Jeroboam,

Jeroboam, the first king of the divided kingdom of Israel. He belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, and for his capacity was raised by Solomon to be superintendent of the labours and taxes exacted from his tribe at the construction of the fortifications underneath the citadel of Zion. The growing disaffection of his tribesmen and the alienation from Solomon of the prophetic order fostered his own ambition; but he was soon obliged to flee to Egypt for safety. After Solomon's death he returned to head the revolt of the northern tribes against Rehoboam, and established his chief strongholds in Shechem on the west and Penuel on the east. In order to destroy the religious as well as the political unity of the ancient kingdom he now established shrines at Dan and Bethel to wean away his people from the sacred yearly pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and, further, set up in these images borrowed from the animal-worship of the Egyptians. Thus his name has descended in proverbial infamy as 'Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin,' and Roman Catholic writers found in him a convenient parallel to Henry VIII. at the time of the Reformation. Jeroboam suffered a defeat from Ahijah, son of Rehoboam, and died soon after in the twenty-second year of his reign.—Jeroboam II. was the son of Joash, of the dynasty of Jehu. He thrust back the Syrian invaders, reconquered Ammon and Moab, but earned the denunciations of the prophets Amos and Hosea by failing to reform religion at home.