Rehoboam

Él ensancha al pueblo, el sucesor de Salomón en el trono, y aparentemente su único hijo. Era hijo de Naama «la amonita», alguna princesa amonita bien conocida (1 Rey. 14:21; 2 Crón. 12:13). Tenía cuarenta y un años cuando subió al trono, y reinó diecisiete años (975-958 a.C.). Aunque fue reconocido enseguida como el legítimo heredero del trono, había sin embargo un deseo fuertemente sentido de modificar el carácter del gobierno. La carga de impuestos a la que habían estado sujetos durante el reinado de Salomón era muy opresiva, y por tanto el pueblo se reunió en Siquem y demandó del rey un alivio de sus cargas. Él fue a encontrarse con ellos en Siquem, y oyó sus demandas de alivio (1 Rey. 12:4). Después de tres días, habiendo consultado con una generación más joven de cortesanos que había crecido en torno suyo, en lugar de seguir el consejo de los ancianos, respondió al pueblo con altivez (6-15). «Y no oyó el rey al pueblo; porque era designio de Jehová» (comp. 11:31). Esto llevó rápidamente las cosas a una crisis. Se oyó el terrible clamor (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).

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.

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.

Esta descripción está en inglés.