Jeroboam II
Jeroboam II reigned forty-one years over the northern kingdom of Israel, restoring its borders from Hamath to the Dead Sea exactly as the prophet Jonah had foretold - making his reign Israel's last era of political power and prosperity. Yet beneath the military success and booming economy, the prophets Amos and Hosea, both active during his reign, exposed a society rotting from within: the wealthy crushing the poor, dishonest scales, religious festivals God despised, and rampant idolatry at the royal sanctuaries of Bethel and Dan. Scripture's verdict is that he 'departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat' - the golden calves stayed. Within a generation of his death, Israel collapsed into a rapid succession of assassinations that ended with Assyrian conquest.
Biography
- Occupation
- King of Israel
- Father
- Joash (Jehoash) of Israel
- Children
- Zachariah
- Era
- Divided Kingdom
- Nationality
- Israelite
Family
Did You Know?
Jeroboam II's territorial expansion was prophesied by Jonah - the same prophet of the Nineveh story - in the prophet's only appearance in the books of Kings.
Archaeologists have found a seal from Megiddo reading 'belonging to Shema, servant of Jeroboam,' likely from an official of this very king.
Though 2 Kings gives his forty-one-year reign only seven verses, three books of the Bible - Amos, Hosea, and Jonah - are set during it.
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Jeroboam II Restores Israel's Borders
2 Kings 14:23-25
His territorial expansion fulfills the word of the prophet Jonah - the same Jonah of the Nineveh account - showing God granting mercy to Israel even under a king who did evil.
23n the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years.
Amos Confronts Jeroboam's Israel
Amos 7:10-11
Amaziah the priest of Bethel accuses Amos of conspiracy for prophesying against Jeroboam - the prosperity of the era had made its religious establishment hostile to correction.
10hen Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.