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RegistrationAid to Bible Understanding
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LATER REGISTRATIONS
Other registrations were taken by succeeding kings of Israel and Judah. In the days of King Amaziah the men in Judah and Benjamin from twenty years upward numbered 300,000. (2 Chron. 25:5) In King Uzziah’s registration the army forces were 307,500 men, with 2,600 of the heads of the paternal houses over them.—2 Chron. 26:11-13.
The returning exiles under Zerubbabel, in 537 B.C.E., were also enumerated, totaling 49,897, made up of 42,360 of the congregation apart from 7,337 slaves and 200 singers (the Masoretic text of Nehemiah says 245 singers).—Ezra 2:64, 65; Neh. 7:66, 67; see NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF.
AT THE TIME OF JESUS’ BIRTH
Two registrations are mentioned in the Christian Greek Scriptures as taking place after Judea came under subjection to Rome. Such were not merely to ascertain population figures but, rather, were mainly for purposes of taxation and conscription of men for military service. Concerning the first of these we read: “Now in those days [c. 2 B.C.E.] a decree went forth from Caesar Augustus for all the inhabited earth to be registered; (this first registration took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria;) and all people went traveling to be registered, each one to his own city.” (Luke 2:1-3) This edict of the emperor proved providential, for it compelled Joseph and Mary to journey from the city of Nazareth to Bethlehem in spite of the fact that Mary was then heavy with child; thus Jesus was born in the city of David in fulfillment of prophecy.—Luke 2:4-7; Mic. 5:2.
Two registrations under Quirinius
Bible critics have said that the only census taken while Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was governor of Syria was about 6 C.E., which event sparked a rebellion by Judas the Galilean and the Zealots. (Acts 5:37) This was really the second registration under Quirinius, for inscriptions discovered at Rome and Antioch revealed that some years earlier Quirinius had served as the emperor’s legate in Syria at the time Saturninus was proconsul. Concerning this, the Dictionnaire du Nouveau Testament in Crampon’s French Bible (1939 ed., p. 360) says: “The scholarly researches of Zumpt (Commentat. epigraph., II, 86-104; De Syria romana provincia, 97-98) and of Mommsen (Res gestœ divi Augusti) place beyond doubt that Quirinius was twice governor of Syria.” Many scholars locate the time of Quirinius’ first governorship as somewhere between the years 4 to 1 B.C.E., probably from 3-2 B.C.E. Their method of arriving at these dates, however, is not solid and the actual period of governorship remains indefinite. (See QUIRINIUS.) His second governorship ran from 759 to 765 [6 to 12 C.E.], as Josephus expressly attests.
So historian and Bible writer Luke was correct when he said concerning the registration at the time of Jesus’ birth: “this first registration took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria,” distinguishing it from the second, which occurred later under the same Quirinius and to which Gamaliel makes reference as reported by Luke at Acts 5:37.
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RehabiahAid to Bible Understanding
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REHABIAH
(Re·ha·biʹah) [Jehovah has made wide].
Grandson of Moses, only son of Eliezer, and founder of a family of Levites that still existed when David was king.—1 Chron. 23:15, 17; 24:21; 26:25.
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RehobAid to Bible Understanding
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REHOB
(Reʹhob) [open space or market].
1. Father of Hadadezer the king of Zobah against whom David warred victoriously.—2 Sam. 8:3-12.
2. One of the Levites or the forefather of one attesting by seal a covenant in the tine of Nehemiah and Ezra.—Neh. 10:1, 9, 11.
3. A place or city mentioned in the exploration of Canaan by the twelve Hebrew spies sent out by Moses. (Num. 13:21) It is probably the same place as “Rehob” and “Beth-rehob” mentioned at 2 Samuel 10:6, 8.—See BETH-REHOB.
4. The name of at least one and perhaps two cities in the territory of Asher. (Josh. 19:24, 28, 30) While some authorities consider both references to denote the same city, other related texts appear to indicate separate sites. Thus, Judges 1:31, 32 says that “Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of . . . Rehob,” so that the Asherites were obliged to dwell among the Canaanites of the land, whereas Joshua 21:27, 31 and 1 Chronicles 6:71, 75 state that Rehob was given to the sons of Gershom as a Levitical city. Those favoring but one site consider these texts to mean that the task of evicting the Canaanites from Rehob was hindered originally but was accomplished at a later time, thus allowing for its occupation by the Levites. Those favoring two sites suggest one town as remaining in Canaanite hands, the other as among those initially captured by Asher and given to the Levites. For the two, sites, these suggest an identification with Khirbet el-ʽAmri, about two and a half miles (4 kilometers) NE of Achzib, for the Rehob of Joshua 19:28, and for that of the other texts, they suggest Tell el-Gharbi, about six miles (10 kilometers) E-SE of Acco. This latter site is the one preferred by those who consider the name to refer to but one town.
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RehoboamAid to Bible Understanding
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REHOBOAM
(Re·ho·boʹam) [the people is (has) enlarged, or, who enlarges the people].
Son of Solomon by his Ammonite wife Naamah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 997 B.C.E. at the age of forty-one and reigned for seventeen years. (1 Ki. 14:21; 1 Chron. 3:10; 2 Chron. 9:31) Rehoboam had the distinction of being the last king of the united monarchy and the first ruler of the southern two-tribe kingdom of Judah and Benjamin, for shortly after he was crowned king at Shechem by all Israel, the united kingdom of David and Solomon was divided. Ten tribes withdrew their support of Rehoboam and made Jeroboam their king, even as Jehovah by the prophet Ahijah had foretold.—1 Ki. 11:29-31; 12:1; 2 Chron. 10:1.
This separation took place after a delegation of the people, with Jeroboam as their spokesman, pleaded with Rehoboam to remove some of the oppressive measures laid upon them by Solomon. Rehoboam took the matter under advisement. First he consulted the older men, who counseled him to heed the cry of the people and reduce their burdens, thereby proving himself a wise king, loved by his people. But Rehoboam spurned this mature advice and sought the counsel of young men with whom he had grown up. They told the king he should in effect make his little finger as thick as his father’s hips, increasing their yoke burden and chastising them with scourges instead of whips.—1 Ki. 12:2-15; 2 Chron. 10:3-15; 13:6, 7.
This arrogant, high-handed attitude adopted by Rehoboam completely alienated from him the majority of the people. The only tribes continuing to support the house of David were Judah and Benjamin, while the priests and Levites of both kingdoms, as well as isolated individuals of the ten tribes, also gave support.—1 Ki. 12:16, 17; 2 Chron. 10:16, 17; 11:13, 14, 16.
Subsequently, when King Rehoboam and Adoram (Hadoram), who was over the conscripted forced laborers, entered the territory of the secessionists, Adoram was stoned to death but the king managed to escape with his life. (1 Ki. 12:18; 2 Chron. 10:18) Rehoboam then mustered an army of 180,000 from among Judah and Benjamin, determined that the ten tribes would be forcibly brought under his subjection. But Jehovah through the prophet Shemaiah forbade them to fight against their brothers, since God himself had decreed the division of the kingdom. Though open warfare on the battlefield was thus avoided, hostilities between the two factions continued all the days of Rehoboam.—1 Ki. 12:19-24; 15:6; 2 Chron. 10:19; 11:1-4.
For a time Rehoboam walked quite closely to the laws of Jehovah, and early in his reign he built and
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