Kingdom of Judah

The Kingdom of Judah (Hebrew מַלְכוּת יְהוּדָה, Standard Hebrew Malḫut Yəhuda, Tiberian Hebrew Malḵûṯ Yəhûḏāh) in the times of the Hebrew Bible, was the nation formed from the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin after the Kingdom of Israel was divided, and was named after Judah, son of Jacob (Israel). The name Judah itself means Praise of God.

Also see article on Judea.

Map of the southern Levant, c.800 B.C.E. The territory of the Kingdom of Judah is marked dark red.

Judah is often referred to as the Southern Kingdom to distinguish it from the Northern Kingdom (being the Kingdom of Israel) after the division of the Kingdom. Its capital was Jerusalem. See History of ancient Israel and Judah.

The Kingdom of Judah's foundation is traditionally dated to the point at which Israel and Judah divided shortly after the reign of King Solomon. However, it should be noted that King David had earlier been anointed king of Judah at Hebron. A period of civil war followed, with a unified kingdom emerging several years later, according to the biblical accounted.

At the end of Solomon's reign, a dispute arose between his son Reheboam and a northern leader named Jeroboam, who had been a press-gang leader under Solomon. Jeroboam urged Reheboam to relax the labor requirements Solomon had forced on the northern tribes, saying, "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you." Reheboam harshly rejected the reqest, and the northern tribes revolted. (2 Chron 10) This dispute took place at Shechem, where Reheboam was to be made king. At first only the tribe of Judah followed the Reheboam and the "house of David". But soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined with Judah, and Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom (Joshua 18:28), which was called the kingdom of Judah.

The biblical historians make it clear that the root cause of the division was spitual, resulting from King Solomon's sin of idolatry. The Southern Kingdom represents his better half, demonstrating a greater degree of faithfulness to God, while the Norhtern Kingdom falls into a consistent pattern of tolerating idolatry.

Politically, for the first sixty years the kings of Judah aimed at re-establishing their authority over the kingdom of the other ten tribes, so that there was a state of perpetual war between them. During the following eighty years there was no open war between them. For the most part they were in friendly alliance, co-operating against their common enemies, especially against Damascus. For about another century and a half Judah had a somewhat checkered existence after the termination of the kingdom of Israel till its final overthrow in the destruction of the temple (586 B.C.E.) by Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard (2 Kings 25:8-21).

The kingdom maintained a separate existence for three hundred and eighty-nine years. It occupied an area of about 8,900 km² (3,435 square miles).

The Kings of Judah

For this period, most historians follow the chronology established by William F. Albright, by Edwin R. Thiele, or by Gershon Galil, all of which are shown below. All dates are BCE.

Albright dates	Thiele dates	Galil dates	Common/Biblical Name	Regnal name and style	Notes
1000–962		1010–970	David	דוד בן-ישי מלך ישראל Daud ben Yishai, Melekh Ysr’al	King of a united Israel
962–922		970–931	Solomon	שלמה בן-דוד מלך ישראל Shelomoh ben Daud, Melekh Ysr’al	King of a united Israel - Son of David by Bathsheba, his rights of succession were disputed by his older half-brother Adonijah
922–915	931–913	931–914	Rehoboam	רחבעם בן-שלמה מלך יהודה Rehav’am ben Shlomoh, Melekh Yehudah
915–913	913–911	914–911	Abijam	אבים בן-רחבעם מלך יהודה ’Aviyam ben Rehav’am, Melekh Yehudah
913–873	911–870	911–870	Asah	אסא בן-אבים מלך יהודה ’As’a ben ’Aviyam, Melekh Yehudah
873–849	870–848	870–845	Jehoshaphat	יהושפט בן-אסא מלך יהודה Yehoshafat ben ’As’a, Melekh Yahudah
849–842	848–841	851–843	Jehoram	יהורם בן-יהושפט מלך יהודה Yehoram ben Yehoshafat, Melekh Yahudah	Killed
842–842	841–841	843–842	Ahaziah	אחזיהו בן-יהורם מלך יהודה ’Ahazyahu ben Yehoram, Melekh Yehudah	Killed by Yehu, King of Israel
842–837	841–835	842–835	Athaliah	עתליה בת-עמרי מלכת יהודה ‘Atalyah bat ‘Omri, Malkat Yehudah	Queen Mother, wife of Jehoram; died in a coup
837–800	835–796	842–802	Jehoash	יהואש בן-אחזיהו מלך יהודה Yehoash ben ’Ahazyahu, Melekh Yehudah	Killed by his servants
800–783	796–767	805–776	Amaziah	אמציה בן-יהואש מלך יהודה ’Amatzyah ben Yehoash, Melekh Yehudah	Assassinated
783–742	767–740	788–736	Uzziah (Azariah)	עזיה בן-אמציה מלך יהודה ‘Uziyah ben ’Amatzyah, Melekh Yehudah עזריה בן-אמציה מלך יהודה ‘Azaryah ben ’Amatzyah, Melekh Yehudah	George Syncellus wrote that the First Olympiad took place in Uzziah's 48th regnal year
742–735	740–732	758–742	Jotham	יותם בן-עזיה מלך יהודה Yotam ben ‘Uziyah, Melekh Yehudah
735–715	732–716	742–726	Ahaz	אחז בן-יותם מלך יהודה ’Ahaz ben Yotam, Melekh Yehudah	The Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III records he received tribute from Ahaz; compare 2 Kings 16:7-9; Fate unknown
715–687	716–687	726–697	Hezekiah	חזקיה בן-אחז מלך יהודה Hizqiyah ben ’Ahaz, Melekh Yehudah	Contemporary with Sennacherib of Assyria, and Merodach-baladan of Babylon (but see note 1, below)
687–642	687–643	697–642	Manasseh	מנשה בן-חזקיה מלך יהודה Menasheh ben Hizqiyah, Melekh Yehudah	Mentioned in Assyrian records as a contemporary of Esarhaddon.
642–640	643–641	642–640	Amon	אמון בן-מנשה מלך יהודה ’Amon ben Menasheh, Melekh Yehudah	Assassinated
640–609	641–609	640–609	Josiah	יאשיהו בן-אמון מלך יהודה Yo’shiyahu ben ’Amon, Melekh Yehudah	Died in battle at Megiddo against Necho II of Egypt.
609	609	609	Jehoahaz (Ahaz)	יהואחז בן-יאשיהו מלך יהודה Yeho’ahaz ben Yo’shiyahu, Melekh Yehudah אחז בן-יאשיהו מלך יהודה ’Ahaz ben Yo’shiyahu, Melekh Yehudah
609–598	609–598	609–598	Jehoiakim	יהויקים בן-יאשיהו מלך יהודה Yehoyaqim ben Yo’shiyahu, Melekh Yehudah	The Battle of Carchemish occurred in the fourth year of his reign (Jeremiah 46:2)
598	598	598–597	Jehoiachin (Jeconiah)	יהויכין בן-יהויקים מלך יהודה Yehoyakhin ben Yehoyaqim, Melekh Yehudah יכניהו בן-יהויקים מלך יהודה Yekhonyahu ben Yehoyaqim, Melekh Yehudah	Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians and Jehoiachin deposed on March 16, 597 B.C.E. Called 'Jeconiah' in Jeremiah and Esther
597–587	597–586	597–586	Zedekiah	צדקיהו בן-יהויכין מלך יהודה Tzidqiyahu ben Yo’shiyahu, Melekh Yehudah	The last king of Judah. Deposed, blinded and sent into exile; fate unknown. See note 2, below.

Notes

1. Hezekiah: contemporary with Sennacherib of Assyria, and Merodach-baladan of Babylon.
2. Zedekiah: King during the second rebellion (588–586 B.C.E.). Jerusalem was captured after a lengthy siege, the temple burnt, Zedekiah taken into exile and Judah was reduced to a province. Nebuchadnezzar had left Gedaliah as his governor, who was killed in one last revolt, and the few members of the ruling classes left from the kingdom of Judah took the prophets Jeremiah and Baruch with them as they fled to sanctuary in Egypt.

From the end of the kingdom to the present

After the end of the ancient kingdom the area passed into foreign rule, apart from brief periods, under the following powers:

• 587–539 B.C.E.: Babylonian Empire

• 539–332 B.C.E.: Persian Empire

• 332–305 B.C.E.: Empire of Alexander the Great

• 305–198 B.C.E.: Ptolemaids

• 198–141 B.C.E.: Seleucids

• 141–37 B.C.E.: The Hasmonean state in Israel established by the Maccabees, since 63 B.C.E. under Roman supremacy

• 37 B.C.E.–AD 70: Herodian Dynasty ruling Judea under Roman supremacy (37 B.C.E.-6 C.E., 41-44 C.E.), interchanging with direct Roman rule (6-41, 44-66). This ended in the first Jewish Revolt of 66 - 73, which saw the Temple destroyed in 70.

• AD 70–395: province of Roman Empire first called Judea, after 135 called Palaestina. In 395 the Roman Empire is split into a Western and an Eastern part.

• 395–638: Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire

• 638–1099: Arab Caliphates and subject rulers

• 1099–1187: Crusader states, most notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem

• 1187–1260: dominated by the Ayyubides of Egypt

• 1260–1516: dominated by the Mamluks of Egypt

• 1516–1917: Ottoman Turks, having previously conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453

• 1918–1948: British mandate of Palestine under, first, League of Nations, then, successor United Nations; the Emirate of Trans-Jordan was separated from the rest of Palestine in 1922, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan became independent upon the expiration of the League of Nations Mandate in 1946.

• May 1948 to present: independent State of Israel

• 1948-1967 the West Bank was occupied by, and in 1950 annexed to, Jordan. Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt
• 1967 to present: the West Bank and Gaza Strip occupied by Israel in the Six Day War, since :1994 a semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority governs territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

See also

• Judea
• Kingdom of Israel
• Israel
• Judah

External links

• Complete Bible Genealogy A synchronized chart of the kings of Judah and Israel

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Kingdom of Judah  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Kingdom of Judah"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.