King of Israel
d. c. 910 BCE · Biblical era · Jerusalem
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Yeravam son of Nevat was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was an Ephraimite from Tzeredah, and his mother was a widow named Tzeruah (1 Kings 11:26). Shlomo noticed his ability and put him in charge of the forced labour of the house of Yosef (11:28). The prophet Achiyah of Shiloh met him outside Jerusalem, tore a new cloak into twelve pieces and gave him ten of them, as a sign that he would rule ten tribes (11:29-31). Shlomo sought to kill him, so he fled to Pharaoh Shishak in Egypt (11:40). When the north broke with Rechavam, the people made Yeravam king (12:20). He fortified Shechem and Penuel (12:25). To keep his people from going up to the Temple in Jerusalem, he set up two golden calves, at Beit El and at Dan, and created a new festival in the eighth month (12:28-32). Kings condemns this as the sin by which he 'caused Israel to sin' (1 Kings 14:16; 15:30). The Mishnah lists him among three kings who have no share in the World to Come (Sanhedrin 10:2), and Avot 5:18 makes him the model of one who leads the many into sin.
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JerusalemירושליםJudea
What they did here
He served Shlomo as overseer of forced labour (1 Kings 11:28). The prophet Achiyah met him as he was leaving Jerusalem (11:29).
Jerusalem in this era
In the Hebrew Bible, David takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it his capital, Solomon builds the First Temple there, and Nehemiah rebuilds its walls after the return from Babylon; in 164 BCE Judah Maccabee rededicated the Temple, the origin of Hanukkah. Archaeologists debate how large the city was in the 10th century BCE; it is well attested as the capital of Judah by the 8th century BCE, and Babylon destroyed it in 586 BCE.
About Jerusalem
Jerusalem, in the Judean hills, is a sacred city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the Hebrew Bible it is King David's capital and the site of Solomon's Temple; the First Temple was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE and the Second Temple, rebuilt from about 516 BCE, by Rome in 70 CE. Christians revere it as the place of Jesus's crucifixion and, in their faith, his resurrection; in Islamic tradition it is the destination of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and the first direction of prayer, marked by the Dome of the Rock (691-92) and al-Aqsa Mosque. It was ruled in turn by Rome and Byzantium, by Muslim dynasties from 638, by Crusaders (1099-1187), Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans (1517-1917), and by Britain. Divided between Israel and Jordan from 1948 to 1967, it has since been under Israeli control. Israel regards the city as its capital; Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state; most countries do not recognize sovereignty over the whole city.
In Jerusalem at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with King of Israel’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with King of Israel’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn from recorded birth and death years (reign years for rulers whose lives are undated); where only one end of a life is known, a span of about 70 years is assumed.
Works
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