Kings of Israel and Judah

Saul
United Kingdom of Israel
A handsome and humble Benjamite whom the prophet Samuel anointed as Israel’s first king. Saul came into his own when he rallied the nation to defend Jabesh. He united the tribes for the first time since Joshua and scored impressive victories over the Philistines and other enemies pressing on Israel’s borders. Early achievements were overshadowed by his personal torment and demonic insanity, his clashes with Samuel and his love/hate relationship with David. After a reign of twenty years, he killed himself after being wounded in the battle of Gilboa.

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David
Hebrew Name: David ben Yishai
United Kingdom of Israel
Anointed king by Samuel when he was a young shepherd boy, David came to the throne at age thirty, after years of running from Saul. A charismatic and brilliant leader, he made Israel a major power. He conquered Jerusalem and made it the national capital, secured territory between Dan and the Brook of Egypt that included the major trade routes, strengthened his borders with treaties and vassal states, and gave Israel an army. His later years were saddened by an attempted coup by his son Absalom, famine, pestilence and other problems. Before he died he made Solomon, his son by Bathsheba, his successor.

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Solomon
Hebrew Name: Shelomo ben David
United Kingdom of Israel
Famed for his wisdom, Solomon built on the foundations laid by David, organizing the kingdom for tax and administrative purposes, developing commerce and shipping, launching a lavish building program to embellish the kingdom, and establishing an extravagant court life. Although his subjects were proud of him, his splendid court and building projects drained much of the new wealth, and he fell under foreign influence through his many wives and their gods.

Toward the end of his reign, there was discontent over taxation and forced labor, as well as unrest at the borders of the kingdom, and the united kingdom failed to survive after his death.

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The Jewish kings ruled over vastly different kingdoms in different periods of history. Starting in the early iron age with Saul, several kings ruled over an expanding, "United Kingdom." After the death of Solomon a fissure developed, with ten tribes separating into the Northern Kingdom of "Israel..."

( see table )

and the tribes of Benjamin and Judah continuing the Davidic line in the Southern Kingdom of "Judah."

( see table )

After the north was conquered by Assyria and the south by Babylon, a Jewish kingdom did not reappear until the second century BC with the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty. The Hasmoneans were then followed in the first century BC by the Herodian rulers, this final group being clients of Rome, (and actually Idumean).