Jeroboam's Revolt

Jeroboam's Revolt
Remains of Jeroboam's altar at Tel Dan
Date c. 931 – 913 BCE Location Kingdom of Israel Result Judahite victory. Dissolution of the United Monarchy of Israel in 930 BCE. Jerusalem sacked. Gradual decline of monotheistic Yahwism in southern Israel.
Belligerents
Kingdom of Israel Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt	Kingdom of Judah
Commanders and leaders
Jeroboam Shishak	Rehoboam Abijam
Strength
Thousands of soldiers 72,000 Egyptian warriors[1]	Thousands
Casualties and losses
Thousands	Fewer

According to the First Book of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles of the Hebrew Bible, Jeroboam's Revolt was an armed insurrection against Rehoboam, king of the United Monarchy of Israel, and subsequently the Kingdom of Judah, led by Jeroboam in the late 10th century BCE. The conflict, referring to the independence of the Kingdom of Samaria and the subsequent civil war during Jeroboam's rule, is said to have begun shortly after the death of Solomon lasting until the Battle of Mount Zemaraim. The conflict began due to discontent under the rule of Solomon's successor, his son Rehoboam, and was waged with the goal of breaking away from the United Monarchy of Israel. Though this goal was achieved very early on in the conflict, the war continued throughout the duration of Rehoboam's reign^[2] and well into the reign of his son, Abijam, who defeated the armies of Jeroboam but failed to reunite the kingdoms.^[3]

Jeroboam had fled to Egypt decades prior to the war after Solomon tried to kill him following prophecies by Yahweh (1 Kings 11:9-13) and Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29-39) that God wanted Jeroboam to rule over ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel,^[4] and lived under the protection of the pharaoh Shishak, probably Shoshenq I.^[5] Following the news of Solomon's death in 931 BCE, Jeroboam ventured back to the kingdoms of Israel, now under the rule of Solomon's son Rehoboam. Rehoboam's rule had been comparatively less appreciated than his father's, having been advised to show no weakness to the people, and to tax them even more.^[6] Jeroboam, as part of a delegation, went before Rehoboam and petitioned for a cap on taxes, which Rehoboam refused.^[7] Following the rejection, ten of the tribes withdrew their allegiance to the house of David and proclaimed Jeroboam their king, forming Samaria. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Rehoboam in the new kingdom of Judah.^[7]

The Battle of Mount Zemaraim in c. 913 BCE proved to be Jeroboam's final defeat,^[8] as the armies of Rehoboam's son Abijam reportedly killed half a million of Jeroboam's soldiers and captured the important Samarian centers of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, with their surrounding villages.^[9] Following this defeat, Jeroboam posed little threat to the Davidic kingdom, and died three years later. Despite defeating the separatist forces of the ten rebel tribes, the kingdoms of Judah and Samaria failed to be reunified in the wake of the war's end, and remained increasingly divided until being destroyed by invaders in 586 BCE and 720 BCE respectively.