After 73 years of unity under King David and his son King Solomon, the kingdoms of Judah and Israel separated again. The explanation for this is given in the 1st book of Kings chapter 11 and it is basically due to the fact that King Solomon did not keep the covenant and the laws of God that he should have kept and some will be listed shortly. Solomon was told that the kingdom will be teared from him and will be given to his servant. But it will not be done during his life, for the sake of his father King David, but during the reign of his son. The decision has been made, the kingdom will be divided…Later in chapter 11, we are being introduced to Jeroboam from the tribe of Ephraim. Jeroboam, son of Nebat from Ha-Tzredah, meaning The Tzredah. Jeroboam was a servant to Solomon; and then it is written in chapter 11: “and he lifted up his hand against the king.” Meaning that he rebelled against King Solomon, and the cause is something that occurred during the time King Solomon built the Millo, and repaired the breach in the city of David. Apparently, the Millo was some kind of a massive construction project in Jerusalem. how does this relate to the revolt? It is unclear. There are several opinions, I will expand on this later. And then we are told later in the chapter that Jeroboam, was a “mighty warrior” and Solomon who saw his abilities at work, put him in charge of all the affairs of the house of Joseph. Apparently, he was responsible for the fortification works of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim or for some unclear administrative responsibility. )Manasseh and Ephraim were sons of Joseph(.
Continuing with chapter 11 of the 1st book of Kings – Ahijah the prophet from Shiloh, found Jeroboam when he was wearing a new robe. Ahijah took hold of it and tore it into twelve pieces. He gave Jeroboam ten pieces: representing the ten tribes of the Kingdom of Israel without Judah. Jeroboam had a passive role, the decision by God was carried out through Ahijah the profit, and all this due to Solomon’s behavior: taking many foreign wives and worshiping their gods, whether Ashtar the god of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milkom the god of Ammon. On the one hand, Jeroboam was told he would receive divine support to build a glorious kingdom, but at the same time there was no intention of abandoning the kingdom of Judah for a long time. When king Solomon heard about the intention to split his kingdom, he was looking to kill Jeroboam, apparently so that the prophecy of Ahijah would not come true. Jeroboam decided to flee to Egypt to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of King Solomon, and then King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son reigned under him. This is undoubtedly one of the most important royal events in the Hebrew Bible.
In terms of location, we are a few hundred meters southeast of the settlement of Peduel. Tzredah on the southern peak is about a kilometer from our location. The HSII website has an explanation of possible routes from Peduel to Tzredah, which was much more than just Jeroboam’s hometown.
Whatabout the name and identification of the place. “And Jeroboam the son of Nebat the Ephraimite from HaTzredah” – this is the sentence in Chapter 11 that introduced us to Jeroboam. One clarification – HaTzredah means ‘The Tzredah’. “Tzredah” appears only in this verse in the entire Hebrew Bible. From the verse, Tzredah was located within the boundaries of the area given to the tribe of Ephraim. The name ‘Tzredah’ was preserved in Arabic in a cistern called ‘Bir Tzredah’ in Wadi Tzredah, and I will point its location once we arrive to Tzredah. Yet the name is written in the Hebrew Bible as: “HaTzredah.” How does that make a difference? So many of the names that receive the Ha-prefix? describe the location of the site in a way that is prominent and unique in its surroundings, a detail that does not apply if it is a cistern in a wadi. The Septuagint helps us in identifying ‘Tzredah’ by adding that ‘ Tzredah ‘ was not only Jeroboam’s birthplace but a fortified city, that is, a high place surrounded by other sites, and indeed, the path leading up to the top of the cliff where Tzredah is located passed through fortresses dating back to the time of Jeroboam. We are in one of the forts located here because the slope of the ascent from the northeast is the most moderate, meaning that it is likely that the attackers will come from here and therefore the fort. Another fort is on the southwest side of Tzredah.
The name Tzredah has several meanings in Hebrew. One meaning – the largest finger on the hand, which is the middle finger, and indeed the cliff on which the remains of the site is certainly prominent above the surface. Another meaning for Tzredah is dryness, and this interpretation is also relevant to the clifftop that was barren of crops, unlike the surrounding lands where there are many agricultural crops. I mentioned the Septuagint, this is the first complete translation of the Hebrew Bible into a foreign language, into Greek, and it was originally intended to be used by the Greek-speaking Jews who lived in the Mediterranean countries, and especially in Alexandria, Egypt. The translation began in the 3rd century BCE and lasted for several hundred years.
We will ascend to the cliff line, and reach Tzredah location.
What a spectacular view from Tzredah cliff. Few hundred meters in front of us, is the magnificent horseshoe that the Shiloh brook created. We are at the birthplace of Jeroboam ben Nebat, the first Israeli king after the division of the unite Kingdom of Judah & Israel. We are located in “Horvat Bint Bar”, a place identified by most researchers as the site of the biblical Tzredah. The finds of pottery and the ruins at the site indicate that there was a well-fortified settlement here during the time of Jeroboam. The cliff here serves as a natural fortification for the place. We are at an altitude of 312 meters above sea level, surrounded by steep slopes. There are cisterns here for storing water. You can see canals carved into the ground all around that enabled the water to flow into the cisterns. There are also various agricultural facilities, mainly winepresses and small agricultural facilities for producing olive oil. The remains of the site itself are in the northwestern part of the top, and most of the remains are now buried under the terraces planted with olive trees.
The houses of the four spaces were also found in the site. These are typical houses in the Iron Age, the Israeli period, when a house consists of four rooms. Three of them are rectangular and equal in size. The fourth is also rectangular, and borders the three and is perpendicular to them. This is no doubt an Israeli site from the biblical period. Let’s look at the horseshoe of the Shiloh brook. In the center of the horseshoe is Horvat Balata – a ruin from the 2nd Temple period and the Byzantine period. It is possible that this was the leaving place of Yossi ben Yoezer who was the first president of the Sanhedrin during the period of the couples during the Hasmonean revolt. A wonderful view from here of the coastal plain, the Gofna Mountains, and the Shiloh brook, which is one of the main tributaries of the Yarkon River.
We can also see from the cliff the remains of a square structure, built of large fieldstones. This is a fort from the Israeli period that was used as a guard point on the road from southwest leading up to Tzredah. The walls of the fortress are from a later period, but the southern wall, built of large and impressive stones, is from the Iron Age, the Israeli period.
Let’s go back to Jeroboam and the 1st book of Kings chapter 12:1 where we are told that Rehoboam son of Solomon, went to Shchem (Nablus) where Jeroboam and the people of Israel spoke to Rehoboam, asking him to reduce the taxes and work load as it was almost slavery for the people – A logical request at that time from a new king. But there is another important piece of information – The period of Solomon, is known on the one hand for its aura of wealth and wisdom, but on the other hand, it is a period of a kind of slavery life for the people. The people of Israel worked very hard in the days of King Solomon, part of the time for the purpose of building the Temple, a noble goal, and yet, look at the numbers that the Hebrew Bible mentions regarding those working to build the Temple: King Solomon had 70,000 porters, and 80,000 hewers, besides the officers: 3,300 people who ruled and punish when needed the people doing the work (1 Kings 5:29). This is not a type of slavery, it is slavery for the people, so it should not be surprise that the people’s frustration was about to lead to a revolt. Let’s return again to the reason of Jeroboam revolt as described in Chapter 11:27 “Solomon, built the Millo – closing, the breach of the city of David his father.” As I mentioned, this is a significant construction project, but doesn’t assist us in understanding the reason for the revolt? Now, in the 1st book of Kings 9: we are told that Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the City of David to her house that Solomon built for her, then he billed the Millo.” (1 Kings 9:23-24). Is the Millo project part of building a private palace for Pharaoh’s daughter? If the people were worked like slaves for this purpose, then it is certainly understandable if this is what led them to revolt.
I return to chapter 12, verse 6, where we are told that King Rehoboam consulted the elders, the ones that consulted to Solomon his father. He asked for their opinion on what he should respond to the people regarding tax relief and reducing public works load? They suggested he should agree to reduce the burden of labor and taxes, and that will lead them to be his servants forever. Then he consulted with the ‘children’ that were brought up with him, and they consulted the opposite – he should increase the burden of tax and work load. The use of the word elders and children is misleading – Rehoboam’s age at the time of his accession was 41, which was considered very old at that time. The elders were the tribe leaders who had gained the trust of the tribe to make decisive decisions as well as act as judges. Rehoboam replied to the people at the 3rd day with the famous words: “my father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions”…. And the revolt began:… King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of tax collection, and he was killed by the people as they threw stones at him; Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem. The Israelites called Jeroboam, and made him king over the 10 tribes of Israel: Jeroboam was completely passive; he did not drive himself to become a king. Initially he used Shchem (Today named Nablus by the Arabs) as his capital. Later he moved his capital to Penuel which is east to the Jordan river, and then to Tirtzah, in northern Samaria; I will not elaborate here on possible reasons why he moved from capital to capital.
The Israelites went 3 times a year to offer sacrifices in the temple in Jerusalem, which was outside the territory of the 10 tribes. That made Jeroboam concerned that the people will be convinced by Rehoboam king of Judah to return and be under his rule, so Jeroboam made two calves of gold. He repeated the sin of the calf, but is this the whole story? It turns out that there are other aspects to it, which I will elaborate in the video about Tel Dan, the place where one of the golden calves was placed. The 2nd one he placed in Bethel. This action was considered as a sin. The Book of Kings goes on to slander Jeroboam for hiring priests who were not of the tribe of Levi, for burning incense himself even though he was not of the tribe of Levi and was not a priest, and for changing the date of the celebration of Sukkot. This last step damaged the common bond between Judah and Israel and had serious consequences.
I must admit that we have not yet fully explored the character and actions of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel after the division of the United Kingdom, who reigned for 22 years between 928–907 BCE. I promise to find the opportunity and further elaborate on Jeroboam.
And finally, as usual, a question, after Tirtzah, which was the most significant capital city of the Kingdom of Israel? The answer will appear at the end of the video.
