Kingdom of Judah

Kingdom of Judah (Hebrew מַמלְכת יְ�"וּ�"ָ�", Standard Hebrew Mamlkut Yəhuda, Tiberian Hebrew Malḵûṯ Yəhûḏāh) is one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy (often called the 'Kingdom of Israel'). It existed from roughly 930 BCE until 586 BCE. This article follows its history until its final destruction by the Babylonian Empire and considers the fate of its population and territory following its destruction.

Judea is a term used for the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel.

The name Judah itself means Praise of God.

Map of the southern Levant, c.830 BCE. The territory of the Kingdom of Judah is marked in light green.

Judah is often referred to as the Southern Kingdom to distinguish it from the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

History

Origins of the United Monarchy

The United Monarchy was formed out of the territories of the twelve Hebrew tribes living in the area in and around modern Israel and Palestine.

United Monarchy

The Kingdom of Judah is one of two successor states to the older Kingdom of Israel, which existed from around 1030 BCE-920 BCE. The other successor state also bears the name Kingdom of Israel.

Divided Monarchy

Kingdom of Israel

The Kingdom of Israel, or Northern Kingdom, existed as an independent state from about 930 BCE until around 720 BCE when it was conquered by the Assyrian Empire.

Kingdom of Judah

When the disruption took place at Shechem, at first only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. But very soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah, and Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom (Joshua 18:28), which was called the kingdom of Judah.
*729-687 BCE. Reign of king Hezekiah of Judah. He is noted in the Bible for initiating reforms that outlawed, or enforced Jewish laws against, idolatry (in this case, the worship of Ba'alim and/or Asherah, among other traditional Near Eastern divinities). [1]
*c. 705 BCE Siloam inscription in Old Hebrew alphabet
*687-638 BCE. Reign of king Manasseh of Judah, sacrificed his son to Molech, .
*638-637 BCE. Reign of king Amon.These two kings reversed Hezekiah's reforms and officially revived idolatry. According to later rabbinical accounts, Manasseh placed a grotesque, four-faced idol in the Holy of Holies.
*637-607 BCE. The reign of king Josiah was accompanied by a religious reformation. According to the Bible, while repairs were made on the Temple, a 'Book of the Law' was discovered (possibly the book of Deuteronomy). [2] See also , ,
*587 BCE. Babylon, under king Nebuchadnezzar II, seized Jerusalem. The First Temple was destroyed; the date was the 9th of Av, or Tisha B'Av. [3]

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. For 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. After the destruction of Israel, Judah continued to exist for about a century and a half until its final overthrow in (586 BCE) by Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard (2 Kings 25:8-21), an event which also saw the destruction of the First Temple.

Babylonian Captivity

In the wake of the conquest by the Babylonian Empire much of the populate of the Kingdom of Judah was dispersed throughout that empire.

Culture

Notable Personalities

Prophets Active in the Kingdom of Judah

*Amos
*Habakkuk
*Isaiah, cousin of king Uzziah
*Jeremiah
*Joel
*Micah
*Obadiah
*Zechariah
*Zephaniah

Extent of the Kingdom

The Kingdom of Judah was the nation formed from the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, and was named after Judah, son of Jacob (Israel).

Its capital was Jerusalem.

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
922–915	931–913	931–914	Rehoboam	רחבעם בן-שלמ�" מלך י�"ו�"�" Rehav'am ben Shlomoh, Melekh Yehudah
915–913	913–911	914–911	Abijam	אבים בן-רחבעם מלך י�"ו�"�" 'Aviyam ben Rehav'am, Melekh Yehudah
913–873	911–870	911–870	Asah	אסא בן-אבים מלך י�"ו�"�" 'Asa ben 'Aviyam, Melekh Yehudah
873–849	870–848	870–845	Jehoshaphat	י�"ושפט בן-אסא מלך י�"ו�"�" Yehoshafat ben 'Asa, Melekh Yahudah
849–842	848–841	851–843	Jehoram	י�"ורם בן-י�"ושפט מלך י�"ו�"�" Yehoram ben Yehoshafat, Melekh Yahudah	Killed
842–842	841–841	843–842	Ahaziah	אחזי�"ו בן-י�"ורם מלך י�"ו�"�" 'Ahazyahu ben Yehoram, Melekh Yehudah	Killed by Yehu, King of Israel
842–837	841–835	842–835	Athaliah	עתלי�" בת-עמרי מלכת י�"ו�"�" ‘Atalyah bat ‘Omri, Malkat Yehudah	Queen Mother, wife of Jehoram; died in a coup
837–800	835–796	842–802	Jehoash	י�"ואש בן-אחזי�"ו מלך י�"ו�"�" Yehoash ben 'Ahazyahu, Melekh Yehudah	Killed by his servants
800–783	796–767	805–776	Amaziah	אמצי�" בן-י�"ואש מלך י�"ו�"�" 'Amatzyah ben Yehoash, Melekh Yehudah	Assassinated
783–742	767–740	788–736	Uzziah (Azariah)	עזי�" בן-אמצי�" מלך י�"ו�"�" ‘Uziyah ben 'Amatzyah, Melekh Yehudah עזרי�" בן-אמצי�" מלך י�"ו�"�" ‘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-עזי�" מלך י�"ו�"�" Yotam ben ‘Uziyah, Melekh Yehudah
735–715	732–716	742–726	Ahaz	אחז בן-יותם מלך י�"ו�"�" '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	חזקי�" בן-אחז מלך י�"ו�"�" 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	מנש�" בן-חזקי�" מלך י�"ו�"�" Menasheh ben Hizqiyah, Melekh Yehudah	Mentioned in Assyrian records as a contemporary of Esarhaddon.
642–640	643–641	642–640	Amon	אמון בן-מנש�" מלך י�"ו�"�" 'Amon ben Menasheh, Melekh Yehudah	Assassinated
640–609	641–609	640–609	Josiah	יאשי�"ו בן-אמון מלך י�"ו�"�" Yo'shiyahu ben 'Amon, Melekh Yehudah	Died in battle at Megiddo against Necho II of Egypt.
609	609	609	Jehoahaz (Ahaz)	י�"ואחז בן-יאשי�"ו מלך י�"ו�"�" Yeho'ahaz ben Yo'shiyahu, Melekh Yehudah אחז בן-יאשי�"ו מלך י�"ו�"�" 'Ahaz ben Yo'shiyahu, Melekh Yehudah
609–598	609–598	609–598	Jehoiakim	י�"ויקים בן-יאשי�"ו מלך י�"ו�"�" 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)	י�"ויכין בן-י�"ויקים מלך י�"ו�"�" Yehoyakhin ben Yehoyaqim, Melekh Yehudah יכני�"ו בן-י�"ויקים מלך י�"ו�"�" Yekhonyahu ben Yehoyaqim, Melekh Yehudah	Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians and Jehoiachin deposed on March 16, 597 BC. Called 'Jeconiah' in Jeremiah and Esther
597–587	597–586	597–586	Zedekiah	צ�"קי�"ו בן-י�"ויכין מלך י�"ו�"�" Tzidqiyahu ben Yo'shiyahu, Melekh Yehudah	The last king of Judah. Deposed, blinded and sent into exile; fate unknown. See note 2, below.

Notes

#Hezekiah: contemporary with Sennacherib of Assyria, and Merodach-baladan of Babylon.#Zedekiah: King during the second rebellion (588–586 BCE). 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:
*586–539 BC: Babylonian Empire
*539–332 BC: Persian Empire
*332–305 BC: Empire of Alexander the Great
*305–198 BC: Ptolemaics
*198–141 BC: Seleucids
*141–37 BC: The Hasmonean state in Israel established by the Maccabees, since 63 BC under Roman supremacy
*37 BC–AD 70: Herodian Dynasty ruling Judea under Roman supremacy (37 BC-AD 6, AD 41-44), 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

*Government of ancient Israel
*History of ancient Israel and Judah
*Israel
*Judah
*Judea

External links

*The Jewish History Resource Center Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
*Complete Bible Genealogy A synchronized chart of the kings of Judah and Israel