Other Gods versus the God of Israel

The Jeroboam story in 1 Kgs 11:26-14:20 is one of the most enigmatic texts in the Hebrew Bible. In the face of the conflicting theories regarding the historical actuality of the narrated events and Jeroboam's agenda in the golden-calves affair, a paradigm shift is compelling to best resolve the clash of intentions inherent in the narrative. Accordingly, this study appraises the Jeroboam story as a discourse, which upon dissection, betokens the necessity to switch the prime focus from the person of Jeroboam to the question of divinity. To this end, the author of this study adopts and remodels the pragma-rhetorical method to probe the strategies which the writer of the discourse employs to persuade the audience about the concept of divine singularity. In essence, the ensuing conceptualization of divinity is used to elucidate the identity and character of the God of Israel in the face of the challenge posed by the lures of other gods and their enticing cults.