Claes Moeyaert - Sacrifice of Jeroboam - Google Art Project

Jeroboam I (;

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ''Yārŏḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ, Hieroboám) was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' revolt of the ten northern

Israelite tribes The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( he, שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, translit=Šīḇṭēy Yīsrāʾēl, lit=Tribes of Israel) are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel, throu ...

against Rehoboam that put an end to the

United Monarchy The United Monarchy () in the Hebrew Bible refers to Israel and Judah under the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. It is traditionally dated to have lasted between and . According to the biblical account, on the succession of Solomon's son Re ...

. Jeroboam reigned for 22 years.

William F. Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

has dated his reign from 922 to 901 BC, while Edwin R. Thiele offers the dates 931 to 910 BC.

Etymology

The name ''Jeroboam'' is commonly held to have been derived from ''riyb'' and ''ʿam'' , signifying "the people contend" or "he pleads the people's cause". It is alternatively translated to mean "his people are many" or "he increases the people" (from ''rbb'', meaning "to increase"), or even "he that opposes the people". In the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

he is called ''Hieroboam'' (Ἱεροβοάμ). Source of transliterations and explanation of significance.

Biblical background

Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, a member of the

Tribe of Ephraim According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim ( he, אֶפְרַיִם, ''ʾEp̄rayīm,'' in pausa: אֶפְרָיִם, ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was one of the tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim formed the '' House ...

of Zereda. His mother, named

Zeruah Zeruah (Hebrew: צְרוּעָה ''Ṣərūʿā'', "leper") was an ancestor of Jeroboam, the first king of the Kingdom of Israel. She is mentioned only in a single verse of the Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;Nadab, who succeeded him on the throne. While still a young man, King Solomon made him

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

over his tribesmen in the building of the fortress

Millo The Millo ( he, המלוא) was a structure in Jerusalem referred to in the Hebrew Bible, first mentioned as being part of the city of David in and the corresponding passage in the Books of Kings () and later in the Books of Chronicles (). Howev ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and of other public works, and he naturally became conversant with the widespread discontent caused by the extravagances which marked the reign of Solomon. Influenced by the words of the prophet Ahijah, he began to form conspiracies with the view of becoming king of the ten northern tribes; but these were discovered, and he fled to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, where he remained under the protection of

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

Shishak Shishak, Shishaq or Susac (, Tiberian: , ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, an Egyptian pharaoh who sacked Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE. He is usually identified with the pharaoh Shoshenq I.Troy Leiland Sagrillo. 2015.Shoshenq I and bib ...

until the death of Solomon. After this event, he returned and participated in a delegation sent to ask the new king Rehoboam to reduce taxes. After Rehoboam rejected their petition, ten of the tribes withdrew their allegiance to the house of

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and proclaimed Jeroboam their king, forming the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria). Initially, only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained to form the new kingdom of Judah, loyal to Rehoboam.

Temples

Jeroboam rebuilt and fortified

Shechem Shechem ( ), also spelled Sichem ( ; he, שְׁכֶם, ''Šəḵem''; ; grc, Συχέμ, Sykhém; Samaritan Hebrew: , ), was a Canaanite and Israelite city mentioned in the Amarna Letters, later appearing in the Hebrew Bible as the first c ...

as the capital of the northern kingdom, and fearing that pilgrimages to the

temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...

prescribed by the Law might be an occasion for his people to go back to their old allegiance, he built two state temples with golden calves, one in Bethel and the other in

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

. Although criticised for his cultic activities in 1 Kings, calf worship was not new in Israelite ritual, but a reintroduction of earlier ritual. Bethel and Dan were already established cultic sites. According to Rabbanic Literature Gehazi possessed a magnet by which he lifted up the idol made by Jeroboam, so that it was seen between heaven and earth; he had "Yhwh" engraved on it, and in consequence the idol (a calf) pronounced the first two words of the Decalogue (ib.). According to 1 Kings, while Jeroboam was engaged in offering incense at Bethel, a "man of God" warned him that "a son named Josiah will be born to the house of David", who would destroy the altar (referring to King Josiah of Judah who would rule approximately three hundred years later). 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. At the entreaty of the man of God, his hand was restored to him again, but the miracle made no abiding impression on him. Jeroboam offered hospitality to the man of God but this was declined, not out of contempt but in obedience to the command of God. The prophecy is fulfilled in 2 Kings.

Identity of related figures

This "man of God" who warned Jeroboam has been equated with a seer named Iddo. Ahijahs and Jeroboam

The

wife of Jeroboam Jeroboam's wife is a character in the Hebrew Bible. She is unnamed in the Masoretic Text, but according to the Septuagint, she was an Egyptian princess called Ano: :''And Sousakim gave to Jeroboam Ano the eldest sister of Thekemina his wife, to him ...

is a character in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, but according to the

, she was an

ian princess called Ano: :''And

Sousakim Shishak, Shishaq or Susac (, Tiberian: , ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, an Egyptian pharaoh who sacked Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE. He is usually identified with the pharaoh Shoshenq I.Troy Leiland Sagrillo. 2015.Shoshenq I and bi ...

gave to Jeroboam Ano the eldest sister of

Thekemina Tahpenes (; תַּחְפְּנֵיס/תַּחְפְּנֵס ''Taḥpənēs''; LXX Θεκεμιμας ''Thekemimas'', or Θεχεμινας ''Thekheminas''; possibly derived from Egyptian '' tꜣ ḥmt nswt'', meaning ''the wife of the king'', Late ...

his wife, to him as wife; she was great among the king's daughters...'' 1 Kings 12:24e

New English Translation of the Septuagint The ''New English Translation of the Septuagint and the Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included under That Title'' (NETS) is a modern translation of the Septuagint (LXX), that is the scriptures used by Greek-speaking Christians and Jews of ...

In 1 Kings, Jeroboam's son

Abijah Abijah ( ') is a Biblical HebrewPetrovsky, p. 35 unisex nameSuperanskaya, p. 277 which means "my Father is Yah". The Hebrew form ' also occurs in the Bible. Old Testament characters Women * Abijah, who married King Ahaz of Judah. She is a ...

gets sick, and he sends his wife to the prophet Ahijah. Ahijah's message, however, is that Abijah will die, which he does. 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. 13, in which there is a reference to "some good thing ound in himtoward the Lord God of Israel," is interpreted (M. Ḳ. 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. Some assert that he himself undertook a pilgrimage."

War with Judah

According to the Hebrew Bible, Jeroboam was in "constant war with the house of Judah". While the southern kingdom made no serious effort militarily to regain power over the north, there was a long-lasting boundary dispute, fighting over which lasted during the reigns of several kings on both sides before being finally settled. In the eighteenth year of Jeroboam's reign,

(also known as Abijam), Rehoboam's son, became king of Judah. During his short reign of three years, Abijah went to considerable lengths to bring the Kingdom of Israel back under his control. He waged a major battle against Jeroboam in the mountains of Ephraim. According to the Book of Chronicles Abijah had a force of 400,000 and Jeroboam 800,000. The Biblical sources mention that Abijah addressed the armies of Israel, urging them to submit and to let the Kingdom of Israel be whole again, but his plea fell on deaf ears. Abijah then rallied his own troops with a phrase which has since become famous: "God is with us as our leader". The biblical account states that his elite warriors fended off a

pincer movement The pincer movement, or double envelopment, is a military maneuver in which forces simultaneously attack both flanks (sides) of an enemy formation. This classic maneuver holds an important foothold throughout the history of warfare. The pin ...

to rout Jeroboam's troops, killing 500,000 of them. Jeroboam sets up two golden calves

Jeroboam was crippled by this severe defeat to Abijah and posed little threat to the

Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. C ...

for the rest of his reign. He also lost the towns of Bethel,

Jeshanah Jeshanah (Yeshana) was an ancient Biblical city. History Yeshana was one of three cities, along with Bethel and Ephraim, that were captured by Abijah of the Kingdom of Judah during his war with Jeroboam of the Kingdom of Israel (). Charles Simon C ...

, and

Ephron Ephron is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ephron (biblical figure), Hittite who sold a cave to Abraham according to the Bible *A family of American writers: ** Henry Ephron (1911–1992), father ** Phoebe Ephron (1914� ...

, with their surrounding villages. Bethel was an important centre for Jeroboam's Golden Calf cult (which used non-Levites as priests), located on Israel's southern border, which had been allocated to the

Tribe of Benjamin According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel. In the Samaritan Pentate ...

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

, as was Ephron, which is believed to be the

Ophrah Ophrah ( he, עֹפְרָה), ( or ) is a name in the Hebrew Bible meaning "a fawn" given to: * A city of Benjamin (), probably identical with Ephron () and Ephraim (), the modern Palestinian city of Taybeh. The Israeli settlement of Ofra is close ...

that was allocated to the Tribe of Benjamin by Joshua. Jeroboam died soon after Abijam.

Commentary on sources

The account of Jeroboam's life, like that of all his successors, ends with the formula "And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel". "The

Chronicles of the Kings of Israel The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel is a book that gives a more detailed account of the reigns of the kings of ancient Kingdom of Israel than that presented in the Hebrew Bible, and may have been the source from which parts of the biblical acc ...

", 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. His family was eventually wiped out. The prophecies of doom concerning the fall of both the

House of Jeroboam The House of Jeroboam or Jeroboam dynasty was a reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel. They are depicted in the first of the Books of Kings. Their estimated reign is placed in the 10th century BCE. Chase (2010), p. 221 The house is named afte ...

and the northern kingdom as a whole ("For the Lord shall smite Israel..., and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river", might have been composed retroactively, after the events described had already come to pass. Alternatively, the prophecy could have been a logical deduction. Judah had just been conquered and turned into a vassal of Egypt, while Israel stood between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian empires. It is likely that the story of the golden calf in the wilderness (cf. with was composed as a polemic against Jeroboam's cultic restoration by claiming that its origins were inconsistent with worship of YHWH.

In popular culture

Jeroboam is portrayed by

Nickolas Grace Nickolas Andrew Halliwell Grace (born 21 November 1947) is an English actor known for his roles on television, including Anthony Blanche in the acclaimed ITV adaptation of ''Brideshead Revisited'', and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1980s seri ...

in '' Solomon & Sheba'' (1995) and by

Richard Dillane Richard Dillane (born 1964) is a British actor. He appears in a lead role of the Netflix series ''Young Wallander'', based on the character Kurt Wallander created by novelist Henning Mankell. He played British intelligence agent Peter Nicholls i ...

in '' Solomon'' (1997). Both of these are television films.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * *,

External links

Jeroboam at the Jewish Encyclopedia
{{Authority control 10th-century BC Kings of Israel 900s BC deaths Solomon Year of birth unknown House of Jeroboam Golden calf