| SAUL, | 1037 B.C. | 20 years |
| DAVID, | | 40 years |
| SOLOMON, | | 40 years |
| JUDAH | 937 B.C. | ISRAEL |
| King | Length of Reign | King | Length of Reign | Prophet | ||
| REHOBOAM, | 17 years | JEROBOAM, | 22 years | |||
| ABIJAH, | 3 years | |||||
| ASA, | 41 years | |||||
| NADAB, | 2 years | |||||
| BAASHA, | 24 years | |||||
| ELAH, | 2 years | |||||
| ZIMRI, | 7 days | |||||
| OMRI, | 12 years | |||||
| AHAB, | 22 years | ELIJAH | ||||
| JEHOSHAPHAT, | 25 years | |||||
| AHAZIAH, | 2 years | |||||
| JORAM, | 11 years | |||||
| JEHORAM, | 8 years | |||||
| AHAZIAH, | 1 year | |||||
| ATHALIAH, | 7 years | JEHU, | 28 years | ELISHA | ||
| JOASH, | 40 years | |||||
| JEHOAHAZ, | 17 years | |||||
| JOASH, | 16 years | |||||
| AMAZIAH, | 29 years | |||||
| UZZIAH, | 52 years | JEROBOAM II., | 41 years | AMOS | ||
| ZECHARIAH, | 6 months | |||||
| SHALLUM, | 1 month | |||||
| MENAHEM, | 10 years | |||||
| JOTHAM, | 16 years | HOSEA | ||||
| AHAZ, | 16 years | PEKAHIAH, | 2 years | |||
| PEKAH, | 20 years | |||||
| HOSHEA, | 9 years | |||||
| HEZEKIAH, | 29 years | CAPTIVITY. | 721 B. C. | ISAIAH | ||
| MANASSEH, | 55 years | MICAH | ||||
| AMON, | 2 years | |||||
| JOSIAH, | 31 years | |||||
| JEHOAHAZ, | 3 months | |||||
| JEHOIAKIM, | 11 years | |||||
| JEHOIACHIN, | 3 months | |||||
| FIRST CAPTIVITY. | 597 B. C. | |||||
| ZEDEKIAH (regent), | 11 years | |||||
| Destruction of Jerusalem and. | ||||||
| SECOND CAPTIVITY. 586 B. C. | ||||||
The dates given in this table are only approximate. It is impossible to give the exact dates of many of the events in Bible history. In many cases no date is given in the Bible itself, and many times the date is in round numbers or is obscure. Accuracy in the matter of dates was not thought to be so necessary in those days as it is now.
THE KINGDOM OF THE SOUTH.
REHOBOAM.
How a Foolish Young King Lost the Best Part of His Kingdom.
(Under the great King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel rose to the zenith of its power and glory. Its territory stretched from sea to sea, its commerce was world-wide. Jerusalem with its great temple and its luxurious palaces became a magnificent city. But even during the reign of Solomon there began to be mutterings of discontent. Solomon was a great king, but his very magnificence laid heavy burdens upon the people. Taxes must be raised, very burdensome taxes, and a great number of servants and slaves must be kept. Solomon was strong enough to prevent an open rebellion in his own day, but as soon as he died the smoldering fire burst into flame. His son Rehoboam was an arrogant and very foolish young man. The people petitioned for a redress of their grievances and a lightening of their burdens. The elders whom the king consulted advised him to listen to these reasonable requests. But he gave heed instead to the advice of young men as willful and as inexperienced as himself, and replied that he would lay heavier burdens yet upon the people.
Then the old cry of protest, "To your tents, O Israel," was raised. The people of the North seceded, and under the leadership of a man named Jeroboam, set up a kingdom of their own. This division became permanent, and was the source of endless war. Even in the time of Christ, the Samaritans, who were the [{238}] descendants of the people of the old Northern kingdom, and the people of the South hated each other, and had no dealings with each other.)