fortified a number of cities, some of which he stocked with food supplies. (2 Chron. 11:5-12, 17) However, when his kingship was firmly established he abandoned Jehovah’s worship and led Judah in the practice of detestable sex worship, perhaps due to Ammonite influence on his mother’s side of the family. (1 Ki. 14:22-24; 2 Chron. 12:1) This, in turn, provoked Jehovah’s anger and in expression thereof he raised up the king of Egypt, Shishak, who, together with his allies, overran the land and captured a number of cities in Judah in the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign. Had it not been that Rehoboam and his princes humbled themselves in repentance, not even Jerusalem would have escaped. As it was, the treasures of the temple and the king’s house, including the gold shields that Solomon had made, were taken by Shishak as his booty. Rehoboam then replaced these shields with copper ones.—1 Ki. 14:25-28; 2 Chron. 12:2-12.

During his lifetime Rehoboam married eighteen wives, including Mahalath a granddaughter of David, and Maacah the granddaughter of David’s son Absalom. Maacah was his favorite wife and the mother of Abijah (Abijam), one of his twenty-eight sons and the heir apparent to the throne. Other members of Rehoboam’s family included sixty concubines and sixty daughters.—2 Chron. 11:18-22.

Before his death at the age of fifty-eight, and the ascension of Abijah to the throne in 980 B.C.E., Rehoboam distributed many gifts among his other sons, presumably to prevent any revolt against Abijah after his death. (1 Ki. 14:31; 2 Chron. 11:23; 12:16) On the whole, Rehoboam’s life is best summed up in this commentary: “He did what was bad, for he had not firmly established his heart to search for Jehovah.”—2 Chron. 12:14.

REHOBOTH

(Re·hoʹboth) [broad places].

1. The name that Isaac gave to a well he dug. (Gen. 26:22) Though its exact location is unknown, many geographers have identified Rehoboth with Ruheibeh, some nineteen miles (30 kilometers) SW of Beer-sheba. The names bear certain similarities. In naming the well Isaac said that now God had given ample room. He and his shepherds could be fruitful without interfering with, or getting interference from, others.

2. A city of unknown location from which came Shaul, an early Edomite king. (Gen. 36:31, 37; 1 Chron. 1:43, 48) In both references to it, the place is called “Rehoboth by the River.” Generally in the Bible the designation “the River” means the Euphrates. (Ps. 72:8; 2 Chron. 9:26; compare Exodus 23:31 and Deuteronomy 11:24.) Thus some authorities have suggested either of two sites near the junction of the Khabur and Euphrates Rivers. This would mean, however, that Shaul was from a city far outside of Edomite territory. Certain modern geographers, however, believe that in these two instances “the River” refers to a river in Edom or near one of its borders, such as the Zered running into the southern end of the Dead Sea. Dr. J. Simons proposes a site about twenty-three miles (37 kilometers) SE of the tip of the Dead Sea.

REHOBOTH-IR

(Re·hoʹboth-Ir) [broad places of the city].

Evidently a suburb of ancient Nineveh. The exact location is not now known. It was built by Nimrod.—Gen. 10:10, 11.

REHSH

or, as commonly anglicized, resh [ך]. The twentieth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, later used also, outside the Hebrew Scriptures, as a number to denote two hundred.

Rehsh is the origin of our English letter “r” through the Greek hro. Due to the similarity in form between rehsh [ך] and daʹleth [ד], the two were sometimes confused by copyists.

In the Hebrew, this letter appears as the initial letter in each of the eight verses of Psalm 119:153-160.

REHUM

(Reʹhum) [compassion].

1. One of those listed at the head of the register of exiles who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. (Ezra 2:1, 2) His name is spelled Nehum at Nehemiah 7:7.

2. A priest listed among those who returned with Zerubbabel. (Neh. 12:1, 3) A simple transposition of Hebrew characters would make him the one called Harim in verse 15 and elsewhere.—See HARIM No. 1.

3. The “chief government official” of the Persian Empire residing presumably in Samaria who took the lead in writing a letter to King Artaxerxes falsely accusing the Jews concerning their intentions for rebuilding Jerusalem. The imperial reply ordered Rehum and his compatriots to go to Jerusalem and forcibly put a stop to the Jews’ rebuilding work on the temple. (Ezra 4:8-24) Haggai and Zechariah, however, not long thereafter stirred up the Jews to resume their rebuilding, which was finally sanctioned by the Persian review of Cyrus’ original decree.—Ezra 5:1–6:13.

4. A Levite son of Bani who helped repair Jerusalem’s wall.—Neh. 3:17.

5. The head of a postexilic family whose representative, if not himself, attested to the covenant of faithfulness during Nehemiah’s governorship.—Neh. 10:1, 14, 25.

REI

(Reʹi) [friendly].

One of David’s mighty men who refused to join Adonijah’s conspiracy.—1 Ki. 1:8.

REKEM

(Reʹkem) [friendship; or, variegation].

1. A king of Midian, one of five such who were slain when Midian was punished for having seduced Israel with immorality. The five, presumably vassals of the Amorites, were also called “dukes of Sihon.”—Num. 31:8; Josh. 13:21.

2. A descendant of Manasseh.—1 Chron. 7:14, 16.

3. A descendant of Judah through Hezron’s son Caleb.—1 Chron. 2:4, 5, 9, 42-44.

4. A city in Benjamin’s territory allotment, the location of which is unknown.—Josh. 18:21, 27, 28.

RELIEF

A distinguishing feature of God’s faithful servants has been their willingness to assist needy persons. (Job 29:16; 31:19-22; Jas. 1:27) After the outpouring of God’s spirit on the festival day of Pentecost in 33 C.E., for example, many who became followers of Jesus Christ voluntarily sold their possessions and turned over the funds to the apostles for distribution to needy fellow believers. Their generosity made it possible for those who had come from distant places for the festival to extend their stay in Jerusalem and continue to benefit from the teaching of the apostles. (Acts 2:41-47; 4:34, 35) The Jerusalem congregation also arranged for distributing food to needy Christian widows and, later, seven qualified men were appointed to see to it that no deserving widows were overlooked in the daily distribution.—Acts 6:1-6.

Years afterward, the apostle Paul, in his letter to Timothy, pointed out that the congregation’s relief to widows should be limited to those not less than sixty years of age. Such widows were to be persons having a record of good works in the advancement of Christianity. (1 Tim. 5:9, 10) However, it was the primary obligation of children and grandchildren, not of the congregation, to care for aged parents and grandparents. As Paul wrote: “If any widow has children or grandchildren, let these learn first to practice godly devotion in their own household and to keep paying a due compensation to their parents and grandparents, for this is acceptable in God’s sight.”—1 Tim. 5:4, 16.

There were times when Christian congregations shared in relief measures in behalf of their brothers in other places. Thus, when the prophet Agabus foretold that a great famine would occur, the disciples in the congregation of Syrian Antioch “determined, each of them according as anyone could afford it, to send a relief ministration to the brothers dwelling in Judea.” (Acts 11:28, 29) Other organized relief measures for needy brothers in Judea were likewise strictly voluntary.—Rom. 15:25-27; 1 Cor. 16:1-3; 2 Cor. 9:5, 7.