Israel and Judah Israel and Judah From the beginning the Jewish scriptures focus on the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac (Ishmael), Jacob, and Joseph The reason for this attention is that from them came the “covenant,” the divine choice that favors the people of the Bible Abraham was promised the land of Canaan (present-day Israel) His grandson was named Jacob but after a divine encounter was renamed “Israel.” From this patriarch came 12 sons, which became the line of the tribes that dominate the rest of the Bible Corporately the tribes are known as Israel, named after their forefather SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON The time of the Patriarchs likely occurred in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages The earliest mention of Israel comes from the Merneptah Stela of c 1200 b.c.e in Egypt The stela simply states: “Israel has perished; its seed is no more.” As for the tribes’ existence and the traditions surrounding them, the historical record is totally silent Their way of life as described in the Bible is consistent with what can be hypothesized from the scanty archaeological record These tribes first are migratory and go down to Egypt during a time of famine From there Moses leads them back to the brink of the land where Abraham had lived Once they enter the land, it is clear that they lack political cohesion and stability, for charismatic heroes known as Judges are 215 required to take charge periodically and give military deliverance to the tribes Finally, the tribes unite to select several kings, at first Saul and then David and his son Solomon The separate identity of Israel and Judah probably began to take shape in the time of the Judges Israel referred to the land of Ephraim of the northern hill country, where the other tribes deferred to Ephraim as the largest and most powerful This confederation of the northern tribes then came together to choose the first king, Saul, and the few southern tribes probably gave limited support When Saul died, the southern tribes rallied around David, a representative from the southern confederation from the tribe of Judah David then sought to bring the northern tribes into the alliance by choosing as his capital city, Jerusalem, “the City of David,” outside the north or south, a foreign stronghold In spite of this, resentments were still rampant in the north, and regional rebellions broke out When Solomon died, even the Bible could not repress a negative view of the heavy taxes that were imposed on the north to pay for David and Solomon’s public works JEROBOAM, REHOBOAM, AND AHAB The net effect of this tension was that the northern 10 tribes seceded from the southern two tribes as soon as Solomon died Jeroboam, who had earlier led an Ancient Jerusalem is pictured in 65 C.E in this lithograph from 1887 David sought to bring the northern tribes into his alliance by choosing Jerusalem, or“the City of David,” as his capital city