Kings of Israel and Judah

The article deals with the biblical and historical kings of the Land of Israel—Abimelech of Sichem, the three kings of the United Kingdom of Israel and those of its successor states, Israel and Judah, followed in the Second Temple period, part of classical antiquity, by the kingdoms ruled by the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties.

The Hebrew Bible describes a succession of kings of a United Kingdom of Israel, and then of divided kingdoms, Israel and Judah.

In contemporary scholarship, the united monarchy is debated, due to a lack of archaeological evidence for it. It is generally accepted that a "House of David" existed, but some scholars believe that David could have only been the king or chieftain of Judah, which was likely small, and that the northern kingdom was a separate development. There are some dissenters to this view, including those who support the traditional narrative, and those who support the united monarchy's existence but believe that the Bible contains theological exaggerations.

According to the Bible, the Tribes of Israel lived as a confederation under ad hoc charismatic leaders called judges. In around 1020 BCE, under extreme threat from foreign peoples, the tribes united to form the first United Kingdom of Israel. Samuel anointed Saul from the Tribe of Benjamin as the first king.

After the death of king Solomon the United Kingdom of Israel was divided in two – the northern Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, with its capital, first in Shechem, then Penuel, Tirzah, and finally Samaria, and ruled by a series of dynasties beginning with Jeroboam; and the southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital still in Jerusalem and ruled by the House of David. Under Hezekiah's rule in the Kingdom of Judah, the Neo-Assyrian Empire conquered and destroyed the northern kingdom 722 BCE leaving only the southern kingdom of Judah.

The Bible judges all kings of Israel and Judah by their attitude towards Hashem's Torah, and on this basis they all belong to one of the categories: the good kings, the bad kings, and the kings who acted both good as well as bad.

All kings of Israel are considered to be bad, except of Jehu who is considered to have acted both good, since he is credited with the suppression of a cult of Baal, as well as bad, since he failed to suppress a cult of golden calves in Bethel and Dan.

Amongst kings of Judah, five of them are judged to have acted good throughout their reign: Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah, whereas Jehoash, Amaziah, Uzziah and Manasseh are all described as kings who acted good as well as bad during their reign. The remaining monarchs are considered to have acted bad throughout their reign.