The Kingdoms Of Judah And Israel - 1982 Words

The Kingdoms of Judah and Israel from ca. 922 to 586 BCE have a significant impact not only on the Jewish tradition, but also on the history of Ancient Israel and its development, therefore it is important to discuss their political structure and influence. To discuss the political structure and developments of this period modern scholars refer to as the divided monarchy in Ancient Israel, there must first be a discussion of the political and religious factors that bring about the unification and later division of the tribes of Israel. In the Hebrew Bible, various tribes are depicted as encompassing the land of Canaan prior to a time modern scholars refer to as the united monarchy, which refers to the rule of King Saul, David and Solomon.†¦show more content†¦The inability of the three great powers of the time, Egypt, Assyria and Babylon, to exert influence over lesser entities such as the philistines greatly contributed to their rise in power. The culmination of these event s lead to a desire and almost obligation of political unification under a monarch for the tribes of Israel because their internal weakness threatened their very existence. Nevertheless, contrary to the depiction in the Hebrew Bible, the tribes appear to maintain a significant amount of autonomy during the monarchy, which leads to the demise of the small unified monarchy and the development of two split kingdoms, Israel and Judah, that is found in I Kings 12. This is a result of increased demands and pressure from King Solomon that would have escalated if his son Rehoboam came to power over the lands of Israel. However, many scholars such as Beth Alpert Nakhai, attest that hints of disunity between Judah and other tribes were present through rebellions in David and Solomon’s reigns. Therefore, leaders of the various tribes elected to anoint a new king over their lands that would politically unite them enough to protect them from outside threats, while still maintaining their r elative autonomy over their own tribes, making the kingdom of Israel a dispersed state with various religious and political centers. On the other hand, the kingdom of Judah maintained not only unity