Kingdom of Judah

Judah in the Bible

The biblical text usually calls this kingdom "Judah." The name "Southern Judah" is widely used in Korean churches to distinguish it from Israel to the north, known as "Northern Israel."

1 Kings 12 records how the kingdom divided (the division of the kingdom). When Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, rejected the people's demands, ten tribes broke away and made Jeroboam their king, while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained with Rehoboam. From that point through 2 Kings 25, the text alternates between the histories of the two kingdoms. 2 Chronicles 10–36 retells this period with a focus on Judah. The history of Judah ends when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, destroys Jerusalem and the temple and carries Zedekiah away (2 Kings 25).

Background

"Judah" is a tribal name derived from Judah, the son of Jacob. Genesis 29:35 relates that Leah gave him this name, saying, "Now will I praise the LORD." Although Judah had less territory than Northern Israel, it was centered on Jerusalem, where the temple stood. 2 Chronicles 11:13–14 reports that priests and Levites from the north moved to Judah.

Even after Northern Israel fell to Assyria (the fall of Northern Israel), Judah survived for more than a century. Scholars calculate the dates of the division and the fall differently, but the division is generally placed in the late tenth century BC and the fall of Jerusalem in 587 or 586 BC.

Kings and Prophets

Northern Israel underwent several changes of dynasty. In Judah, apart from Queen Athaliah, who usurped the throne (2 Kings 11), descendants of David occupied the throne without interruption. The books of Kings evaluate each king by stating that he either "did that which was right in the sight of the LORD" or "did evil."

• Reforming kings: Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah, among others, are counted in this group.
• Kings judged evil: Manasseh and his son Amon are judged evil for their idolatry (2 Kings 21).
• Hezekiah: He is known for his prayer when Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invaded, and for the deliverance of Jerusalem that followed (2 Kings 18–19).
• Josiah: He is known for carrying out reforms in accordance with the book of the law found in the temple (2 Kings 22–23).

Prophets such as Isaiah, Micah, and Jeremiah called Judah to repentance and proclaimed both judgment and restoration.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Bible connects Judah's long survival to the promise God made to David (the Davidic covenant; 1 Kings 11:36; 15:4). Those who returned after the Babylonian exile under the decree of Cyrus were likewise mainly people of Judah (Ezra 1). The term "Jew" also derives from this name.

The New Testament continues this line. Matthew 1 traces the genealogy of Jesus through David and the kings of Judah. Hebrews 7:14 states, "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda," and Revelation 5:5 calls Jesus "the Lion of the tribe of Juda."

Interpretation and Issues

In some places the books of Kings and Chronicles portray the same king differently. For example, 2 Chronicles 33 reports that Manasseh repented after being taken captive, but 2 Kings contains no such account. Critical scholars attribute the difference to the differing perspectives and purposes of the two books, while conservative scholars read them as complementary records.

A summary along the lines of "Northern Israel was wicked and Judah was godly" is also commonly heard. The text, however, records that Judah too had many evil kings, and it locates the cause of Judah's fall in Judah's own sin (2 Kings 23:26–27; 24:3–4).

In the Korean Church

Hezekiah's prayer and Josiah's reforms are frequently cited in sermons. In read-through-the-Bible programs and Bible study, participants often compile and memorize the lists of the kings of Judah and Northern Israel.