Rehoboam

Solomon’s son Rehoboam went to Shechem to be made king, and the people asked him to lighten the “grievous service” his father had laid on them. He took three days, asked the old men who had served Solomon, and then “forsook the old men’s counsel” for the words of his young friends: “my father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke.” Israel broke away, and only Judah stayed with him. The story is a case study in who a leader listens to, and 1 Kings 12 tells it well.

35 verses

1 Kings

1 Kings 11:43

And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 12:1

And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.

1 Kings 12:2

And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it,(for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)

1 Kings 12:3

That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,

1 Kings 12:4

Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.

1 Kings 12:5

And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.

1 Kings 12:6

And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?

1 Kings 12:7

And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.

1 Kings 12:8

But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:

1 Kings 12:9

And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?

1 Kings 12:10

And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

1 Kings 12:11

And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

1 Kings 12:12

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.

1 Kings 12:13

And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;

1 Kings 12:14

And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

1 Kings 12:15

Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

1 Kings 12:16

So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, 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. So Israel departed unto their tents.

1 Kings 12:17

But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

1 Kings 12:18

Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

1 Kings 12:19

So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

1 Kings 12:20

And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

1 Kings 12:21

And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

1 Kings 12:22

But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

1 Kings 12:23

Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,

1 Kings 12:24

Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.

1 Kings 14:25

And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

1 Kings 14:26

And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

1 Kings 14:27

And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.

1 Kings 14:28

And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

1 Kings 14:31

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 10:16

And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents.

2 Chronicles 10:17

But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

2 Chronicles 10:18

Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 10:19

And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

Matthew

Matthew 1:7

And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

He enlarges the people, the successor of Solomon on the throne, and apparently his only son. He was the son of Naamah “the Ammonitess,” some well-known Ammonitish princess (1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chr. 12:13). He was forty-one years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned seventeen years (B.C. 975-958). 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. He went to meet them at Shechem, and heard their demands for relief (1 Kings 12:4). After three days, having consulted with a younger generation of courtiers that had grown up around him, instead of following the advice of elders, he answered the people haughtily (6-15). “The king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the Lord” (comp. 11:31). This brought matters speedily to a crisis. The terrible cry was heard (comp. 2 Sam. 20:1):

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“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” (1 Kings 12:16).

And now at once the kingdom was rent in twain. Rehoboam was appalled, and tried concessions, but it was too late (18). 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, 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 (21-24; 2 Chr. 11:1-4) from fulfilling his purpose. (See JEROBOAM.)

In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak (q.v.), one of the kings of Egypt of the Assyrian dynasty, stirred up, no doubt, by 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 Chr. 12:5-9). A remarkable memorial of this invasion has been discovered at Karnac, 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 Abijah. (See EGYPT.)

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(enlarger of the people), son of Solomon by the Ammonite princess Naamah, (1 Kings 14:21,31) and his successor. (1 Kings 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. [JEROBOAM] An expedition to reconquer Israel was forbidden by the prophet Shemaiah, (1 Kings 12:21) still during Rehoboam’s lifetime peaceful relations between Israel and Judah were never restored. (2 Chronicles 12:15; 1 Kings 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 41. (1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 12:13) He had 18 wives, 60 concubines, 28 sons and 60 daughters.

Based on Nave's Topical Bible by Orville J. Nave (1896). Dictionary entries from Easton's Bible Dictionary and Smith's Bible Dictionary. Public domain. KJV scripture text, public domain.