JER'OBO'AM I. Mel). Yitruh'uni, probably Alum tights). The first king of the Kingdom of Israel (c.937-915 lle was the son of Nehat of the tribe of Ephraim, and had charge, under King Solomon, of the house of Joseph. ile con spired against Solomon, but failed in his venture, and was compelled to lice to E,gypt (1. Kings xi. 26-40). The details of the movement, which was probably instigated by the restless spirit of the imrth under Judean rule, are not furnished. The incident of the prophet Ahijah (1. Kings xi. 29-39) is thought by critics to be a legendary embellishment. On the death of Solomon, Jerobo am returned from Egypt and took the lead in another revolt at Sheehem. Formal demands were made of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, to reduce the taxes and otherwise change the policy adopted by his father. Rehoboam naturally re fused, and the northern tribe seceded, Jeroboam becoming King of Israel ( I. Kings xii. 2-20). Wars between Jeroboam and Rehoboam and his successor. Abijam, were frequent (1. Kings xiv.
30; xv. 7). The compiler of the Book of Kings, writing from the exilic• point of view, which rec ognized the temple at Jerusalem as the only le gitimate centre of Yahweh-worship, represents Jeroboam as fearing defection if the people con tinued to journey to Jerusalem for worship, and for this reason he set up a cult of his own at Bethel, and at Dan (1. Kings xii. 20-33). It is the opinion of scholars at present, however, that as a matter of fact the idea of centralization of worship in one place did not exist at this time, and the northern tribes naturally recognized Bethel and Dan (q.v.) as they did other sanctu aries of the north as suitable places of worship. At these places a yearly harvest. festival was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and Yahweh was worshiped under the form of a golden or gilded image of a bull. See GOLDEN CALF.