Jeroboam

3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Jeroboam
       n 1: (Old Testament) first king of the northern kingdom of Israel
            who led Israel into sin (10th century BC) [syn: {Jeroboam
            I}]
       2: a large wine bottle (holds 4/5 of a gallon) [syn: {double-magnum}]



From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Jeroboam
     increase of the people. (1.) The son of Nebat (1 Kings
     11:26-39), "an Ephrathite," the first king of the ten tribes,
     over whom he reigned twenty-two years (B.C. 976-945). He was the
     son of a widow of Zereda, and while still young was promoted by
     Solomon to be chief superintendent of the "burnden", i.e., of
     the bands of forced labourers. Influenced by the words of the
     prophet Ahijah, he began to form conspiracies with the view of
     becoming king of the ten tribes; but these having been
     discovered, he fled to Egypt (1 Kings 11:29-40), where he
     remained for a length of time under the protection of Shishak I.
     On the death of Solomon, the ten tribes, having revolted, sent
     to invite him to become their king. The conduct of Rehoboam
     favoured the designs of Jeroboam, and he was accordingly
     proclaimed "king of Israel" (1 Kings 12: 1-20). He rebuilt and
     fortified Shechem as the capital of his kingdom. He at once
     adopted means to perpetuate the division thus made between the
     two parts of the kingdom, and erected at Dan and Bethel, the two
     extremities of his kingdom, "golden calves," which he set up as
     symbols of Jehovah, enjoining the people not any more to go up
     to worship at Jerusalem, but to bring their offerings to the
     shrines he had erected. Thus he became distinguished as the man
     "who made Israel to sin." This policy was followed by all the
     succeeding kings of Israel.
     
       While he was engaged in offering incense at Bethel, a prophet
     from Judah appeared before him with a warning message from the
     Lord. Attempting to arrest the prophet for his bold words of
     defiance, his hand was "dried up," and the altar before which he
     stood was rent asunder. At his urgent entreaty his "hand was
     restored him again" (1 Kings 13:1-6, 9; comp. 2 Kings 23:15);
     but the miracle made no abiding impression on him. His reign was
     one of constant war with the house of Judah. He died soon after
     his son Abijah (1 Kings 14:1-18).
     
       (2.) Jeroboam II., the son and successor of Jehoash, and the
     fourteenth king of Israel, over which he ruled for forty-one
     years, B.C. 825-784 (2 Kings 14:23). He followed the example of
     the first Jeroboam in keeping up the worship of the golden
     calves (2 Kings 14:24). His reign was contemporary with those of
     Amaziah (2 Kings 14:23) and Uzziah (15:1), kings of Judah. He
     was victorious over the Syrians (13:4; 14:26, 27), and extended
     Israel to its former limits, from "the entering of Hamath to the
     sea of the plain" (14:25; Amos 6:14). His reign of forty-one
     years was the most prosperous that Israel had ever known as yet.
     With all this outward prosperity, however, iniquity widely
     prevailed in the land (Amos 2:6-8; 4:1; 6:6; Hos. 4:12-14). The
     prophets Hosea (1:1), Joel (3:16; Amos 1:1, 2), Amos (1:1), and
     Jonah (2 Kings 14:25) lived during his reign. He died, and was
     buried with his ancestors (14:29). He was succeeded by his son
     Zachariah (q.v.).
     
       His name occurs in Scripture only in 2 Kings 13:13; 14:16, 23,
     27, 28, 29; 15:1, 8; 1 Chr. 5:17; Hos. 1:1; Amos 1:1; 7:9, 10,
     11. In all other passages it is Jeroboam the son of Nebat that
     is meant.
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Jeroboam, he that opposes the people