Judah had been humbled by Shoshenq’s invasion, the only recorded intervention of a third party into the affairs of Judah and Israel during Rehoboam's reign, yet hostilities still continue between these two kingdoms.

Rehoboam has fortified the heart of the kingdom, and thus most of the approaches to Jerusalem are flanked by major fortresses.

However, the ascents from the Judean Desert in the east and from the Kingdom of Israel in the north are not covered by the defensive works.

The Judean Desert is a ground to which enemies are to be lured and ambushed, and the Judah-Israel border is not guarded because Rehoboam does not recognize the Kingdom of Israel as an independent state.

Rehoboam's eighteen wives and sixty concubines have borne him eighty-eight children, but he has had the insight to prevent court power struggles by appointing his numerous children to important posts across the country, predominantly away from the capital.

He dies in either 915 (Albright), 914 (Galli), or 913 (Thiele) and is succeeded by his son Abijam ("father of the sea" or "my father is the sea" or "my father is the god Yam").

The Chronicler refers to him as "Abijah ("my father is Yahweh").