Jeroboam, Solomon's Superintendent of Temple Builders-An Ephraimite Who Led The Rebellion

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

    Jacob was the father of 12 sons.  One of them was Ephraim. 

Jeroboam was an Ephraimite of the tribe of Ephraim.  He became king of Israel, the most northerly kingdom,  from 933 to 912 BCE. He was not from the tribe of Moses and his brother, Aaron, who were tribal members of Levi.  He was the head superintendent working for Solomon, and he led the rebellion against Solomon's son, causing a Civil War.    

 

Who were the Ephraimites?  Here's their genealogy:  Jacob with his 12 sons, (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher,  Joseph-1st son of Rachel, and his sons-Ephraim, Manasseh and later, Benjamin, son of Rachel who died in labor, of which Joseph, the youngest, was his favorite.  The others, of course, became jealous of Joseph.  They probably knew that Rachel had been his true and first love.   Later, Joseph became the father of Ephraim and Manasseh who became heads of 2 of the 12 tribes of Jacob who were Jacob's grandsons, not his sons.  

Jacob gives Joseph's sons a double portion being Joseph was found living in Egypt.  They both maintained their own "flags," and when the land of Israel was divided amongst the Israelites, they both received independent portions.

Ephraim's land included the hill-country in the central region of the land and was noted for its fertility.  Mt. Ephraim was the area occupied by the tribe of Ephraim in the hill regions from Bethel northward.  At the time of Solomon, the entire region was occupied by Ephraim and Manasseh right in the center of what was later called Palestine.  Their later religious center was situated at Shiloh, 25 miles north of Jerusalem in the mountains of Ephraim in its territory.  

Manasseh had been the first son of Joseph and Asenath (Gen.41:50).  When Jacob blessed Joseph's 2 sons, Jacob conferred on them an equal portion with his own sons in the division of Canaan.  Manasseh's tribe was divided into 7 families;  one called Machir and the other six called claiming kinship with Gilead.  Half the tribe with those of Reuben and Gad requested land in Transjordania, which was granted by Moses on condition that they ago with the other tribes in the conquest of the land as scouts going ahead of the main body.                                 

The 10 tribes ceded from the king Rehoboam, Solomon's son who was from the tribe of Judah, because mainly from the tax issue and the forced labor on the temple and other places.  Because the Temple was in Jerusalem, Jeroboam and the others found it uncomfortable to face Rehoboam and go to Judah 3 times a year.  To compensate, Jeroboam set up new shrines at Bethel and Dan  with a similar cult but centering around the symbols of golden calves.  The bible and talmudic sources were violently hostile to Jeroboam who "sinned and caused Israel to sin."

Detail of Jeroboam Sacrificing to Idols an unforgivable act, as painted in 1752  by Fragonard, as by doing this, he was committing heresy.  Orthodox Judaism considers views on the part of Jews who depart from traditional Jewish principles of faith heretical. In addition, the more right-wing groups within Orthodox Judaism hold that all Jews who reject the simple meaning of Maimonides's 13 principles of Jewish faith are heretics. As such, most of Orthodox Judaism considers Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism heretical movements, and regards most of Conservative Judaism as heretical. The liberal wing of Modern Orthodoxy is more tolerant of Conservative Judaism, particularly its right wing, as there is some theological and practical overlap between these groups.

Jeroboam was born into the tribe of Ephraim and had become Solomon's superintendent of the Temple builders.  His distant ancestor no doubt was then Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph which had grown to become the tribe of the Israelite tribe of 9 others in the Northern part of the nation of Israel.  Joseph had been Jacob's favorite son.  Ephraim had arrived with 32,500 population after their 40 year trek, but had started off from Egypt with 40,500.  They suffered a loss of 8,000.  Manasseh, on the other hand, had arrived with 52,700 population, having left Egypt with 32,200.  They had a gain of 20,500. 

In the Torah’s account of the end of Jacob’s life, we read that Joseph, upon learning that his father is on his deathbed, brings his two sons to visit him (Gen 48:1) and that when Jacob sees them he proceeds to bless them (48:9). Although Joseph positions the elder son, Manasseh, on Jacob’s right (48:13), Jacob crosses his hands (שִׂכֵּל אֶת־יָדָיו), placing his right hand upon the head of the younger son, Ephraim (48:14). Joseph attempts to correct his father (48:18), but Jacob insists that he is acting deliberately and that Ephraim will be the greater of the two (48:19). The Torah then relates:

 Why did Ephraim lose so many on the Exodus?  This troubling midrash relates a tradition that some or all of the tribe of Ephraim died in the wilderness. Having miscalculated the end of the 400 years of slavery which God prophesied to Abraham, they left Egypt on their own, 30 years ahead of schedule, and were slaughtered by the Philistines. God circumvents the scene of this tragedy, believing that the rest of the Israelites, having just emerged from their long period of oppression and violence, are not ready to encounter the sheer horror of these skeletons. As the midrash states, “Therefore the Holy Blessed One reasoned: If Israel behold the bones of the Ephraimites strewn in the path, they will return to Egypt.”  Only when the right conditions are joined by the right spirit can such a process succeed in helping a developing society to heal and move forward, thus fulfilling the words of Ezekiel’s prophecy: “Thus said the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again.”

Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, a member of the Tribe of Ephraim of Zereda. His mother, named Zeruah (צרוע "leprous") was a widow. He had at least two sons, Abijah and Nadab, who succeeded him on the throne.

A massive stepped podium for the Canaanite-Jebusite palace/fortress that was also used as David’s palace. Eilat Mazar dates the building of this structure from the period of 1200-1000 BC. This Stepped Stone Structure was the work of the Jebusites during the days of the Judges, and the work of David around 1000 BC

While still a young man, King Solomon made Jeroboam superintendent over his tribesmen in the building of the fortress Millo in Jerusalem and of other public works, and he naturally became conversant with the widespread discontent caused by the extravagances which marked the reign of Solomon.

Influenced by the words of the prophet Ahijah, he began to form conspiracies with the view of becoming king of the ten northern tribes; but these were discovered, and he fled to Egypt, where he remained under the protection of Pharaoh Shishak (925 BCE) Egyptian king of Libyan origin until the death of Solomon.  Jeroboam fled from Solomon and found refuge with Shishak.  In the 5th year of Rehoboam's rule, Shishak overran Judah and plundered the Temple treasure in Jerusalem.  His conquests also included the kingdom of Israel.   After this event, he returned and participated in a delegation sent to ask the new king Rehoboam to reduce taxes.

 After Rehoboam rejected their petition, ten of the tribes withdrew their allegiance to the house of David and proclaimed Jeroboam their king, forming the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria). Thus, the Civil War.  Initially,  only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained to form the new kingdom of Judah, loyal to Rehoboam.

The Ephraimites who entered the land with Joshua were the descendants of Ephraim, hardly Ephraim himself with his children. This is clear, first of all, because Joshua, son of Nun, who led the conquest, was a distant descendant of Ephraim (cf. 1 Chron. 7:25—27). Second, the notice in Numbers 26:35 cited above concerning the Ephraimites who entered the land speaks of the families of the Shuthalhites, Bachrites and Tahanites. The reference is to fully developed clans, not individuals.

7:20 And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eladah his son, and Tahath his son, 7:21 And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead. Now the men of Gath, who were born in the land, killed them, for they (=the sons of Ephraim) came down to raid their cattle. 7:22 Their father Ephraim mourned for them for many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. 7:23 He (Ephraim) came unto his wife and she conceived and had a son. And he named him Beriah, because disaster (ברעה) had befallen his house. 7:24 His daughter was Sheera. She built Lower and Upper Beit Horon and Uzzen-Sheera.   Beit Horon is one of the Levitical cities within the territory of Mount Ephraim in Joshua 21:20-22 (cf. also Josh. 16:3, 5). The entire family is thus living and building new settlements in the land.

Joshua was proud to be from this tribe.  He had been the commander of defenders in their war with the Amalekites who had attacked them (Exod.17:14).  Later, he was the representative of Ephraim's tribe among the 12 spies, sent to reconnoiter the land of Canaan.  He and Caleb were the only ones to return to Moses with a favorable report.  It could be that Joshua was Jeroboam's ancestor. 

After crossing the Jordan River, Joshua defeated the alliance of southern kings headed by the king of Jerusalem, and then the northern kings led by the king of Hazor, capturing most of what became the Land of Israel (except the valley areas and the coast). He then brought the Tabernacle to Shiloh and divided the territory among the 12 tribes by Lot.   Joshua died at age 110, buried in Ephraim. 

Gilead was the region of Transjordania, settle by the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh (Num.32:Josh.22:9, 15l.  After Solomon's reign, Gilead was part of the northern kingdom and, in 732 BCE, was captured by Assyria, its inhabitants being sent into exile.  Its boundaries were not stable, and the area has not been precisely determined.  

When Moses had died before he arrived in Canaan, dying just outside of it's gates, it was then up of Joshua, his 2nd in command, to issue the sites of land for each of the 12 tribes.  10 tribes were given the northern sites and 2-3 were given the southern sites with  Benjamin being in both northern and southern sites.  

Jeroboam's distant ancestor no doubt was then Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph which had grown to become the tribe of the Israelite tribe of 9 others in the Northern part of the nation of Israel.  Joseph had been Jacob's favorite son.  Ephraim's tribe had arrived with 32,500 population after their 40 year trek, but had started off from Egypt with 40,500.  They suffered a loss of 8,000.  Manasseh, on the other hand, had arrived with 52,700 population, having left Egypt with 32,200.  They had a gain of 20,500.  

In order to accomplish the building of the temple, his palace, and the other government buildings, Solomon established twelve administrative districts throughout Israel. The purpose of these districts was to provide for the needs the royal court (4:1-19), to raise taxes, and to coordinate the labor force needed to complete the building projects of his kingdom (5:13-18).

According to 1 Kings 9:15, Solomon established a system of forced labor in Israel in order to build “the house of the LORD and his own house, the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer.” At the beginning of his building projects, forced labor was only imposed on the remnant of the Canaanite population:

“All the people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites), that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites could not exterminate–these Solomon conscripted for his slave labor force, as it is to this day” (1 Kings 9:20-21).

According to Deuteronomy 20:11, when the people of Israel entered the land of Canaan, they were supposed to conquer the Canaanites and submit them to forced labor: “If [a Canaanite city] accepts your terms of peace and surrenders to you, then all the people in it shall serve you at forced labor.”

In the period of the Judges, before king Saul, Ephraim claimed priority among the other Israelite tribes, partly because their religious center was situated at Shiloh in its territory.  

The secession of the northern tribes after Solomon's death in 920 BCE, centered on the tribe of Ephraim,  to which Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, belonged.

It's hard to accept that Jeroboam, from such enlightened ancestors, could have ignored his Jewish upbringing and had ignored the principals of it when developing Samaria.  Did he do it out of  anger?  Golden calves?  How could he?  Is this what seeking power does to a person?  Giving up your beliefs?  

The Genealogy of Ephraim in 1 Chronicles 7:20-27  Joshua is the 10th generation from Ephraim. Again, Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, a member of the Tribe of Ephraim of Zereda. His mother, named Zeruah (צרוע "leprous") was a widow. He had at least two sons, Abijah and Nadab, who succeeded him on the throne.  

ZEREDAH (Heb. צְרֵדָה), home town of the Ephraimite Jeroboam the son of Nebat (i Kings 11:26). The reference to Zeredah in ii Chronicles 4:17 is a corruption of Zarethan, according to the parallel verse in i Kings 7:46.  The accepted identification of Zeredah is with Deir Ghassāna in the district of Thamna, 16 mi. (c. 25½ km.) northeast of Lydda (Lod, Israel). The ancient name is preserved by the village spring, ʿAyn Ṣarīda, This area was originally part of Ephraim but was transferred to Judea, together with the rest of the district, in the time of Jonathan the Hasmonean. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.thetorah.com/article/when-moses-placed-ephraim-before-manasseh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeroboam

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy

https://claudemariottini.com/2014/02/18/forced-labor-under-solomon-part-6/

https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-book-of-chronicles-and-the-ephraimites-that-never-went-to-egypt

https://www.generationword.com/jerusalem101/17-millo-jebusite-wall.html

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/520258/jewish/Why-do-we-bless-our-sons-to-be-like-Ephraim-and-Manasseh.htm

https://biblicalhistoricalcontext.com/quirks-in-chronicles/ezer-elead-and-exodus/