for Rehoboam, as he turns his back on the sensible course of action, rejecting it out of hand. Instead he speaks to his peers, “the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.” These “young men” are not simply those of his age (Rehoboam is around forty when he ascends the throne) but members of the royal court who are probably in training for positions in his administration. The implication is that Rehoboam and his associates, who grew up in the golden age of his father’s reign, have