{"id":23907,"date":"2025-02-21T14:05:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T14:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=23907"},"modified":"2025-02-21T14:19:44","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T14:19:44","slug":"the-house-of-jeroboam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=23907","title":{"rendered":"The House of Jeroboam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The other day I was looking for how to say <strong>confusion<\/strong> in Welsh, and one of the translations I found was <strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) fel t\u0177 Jeroboam<\/strong>, which means &#8216;(everything was) in confusion&#8217;, or literally &#8216;(everything was) like the house of Jeroboam&#8217;. This got me wondering who was Jeroboam, and way was his house in confusion?<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136894208@N02\/23653604070\/in\/photolist-C3bUpQ-btPMCT-s8aPKo-9uNhnp-2pYhrqy-9uRicG-rwk67d-rvo4zK-2juyapK-4ae9uA-2oyvweU-k5bMhR-c8kGP7-2qH9R98-2cTDVu7-2fG9MrF-ZDt5S-rNJvh9-2qJnw9x-5dveJS-6Yivqv-qSGXrU-55kKme-EEjfEr-iLwegH-H5xEB6-FBSNtV-EDXUFj-pVdmRm-9aMCpy-rwgMSu-qS4nFv-rwp6Rc-qS4sN4-rNJpQ7-RhK4w9-2juBasH-2qH8TqU-LZvPqV-rNJt7Y-4Z6R3L-rNRMut-dU3UTg-2qH7E5p-L3gkyu-dU9wMj-rwpr7r-rwhEFL-ruww4X-rwgLgd\" title=\"Jeroboam\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/5638\/23653604070_f79742d0ee_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"518\" alt=\"Jeroboam\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jeroboam\">Wikipedia<\/a>, <strong>Jeraboam I<\/strong>, a.k.a. <strong>Jeraboam som of Nebat<\/strong>, was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel between c. 931\/22-910\/901 BC. During his 22-year reign, there was continual war between him and Rehoboam (\u05e8\u05b0\u05d7\u05b7\u05d1\u05b0\u05e2\u05b8\u05dd), the first king of Judah. So perhaps that&#8217;s why Jeraboam is associated with confusion.<\/p>\n<p>The name <strong>Jeroboam<\/strong> comes from Hebrew <strong>\u05d9\u05b8\u05e8\u05b8\u05d1\u05b0\u05e2\u05b8\u05dd\u200e<\/strong> (Y\u0101r\u014f\u1e07\u02bf\u0101m), which comes from <strong>\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05d1\u200e \u200e<\/strong> (r\u012b\u1e07) and <strong>\u05e2\u05b7\u05dd\u200e\u200e<\/strong> (\u02bfam). Possible meanings of the name include &#8220;the people contend&#8221;, &#8220;he pleads the people&#8217;s cause&#8221;, &#8220;his people are many&#8221; or &#8220;he increases the people&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/zeeyolqpictures\/48842874146\/in\/photolist-2hq5uPL-sG4Qh-4r1uac-McC6J7-s5GHPn-ahRFFv-qXJrWD-2iUz2bB-dya45Y-nPq7By-5DUG8d-2hYadiu-2mPJSxT-4t1sK-2yuRzM-6yDfkE-JmozwS-BL6jWC-4t1yx-4aZaUF-HSM1bN-2mAcy8V-JGdvFV-22XZ31i-2mPL7Hk-csj9rQ-maRyC8-cshND9-2mhXeeK-qDg3Rm-C8Nem-9GD4pJ-AKDCX-612e6P-2n3ZgWG-81Af3g-CbqMgF-6tCbdM-81DpYW-2mKSxss-9puBUk-2qFCBTE-dExRvr-2qFDwHV-2qH7E9x-81AdPx-C3bUpQ-btPMCT-s8aPKo-9uNhnp\" title=\"Jeroboam Mathusalem, Salmanazar ...\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/48842874146_acd13bcc01_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Jeroboam Mathusalem, Salmanazar ...\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The word <strong>Jeroboam<\/strong> can also refer to a 3 litre bottle of champagne or Burgundy wine (a.k.a. double magnum), or a 4.5 litre bottle of Bordeaux wine (a.k.a. Rehoboam) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Jeroboam#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Other names for wine \/ champagne bottle sizes include:  <strong>Piccolo<\/strong> (0.1875 litres), <strong>Chopine<\/strong> (0.25 litres), <strong>Demi<\/strong> (0.5 litres), <strong>Magnum<\/strong> (1.5 litres), <strong>Imperial \/ Methuselah<\/strong> (6 litres), <strong>Salmanazar<\/strong> (9 litres), <strong>Balthazar \/ Belshazzar<\/strong> (12 litres), <strong>Nebuchadnezzar<\/strong> (15 litres), and <strong>Melchizedek \/ Midas<\/strong> (30 litres) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wine_bottle#Sizes\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Other ways to refer to confusion in Welsh include: <strong>dryswch<\/strong>, <strong>penbleth<\/strong> = confusion (of mind); <strong>anhrefn<\/strong>, <strong>tryblith<\/strong>, <strong>llanast(r)<\/strong>, <strong>cybolfa<\/strong>, <strong>annibendod<\/strong> = confusion (disorder).<\/p>\n<p>Other Welsh phrases that mean &#8216;(everything was) in confusion&#8217;, like <strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) fel t\u0177 Jeroboam<\/strong>, include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) blith draphlith<\/strong> = (everything was) topsy-turvy, higgledy-piggledy, mixed (up), in confusion, in a muddle<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) yn siop siafins<\/strong> = &#8216;(everything was) like a shop of (wood-)shavings&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) yn draed moch<\/strong> = (everything was) was a mess, confusion, rack and ruin, disaster (&#8216;like pigs feet&#8217;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) yn siang-di-fang<\/strong> = (everything was) higgledy-piggledy, topsy-turvy, extremely untidy, in confusion,  mess, disorder.<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) ar gychwyn<\/strong> = &#8216;(everything was) about to start&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) ar hyd y lle<\/strong> = &#8216;(everything was) all over the place&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) yn garlibwns<\/strong> = &#8216;(everything was) a heap, an untidy mass, confusion, curd&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) yn glamwri<\/strong> = &#8216;(everything was) grief, trouble, clamour&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) yn gawdel<\/strong> = &#8216;(everything was) a caudle, hotchpotch, medley&#8217;<\/li>\n<li><strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) yn gabidwl\/gabwdwl<\/strong> = &#8216;(everything was) chaos, confusion, disorder&#8217;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/geiriaduracademi.org\/\">Geiriadur yr Academi<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/welsh-dictionary.ac.uk\/gpc\/gpc.html\">Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Coming across the phrase <strong>(&#8216;roedd popeth) fel t\u0177 Jeroboam<\/strong> also inspired me to write this song in Welsh called &#8216;T\u0177 Jeroboam&#8217;. Here are the words &#8211; I&#8217;m still working on the tune:<\/p>\n<p>Mae popeth yn garlibwns<br \/>\nyn garlibwns, yn garlibwns<br \/>\nMae popeth yn garlibwns<br \/>\nyn t\u0177 Jeroboam<\/p>\n<p>Mae popeth yn blith draphlith<br \/>\nyn blith draphlith, yn blith draphlith<br \/>\nMae popeth yn blith draphlith<br \/>\nyn siop hen siafins<\/p>\n<p>Mae popeth yn siang-di-fang<br \/>\nyn siang-di-fang, yn siang-di-fang<br \/>\nMae popeth yn siang-di-fang<br \/>\nar hyd y lle<\/p>\n<p>Mae popeth yn gabwdwl<br \/>\nyn gabwdwl, yn gabwdwl<br \/>\nMae popeth yn gabwdwl<br \/>\nyn t\u0177 Jeroboam<\/p>\n<p>Are there interesting ways to talk about <strong>confusion<\/strong> in other languages?<\/p>\n<p>By the way, this blog features on a list of the <a href=\"https:\/\/bloggers.feedspot.com\/language_learning_blogs\/\">100 Best Language Learning Blogs and Websites in 2025<\/a> compiled by FeedSpot.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The other day I was looking for how to say confusion in Welsh, and one of the translations I found was (&#8216;roedd popeth) fel t\u0177 Jeroboam, which means &#8216;(everything was) in confusion&#8217;, or literally &#8216;(everything was) like the house of Jeroboam&#8217;. This got me wondering who was Jeroboam, and way was his house in confusion? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,121,10,77,78],"tags":[352,351,164,350,138,281,353,163],"class_list":["post-23907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","category-hebrew","category-language","category-welsh","category-words-and-phrases","tag-chaos","tag-confusion","tag-english","tag-jeroboam","tag-language","tag-omniglot","tag-welsh","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23907"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23916,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23907\/revisions\/23916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}