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Israel, Kingdom of
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iz'-ra-el, king-duhm uhv ((Israel) who prevails
with God)
RELATED: Ahijah, Captivity, Jezebel, Jezreel, Kingdom of Judah, Samaria, Shechem, Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Tirzah
TEN TRIBES: Asher, Benjamin, Dan, Gad, Issachar, Joseph (Ephraim, Manasseh), Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, Zebulun
LIST OF KINGS / RULERS: Ahab, Ahaziah, Baasha, Elah, Hoshea, Jehoahaz, Jehoash (Joash), Jeroboam I, Jeroboam II, Jehoram, Jehu, Menahem, Nadab, Omri, Pekah, Pekahiah, Shallum, Zechariah, Zimri |
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Easton's Bible Dictionary
(B.C. 975 - B.C. 722). Soon after the death of Solomon,
Ahijah's prophecy ( 1
Kings 11:31 - 35
) was fulfilled, and the kingdom was rent in twain (separated in two). Rehoboam,
the son and successor of Solomon, was scarcely seated on his throne when the old
jealousies between Judah and the other tribes broke out anew, and Jeroboam was
sent for from Egypt by the malcontents ( 1
Kings 12:2 ,
12:3 ). Rehoboam insolently refused to lighten the burdensome taxation and
services which his father had imposed on his subjects ( 1
Kings 12:4 ), and the rebellion became complete. Ephraim and all Israel raised
the old cry, "Every man to his tents, O Israel" ( 2
Samuel 20:1 ). Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem ( 1
Kings 12:1 - 18
; 2
Chronicles 10 ), and Jeroboam was proclaimed king over all Israel at Shechem,
Judah and Benjamin remaining faithful to Solomon's son. War, with varying success,
was carried on between the two kingdoms for about sixty years, till Jehoshaphat
entered into an alliance with the house of Ahab.
Extent of the kingdom. In the time of Solomon the area of Palestine, excluding
the Phoenician territories on the shore of the Mediterranean, did not much exceed
13,000 square miles. The kingdom of Israel comprehended about 9,375 square miles.
Shechem was the first capital of this kingdom ( 1
Kings 12:25 ), afterwards Tirza ( 1
Kings 14:17 ). Samaria was subsequently chosen as the capital ( 1
Kings 16:24 ), and continued to be so till the destruction of the kingdom
by the Assyrians ( 2
Kings 17:5 ). During the siege of Samaria (which lasted for three years) by
the Assyrians, Shalmaneser died and was succeeded by Sargon, who himself thus
records the capture of that city: "Samaria I looked at, I captured; 27,280 men
who dwelt in it I carried away" ( 2
Kings 17:6 ) into Assyria. Thus after a duration of two hundred and fifty-three
years the kingdom of the ten tribes came to an end. They were scattered throughout
the East. (See CAPTIVITY.)
"Judah held its ground against Assyria for yet one hundred and twenty-three years,
and became the rallying-point of the dispersed of every tribe, and eventually
gave its name to the whole race. Those of the people who in the last struggle
escaped into the territories of Judah or other neighbouring countries naturally
looked to Judah as the head and home of their race. And when Judah itself was
carried off to Babylon, many of the exiled Israelites joined them from Assyria,
and swelled that immense population which made Babylonia a second Palestine."
After the deportation of the ten tribes, the deserted land was colonized by various
eastern tribes, whom the king of Assyria sent thither ( Ezra
4:2 ,
4:10 ; 2
Kings 17:24 - 29
). (See KINGS)
In contrast with the kingdom of Judah is that of Israel.
(1) "There was no fixed capital and no religious centre.
(2) The army was often insubordinate.
(3) The succession was constantly interrupted, so that out of nineteen kings there
were no less than nine dynasties, each ushered in by a revolution.
(4) The authorized priests left the kingdom in a body, and the priesthood established
by Jeroboam had no divine sanction and no promise; it was corrupt at its very
source."
(Maclean's O. T. Hist.) |
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
(no entry)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
I. the kingdom. --
The prophet Ahijah of Shiloh, who was commissioned in
the latter days of Solomon to announce the division of the kingdom, left one tribe
(Judah) to the house of David, and assigned ten to Jeroboam. ( 1 Kings 11:31 ,
11:35 ) These were probably Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), Issachar, Zebulun,
Asher, Naphtali, Benjamin, Dan, Simeon, Gad and Reuben; Levi being intentionally
omitted. Eventually the greater part of Benjamin, and probably the whole of Simeon
and Dan, were included as if by common consent in the kingdom of Judah. With respect
to the conquests of David, Moab appears to have been attached to the kingdom of
Israel. ( 2 Kings 3:4 ) so much of Syria as remained subject to Solomon, see (
1 Kings 11:24 ) would probably be claimed by his successor in the northern kingdom;
and Ammon was at one time allied ( 2 Chronicles 20:1 ) we know not how closely
or how early, with Moab. The seacoast between Accho and Japho remained in the
possession of Israel. The whole population may perhaps have amounted to at least
three and a half millions.
II. the capitals. --
Shechem was the first capital of the new kingdom. ( 1
Kings 12:25 ) Subsequently Tirzah became the royal residence, if not the capital,
of Jeroboam ( 1 Kings 14:17 ) and of his successors. cf. ( 1 Kings 15:33 ; 16:8
, 16:17 , 16:23 ) Samaria was chosen by Omri. ( 1 Kings 16:24 ) Jezreel was probably
only a royal residence of some of the Israelitish kings.
III. History. --
The kingdom of Israel lasted 254 years, from B.C. 975 to B.C. 721. The detailed
history of the kingdom will be found under the names of its nineteen kings. See
chart of the kings of Judah and Israel, at the end of the work. A summary view
may be taken in four periods:
(a) B.C. 975 - 929.
Jeroboam had not sufficient force of character in himself
to make a lasting impression on his people. A king, but not a founder of a dynasty,
he aimed at nothing beyond securing his present elevation. Baasha, in the midst
of the army at Gibbethon, slew the son and successor of Jeroboam; Zimri, a captain
of chariots, slew the son and successor of Baasha; Omri, the captain of the host,
was chosen to punish Zimri; and after a civil war of four years he prevailed over
Tibni, the choice of half the people.
(b) B.C. 929 - 884.
For forty-five years Israel wag governed by the house of Omri.
The princes of his house cultivated an alliance with the king of Judah which was
cemented by the marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah. The adoption of Baal-worship
led to a reaction in the nation, to the moral triumph of the prophets in the person
of Elijah, and to extinction of the house of Ahab in obedience to the bidding
of Elisha.
(c) B.C. 884 - 772.
Unparalleled triumphs, but deeper humiliation, awaited the kingdom
of Israel under the dynasty of Jehu. Hazael, the ablest king of Damascus, reduced
Jehoahaz to the condition of a vassal, and triumphed for a time over both the
disunited Hebrew kingdoms. Almost the first sign of the restoration of their strength
was a war between them; and Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, entered Jerusalem as
the conqueror of Amaziah. Jehoash also turned the tide of war against the Syrians;
and Jeroboam II., the most powerful of all the kings of of Israel, captured Damascus,
and recovered the whole ancient frontier from Hamath to the Dead Sea. This short-lived
greatness expired with the last king of Jehus line.
(d) B.C. 772 - 721.
Military violence, it would seem, broke off the hereditary succession
after the obscure and probably convulsed reign of Zachariah. An unsuccessful usurper,
Shallum, is followed by the cruel Menahem, who, being unable to make head against
the first attack of Assyria under Pul, became the agent of that monarch for the
oppressive taxation of his subjects. Yet his power at home was sufficient to insure
for his son and successor Pekahiah a ten-years reign, cut short by a bold usurper,
Pekah. Abandoning the northern and transjordanic regions to the encroaching power
of Assyria under Tiglath-pileser, he was very near subjugating Judah, with the
help of Damascus, now the coequal ally of Israel. But Assyria interposing summarily
put an end to the independence of Damascus, and perhaps was the indirect cause
of the assassination of the baffled Pekah. The irresolute Hoshea, the next and
last usurper, became tributary to his invaders Shalmaneser, betrayed the Assyrian
to the rival monarchy of Egypt, and was punished by the loss of his liberty, and
by the capture, after a three-years siege, of his strong capital, Samaria. Some
gleanings of the ten tribes yet remained in the land after so many years of religious
decline, moral debasement, national degradation, anarchy, bloodshed and deportation.
Even these were gathered up by the conqueror and carried to Assyria, never again,
as a distinct people, to occupy their portion of that goodly and pleasant land
which their forefathers won under Joshua from the heathen. (Schaff Bib. Dic.)
adds to this summary that "after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, B.C.
721, the name Israel began to be applied to the whole surviving people. No doubt
many of the kingdom of Israel joined the later kingdom of the Jews after the captivity,
and became part of that kingdom.--ED.)
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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
I. THE FIRST PERIOD
1. The Two Kingdoms
The circumstances leading up to the foundation of the Northern Kingdom of Israel,
or the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, have been detailed under the heading KINGDOM
OF JUDAH. From a secular point of view it would be more natural to regard the
latter as an offshoot from the former, rather than the converse. But not only
is the kingdom of Judah of paramount importance in respect of both religion and
literature, but its government also was in the hands of a single dynasty, whereas
that of the Northern Kingdom changed hands no less than 8 times, during the two
and a half centuries of its existence. Moreover, the Southern Kingdom lasted about
twice as long as the other.
2. The Ist Dynasty
No sooner had Jeroboam I been elected the first ruler of the newly founded state
than he set about managing its affairs with the energy for which he was distinguished
(1 Kings 11:28). To complete the disruption he established a sanctuary in opposition
to that of Jerusalem (Hosea 8:14), with its own order of priests (2 Chronicles
11:14; 13:9), and founded two capital cities, Shechem on the West and Penuel on
the East of the Jordan (1 Kings 12:25). Peace seems to have been maintained between
the rival governments during the 17 years' reign of Rehoboam, but on the accession
of his son Abijah war broke out (1 Kings 15:6,7; 2 Chronicles 13:3). Shortly afterward
Jeroboam died and was succeeded by his son Nadab, who was a year later assassinated,
and the Ist Dynasty came to an end, after an existence of 23 years, being limited,
in fact, to a single reign.
3. The 2nd Dynasty
The turn of the tribe of Issachar came next. They had not yet given a ruler to
Israel; they could claim none of the judges, but they had taken their part at
the assembling of the tribes under Deborah and Barak of Naphtali. Baasha began
his reign of 24 years by extirpating the house of his predecessor (1 Kings 15:29),
just as the 'Abbasids annihilated the Umeiyads. The capital was now Tirzah (1
Kings 14:17; Song of Solomon 6:4), a site not yet identified. His Judean contemporary
was ASA (which see), who, like his father Abijah, called in the aid of the Syrians
against the Northern Kingdom. Baasha was unequal to the double contest and was
forced to evacuate the ground he had gained. His son Elah was assassinated after
a reign of a year, as he himself had assassinated the son of the founder of the
preceding dynasty, and his entire family and adherents were massacred (1 Kings
16:11).
4. Civil War
The name of the assassin was Zimri, an officer of the charioteers, of unknown
origin and tribe. But the kingship was always elective, and the army chose Omri,
the commander-in-chief, who besieged and took Tirzah, Zimri setting the palace
on fire by his own hand and perishing in the flames. A second pretender, Tibni,
a name found in Phoenician and Assyrian, of unknown origin, sprang up. He was
quickly disposed of, and security of government was reestablished. |
II. PERIOD OF THE SYRIAN WARS
1. The 3rd Dynasty
The founder of the new dynasty was Omri. By this time the Northern Kingdom was
so much a united whole that the distinctions of tribe were forgotten. We do not
know to what tribe Omri and his successors belonged. With Omri the political sphere
of action of Israel became wider than it had been before, and its internal affairs
more settled. His civil code was in force long after his dynasty was extinct,
and was adopted in the Southern Kingdom (Micah 6:16). The capital city, the site
of which he chose, has remained a place of human habitation till the present day.
Within the last few years, remains of his building have been recovered, showing
a great advance in that art from those believed to go back to Rehoboam and Solomon.
He was, however, unfortunate in his relations with Syria, having lost some towns
and been forced to grant certain trading concessions to his northern neighbors
(1 Kings 20:34). But he was so great a king that long after his death the Kingdom
of the Ten Tribes was known to the Assyrians as "the house of Omri."
2. World-Politics
Contemporarily with this dynasty, there occurred a revival of the Phoenician power,
which exerted a powerful influence upon the Israelite kings and people, and at
the same time the Assyrians once more began to interfere with Syrian politics.
The Northern Kingdom now began to play a part in the game of world-politics. There
was peace with Judah, and alliance with Phoenicia was cemented by the marriage
of Ahab, it seems after his father's death, with Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal
(1 Kings 16:31). This led to the erection of a temple in Samaria in which the
Tyrian Baal was worshipped, while side by side with it the worship of Yahweh was
carried on as before. It seems as if the people had fallen back from the pure
monotheism of Moses and David into what is known as henotheism. Against this relapse
Elijah protested with final success. Ahab was a wise and skillful soldier, without
rashness, but also without decision. He defeated a Syrian coalition in two campaigns
(1 Kings 20) and imposed on Ben-hadad the same conditions which the latter had
imposed on Omri. With the close of the reign of Asa in Judah, war ceased between
the two Israelite kingdoms and the two kings for the first time became friends
and fought side by side (1 Kings 22). In the reign of Ahab we note the beginning
of decay in the state in regard to personal liberty and equal justice. The tragedy
of Naboth's vineyard would not have happened but for the influence of Tyrian ideas,
any more than in the case of the famous windmill which stands by the palace of
Sans Souci at Potsdam. A further improvement in the art of building took place
in this reign. The palace of Ahab, which has recently been recovered by the excavations
carded on by the Harvard University Expedition under Dr. G.A. Reisner, shows a
marked advance in fineness of workmanship upon that of Omri.
3. Battle of Karkar
The object of Ben-hadad's attack upon Ahab seems to have been to compel him to
join a league founded to resist the encroachments of Assyria upon the countries
bordering upon the Mediterranean. The confederates, who were led by Ben-hadad,
and of whom Ahab was one, were defeated by Shalmaneser II in the battle of Karkar.
The date is known from the inscriptions to have been the year 854-853. It is the
first quite certain date in Hebrew history, and from it the earlier dates must
be reckoned by working backward. Ahab seems to have seized the moment of Syria's
weakness to exact by force the fulfillment of their agreement on the part of Ben-hadad
(1 Kings 22).
4. Loss of Territory
On the other hand, the king of Moab, Mesha, appears to have turned the same disaster
to account by throwing off his allegiance to Israel, which dated from the time
of David, but had apparently lapsed until it was enforced anew by Omri (MS, ll.
4, but l. 8 makes Omri's reign plus half Ahabs = 40 years). Ahab's son and successor
Jehoram (omitting Ahaziah, who is chiefly notable as a devotee of Baal-zebub,
the god of Ekron), with the aid of Jehoshaphat and his vassal, the king of Edom,
attempted to recover his rights, but in vain (2 Kings 3). It may have been in
consequence of the failure of this expedition that the Syrians again besieged
Samaria and reduced it to great straits (2 Kings 6:24; 7), but the date is uncertain.
Jehoram replied with a counter-attack upon the East of the Jordan.
5. Reform of Religion
It was no doubt owing to his connection with the king of Judah that Jehoram so
far modified the worship and ritual as to remove the worst innovations which had
come to prevail in the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 3:1-3). But these half-measures
did not satisfy the demands of the time, and in the revolution which followed
both he and his dynasty were swept away. The dynasty had lasted, according to
the Biblical account, less than half a century.
6. Revolution
The religious reformation, or rather revolution, which swept away almost entirely
both royal houses, bears a good deal of resemblance to the Wahhabi rising in Arabia
at the beginning of the 18th century. It took its origin from prophetism (1 Kings
19:16), and was supported by the Rechabite Jonadab. The object of the movement
headed by Jehu was nominally to revenge the prophets of Yahweh put to death by
order of Jezebel, but in reality it was much wider and aimed at nothing less than
rooting out the Baal-worship altogether, and enforcing a return to the primitive
faith and worship. Just as the Wahhabis went back to Mohammed's doctrine, as contained
in the Koran and the Tradition, and as the Rechabites preserved the simplicity
of the early desert life, so Jehu went back to the state of things as they were
at the foundation of the Northern Kingdom under Jeroboam I.
7. The 4th Dynasty
Jehu's reforms were carried out to the letter, and the whole dynasty of Omri,
which was responsible for the innovations, was annihilated like its predecessors.
The religious fervor, however, soon subsided, and Jehu's reign ended in disaster.
Hazael, whose armies had been exterminated by the forces of Assyria, turned his
attention to the eastern territory of Israel. In the turbulent land of Gilead,
the home of Elijah, disappointed in its hopes of Jehu, he quickly established
his supremacy (2 Kings 10:32). Jehu also appreciated the significance of the victories
of Assyria, and was wise enough to send tribute to Shalmaneser II. This was in
the year 842. Under his son and successor Jehoahaz the fortunes of Israel continued
to decline, until Hazael imposed upon it the most humiliating conditions (Amos
1:3-5; 2 Kings 13:1).
8. Renewed Prosperity
Toward the end of the reign of Jehoahaz, however, the tide began to turn, under
the leadership of a military genius whose name has not been recorded (2 Kings
13:5); and the improvement continued, after the death of Hazael, under his son
Jehoash (Joash), who even besieged and plundered Jerusalem (2 Kings 14:8). But
it was not until the long reign of Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash, that the frontiers
of Israel, were, for the first time since the beginning of the kingdom, restored
to their ideal limits. Even Damascus and Hamath were subdued (2 Kings 14:28).
But the prosperity was superficial. Jeroboam II stood at the head of a military
oligarchy, who crushed the great mass of the people under them. The tribune of
the plebs at this time was Amos of Tekoa. His Cassandra-like utterances soon fulfilled
themselves. The dynasty, which had been founded in blood and had lasted some 90
years, on the accesssion of Jeroboam's son Zachariah gave place to 12 years of
anarchy.
9. Anarchy
Zachariah was almost immediately assassinated by Shallum, who within a month was
in turn assassinated by Menahem, a soldier of the tribe of Gad, stationed in Tirzah,
to avenge the death of his master. The low social condition of Israel at this
time is depicted in the pages of Hos. The atrocities perpetrated by the soldiers
of Menahem are mentioned by Josephus (Ant., IX, xi, 1). |
III. DECLINE AND FALL
1. Loss of Independence
Meantime Pul or Pulu had founded the second Assyrian empire under the name of
Tiglath-pileser III. Before conquering Babylonia, he broke the Independ power
of the Hittites in the West, and made himself master of the routes leading to
the Phoenician seaports. As the eclipse of the Assyrian power had allowed the
expansion of Israel under Jeroboam II, so its revival now crushed the independence
of the nation forever. Menahem bought stability for his throne by the payment
of an immense bribe of 1,000 talents of silver, or ,000,000, reckoning the silver
talent at ,000. The money was raised by means of an assessment of 50 talents each
upon all the men of known wealth. The payment of this tribute is mentioned on
the Assyrian monuments, the date being 738.
2. Decline
Menahem reigned 10 years. His son Pekahiah was, soon after his accession, assassinated
by one of his own captains, Pekah, son of Remaliah, who established himself, with
the help of some Gileadites, as king. He formed an alliance with Rezin of Damascus
against Israel, defeating Ahaz in two pitched battles, taking numerous captives,
and even reaching the walls of Jerusalem. The result was disastrous to both allies.
Ahaz called in the aid of the Assyrians. Tiglath-pileser put an end to the kingdom
of Damascus, and deported the inhabitants of Northern and Eastern Palestine. The
kingdom of Israel was reduced to the dimensions of the later province of Samaria.
Pekah himself was assassinated by Hoshea, who became king under the tutelage of
the Assyrian overlord. The depopulated provinces were filled with colonists from
the conquered countries of the East. The year is 734 BC.
3. Extinction
Hoshea was never an independent king, but the mere vassal of Assyria. He was foolish
enough to withhold the annual tribute, and to turn to Egypt for succor. Meanwhile,
Tiglath-pileser III had been succeeded by Shalmaneser IV. This king laid siege
to Samaria, but died during the siege. The city was taken by his successor Sargon,
who had seized the throne, toward the end of the year 722.
4. Summary
The Northern Kingdom had lasted 240 years, which fall into three periods of about
80 years each, the middle period being the period of the Syrian wars. As it was
fully formed when it broke off from the Southern Kingdom, its history shows no
development or evolution, but is made up of undulations of prosperity and of decline.
It was at its best immediately after its foundation, and again under Jeroboam
II. It was strong under Baasha, Omri and Ahab, but generally weak under the other
kings. Every change of dynasty meant a period of anarchy, when the country was
at the mercy of every invader. The fortunes of Israel depended entirely on those
of Assyria. When Assyria was weak, Israel was strong. Given the advance of Assyria,
the destruction of Israel was certain. This was necessary and was clearly foreseen
by Hosea (9:3, etc.). The wonder is that the little state, surrounded by such
powerful neighbors, lasted as long as it did. |
See, further, ISRAEL, HISTORY OF, V.
LITERATURE
The most important works are Ewald, Geschichte des Volkes Israel (English
Translation by Martineau and Glover); Wellhausen, Geschichte Israels; Derenbourg,
Essai sur l'histoire .... de la Palestine; and there are many more. Ewald is best
known to English readers through the medium of Dean Stanley's Lectures on the
History of the Jewish Church. See further under CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT;
ISRAEL, and articles on individual kings.
Thomas Hunter Weir
Tags:
ahijah prophecy, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, compare kingdom of israel vs. kingdom of judah, define, hoshea, jeroboam, jezreel, kingdom of israel, kingdom of the ten tribes, list the 10 tribes of israel, list the 19 kings of the kingdom of israel, northern kingdom, samaria, shechem
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