Son of Solomon, first king of Judah
Rehoboam
Named in 42 verses across 4 books, first in 1 Kings 11:43.
רְחַבְעָםRehoboam
ῬοβοάμRehoboam
The name means “who sets the people at liberty.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869
About Rehoboam Written by AI
Rehoboam was the son of King Solomon and Naamah, an Ammonite woman (1 Kings 14:21). He became king of Judah after Solomon's death (1 Kings 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 (1 Kings 12:1 to 4). Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father, but he rejected their advice to be a servant to the people (1 Kings 12:6 to 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 (1 Kings 12:9 to 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 (1 Kings 12:16 to 20). Rehoboam intended to fight against the northern tribes, but God sent a prophet to stop him (1 Kings 12:21 to 24). During Rehoboam's reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the temple and the royal palace (1 Kings 14:25 to 28; 2 Chronicles 12:1 to 12). Rehoboam did evil in the eyes of the Lord and allowed idol worship to spread in Judah (1 Kings 14:22 to 24). He reigned for 17 years and was succeeded by his son Abijah (1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 12:16). Rehoboam's story is a cautionary tale about the consequences of foolish decisions and disobedience to God.
Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 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):
“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).
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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.)
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.
Where the Bible names him
- 1 Kings 11:43
And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.
- 1 Kings 12:1
Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
- 1 Kings 12:3
So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said,
- 1 Kings 12:6
Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.
- 1 Kings 12:12
After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”
- 1 Kings 12:17
but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.
- 1 Kings 12:18
Then King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem.
- 1 Kings 12:21
And when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.
- 1 Kings 12:23
“Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people
- 1 Kings 12:27
If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
- 1 Kings 14:21
Meanwhile, Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
- 1 Kings 14:25
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.
- 1 Kings 14:27
Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
- 1 Kings 14:29
As for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, along with all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
- 1 Kings 14:30
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.
- 1 Kings 14:31
And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David; his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And his son Abijam reigned in his place.
- 1 Kings 15:6
And there was war between the houses of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life.
- 1 Chronicles 3:10
Solomon’s son was Rehoboam: Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,
- 2 Chronicles 9:31
And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.
- 2 Chronicles 10:1
Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
- 2 Chronicles 10:3
So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said,
- 2 Chronicles 10:6
Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.
- 2 Chronicles 10:12
After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”
- 2 Chronicles 10:13
And the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders
- 2 Chronicles 10:17
but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 10:18
Then King Rehoboam sent out Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 11:1
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
- 2 Chronicles 11:3
“Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin
- 2 Chronicles 11:5
Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built up cities for defense in Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 11:17
So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, because they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
- 2 Chronicles 11:18
And Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab.
- 2 Chronicles 11:21
Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
- 2 Chronicles 11:22
Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, intending to make him king.
- 2 Chronicles 12:1
After Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he and all Israel with him forsook the Law of the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 12:2
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem
- 2 Chronicles 12:5
Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have forsaken Me; therefore, I have forsaken you into the hand of Shishak.’”
- 2 Chronicles 12:10
Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
- 2 Chronicles 12:13
Thus King Rehoboam established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
- 2 Chronicles 12:15
Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the Prophet and of Iddo the Seer concerning the genealogies? There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.
- 2 Chronicles 12:16
And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And his son Abijah reigned in his place.
From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.