Kings of Israel
    & Judah

Two Kingdoms! The Biblical Books of the Kings and Chronicles record this history; primarily concerning the conflict between the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel, but also skirmishing with other kings in the region. All the details about so many different kings in the Old Testament cause us to wonder if this is indeed a word from God. The first king of Israel was Saul. It seemed that God didn't want them to have a king at all, 1Sam8:7,because it meant they wanted to be "just like everybody else". Even so, God told the Prophet Samuel to anoint Saul as this first King of Israel. We might call him a 'reluctant king' because he "hid amongst the stuff", 1Sam10:22. Apparently he looked the part because he was "a head taller than others", but disobedience cost him the kingdom. 1Chr10:13   Beware of those who tell you this is strictly Old Testament and doesn't apply to us today. It's a PRECEPT, and now God would have any of us to be "Kings & Priests", so you despise your birthright at your own peril! The second king of Israel was David; youngest of the sons of Jesse, who was also a musician, and author of many of the Psalms. He reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem, and it was during his reign that Israel acquired the greatest geographical territory. God said: "I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will". Acts13:22 The third king of Israel was Solomon, the second-born son of David and Bathsheba, who is credited with writing the Proverbs, the Song-of-Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. He is best known for building the first House-of-God, the Temple of Jerusalem, with the materials provided him by David.   Solomon is LITERALLY the son of David, and now is known for his wisdom and wealth and many wives and concubines. Saul   David   Solomon "The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years." 1K11:42   "David was 30 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 40 years" 2Sam5:4   "God gave unto them Saul..a man of the Tribe of Benjamin, by the space of 40 years" Acts13:21   40 - 40 - 40 Following the period of the Judges, these three(3) kings reigned over ALL ISRAEL, all of the tribes, for 120 years.   40 years each. Then their kingdom divided, with ten tribes going to the North headed up by a "King of Israel", and two of the tribes (Judah & Benjamin) going South under the "King of Judah".   Not counting the Levites, apparently. 1K12 Kings of Judah, Southern Kingdom, 2 tribes   This is the kingdom of father-to-son generations leading from Solomon to the carrying to Babylon. After the Northern Kingdom was carried away by the Assyrians, this kingdom continued in Jerusalem until they were carried away to their seventy (70) years in Babylon, as prophesied by Jeremiah 25:11. Yes, of course, the kings in this column were all born into the Tribe of Judah. #1 - Rehoboam son of Solomon, 17yrs. #2 - Abijam or Abijah 3yrs. #3 - Asa 41 yrs,diseased feet #4 - Jehoshaphat 25yrs. #5 - Jehoram 8yrs. #6 - * Ahaziah or Jehoahaz 1 yr, 2Chr21:17 Queen Athaliah 6yrs dau of Jezebel 2K11:3 dau of Omri 2K8:26 wife to Jehoram #7 - * Joash 40 yrs, 2Chr24:1 #8 - * Amaziah 29yrs, 2Chr24:27 #9 - Uzziah or Azariah 52yrs, 2K15:1 #10 - Jotham 16yrs, 2K15:33 #11 - Ahaz 16yrs, 2K16:2 #12 - Hezekiah 29yrs. Began age 25 #13 - Manasseh 55yrs. RT/Babylon #14 - Amon 2yrs. #15 - Josiah 31 yrs. lost book #16 - * Jehoiakim 11 yrs. 2K23:36 #17 - Jeconiah or Jehoiachin or Coniah 2K24:6, 3mos. #18 - Zedekiah - 11yrs. NOT Jeconiah's son and NOT in the pedigree of Jesus. * These four are omitted in Matthew chapter one. Total years = 393 and 3 mos. Kings of Israel, Northern Kingdom, 10 tribes   This is the mostly wicked kingdom which eventually is conquored by Assyria and carried away into all the world with no record of ever returning, even though all tribes seem to be present during the time of Christ. The two kingdoms are called "sisters" in Jer3:8. #1 - Jeroboam of Ephraim, 22 yrs, 2 gold calves #2 - Nadab 1K15:25, 2yrs #3 - Baasha tribe of Issachar,24yrs. #4 - Elah 1K16:8, 2yrs #5 - Zimri 7 days/Tirzah #6 - Omri 12yrs. builtSamaria #7 - Ahab 22yrs. Jezebel/Elijah #8 - Ahaziah son of Ahab 1K22:40,2yrs #9 - Jehoram 12yrs,2K3:1 aka Joram #10 - Jehu 28yrs in Samaria #11 - Jehoahaz 2K10:35,17yrs. #12 - Jehoash or Joash, 16yrs. #13 - Jeroboam-II 41 yrs.same name #14 - Zachariah 6 mos. #15 - Shallum 1 month #16 - Menahem 10 yrs. #17 - Pekahiah 2 yrs. #18 - Pekah 20 yrs.,2K15:27 #19 - Hoshea 9 yrs. "In the 9th year of Hoshea the King of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria.." 2K17:6 This Kingdom of Israel was conquored and carried away during the time that Hezekiah was the ruling King of Judah. 2K18:10. The Kingdom of Judah was carried away to Babylon during the reigns of Coniah and of Zedekiah, but would be returning after 70 years, Daniel said, and that's exactly what happened! Daniel 9:2. Total years = 241 + 7mos, 7day ...This kind of study can be very confusing because of the multiple names and different spelling. For example, there are five Jehoshaphat's in the Bible (2 of them involved in this study) and two here named Jeroboam, Ahaziah, and Jehoram. TYPO? Absalom's "forty years":   2Sam15:7 - "And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron". This is the only place in the Bible where "after forty years" is found; similar to the way "after forty days" is found only in Numbers 13:25.   Forty Days or forty months for Absalom is more likely. "Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man [Jeconiah] childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah". Jer22:30. Jeconiah was also known as Coniah and Jehoiachin. He had reigned as king for 3 months, but was only eight years old when carried to Babylon, where his son Assir and grandson Salathiel were born. 1Chr3:17 KJV. He was the last of the nineteen(19) father-to-son generations (David-to-Jeconiah) to be a King of Judah. Jeconiah's 'seed' wouldn't prosper--wouldn't ascend to the throne--because the line of kings ended with him.  Years earlier, in Samuel's time, Agag became 'childless', however, Jeconiah apparently grew up and had a son in Babylon. "And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal". 1Sam15:33.

The period of the Judges preceded the kings. "[God] gave them Judges about the space of 450 yrs., until Samuel the Prophet." Acts13:20.  Samuel was not a judge, but a prophet! THE JUDGES WERE... Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Tela, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson, and Eli, ruled over Israel in succession, according to the Book of Judges, and the keynote of that period was Every man did what was right in his own eyes". Judg17:6 & 21:25.   SAMUEL's anointing changed all that!

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Last modified November 3, 2007 by Bob Smith.