Rehoboam

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Rehoboam (רחבעם המלך) was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, succeeding his father Solomon. His mother was Naamah "the Ammonitess." His name means he enlarges the people.

William F. Albright has dated his reign to 922 BC-915 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 931 BC-913 BC.

He was forty-one years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned seventeen years. Although he was acknowledged at once as the rightful heir to the throne, yet there was a strongly-felt desire to modify the character of the government. The burden of taxation to which they had been subjected during Solomon's reign was very oppressive, and therefore the people assembled at Shechem and demanded from the king an alleviation of their burdens. The elder counselors formerly of Solomon's kingship advised that he lower taxes to gain favor among the people, while the younger counselors exhorted that he raise taxes to express his authority. He said to the people, "my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

Under his taxation, the people revolted and the kingdom of Israel was split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. The Tribe of Judah, Rehoboam's own tribe, alone remained faithful to him. Benjamin was reckoned along with Judah, and these two tribes formed the southern kingdom, with Jerusalem as its capital; while the northern ten tribes formed themselves into a separate kingdom with Samaria as its capital, choosing Jeroboam as their king. Rehoboam tried to win back the revolted ten tribes by making war against them, but he was prevented by the prophet Shemaiah.

In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak, one of the kings of Egypt, probably at the encouragement of Jeroboam his son-in-law, made war against him. Jerusalem submitted to the invader, who plundered the Temple and virtually reduced the kingdom to the position of a vassal of Egypt (1 Kings 14:25, 26; 2 Chronicles 12:5-9). A remarkable memorial of this invasion has been discovered at Karnak, in Upper Egypt, in certain sculptures on the walls of a small temple there. These sculptures represent the king, Shishak, 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 (2 Chr. 11:5-12).

The kingdom of Judah, under Rehoboam, sank more and more in moral and spiritual decay. "There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days." At length, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, Rehoboam "slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David" (1 Kings 14:31). He was succeeded by his son Abijam.

Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 -- Please update as needed

Preceded by:
Solomon

King of Judah

Succeeded by:
Abijam

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