Jeroboam II
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Jeroboam II was the son and successor of Jehoash, and the fourteenth king of Israel, over which he ruled for forty-one years (2 Kings 14:23). Albright has dated his reign to 786 - 746 BC, while Thiele offers the dates 782 - 753 BC. His reign was contemporary with those of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:23) and Uzziah (15:1), kings of Judah. He was victorious over the Syrians (13:4; 14:26, 27), and extended Israel to its former limits, from "the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain" (14:25; Amos 6:14).
While his reign was the most prosperous that Israel had yet known, his contemporaries -- such as the prophets Hosea (Hosea 1:1), Joel (Amos 1:1, 2), Amos (1:1), and Jonah (2 Kings 14:25) -- declared that iniquity widely prevailed in the land (Amos 2:6-8; 4:1; 6:6; Hos. 4:12-14), by following the example of the first Jeroboam in promoting the worship of the golden calves (2 Kings 14:24).
His name occurs in the Old Testament only in 2 Kings 13:13; 14:16, 23, 27, 28, 29; 15:1, 8; 1 Chronicles 5:17; Hos. 1:1; and Amos 1:1; 7:9, 10, 11. In all other passages it is Jeroboam I, the son of Nebat that is meant.
In 1910, G. A. Reisner found 63 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.
Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 -- Please update as needed.
| Preceded by: Jehoash | King of Israel | Succeeded by: Zachariah |