Jeroboam II

Jeroboam II
King of Israel
Jeroboam II from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum
Predecessor	Jehoash of Israel
Successor	Zechariah of Israel

Jeroboam II (Hebrew: יָרָבְעָם‎‎ Yārāḇə‘ām; Greek: Ιεροβοάμ; Latin: Jeroboam) was the son and successor of Jehoash, (alternatively spelled Joash), and the fourteenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, over which he ruled for forty-one years in the eighth century BC. His reign was contemporary with those of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:23) and Uzziah (15:1), kings of Judah.

William F. Albright has dated his reign to 786–746 BC, while E. R. Thiele says he was coregent with Jehoash 793 to 782 BC and sole ruler 782 to 753 BC.

He was victorious over the Arameans (2 Kings 14:26, 27), conquered Damascus (14:28), and extended Israel to its former limits, from "the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain".

In 1910, G. A. Reisner found sixty-three inscribed potsherds while excavating the royal palace at Samaria, which were later dated to the reign of Jeroboam II and mention regnal years extending from the ninth to the 17th of his reign. These ostraca, while unremarkable in themselves, contain valuable information about the script, language, religion and administrative system of the period.

Archaeological evidence confirms the biblical account of his reign as the most prosperous that Israel had yet known. By the late 8th century BC, the territory of Israel was the most densely settled in the entire Levant, with a population of about 350,000. This prosperity was built on trade in olive oil, wine, and possibly horses, with Egypt and especially Assyria providing the markets. According to the prophet Amos, the triumphs of the king had engendered a haughty spirit of boastful overconfidence at home (Amos vi. 13). Oppression and exploitation of the poor by the mighty, luxury in palaces of unheard-of splendor, and a craving for amusement were some of the internal fruits of these external triumphs.