(975 years before Christ.)
When Solomon was dead, all Israel came together and said to his son
Rehoboam: Thy father made our yoke heavy, make thou it lighter, and we
will make thee king. Rehoboam first took counsel from the old men, who
had been the counsellors of his father. They said: If thou wilt hearken
to the people this day they will serve thee all thy days. Then he
consulted the young men who had grown up with him, and he answered
according to their counsel: My father’s yoke was heavy, mine shall be
heavier still; my father chastised you with whips, I will chastise you
with scorpions. At this answer the people were provoked, and ten tribes
chose Jeroboam for king, and only Judah and Benjamin clung to Rehoboam
for David’s sake.--Samaria became the capital of the ten tribes, or the
kingdom of Israel, and Jerusalem the capital for the two tribes, or the
kingdom of Judah. (1 Kings 12:1-24.)