THE SPLIT OF THE KINGDOM; A BIBLICAL STORY WITH A MESSAGE

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

According to the Hebrew Bible, after King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam (mid 10^th cent. BCE), whose mother was an Ammonite woman called Naamah, succeeded him as king. It is not known when exactly this event took place.  He was 41 years old when he became a king, and ruled for 17 years (I K. 14:21), but the numbers are questionable.

 For reasons that are not clear but perhaps in order to get the support of the northern tribes, Rehoboam went first to the city of Shehem. There he met with the representatives of the people. They suggested that if he, Rehoboam, were to lessen the financial burden placed upon them by his father, they would be willing to acknowledge him as their king.

Rehoboam told them to come back in three days for an answer. First, he sought the advice of the elders who told him to deal kindly with the people, using the formula known from other ANE texts regarding royal grants. It is noteworthy that the Hebrew text has: “if you will be a servant (EVED) to those people and serve them” (I K 12: 7). However, the parallel text in Chronicles softens the harsh word “slave,” and has “If you will be good to these people…” (I Chr. 10:7).

Rehoboam ignored the sound advice of the elders, and went with his younger contemporaries. The Bible calls them (YELADIM)  “the boys” ( I K. 12: 10), who told him to get even tougher with them than his father. In fact, they suggested he say to them, “ My little finger is  thicker than my father’s loins” (I K 12: 10), using a euphemism for his machismo. Furthermore, they told him to say, “My father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions” ( I K 12:11). The implication of the use of “scorpions” is not clear. BDB suggests that this may refer to scourges with points, stings (p. 785).   

The result was dramatic. The northerners quickly rejected Rehoboam ,and told him “ We have no portion in David, no share in Jessy’s son” (I K. 12: 16)  echoing the words of Sheba, the Benjaminite, who had led an unsuccessful revolt against king David (cf, 2 Sam. 20;1). In response, Rehoboam sent Adoram, his labor foreman. The text does not give us the purpose of this action. Some say, Rehoboam sent him in order to appease the assembly (Josephus);  others argue, he sent him to raise a work levy (Horn), and others, to threaten the people ( Tullock) or even to put down the rebellion (ABD, 5). The result was not unexpected. The biblical text tells us, the people “pelted him to death with stones” ( I K. 12; 18). Rehoboam then hurriedly got on his chariot and fled to Jerusalem where he was made king only by the smaller southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

In this episode Rehoboam comes across as a foolish brat. He not only ignores the calming advice of the elders but, following his peers, assumes that he can even get his way through violence, not realizing that force can never engender loyalty.

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