Jeroboam II was one of the greatest kings who reigned in Israel, and during his time the kingdom reached, for the last time in its history, the peak of its expansion and wealth, and this just a single generation before its rapid collapse, destruction and exile.
During the long reign of Jeroboam (786-746 BCE) the international system changed in a surprising and unexpected way, which allowed the Kingdom of Israel an unprecedented scope of action. The great weakness of Aram-Damascus, together with the Assyrian disappearance from the area for many years, allowed the Kingdom of Israel to spread northward, and even conquer Damascus itself. Israel reached the peak of its power towards the middle of the reign of Jeroboam II, after the Assyrian campaign to Damascus, and although there is no inform...