The Kings of Judah

Biblical History

After the death of Saul, the leaders of the northern tribes came to David at Hebron. The leaders of Judah recognized that Yahweh had chosen David to be the leader of the tribe of Judah, “David brought up the men who were with him, every one with his household; and they settled in the towns of Hebron. Then the people of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah” (2 Samuel 2:3–4).

David, however, was not a king over the northern tribes. After the death of Saul and under the instigation of Abner, the son of Ner and the commander of Saul’s army, Ishbaal, Saul’s son, was made him over all Israel. Ishbaal was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years (2 Samuel 2:8–10).

While the northern tribes followed Ishbaal, the tribe of Judah followed David. “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker” (2 Samuel 3:1).

After the death of Ishbaal, “Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, “Look, we are your bone and flesh. For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel” (2 Samuel 5:1–2).

The elders of Israel came to David at Hebron and made a covenant with him, “all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel” (2 Samuel 5:3).

At Hebrew, David was crowned king of Judah and Israel, creating a united monarchy that remained united throughout the reign of David and Solomon. But the unity of the southern and northern tribes was fragile. During the reign of David, his son Absalom revolted against David and was crowned king at Hebron. To avoid conflict with his son, David left Jerusalem and took refuge east of the Jordan where friendly allies protected him.

When the revolt was over, David returned home, but even before he reached Jerusalem a dispute between the leaders of Judah and the leaders of Israel revealed a division among the two groups. The dispute arose because the northern tribes believed that there was favoritism in the way the people of Judah treated the king. The leaders of the northern tribes were enraged and complained bitterly.

“The king then crossed over to Gilgal, taking Kimham with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king on his way. But all the men of Israel complained to the king, ‘The men of Judah stole the king and didn’t give us the honor of helping take you, your household, and all your men across the Jordan.’ The men of Judah replied, ‘The king is one of our own kinsmen. Why should this make you angry? We haven’t eaten any of the king’s food or received any special favors!’ ‘But there are ten tribes in Israel,’ the others replied. ‘So we have ten times as much right to the king as you do. What right do you have to treat us with such contempt? Weren’t we the first to speak of bringing him back to be our king again?’ The argument continued back and forth, and the men of Judah spoke even more harshly than the men of Israel’ (2 Samuel 19:40–43 NLT).

After bitter words between both groups, rebellion against David and the people of Judah broke out. A man named Sheba, the son of Bichri, tried to dissolve the union that brought the southern and the northern tribes together: “There happened to be a troublemaker there named Sheba son of Bichri, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. Sheba blew a ram’s horn and began to chant: “Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Come on, you men of Israel, back to your homes!” (2 Samuel 20:1 NLT).

Sheba’s cry of rebellion was an attempt at removing the northern tribes from the union that brought together north and south to form a united monarchy. Sheba was a Benjaminite, a man from the tribe of Saul, the former king of Israel. Sheba’s rebellion was a vivid display of how fragile was the union that David was able to forge in order to establish the united monarchy.

After the death of David, Solomon became the new king of the united monarchy. Solomon began a building program that required much money and many men to complete the work. The building of the temple in Jerusalem and the palace complex took twenty years to finish. In order to pay for his building projects, Solomon established a system of taxation that placed a heavy burden on the rural population of the ten northern tribes. Solomon also established a system of forced labor where the people of Israel were conscripted to serve in building the temple and the palace complex.

The oppressive policies of Solomon ignited in the hearts of the people a desire for seceding from the union with Judah. After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam succeeded his father as king. As a descendant of David, Rehoboam automatically became king of Judah, but he needed the approval of the northern tribes to continue as king of a united monarchy.

The leaders of the northern tribes were not willing to travel to Jerusalem to conduct a ceremony of coronation for Rehoboam. Rehoboam traveled from Jerusalem to Shechem to gain acceptance as king of Israel by the representatives of the northern tribes.

Due to the oppressive economic policy of Solomon, and the undiplomatic and unsympathetic response from Rehoboam to the demands of the leaders of the northern tribes, the kingdom split fast.

The events in the Shechem assembly show that the northerners considered Rehoboam’s kingship an imposition on the northern tribes because of his desire to continue the policies of Solomon, his father.

The leaders of the northern tribes needed assurance that their safety and economic security would be better under the leadership of Rehoboam. Rehoboam refused to accept the demands of the leaders of the northern tribes. The consequences of his arrogant and unwise response led to the split of the united kingdom that David had established.

Rehoboam’s travel to Shechem was an indication of the deteriorating nature of the alliance between Judah and the northern tribes. The people had one request for Rehoboam, “‘Your father was a hard master,’ they said. ‘Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects’” (1 Kings 12:4 NLT).

The repressive system Solomon had established had made the union of the tribes difficult. The oppressive economic policies of Solomon, and the undiplomatic and unsympathetic response of Rehoboam to the people’s request caused the people to rebel against the house of David with the same spirit of rebellion that Sheba had displayed in the time of David.

After Rehoboam refused to accept the demands of the leaders of the northern tribes, the people revolted: “When all Israel realized that the king had refused to listen to them, they responded, ‘Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Back to your homes, O Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!’ So the people of Israel returned home” (1 Kings 12:16 NLT).

Because of Rehoboam’s arrogance, his unwillingness to compromise, and because of his refusal to remove the heavy taxation Solomon had imposed upon the people, the united kingdom split and became two independent kingdoms.

The northern tribes formed the Northern Kingdom which was known as Israel. Rehoboam became the king of Judah and a portion of the tribe of Benjamin. His kingdom became known as the Southern Kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Judah.

All the dates for the kings of Judah follows the chronology found in John Bright, A History of Israel (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1981). In future posts, I will introduce each king of Judah and detail some of their accomplishments.

The Kings of Judah

Rehoboam – 922–915 BCE

Abijah – 915–913 BCE

Asa – 913–873 BCE

Jehoshaphat – 873–849 BCE

Jehoram – 849–843 BCE

Ahaziah – 843–842 BCE

Athaliah – 842–837 BCE

Jehoash – 837–800 BCE

Amaziah – 800-783 BCE

Azariah/Uzziah – 783–742 BCE

Hezekiah – 715–687 BCE