Data on Jeroboam II’s Reign Supplied by the History of Solomon

Abstract

The article examines the potential of episodes related in the biblical history of Solomon to serve as sources for the history of Jeroboam II, King of Israel. It first suggests that the “Acts of Solomon”, the source available to the author of Solomon’s history, was written in Judah in the late eighth century BCE, after the fall of the Northern Kingdom. It then examines five episodes that depict Solomon’s operations: (a) his district list (1 Kgs 4:7–19); (b) the list of six cities that he built (9:15b, 17b–18); (c) the sails he initiated from the Gulf of Eilat to Ophir (9:26–28; 10:11–12, 16–22); (d) his presentation as mediator in the international trade of horses and chariots (1 Kgs 10:28–29); and (e) the concept of the United Monarchy as reflection of Jeroboam II’s kingdom. The article concludes that of these episodes, only the account of Solomon’s sails to Ophir rests on the reality of Jeroboam’s time and memorialized his cooperation with the King of Tyre in the maritime sail to Ophir and the extraction of gold from this remote country.