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The Kings of Judah and the Kings of Israel

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A COMPARISON OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL DURING THE PERIOD OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL
Saul
1030-1010 BC 		Ishbaal
(son of Saul)
1010-1011 		David
1010-970 BC
7 years king of Judah,
33 years king of Israel 		Solomon
(son of David)
970-930 BC
THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH
(Tribes of Judah and Benjamin)
930 – 587/6 BC
1 ruling family: the House of David 		THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL
(10 Northern Tribes)
930 – 722 BC
9 ruling families
Rehoboam 930 – 913 Jeroboam I 930 – 910
Abijam (Abijah) 913 – 911 Nadab 910 – 909
Asa 911 – 870 Baasha 909 – 884
  Elah 886 – 885
  Zimri 885
  Omri 885 – 874
Jehoshaphat 870 – 848 Ahab 874 – 853
  Ahaziah 853 – 852
Jehoram (Joram) 848 – 841 Jehoram 852 – 841
Ahaziah 841 Jehu 841 – 814
Queen Athaliah 841 – 835
(mother of Ahaziah, dau. of Ahab and not a Davidic heir) 		 
Jehoash 835 – 796 Jehoahaz 814 – 798
Amaziah 796-781 Jehoash 798 -783
Uzziah (Azariah) 781 – 740 Jeroboam II 783 – 743
  Zechariah 743
  Shallum 743
Jotham 750 – 736 Menahem 743 – 738
  Pekahiah 738 – 737
Ahaz 736 – 716 Pekah 737 – 732
Assyrians conquer Galilee and Gilead 732 BC
Hezekiah 716 – 687 Hoshea 732 – 724
Manasseh 687 – 642 Assyrians conquer Northern Kingdom; tribes taken into exile 722 BC
Amon 642 – 640 5 foreign tribes from the east are moved into the territory of the Northern Kingdom.  They become the Samaritans (2 Kings 17:24)
Josiah 640 – 609  
Jehoahaz 609

 
Jehoiakim 609 – 598  
Jehoiachin 598 – 597
(second deportation of exiles to Babylon 597) 		 
Zedekiah 598 – 587/6
(third deportation of exiles to Babylon 587/6) 		 
Babylonian exile 70 years  
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2014 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
(dates from NJB; dates may vary according to source).

Archaeological evidence which supports the Biblical record:

  1. The discovery of Pharaoh Siamun's relief: Pharaoh Siamun, a contemporary of Israel's King Solomon, ordered a triumphal relief commemorating his campaign against the Philistines c. 970-960. The Bible records that a pharaoh conquered the Philistine city of Gezer and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife in 1 Kings 9:16.
  2. The discovery of Pharaoh Shoshenq's triumphal relief at Karnak and stela at Silisila: These artifacts commemorate the pharaoh's campaign in Israel in 925 BC and Judah in 924 BC during King Rehoboam's reign recorded in 1 Kings 14:25-26; 2 Chronicles 12:1-9.
  3. Annals of Shalmaneser III (853/52): The Assyrian annals mention King Ahab of Israel.
  4. Annals of Shalmaneser III (841/40): The Assyrian annals mention King Jehu of Israel.
  5. Tel Dan Stele from the reign of an Aramaic king in the 9th century BC and the Mesha Stele erected by Mesha, King of Moab c. 840 BC, identifies the "House of David," confirming the rule of the Davidic kings of Judah.

SOLVING AN APPARENT DISCREPENCY IN THE BIBLICAL RECORD:

The Assyrian annals put 12 years between King Ahab of Israel and King Jehu. However, the Biblical record records 14 years between the reigns of these two kings with two kings between them—Ahaziah who ruled for two years and Jehoram who ruled 12 years (1 Kings 22:51; 2 Kings 3:1). What at first glance appears to be a discrepancy is easily explained by historians. Ancient kingdoms had different ways of recording regnal years. The Assyrians and Babylonians credited the entire year when a king died to his reign, even if he died at the beginning of the year and his successor ruled 11 months of that year. That first year for the new king was designated his "ascension year" and the new king's "Year #1" did not begin until the first day of the following year. Historians call this method the "accession year" system or the "post-dating" system. See the document "Dating the Reigns of the Kings of Judah and the Kings of Israel".

Resources and suggested reading:

  1. Ancient Near Eastern Texts, ed., James Pritchard, Princeton University Press, 1950.
  2. The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, E.R. Thiele, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986.
  3. The Chronology of the Kings of Israel and Judah, Gershon Galil, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996.
  4. "How We Know When Solomon Ruled," Kenneth A. Kitchen, Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 2001.

Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2007; revised 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.