He was the first King of Judah after Solomon died. He ruled Judah from 922 - 915 BC. He lost the northern kingdom to Jeroboam because his father, Solomon, had turned away from God. - 1 Kings 11-12. Rehoboam had eighteen wives, sixty concubines, including Maacah, grand-daughter of Absalom, David's son. The people, led by Jeroboam, 1st King of Isreal, feared that Rehoboam would continue to tax them heavily - as had his father Solomon. Jeroboam and the people promised their loyalty in return for lesser burdens. The older men counseled Rehoboam to at least speak to the people in a civil manner, but the king sought advice from the people he had grown up with; they advised him to show no weakness to the people, and to tax them even more, which Rehoboam did. He proclaimed to the people, "Whereas my father laid upon you a heavy yoke, so shall I add tenfold thereto. Whereas my father chastised (tortured) you with whips, so shall I chastise you with scorpions. For my littlest finger is thicker than my father's loins; and your backs, which bent like reeds at my father's touch, shall break like straws at my own touch." Jeroboam and the people angrily rebelled; the ten northern tribes broke away and formed a separate kingdom, Israel, which came to be also known as Samaria (during the time of Jesus Christ), or Ephraim (in the Book of Mormon). The realm Rehoboam was left with was called Judah, after the Tribe of Judah that formed the largest part of the population. Rehoboam organized his armies and decided to go to war against the new kingdom of Israel. However, he was advised against fighting his brethren, and so returned to Jerusalem. He built elaborate defenses and strongholds, along with fortified cities. The text reports that Israel and Judah were in a state of war throughout his seventeen year reign.
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