King James Bible Dictionary

Street; broad place.

1. The father of Hadadezer, king of Tobah (2 Samuel 8:3, 12).

2. Nehemiah 10:11.

3. The same, probably, as Beth-rehob (2 Samuel 10:6, 8; Judges 18:28), a place in the north of Palestine (Numbers 13:21). It is now supposed to be represented by the castle of Hunin, south-west of Dan, on the road from Hamath into Coele-Syria.

4. A town of Asher (Joshua 19:28), to the east of Zidon.

5. Another town of Asher (Joshua 19:30), kept possession of by the Canaanites (Judges 1:31).

breadth; space; extent

1. Father of Hadadezer, king of Zobah
2 Samuel 8:3; 2 Samuel 8:12

2. A Levite who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
Nehemiah 10:11

3. A town in northern Palestine:

The limit of the investigation made by the twelve spies
Numbers 13:21

Possessed by the Syrians
2 Samuel 10:6; 2 Samuel 10:8

Called Beth-Rehob
2 Samuel 10:6

4. An unlocated town of Asher
Joshua 19:28

5. A Levitical city of Asher
Joshua 19:30; Joshua 21:31; 1 Chronicles 6:75

Canaanites not driven from
Judges 1:31

1. The father of Hadadezer king of Zobah, whom David smote at the Euphrates. (2 Samuel 8:3,12) (B.C. before 1043.)
2. A Levite or family of Levites who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:11) (B.C. 410.)
3. The northern limit of the exploration of the spies. (Numbers 13:21) Robinson fixes the position of Rehob as not far from Tell el-Kady and Banias .
4. One of the towns allotted to Asher. (Joshua 19:28)
5. Asher contained another Rehob, (Joshua 19:30) but the situation of these towns is unknown.

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 Chronicles 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 Samuel 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 Chronicles 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 Chronicles 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 Chronicles 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.)

who sets the people at liberty

Successor to Solomon as king
1 Kings 11:43; 2 Chronicles 9:31

Refuses to reform abuses
1 Kings 12:1-15; 2 Chronicles 10:1-15

Ten tribes, under leadership of Jeroboam, successfully revolt from
1 Kings 12:16-24; 2 Chronicles 10:16-19; 2 Chronicles 11:1-4

Builds fortified cities; is temporarily prosperous
2 Chronicles 11:5-23

Invaded by king of Egypt and despoiled
1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Chronicles 12:1-12

Death of
1 Kings 14:31; 2 Chronicles 12:16

Genealogy and descendants of
2 Chronicles 13:3; 2 Chronicles 40:1

Called Roboam
Matthew 1:7

(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 Isr'l was forbidden by the prophet Shemaiah, (1 Kings 12:21) still during Rehoboam's lifetime peaceful relations between Isr'l 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.

Broad places.

1. A well in Gerar dug by Isaac (Genesis 26:22), supposed to be in Wady er-Ruheibeh, about 20 miles south of Beersheba.

2. An ancient city on the Euphrates (Genesis 36:37; 1 Chronicles 1:48), "Rehoboth by the river."

3. Named among the cities of Asshur (Genesis 10:11). Probably, however, the words "rehoboth'ir" are to be translated as in the Vulgate and the margin of A.V., "the streets of the city," or rather "the public square of the city", i.e., of Nineveh.

spaces; places

1. A city built by Asshur
Genesis 10:11

2. A city of the Edomites
Genesis 36:37; 1 Chronicles 1:48

3. The name given to a well dug by Isaac
Genesis 26:22

(wide places , i.e. streets).

1. The third of the series of wells dug by Isaac, (Genesis 26:22) in the Philistines' territory, lately identified as er-Ruheibeh , 16 miles south of Beersheba.
2. One of the four cities built by Asshur, or by Nimrod in Asshur, according as this difficult passage is translated. (Genesis 10:11) Nothing certain is known of its position.
3. The city of a certain Saul or Shaul, one of the early kings of the Edomites. (Genesis 36:37; 1 Chronicles 1:48) The affix "by the river" fixes the situation of Rehoboth as on the Euphrates.