3. =Foreign intrigues=, especially in E'gypt. The old kingdoms were not friendly to this Is'ra-el-ite empire, which loomed up so suddenly, and threatened to conquer all the East. Sol'o-mon's attempt to win the favor of E'gypt by a royal marriage (1 Kings 3. 1) was a failure, for two enemies of Sol'o-mon, driven out of his dominions, found refuge in E'gypt, were admitted to the court, married relatives of the king, and stirred up conspiracies against Sol'o-mon's throne (1 Kings 11. 14-22, 40). Another center of conspiracy was Da-mas'cus, where Re'zon kept up a semi-independent relation to Sol'o-mon's empire (1 Kings 11. 23-25). 4. =Tribal jealousy=; the old sore broken out again. Notice that Jer-o-bo'am belonged to the haughty tribe of E'phra-im (1 Kings 11. 26), always envious of Ju'dah, and restless under the throne of Da'vid. The kingdom of the ten tribes was established mainly through the influence of this tribe. 5. =The ambition of Jer-o-bo'am= was another force in the disruption. It was unfortunate for Sol'o-mon's kingdom that the ablest young man of that time in Is'ra-el, a wily political leader and an unscrupulous partisan, belonged to the tribe of E'phra-im, and from his environment was an enemy of the then existing government. The fact that he was sent for from E'gypt to the assembly at She'chem showed collusion and preparation of the scheme (1 Kings 12. 2, 3). 6. But all these causes might have been insufficient but for =the folly of Re-ho-bo'am= (1 Kings 12. 13, 14). If Da'vid had been on the throne that day an empire might have been saved. But Re-ho-bo'am, brought up in the purple, was without sympathy with the people, tried to act the part of a tyrant, and lost his ancestral realm (1 Kings 12. 16). II. =The Results of the Division.= These were partly political, partly religious, and were neither of unmixed good nor unmixed evil. 1. The =political results= were: 1.) The entire _disruption_ of Sol'o-mon's empire. Five kingdoms took the place of one: Syr'i-a on the north, Is'ra-el in the center, Ju'dah west of the Dead Sea, Mo'ab east of the Dead Sea, and E'dom on the extreme south. Mo'ab was nominally subject to Is'ra-el, and E'dom to Ju'dah; but only strong kings, like A'hab in Is'ra-el and Je-hosh'a-phat in Ju'dah, could exact the tribute (2 Kings 3. 4; 1 Kings 22. 47). 2.) With the loss of empire came _rivalry_, and consequent _weakness_. For fifty years Is'ra-el and Ju'dah were at war, and spent their strength in civil strife, while Syr'i-a was growing powerful, and in the far northeast As-syr'i-a was threatening. 3.) As a natural result came at last _foreign domination_. Both Is'ra-el and Ju'dah fell under the power of other nations and were swept into captivity, as the final result of the disruption wrought by Jer-o-bo'am.