THE KINGDOMS COMPARED

THE KINGDOMS COMPARED

Comparasion of the Kingdoms are as follows:

The northern kingdom:

Israel, Kingdom of

(B.C. 975-B.C. 722). Soon after the death of Solomon, Ahijah's prophecy (1Ki 11:31-35) was fulfilled, and the kingdom was rent in twain. Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, was scarcely seated on his throne when the old jealousies between Judah and the other tribes broke out anew, and Jeroboam was sent for from Egypt by the malcontents (1Ki 12:2, 3). Rehoboam insolently refused to lighten the burdensome taxation and services which his father had imposed on his subjects (1Ki 12:4), and the rebellion became complete. Ephraim and all Israel raised the old cry, "Every man to his tents, O Israel" (2Sa 20:1). Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem (1Ki 12:1-18; 2Ch 10), and Jeroboam was proclaimed king over all Israel at Shechem, Judah and Benjamin remaining faithful to Solomon's son. War, with varying success, was carried on between the two kingdoms for about sixty years, till Jehoshaphat entered into an alliance with the house of Ahab.

—Easton's Illustrated Dictionary

• It began in 931 b.c. and lasted 210 years.
• The first ruler was Jeroboam.
• The last ruler was Hoshea.
• The total number of kings was nineteen. Not one was righteous.
• It consisted of ten tribes.
• Its capital later became Samaria.
• It was captured by the Assyrians in 721 b.c.
• There was no return from captivity.

The southern kingdom:

Judah, Kingdom of

When the disruption took place at Shechem, at first only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. But very soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah, and Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom (Jos 18:28), which was called the kingdom of Judah. It was very small in extent, being only about the size of the Scottish county of Perth.
For the first sixty years the kings of Judah aimed at re-establishing their authority over the kingdom of the other ten tribes, so that there was a state of perpetual war between them. For the next eighty years there was no open war between them. For the most part they were in friendly alliance, co-operating against their common enemies, especially against Damascus. For about another century and a half Judah had a somewhat checkered existence after the termination of the kingdom of Israel till its final overthrow in the destruction of the temple (B.C. 588) by Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard (2Ki 25:8-21).
The kingdom maintained a separate existence for three hundred and eighty-nine years. It occupied an area of 3,435 square miles. (See ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF.)

—Easton's Illustrated Dictionary

• It began in 931 b.c. and lasted 326 years.
• The first ruler was Rehoboam.
• The last ruler was Zedekiah.
• The total number of rulers was twenty: nineteen kings and one queen. Eight of the twenty were righteous.
• It consisted of two tribes (Judah and Benjamin).
• Its capital remained Jerusalem.
• It was captured by the Babylonians in 606 b.c.
• There were three separate returns from captivity.

(1)    Area

The Northern Kingdom Israel comprised almost three times as much territory, 9,500 (9,375) square miles as her Southern neighbor, Judah, with 3,500 (3,435) square miles.

In contrast with the kingdom of Judah is that of Israel.
(1.) "There was no fixed capital and no religious centre.
(2.) The army was often insubordinate.
(3.) The succession was constantly interrupted, so that out of nineteen kings there were no less than nine dynasties, each ushered in by a revolution.
(4.) The authorized priests left the kingdom in a body, and the priesthood established by Jeroboam had no divine sanction and no promise; it was corrupt at its very source." (Maclean's O. T. Hist.)

—Easton's Illustrated Dictionary

(2) Resources

The land embraced in the territory of Israel was on the whole vastly more productive, including, as it did, many fertile plains such as Esdraelon and the Jordan valley.

Judah

Advantages.—The kingdom of Judah possessed many advantages which secured for it a longer continuance than that of Israel. A frontier less exposed to powerful enemies, a soil less fertile, a population hardier and more united, a fixed and venerated centre of administration and religion, a hereditary aristocracy in the sacerdotal caste, an army always subordinate, a succession of kings which no revolution interrupted; so that Judah survived her more populous and more powerful sister kingdom by 135 years, and lasted from b.c. 975 to b.c. 536.—Smith's Bible Dictionary

(3) Population

Isreal's advantage in the matters of area and resources was no greater than her advantage in the matter of population.  Her fertile lands sustained a numerous and open-minded people.

Israel

The prophet Ahijah of Shiloh, who was commissioned in the latter days of Solomon to announce the division of the kingdom, left one tribe (Judah) to the house of David, and assigned ten to Jeroboam. 1 Kin 11:31, 35 These were probably Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, Benjamin, Dan, Simeon, Gad and Reuben; Levi being intentionally omitted. Eventually the greater part of Benjamin, and probably the whole of Simeon and Dan, were included as if by common consent in the kingdom of Judah.—Smith's Bible Dictionary

The whole population may perhaps have amounted to at least three and a half millions.—Smith's Bible Dictionary

Judah

Population.—We have a gage as to the number of the people at different periods in the number of soldiers. If we estimate the population at four times the fighting men, we will have the following table:

King	Date (b.c.)	Soldiers	Population
David	1056-1015	500,000	2,000,000
Rehoboam	975-957	180,000	720,000
Abijah	957-955	400,000	1,600,000
Asa	955-914	500,000	2,000,000
Jehoshaphat	914-889	1,160,000	4,640,000
Amaziah	839-810	300,000	1,200,000

—Smith's Bible Dictionary

(4) Capitals

In one point Judah was especially favored; Jerusalem with its political and religious associations, with its memories of David and Solomon, with its magnificent Temple--Jerusalem was a might asses for Judah.  While Israel's capital was often shifted, and Samaria, its chief seat of government, was associated with idolatrous rites, Jerusalem, Judah's capital, was hallowed by the Temple and made sacred by glorious memories and noble associations.

Shechem was the first capital of this kingdom (1Ki 12:25), afterwards Tirza (1Ki 14:17). Samaria was subsequently chosen as the capital (1Ki 16:24), and continued to be so till the destruction of the kingdom by the Assyrians (2Ki 17:5).

Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom (Jos 18:28), which was called the kingdom of Judah. It was very small in extent, being only about the size of the Scottish county of Perth.