Bible History Old Testament Vol 5 by Alfred Edersheim

Author:Alfred Edersheim
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion & Spirituality
Published: 2012-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

10. 1 KINGS 12; 14:21-23; 2 CHRONICLES 10-12

REHOBOAM, FIRST KING OF JUDAH

Family of Solomon — Age of Rehoboam — His Character — Religious History of Israel and Judah — The Assembly at Shechem — Jeroboam’s return from Egypt — Rehoboam’s Answer to the Deputies in Shechem — Revolt of the Ten Tribes — The Reigns of Rehoboam and of Jeroboam — Invasion of Judah by Shishak — Church and State in Israel — Rehoboam’s attempt to recover rule over the Ten Tribes — His Family History — Religious Decline in Israel, and its consequences

STRANGE as it may seem, despite the multifarious marriages of the king, his alliances with neighboring nations, and his immense wealth, “the house of Solomon” was far from strong at the time of his decease. It may have been that Solomon left other sons besides Rehoboam, though it is strange that we find no notice of them, nor, indeed, of any child, except a casual remark about two of Solomon’s daughters (1 Kings 4:11, 15). If other children survived him, their position must have been far less influential than that of the sons of David, nor does Rehoboam’s succession appear to have been ever contested by any member of the family.

Rehoboam, or rather Rechavam (“he who enlargeth the people”), must have been very young at his accession. This we gather from the expression by which they “who had grown up with him” are described, and from the manner in which his son and successor, Abijah, characterized the commencement of his reign (2 Chronicles 13:7). There seems, therefore, considerable probability attaching to the suggestion, that the notice of his age at his accession — forty-one (1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 12:13) — is the mistake of a copyist, who in transcribing the figures misread the two letters ak — twenty-one — for am — forty-one. This supposition is strengthened by the fact that Rehoboam was not the son of the Egyptian princess, who seems to have been Solomon’s first wife, but of Naamah, an Ammonitess; fk1 and we know that it was only after his religious decline (1 Kings 11:1) that Solomon entered upon alliances with “strange women,” among whom Ammonitesses are specially mentioned. fk2

Of the character of Rehoboam we know sufficient to form an accurate estimate. David had taken care to commit the upbringing of his son and successor to the prophet Nathan; and, so far as we can judge, the early surroundings of Solomon were such as not only to keep him from intimacy with light or evil associates, but to train him in earnest piety. But when Rehoboam was born, King Solomon had already entered upon the fatal path which led to the ruin of his race; and the prince was brought up, like any other Eastern in similar circumstances, with the young nobles of a court which had learned foreign modes of thinking and foreign manners. The relation between the aristocracy and the people, between the king and his subjects, had changed from the

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