person · P0400

Rechavam רחבעם

Son of Shlomo and first king of Yehudah alone. His harsh answer at Shechem — rejecting the elders' counsel for that of his young companions — split the kingdom, and the ten northern tribes crowned Yeravam. In his fifth year Shishak of Egypt stripped the Temple and palace treasuries.

I. Who

Hebrew
רחבעם
Also known as
Rehoboam
Era
bible
Parents
Shlomo
Children
Aviyah

II. When

Traditional
2923–2981 AM (reigned 2964–2981, seventeen years; forty-one at accession)
Academic
reigned c. 931–913 BCE
Lifespan (traditional)
≈58 years
Precision
approximate

III. Where

Places
Jerusalem

V. How do we know

ClaimEvidenceConfidenceSources
Rechavam son of Shlomo reigned in Yehudah: forty-one years old at accession, he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city God chose to set His name there; his mother was Naamah the Ammonite.
Directly stated in the cited source.
biblical ★★★★★
When the king answered the people harshly at Shechem, Israel answered "What share have we in David?" and went to its tents; Israel has been in revolt against the house of David to this day. biblical ★★★★★
In Rechavam's fifth year Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and took the treasures of the Temple and of the king's house, including all the gold shields Shlomo had made. biblical ★★★★★
Pharaoh Sheshonq I's triumphal relief at Karnak (the Bubastite Portal) records a campaign into Canaan conventionally identified with the biblical Shishak's invasion; Jerusalem itself is not among the legible place-names. external archaeology ★★★★☆
The placement (reigned 2964–2981 AM) is a schematic Mesorah Atlas reconstruction: the regnal years stated in Kings are chained forward from the division of the kingdom in 2964 AM on the traditional (Seder Olam) timeline, with sub-year reigns counted as zero. The cited source states the reign's length, not absolute dates.
The cited sources establish relative chronology or regnal duration; they do not state the absolute AM range.
tradition reconstruction ★★☆☆☆