Rehoboam

About Rehoboam

Rehoboam was the son of King Solomon and Naamah, an Ammonite woman (1Ki.14.21, 31). He became king of Judah after Solomon's death (1Ki.11.43). When Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned, the people, led by Jeroboam, asked him to lighten the heavy yoke that Solomon had placed on them (1Ki.12.1-4). Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father, but he rejected their advice to be a servant to the people (1Ki.12.6-8). Instead, he followed the counsel of the young men who had grown up with him and threatened to make the people's yoke even heavier (1Ki.12.9-14). As a result, the ten northern tribes rebelled against Rehoboam and made Jeroboam their king, leaving only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin loyal to Rehoboam (1Ki.12.16-20). Rehoboam intended to fight against the northern tribes, but God sent a prophet to stop him (1Ki.12.21-24). During Rehoboam's reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the temple and the royal palace (1Ki.14.25-28; 2Ch.12.1-12). Rehoboam did evil in the eyes of the Lord and allowed idol worship to spread in Judah (1Ki.14.22-24). He reigned for 17 years and was succeeded by his son Abijah (1Ki.14.21, 31; 2Ch.12.16). Rehoboam's story is a cautionary tale about the consequences of foolish decisions and disobedience to God.

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.