdoms, of which the smaller, which took the name of Judah, adhered to the house of David. All the points involved in this important event, and its immediate results, have been considered in the articles Israel, Jeroboam, Judah.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Rehoboam
(Heb. Rechabdmn, רְחִבְעָם, enlarger of the people [see Exo_34:24, and comp. the name Εὐρύδημος]; Sept. ῾Ροβοάμ; Josephus, ῾Ροβόαμος, Ant. 8:8,1), the only son of Solomon, by the Ammonitish princess Naamah (1Ki_14:21; 1Ki_14:31), and his successor (1Ki_11:43). — Rehoboam's mother is distinguished by the title “the (not ‘an,' as in the A.V.) Ammonite.” She was therefore one of the foreign women whom Solomon took into his establishment (11:1). In the Sept. (1Ki_12:24, answering to 1Ki_14:31 of the Hebrew text) she is stated to have been the “daughter of Ana (i.e. Hanun) the son of Nahash.” If this is a translation of a statement which once formed part of the Hebrew text, and may be taken as authentic history, it follows that the Ammonitish war into which Hanun's insults had provoked David was terminated by a realliance. Rehoboam was born B.C. 1014, when Solomon was but twenty years old, and as yet unanointed to the throne. His reign was noted for the great political schism which he occasioned, and which continuled to the end of both lines of monarchy. From the earliest period of Jewish history we perceive symptoms that the confederation of thettribes was but imperfectly cemented. The powerful Ephraim could never brook a position of inferiority. Throughout the book of Judges (Jdg_8:1; Jdg_12:1) the Ephraimites show a spirit of resentful jealousy when any enterprise. is undertaken without their concurrence and active participation. From them had sprung Joshua, and afterwards (by his place of birth) Samuel might be considered theirs; and though the tribe of Benjamin gave to Israel its first king, yet it was allied by hereditary ties to the house of Joseph, and by geographical position to the territory of Ephraim, so that up to David's accession the leadership was practically in the hands of the latter tribe. SEE EPHRAIM, TRIBE OF.
But Judah always threatened to be a formidable rival. During the earlier history, partly from the physical structure and situation of its territory (Stanley, Syr. and Palest. p. 162), which secluded it from Palestine just as Palestine by its geographical character was secluded from the world, it had stood very much aloof from the nation SEE JUDAH, TRIBE OF, and even after Saul's death, apparently without waiting to consult their brethren, “the men of Judah came and anointed David king over the house of Judah” (2Sa_2:4), while the other tribes adhered to Saul's family, thereby anticipating the final disruption which was afterwards to rend the nation permanently into two kingdoms. But after seven years of disaster a reconciliation was forced upon the contending parties; David was acknowledged as king of Israel, and soon after, by fixing his court at Jerusalem and bringing the tabernacle there, he transferred from Ephraim the greatness which had attached to Shechem as the ancient capital and to Shiloh as the seat of the national worship. In spite of this he seems to have enjoyed great personal popularity among the Ephraimites, and to have treated many of them with special favor (1Ch_12:30; 1Ch_27:10; 1Ch_27:14), yet this roused the jealousy of Judah, and probably led to the revolt of Absalom (q.v.). Even after that perilous crisis was passed, the old rivalry broke out afresh and almost led to another insurrection (2Sa_20:1, etc. [comp. Psa_78:60; Psa_78:67, etc., in illustration of these remarks]). Solomon's reign, from its severe taxes and other oppressions, aggravated the disecntent, and latterly, from its irreligious character, alienated the prophets and provoked the displeasure of God. When Solomon's strong hand was withdrawn, the crisis came (B.C. 973). Rehoboam selected Shechem as the place of his coronation, probably as an act of concession to the Ephraimites, and perhaps in deference to the suggestions of those old and wise counsellors of his father whose advice he afterwards unhappily rejected. From the present Hebrew text of 1 Kings 12 the exact details of the transactions at Shechem are involved in a little uncertainty. The general facts, indeed, are clear. The people demanded a remission of the severe burdens imposed by Solomon, and Rehoboam promised them an answer in three days, during which time he consulted first his father's counsellors, and then the young men “that were grown up with him and which stood before him,” whose answer shows how greatly during Solomon's later years the character of the Jewish court had degenerated. Rejecting the advice of the elders to conciliate the people at the beginning of his reign, and so make them “his servants forever,” he returned as his reply, in the true spirit of an Eastern despot, the frantic bravado of his contemporaries, “My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. . . I will add to your yoke; my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions” (i.e. scourges furnished with sharp points; so in Latin, scorpio, according to Isidore Origg. v, 27], is “virga nodosa et aculeata, quia arcuato vulnere in corpus infligitur?' [Facciolati, s.v.]). Thereupon arose the formidable song of insurrection, heard once before when the tribes quarrelled after David's return from the war with Absalom:
“What portion have we in David?
What inheritance in Jesse's son?
To your tents, O Israel?
Now see to thy own house, O David!”
Rehoboam sent Adoram or Adoniram, who had been chief receiver of the tribute during the reigns of his father and his grandfather (1Ki_4:6; 2Sa_20:24), to reduce the rebels to reason, but he was stoned to death by them, whereupon the king and his attendants fled in hot haste to Jerusalem. So far all is plain, but there is a doubt as to the part which Jeroboam took in these transactions. According to 1Ki_12:3 he was summoned by the Ephraimites from Egypt (to which country he had fled from the anger of Solomon) to be their spokesman at Rehoboam's coronation, and actually made the speech in which a remission of burdens was requested. There is no real contradiction to this when we read in 1Ki_12:20 of the same chapter that after the success of the insurrection and Rehoboam's flight, “when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, they sent and called him unto the congregation and made him king.” We find in the Sept. a long supplement to this, 12th chapter, possibly ancient, containing-fuller details of Jeroboam's biography than the Hebrew. SEE JEROBOAM. In this we read that after Solomon's death he returned to his native place, Sarira in Ephraim, which he fortified, and lived there quietly, watching the turn of events until the long-expected rebellion broke out, when the Ephraimites heard (doubtless through his own agency) that he had returned, and invited him to Shechem to assume the crown. From the same supplementary narrative of the Sept. we might infer that more than a year must have elapsed between Solomon's death and Rehoboam's visit to Shechem, for, on receiving the news of the former event, Jeroboam requested from the king of Egypt leave to return to his native country. This the king tried to prevent by giving him his sisterin-law in marriage; but on the birth of his child Abijah, Jeroboam renewed his request, which was then granted. It is probable that during this year the discontent of the northern tribes was making itself more and more manifest, and that this led to Rehoboam's visit and intended inauguration. The comparative chronology of the reigns determines them both as beginning in this year.
On Rehoboam's return to Jerusalem he assembled an army of 180,000 men from the two faithful tribes of Judah and Benjamin (the latter transferred from the side of Joseph to that of Judah in consequence of the position of David's capital within its borders), in the hope of reconquering Israel. The expedition, however, was forbidden by the prophet Shemaiah, who assured them that the separation of the kingdoms was in accordance with God's will (1Ki_12:24). Still, during Rehoboam's lifetime peaceful relations between Israel and Judah were never restored (2Ch_12:15; 1Ki_14:30). Rehoboam now occupied himself in strengthening the territories which remained to him by building a number of fortresses of which the names are given in 2Ch_11:6-10, forming a girdle of “fenced cities” round Jerusalem. The pure worship of God was maintained in Judah, and the Levites and many pious Israelites from the North, vexed at the calf-idolatry introduced by Jeroboam at Dan and Bethel, in imitation of the Egyptian worship of Mnevis, came and settled in the southern kingdom and added to its power. But Rehoboam did not check the introduction of heathen abominations into his capital. The lascivious worship of Ashtoreth was allowed to exist by the side of the true religion (an inheritance of evil doubtless left by Solomon), “images” (of Baal and his fellow-divinities) were set up, and the worst immoralities were tolerated (1Ki_14:22-24). These evils were punished and put down by the terrible calamity of an Egyptian invasion. Shortly before this time a change in the ruling house had occurred in Egypt. The twenty-first dynasty of Tanites, whose last king, Pisham or Psusennes, had been a close ally of Solomon (3:1; 7:8; 9:16; 10:28, 29), was succeeded by the twenty-second of Bubastites, whose first sovereign, Shishak (Sheshonk, Sesonchis, Sovuarmci), was himself connected, as we have seen, with Jeroboam. That he was incited by him to attack Judah is very probable. At all events, in the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign the country was invaded by a host of Egyptians and other African nations, numbering 1200 chariots, 60,000 cavalry, and a vast miscellaneous multitude of infantry (B.C. 969).
The line of fortresses which protected Jerusalem to the west and south was forced, Jerusalem itself was taken, and Rehoboam had to purchase an ignominious peace by delivering up all the treasures with which Solomon had adorned the Temple and palace, including his golden shields, 200 of the larger and 300 of the smaller size (10:16, 17), which were carried before him when he visited the Temple in state. We are told that after the Egyptians had retired, his vain and foolish successor comforted himself by substituting shields of brass, which were solemnly borne before him in procession by the body- guard, as if nothing had been changed since his father's time (Ewald: Geschichte des Volkes Israel, 3:348, 464). Shishak's success is commemorated by sculptures discovered bv Champollion on the outside of the great temple at Karnak, where among a long list of captured towns and provinces occurs the name Judah Malkah (kingdom of Judah). It is said that the features of the captives in these sculptures are unmistakably Jewish (Rawlinson, Herodotus, 2, 376, and Bamton Lectures, p. 126; Bunsen, Egypt, 3:242). After this great humiliation tle moral condition of Judah seems to have improved (2Ch_12:12), and the rest of Rehoboam's life to have been unmarked by any events of importance. He died B.C. 956, after a reign of seventeen years, having ascended the throne at the age of forty-one (1Ki_14:21 : 2Ch_12:13). In the addition to the Sept. already mentioned (inserted after 1Ki_12:24) we read that he was sixteen years old at his accession-a misstatement probably founded on a wrong interpretation of 2Ch_13:7 where he is called “young” (i. e new to his work, inexperienced) and “tender- hearted” (רִךְאּלֵבָב, wanting in resolution and spirit). He had eighteen wives, sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons, and sixty daughters. The wisest thing recorded of him in Scripture is that he refused to waste away his sons' energies in the wretched existence of an Eastern zenana, in which we may infer, from his helplessness at the age of forty-one, that he had himself been educated, but dispersed them in command of the new fortresses which he had built about the country. Of his wives, Mahalath, Abihail, and Maachah were all of the royal house of Jesse. Maachah he loved best of all, and to her son Abijah he bequeathed his kingdom. See Kiesling, Hist. Rehabeami (Jena, 1753). SEE JUDAH, KINGDOM OF.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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