Arrogance in the Bible: This was Rehoboam, a man of little intelligence and great foolishness, whose policies caused a rebellion. Ben Sira 47:23
The Bible constantly teaches men to avoid pride and arrogance, because these are passions that lead man into error, because as a wise phrase teaches: "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs 16:18.
And these passions also have an origin, the loss of the fear of God (constancy, firmness, devotion, equanimity, and stability), in other words, the hardness of the heart: "Pride has its beginning when a person abandons the Lord, his maker" Ben Sira 10:12. And the master of wisdom Ben Sira, when mentioning the most illustrious characters in the history of the people of Israel in his sapiential book, did not forget to mention King Rehoboam, a ruler who, due to his pride and arrogance, led to the division between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, after the death of his father King Solomon. Rehoboam was the complete opposite of David and Solomon and because of his sins, he only had destructive unforeseen events and misfortune.
For this reason, Ben Sira wrote in his book about Rehoboam: "Solomon followed his ancestors in death and left one of his sons to rule after him. This was Rehoboam, a man of little intelligence and great foolishness, whose policies caused rebellion" Ben Sira 47:23.
Like all wise men, Ben Sira writes about examples to follow and examples to avoid, because it is the nature of wisdom, the science of God, to teach the true path to happiness and well-being. The Bible relates that Rehoboam had been called by the assembly of Shechem to be crowned King, but the situation he had to assume was difficult because his father had burdened the kingdom with many taxes due to the construction of the temple of Jerusalem. The Israelites addressed Rehoboam with these words: "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you" 1 Kings 12:4.
And in the face of this, Rehoboam, due to his arrogance, did not know how to follow the advice of the elders of Israel, and responded with great harshness, threatening greater problems, so the Israelites rebelled and Rehoboam had to flee very quickly to Jerusalem, where he ruled the Kingdom of Judah until his death. The path of fools as Rehoboam showed and Ben Sira recalled only brings conflict and suffering.
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