IEROBOAM II. — King of Israel (784–744 B.C.), son of Ioas, Iehu (v.), is perhaps the most illustrious of the kings of Israel after the schism. During his forty-year reign, he restored the country to its greatest power and territorial extent, so as in some way to recall the prosperous times of David and Solomon. His political and military activity is soberly described in II Reg. 14:23–29, but the few data are significant.
He fought victorious battles against Damascus, reconquered Emath (on the northern border of Palestine), and “restored the boundaries of Israel from the pass of Emath to the sea of the wilderness (the Dead Sea)” (II Reg. 14:25), as the prophet Jonah son of Amathi had already foretold.
I. found Israel in a state of extreme decline and poverty, and the Lord made use of him precisely to raise up his people (II Reg. 14:26–27). Israel’s internal prosperity under I. is attested by Am. 4–6, where mention is also made (1:1) of an earthquake that occurred in the time of
IEROBOAM II - «IESU REDEMPTOR OMNIUM-QUEM LUCIS»
this king. Favorable external conditions facilitated I.’s work of reconstruction. To the south, the Kingdom of Judah, after the defeat of King Amasia at the hands of I.’s father Ioas, was in a state of absolute inferiority and dependence; to the north, Syria, weakened by its continuous wars with the Assyrians, no longer inspired fear, and Assyria too was passing through a period of crisis, being engaged as it was with Babylon. But the power and prosperity attained by Israel under this king rapidly declined. Beneath the apparent splendor lay a growing corruption of morals: I. himself is censured in Sacred Scripture for his conduct; and the punishment repeatedly threatened by the prophets, especially by the prophet of the period, Amos (cf. 3, 11 ff.; 5, 6, 27; 6, 8 ff.), was not long in coming: 22 years after I.’s death, the Kingdom of Israel ceased to exist. I. was succeeded by his son Zaccaria, who was killed by Sellum after six months of reign: thus the dynasty of Iehu was extinguished in blood, as Amos had predicted (7, 9).