4. FROM JEROBOAM I. TO JEROBOAM II.
After the death of Solomon the discontent which had been aroused by
his innovations, and especially by the rigour of his government,
openly showed itself against his successor; and when Rehoboam
curtly refused the demands which had been laid before him by an
assembly of the elders at Shechem, they withdrew from their
allegiance and summoned to be their king the Ephraimite Jeroboam
ben Nebat, who already had made an abortive attempt at revolt
from Solomon, and afterwards had taken refuge in Egypt. Only
Judah and Jerusalem remained faithful to the house of David.
Among the causes of the revolt of the ten tribes, jealousy of
Judah must certainly be reckoned as one. The power of Joseph had
been weakened by the Philistines, and by the establishment of the
monarchy the centre of gravity had been shifted from the north
where it naturally lay. But now it was restored to its old seat;
for once more it was situated, not in Judah, but in Joseph.
Monarchy itself, however, was not abolished by the revolting
tribes, conclusively showing how unavoidable and how advantageous
that institution was now felt to be; but at the same time they did
not refrain from attempts to combine its advantages with those
of anarchy, a folly which was ultimately the cause of their ruin.
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