Kings of Israel and Judah. All the kings of Israel

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The history of the kingdom of Israel and all the kings of Israel begins with the reign of the first king - Saul, this demand of the people was not in the heart of God, since they rejected the rule of the Lord over them. As the book of Kings says, the first king did not long remain a faithful servant of God and a servant of the people of Israel. He did not follow the orders of the Lord, and therefore was deprived of the protection of the Lord and his affection. The reign of the first king Saul ended with the fact that in another war with the Philistines, the son of Saul died, and the first king of Israel himself died.

The Lord God commanded Samuel to anoint the young shepherd David, who at that time was tending his father's flocks, to the royal dignity. After David defeated the giant Goliath in battle, which predetermined the outcome of the battle between the Israelite army and the Philistines, the popularity of young David rises sharply among the people of Israel. Saul is afraid
that David, taking advantage of the right of the conqueror, will remove him from the royal throne, and raise persecution against David, but the God of Israel was with him and his kingdom lasted 40 years. David made the capital of the state the city of Jerusalem. He expands the city, builds new neighborhoods and streets. David plans to build the Temple. David's plans for the construction of the Temple were later implemented by one of the kings of Israel - Solomon, the son and successor of David. Solomon entered the history of Israel as the wisest and richest king, he became the creator of the Jerusalem temple. The reign of Solomon - 40 years, became the best time of Israel.

There were many kings of Israel in the further history of the country. But, the heyday of Israel and its golden age came at a time when the kings of Israel, David and Solomon, ruled the kingdom. After the death of Solomon, the united state of Israel ceased to exist. Since then, the kings of Israel have ruled over two states, each with its own King. The ruling dynasties began to change one after another during the coup d'état. Two tribes remained faithful to the throne of David and the son and him, and 10 tribes formed another state in the north of Israel. In 722 BC. ten tribes were captured by Assyria and taken into slavery, after which their fate is unknown. The kingdom of the south - Judea, existed for more than 300 years, and in 606 it was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. All its inhabitants were moved to Babylon, and according to the prophecy, in 536, the Persian king Cyrus issued a decree on the return of Israel and the restoration of the temple, which was done 70 years after the destruction - in 516 BC.

The kings of Judah represented one dynasty of David
Rehoboam (932-915) - 17 years old, bad. His wife was Maahu, the daughter of Absalom. The Egyptian Susakim captured Jerusalem and robbed the wealth of his father Solomon.
Avia (915-913) - 3 years old, bad. His wife was Anu, his mother's sister, the daughter of Absalom.
Asa (913-872) - 41 years old, good. He led a pious life, eradicated idolatry, for which he also deprived his mother Anu of the title of queen.
Jehoshaphat (872-850) - 25 years good. He taught the people the law of God and had a large army.
Joram (850-843) - 8 years old, bad. He had Athaliah as his wife, probably, according to her teaching, he killed all his brothers. He died from a cruel disease.
Ahaziah (843) - 1 year, bad. Named probably in honor of his mother's half-brother Athaliah, the son of Ahabov. He was killed while visiting Jehoram in Jezreel.
Athaliah (843-837) - 6 years old, bad, daughter or granddaughter of Omri, also called the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. After the death of her son, Ahaziah slew all her descendants. She was killed in the conspiracy of the priest Jodai.
Joash (843-803) - 40 years old, good, was hidden for 6 years from Athaliah by his aunt Josavetha. At the age of 7 he reigned, under the leadership of Jehoiada he cleansed Judah of idols. After the death of Jehoiada, he turned into idolatry and killed his son Zechariah. Died of a conspiracy.
Amaziah (803-775) - 29 years old, did not start badly, until, after the victory over the Edomites in the salt valley, he brought their idols to Jerusalem and began to worship them. Joash of Israel destroyed and plundered Jerusalem and maimed Amaziah. Amaziah died from a conspiracy.
Uzziah (775-735) - 52 years old, good. Uzziah's name was a common name and his throne name was Azariah. (encyclopedia of Brakhaus). The first years he reigned with his father Amaziah, the last years of his life he became proud and was a leper, and his son Jotham was on the throne.
Jotham (749-734) - 16 years old, good. He was practically a co-ruler with his father Uzziah.
Ahaz (741-726) - 16 years old, poor. In the beginning he was a co-ruler with Jotham, he changed the altar according to the model of Damascus.
Hezekiah (726-697) - 29 years old, good. In the fourth year of his reign, in 722, the northern kingdom of Israel fell. In the 14th year, Sennacherib went to all the land of Judah, God gave a miraculous deliverance from the king of Assyria and a miraculous recovery from the disease with a sign.
Manasseh (697-642) - 50 years old, bad. Because of his wickedness, God did not want to forgive Judas. According to legend, he sawed the prophet Isaiah.
Ammon (642-640) - 2 years old, bad. Killed in a conspiracy.
Josiah (639-608) - 31 years old, good. At the age of 8 he became king, carried out pious reforms among the people. Killed by Pharaoh Necho.
Jehoahaz (608) - 3 months, bad. Captured by the pharaoh.
Joachim (608-597) - 11 years old, bad.
Eliakim, appointed Pharaoh in place of his brother Jehoahaz. At first, to the pharaoh, and 3 years later, after the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, tribute was paid to Babylon.
Jehoiachin (597) - 3 months, bad. He went out to Nebuchadnezzar and was taken to Babylon, where he lived for 37 years. He was taken out of the dungeon and received support from the king until the day of his death.
Zedekiah (Mattania) 597-586) - 11 years old, bad. (Matthaniah), Jeconiah's uncle, was taken to Babylon where he was judged. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and remained in ruins for 70 years.
Godaliah, the last ruler of Judah, appointed king of Babylon, ruled for 2 months and was killed, he was not from the royal family of David
After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided, ten tribes made up the northern kingdom called "Israel"; Judah and Benjamin made up the southern kingdom, called "Judaic."

Israel's 19 kings made up 9 different dynasties
Jeroboam (932-911) - 22 years old, bad. Founder of the Northern independent of Judah. Jeroboam, as Jews on the way from Egypt, introduced the Egyptian idolatry of the calf into the country. Probably in memory of the work in the copper mines, where often, after an extinguished candle, the way out depended on a scent for a fresh stream of oxen that pulled weights. All 19 kings worshiped a calf.
Nawat (911-910) - 2 years old, bad. Walked in the ways of his father, slain by Baasha, with all the house of Jeroboam.
Vaasa (910-887) - 24 years old, bad. Made a conspiracy against Navat, fought with the Kingdom of Judah.
Ila (887-886) - 2 years old, bad. He was a lecher, killed in a drunken state by Zamvri, who destroyed the entire house of Ila.
Zimri (Jehu) (886) - 7 days, bad. Burnt in the fire.
Omri (886-875) - 12 years old, bad. Under him, Israel began to act worse than the surrounding nations.
Ahab (875-854) - 22 years old, bad. He married the daughter of the priest of Sidon Ephbaal, who destroyed the prophets of the Lord and introduced in Israel the worship of Baal and Astarte, which was eradicated by the prophets Elijah, Elisha and Jehu.
Ahaziah (855-854) - 2 years old, bad. He walked in the ways of his mother, under mysterious circumstances fell through the bars of the house and died.
Joram (854-843) - 12 years old, bad. Killed by the military leader Jehu.
Jehu (843-816) - 28 years old, bad. The chief of Ahab's bodyguards destroyed his entire house and the worship of Baal.
Jehoahaz (820-804) - 17 years old, bad. He walked in the ways of his father Jehu.
Joash (806-790) - 16 years old, bad. Fought and destroyed the walls of Jerusalem.
Jeroboam 2 (790-749) - 41 years old, bad.
Zechariah (748) - 6 months old, bad. Publicly killed by Sellum.
Sellum (748) - 1 month, bad. Killed by Menaim, from Tirzah.
Menaim (748-738) - 10 years old, bad. Paid off Ful, king of Assyria.
Fakia (738-736) - 2 years old, bad.
Fakey (736-730) ~ 20 years old, bad. In 734 B.C. Feglaffellaser took northern and eastern Israel into captivity.
Hosea (730-721) - 9 years old, bad. The king of Assyria, Shalmaneser, imposed tribute on him, after his death in 721 BC. Samaria and the remnant of Israel were taken and taken captive by Sargon in 722.

Captivity and return from Babylon of Israel
The Babylonian captivity of Judah took place in three stages:
1) In 606 B.C.
2) In 597 B.C.
3) In 586 B.C.
The Babylonian captivity lasted 70 years, from 606-536 BC.
In 516. 70 years after the destruction and burning of the temple in 586, it was restored.
The return of Israel was in three stages:
1) from the decree of Cyrus in 538-536;
2) under Artharxerxes the First and the priest Ezra in 458;
3) in the 20th year of the reign of Artharxerxes I, with the butler Nehemiah in 445.
What was the beginning of the time of expulsion determined to Israel in 69 weeks before the death of Christ: and [the people] will return and the streets and walls will be built, but in difficult times. And at the end of sixty-two weeks Christ will be put to death” (Dan. 9:26)
In IVv. conquest of the Greek Empire by A. Macedon
IN III-II c. Maccobeian wars with the kings of Syria
In Iv. to R.Chr. The formation of the Roman Empire, the conquest of Pompey (63 BC)
37-4 years to R/X. the kingdom of Herod Idumea, who exterminated the royal family of the Hasmoneans. To give his dynasty the royal ties of the Hasmonean family, Herod married the granddaughter of the high priest Hyrcanus. IIMariamne, who later ordered to be executed along with her two sons and her mother.

Main article: Rulers of Ancient Israel and Judah BC e. The reigning dynasty was one of the descendants of King David. In ... ... Wikipedia

Tsar (from tssar, tsѣsar, lat. caesar, Greek kαῖσαρ) is one of the Slavic titles of the monarch, usually associated with the highest dignity of the emperor. In allegorical speech to denote primacy, dominance: "the lion is the king of beasts." Contents 1 ... ... Wikipedia

KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL (EPHREM)- Israel J udah Jeroboam I 931–910 Rehoboam 931–913 Nadab 910–909 Abijah 913–911 Baasha 909–886 Asa 911–870 Elah 886–885 Jehoshaphat 870–848 Amri 885–874 Jehoram 848–841 Ahab 874–853 Ahaziah 841 Ahaziah 853–852 Athaliah 841–835 Jehoram … … Bibliological dictionary

Wikipedia has articles about other people named Hosea (disambiguation). Portrait from the collection of biographies Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553) Hosea (Hebrew ... Wikipedia

David דָּוִד Pedro Berruguete, David, 15th century ... Wikipedia

Ahaziah Hebrew. אֲחַזְיָהוּ הַמֶלֶך ‎ … Wikipedia

Wikipedia has articles about other people with the name Zechariah. Portrait from the collection of biographies Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553) Zechariah (Hebrew ... Wikipedia

Wikipedia has articles about other people with the name Joash. Portrait from the collection of biographies Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553) Joash (Hebrew ... Wikipedia

Wikipedia has articles about other people named Joram. Portrait from the collection of biographies Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553) Joram (... Wikipedia

Wikipedia has articles about other people with the name Jehoahaz. Portrait from the collection of biographies Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553) Jehoahaz (Hebrew יְהו ... Wikipedia

Books

• Kings and Prophets. Latest translations of the Old Testament. Set in 2 books: Leaders and Kings of Israel. Prophets of Israel (number of volumes: 2), Desnitsky Andrey Sergeevich. The set includes two books: "Leaders and Kings of Israel" The books of the Old Testament presented in this edition tell the story of the ancient Israelites: from tribal society to monarchy and…
• Leaders and Kings of Israel, Andrei Desnitsky. This book contains translations of most of the historical books of the Old Testament, made by the famous Russian biblical scholar Andrei Desnitsky. These books tell the story of the ancient...

Flag of Israel

The flag is a white rectangular panel with two horizontal blue stripes along the edges and a Star of David in the center.

The Israeli flag symbolizes the state from the Nile to the Euphrates: the lower stripe is the bank of the Nile River, the upper stripe is the bank of the Euphrates River, and the Star of David is Jerusalem.

Star of David

The Star of David (Hebrew Magen David, "Shield of David"; in Yiddish pronounced mogendovid) is an ancient symbol, an emblem in the form of a six-pointed star (hexagram), in which two identical equilateral triangles (one is turned upside down, the other upside down) are superimposed on top of each other, forming a structure of six identical equilateral triangles attached to the sides of a regular hexagon. There are various versions of the origin of the name of the symbol, from those linking it with the legend about the shape of the shields of the soldiers of King David to raising it to the name of the false messiah David Alroy or the Talmudic turnover denoting the God of Israel. Another version of it is known as the "Seal of King Solomon".

Seal of King Solomon

The seal of King Solomon is a symbol of two superimposed equilateral triangles (Star of David), placed on the legendary signet ring of King Solomon, which gave him power over genies and the ability to talk with animals.

Coat of arms of Jerusalem

The heraldic shield has an English shape with a blue outline. The Wailing Wall and the figure of a lion are depicted all over the shield. On the sides of the shield are olive branches. The name of the city is written in Hebrew above the coat of arms. The lion symbolizes the tribe of Judah, the olive branches symbolize the world, the blue color symbolizes Judaism.

Modern reconstruction of King Solomon's seal

The Seal of Solomon is a symbol representing a six-pointed star. The seal of Solomon has other names: the shield of Solomon, the star of David. According to legend, this seal was engraved on the famous ring of King Solomon, with which he could control the hordes of demons.

The history of the Jerusalem temple is full of legends: scientists still cannot come to a consensus. It is believed that Solomon began construction 4 years after his accession. Hiram, king of Tire and Byblos, sent him the experienced architect Hiram Abiff, skilled carpenters and artisans to help him. They worked on the building for 7 years - according to some reports, more than 150 thousand people participated in the construction. In 950, work on the temple was completed, and a year later it was consecrated. The greatest holiday was arranged, which lasted 14 days. The Ark of the Covenant was installed in the Holy of Holies. (A special place in the temple where the Foundation Stone or the so-called Cornerstone was located. It is believed that it was from this place that God began the creation of the world. Now the Muslim Dome of the Rock is located above this stone). Solomon publicly recited a prayer.

The Jerusalem temple was part of the palace complex. Not far from it was a large palace, where a separate entrance led from the temple. Nearby were also the summer palace of Solomon himself and the palace of his wife, the daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh.

Kingdom of Israel
Hebrew ממלכת ישראל‏‎
Section is under development

Tribes of Israel

When the tribes are first listed, the Bible names them after the 12 sons of Jacob. Jacob had two wives - Leah, Rachel, and maidservants of wives - Valla (Bilha) and Zilpha (Zilpa).

Leah's sons: Reuben (Reuven), Simeon (Shimon), Levi (Levi), Judah (Yehuda), Issachar, Zebulun (Zevulun). Sons of Rachel: Joseph (Yosef), Benjamin (Benyamin). Sons of Valla (Bilhi): Dan, Naphtali (Naftali). Sons of Zilpah (Zilpah): Gad, Asher (Asher)

Joseph had two sons: Manasseh (Menashe) and Ephraim (Ephraim), whom Jacob elevated to the ancestors of two independent tribes instead of their father Joseph, which increased the number of tribes to 13.

The lists of the tribes of Israel in the Bible do not list the tribe of Joseph as an independent one, linking it only to Ephraim and Manasseh. Reservations are also made everywhere, excluding the tribe of Levi as dedicated to the service of God. So, it is not included in the account of combat-ready men, its place is not indicated in the order of the knees during the transitions on the way to Canaan; it does not receive a portion in the Promised Land and in Transjordan. The tribe of Levi, deprived of its land allotment, is not actually included in the total account, and its selection from the community of the tribes to perform only its permitted functions restores the original number of the twelve tribes of Israel. Prescriptions regarding the number of tribes without listing them also give 12 as their traditional number. Thus, 2 interpretations of the 12 tribes of Israel are possible: the above 14, with the exception of either Levi and Joseph, or the sons of Joseph.

In the Promised Land, each tribe received its share.

After the death of King Solomon in 928 BC, the united kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms: Judah in the south (the lands of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) and Israel in the north (the territory of the remaining ten tribes).

In 732-722 BC. The kingdom of Israel was captured by Assyria; most of its population was taken captive and settled in small groups in various regions of this vast power. Thus began the first Jewish diaspora. The bulk of the Israelites were gradually assimilated by the peoples among whom they lived.

In the era of the Second Temple, most Jewish families, apparently, could no longer prove their belonging to one or another tribe.

According to the New Testament, John the Baptist was a priestly family, a certain prophetess Anna came from the tribe of Asher, the Apostle Paul from Tarsus - from the tribe of Benjamin. The number of apostles of the Christian church - twelve - is symbolic and is associated with the number of the sons of Jacob and, accordingly, the tribes of Israel.

To date, the consciousness of tribal involvement has been preserved only among the descendants of the tribe of Levi (Levites), some of whom (cohens) even keep the memory of their origin from the family of Aaron.

Exodus

According to the Bible, the shepherd family of Jacob-Israel, the progenitor of the Jews, left Canaan due to a famine and moved to Egypt, settling in the land of Goshen, due to the fact that his son Joseph the Beautiful became an adviser to the pharaoh and intermarried with the local aristocracy.

According to the Bible, the Israelites were in Egypt for 400 years, or 430 years.

Over time, the number of Israelites increased significantly, exceeding the number of Egyptians. The new pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, fearing military clashes with the Israelites, ordered the Israelites to be exhausted with hard work in order to restrain their growth in numbers.

When the pharaoh saw that the measures he had taken were not able to weaken the young people, he ordered the killing of born boys from the tribe of the Israelites. At this time, the future leader and liberator of the Jewish people Moses is born.

Moses' mother Jochebed (Yocheved), in order to save him from murder, put her three-month-old son in a tarred basket and let her go through the waters of the Nile under the supervision of her daughter. The daughter of the pharaoh found the baby and took it to her house.

When Moses grew up and found himself among the Israelites, he saw an Egyptian overseer severely punishing an Israelite. Moses killed an Egyptian and fled Egypt, fearing revenge. He settled in the land of the Midianites, married the daughter of a Midian priest and herded his father-in-law's cattle.

One day, when Moses was tending the flock by the mountain, God appeared to him in a burning but non-burning bush (burning bush) and ordered him to return to Egypt in order to lead the Israelites out of slavery and move to Canaan, as was promised to the forefathers.

At the age of 80, Moses returns to Egypt and asks Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but Pharaoh refuses. Then God sends ten plagues on Egypt (Ten Plagues of Egypt). Only after the tenth plague, which resulted in the death of all the firstborn children of the Egyptians and the firstborn cattle, did Pharaoh insist that the Israelites leave Egypt. According to Exodus, the ten plagues did not affect the Israelites. In the case of the last execution, the angel of death "passed" the houses of the Jews, who were marked with the blood of the sacrificial lamb.

After collecting valuable things from the Egyptians, the Israelites left Egypt with 600,000 men. Meanwhile, the pharaoh changed his mind and chased the Israelites with an army, hoping to enslave them again. The pharaoh's army overtook the Jews at the sea of ​​reeds. By the will of God, the waters of the sea parted, and the Israelites passed along the bottom, after which the waters closed, destroying the army of the Egyptians.

After three months of marching through the desert, the Israelites reached Mount Sinai. Here the Israelites witnessed the theophany, and Moses on the top of the mountain received the Ten Commandments from God. The mountain also had a covenant between God and the Israelites. In the same place, by the will of God, the Tabernacle (camping Temple) was built, men from the tribe of Levi (Levites) were appointed priests. Moses' brother Aaron became the high priest.

During the year, the Israelites lived near Mount Sinai. During this period, a census was taken, according to which among the Israelis there were 603,550 men capable of fighting.

From Sinai, the Israelites made their way to Canaan through the Desert of Paran. When they reached the borders of Canaan, they sent twelve spies into the promised land. Ten of them returned and expressed doubts about the possibility of conquering Canaan. The people, doubting God's promise to secure victory over the Canaanites, began to murmur. For this, God condemned the Jews to wander in the wilderness for forty years, so that during this time all who were slaves in Egypt, including Moses, would die.

Forty years later, the Israelites rounded Moab from the east and defeated the Amorites in battle. After this victory, they went to the banks of the Jordan at Mount Nebo. Here Moses died, appointing Joshua (1272-1244 BC) as his successor.

First, the Jews, led by Joshua, attack Jericho. For seven days, their troops march around the city walls, led by priests carrying the ark of the covenant. On the seventh day, the army marched around the city seven times, accompanied by priests playing trumpets. At a certain moment, Jesus orders all the people to shout at the same time, and immediately the walls of the city fall by themselves.

After that, Jesus orders the complete extermination of the population of Jericho, including women, the elderly, children, and livestock. Only the harlot Rahab and her relatives were spared because Rahab had previously sheltered Jewish spies who had entered the city. Jericho itself was completely burned.

Further, having entered the Promised Land, he defeated several Canaanite tribes in a whole series of battles, despite the fact that they sometimes opposed him in whole coalitions. Gaius Jesus captured the city, and completely exterminated its population, as in Jericho. Five kings - Jerusalem, Hebron, Ieramuth, Lachish and Eglon - united against the Israelites. However, Jesus managed to defeat them. God took part in the battle on his side, throwing stones from the sky at the enemy army. All the inhabitants of these cities were completely exterminated. The king of Gazer came to the aid of the king of Lachish, but the Israelites prevailed and completely exterminated his people. The same fate befell all the inhabitants of the cities of Eglon and Hebron.

After conquering and dividing the land, Jesus died peacefully and was buried on Mount Ephraim.

The era of judges 1244-1040 BC

The era of judges covers the period of biblical history from the death of Joshua to the destruction of the covenant tabernacle at Shiloh, which corresponds to the late Bronze Age.

Despite the "legal" name, this era can be called a troubled time, characterized by outbreaks of intertribal and interethnic violence: "when he did not have a king and when everyone did what he thought was fair." At this time, the Israelites (descendants of Jacob) broke up into 12 tribes, symbolically united around the religion of their ancestors and the awareness of their blood relationship, which did not interfere with such excesses of tribalism as the massacre of the tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Benjamin, during which up to 92 thousand Israelis (42 thousand Ephraimites, 25 thousand sons of Benjamin and 22 thousand soldiers of the Israeli militia). The total number of Israelis capable of war at that time numbered 400 thousand people. It is noteworthy that earlier the total number of Israelites who left Egypt under Moses was 600 thousand people.

In the era of the Judges, part of the Israelites continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle, while the other began to move to a settled way of life. The inhabitants of Jewish Bethlehem, for example, grew barley and wheat.

The symbolic authorities of the Israelites at that time were the judges (shoftim), to whom they came "for judgment." The judges were active bearers of Israeli identity and therefore fiercely resisted the tendencies of the assimilation of the Israelis among the local population: the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites and the Jebusites. This was also manifested in the fact that the judges led the Israeli militia and called for the destruction of the sanctuaries of the local peoples (the temples of Baal and Astarte). The judge could be a prophet (Samuel), and the leader of a gang of robbers (Jephthah), and a woman (Deborah). At the same time, all of them actively performed judicial functions, which made it possible to raise the question that the philosophy of law, as well as the modern doctrine of the separation of powers, has its origins in the Old Testament.

The subsequent establishment of the Israelite monarchy through Judge Samuel, after the era of the judges, demonstrates what the judges did not have: a regular army, universal taxation, and real executive power. The moral authority of the judges did not always match their popularity. They did not disdain murder and fornication (Samson), as well as bribery (Samuel's sons Joel and Abijah), although in general their power was based either on high moral authority or on military force, since both of them allowed them to fulfill judicial decisions, especially in the case of litigation between representatives of different tribes.

United Kingdom of Israel 1040-928 BC

The history of the kingdom of Israel begins with the elevation of the high priest and prophet Samuel Saul to the royal dignity - the anointing of Saul as the first king of Israel. As the books of Kings testify, Saul was not a faithful servant of God for long. In particular, through Samuel, God commanded Saul to punish the Amalekites, including putting the king of the Amalekites to death and destroying all the livestock of the Amalekites. But Saul did not fully comply with God's command. The king of the Amalekites was taken prisoner, but not killed, and the cattle of the Amalekites were declared spoils of war. On another occasion, Saul arbitrarily performed a burnt offering, without waiting for the high priest - in this case, the prophet Samuel, who was delayed on the way to Saul's military camp. As a result, Samuel was commanded by God to anoint the young David, who at that time was tending his father's flocks, to the kingdom.

After David's victory over Goliath, which predetermined the victory of the Israeli army over the Philistines, as well as after a number of other successful military actions against the Philistines, David's popularity skyrocketed. Saul was in a panic, afraid that David would take away his royal throne. As a result, the kingdom of Israel actually survived the first (but not the last) civil war. The reign of Saul ended with the defeat of his army by the Philistines, his son fell in battle, and Saul himself committed suicide, fearing to be taken prisoner.

The period of the reign of David and Solomon (1010-928) is the golden age of the kingdom of Israel. In 1010, David moves the capital to Jerusalem and significantly expands the city. According to the description from the Book of Kings, the kingdom of David extended from the banks of the Euphrates to Gaza. But his reign was not cloudless. In particular, there was a new civil war. David was opposed by his son Absalom, who illegally claimed the royal throne. As a result of this war, Absalom was killed by David's servants against the king's orders. Nevertheless, Israel, under David's rule, is very successful in waging wars against external enemies. Extensive construction is also underway, including in Jerusalem.

Solomon, son and successor of David on the throne of Israel, is described as the wisest of kings and as the builder of the Jerusalem Temple. Solomon was able to build on David's foreign and domestic political achievements. Actually, in the reign of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was at the zenith of its power.

Separation

The death of Solomon (928) practically put an end to the history of the kingdom of Israel as a single state. His son Rehoboam ascends the throne. But he pursues an overly harsh repressive domestic policy. The ten tribes of Israel did not recognize his authority over themselves and united under the rule of Jeroboam I, forming in the northern part of the previously unified kingdom of Israel the Northern (Israeli) kingdom. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the House of David and formed the Southern Kingdom centered in Jerusalem, later known as the Kingdom of Judah.

The period of the Northern (Israeli) kingdom 928-721 BC

After the death of King Solomon in 928 BC, the united kingdom of Israel was divided. Ten tribes (tribes) formed the northern kingdom, which was called Israel. Shechem became the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, then Tirtza (Firza) and finally Samaria (Sebastia, Shomron). According to the Old Testament, the kings of the northern Israeli state retreated from the monotheistic service to the One God of Israel, first erecting temples with golden statues of calves in the cities of Bethel and Dan, and then even worshiping the deities of the Phoenician cult. From the biblical point of view, none of them was a "godly king."

In the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the ruling dynasties repeatedly changed as a result of coups d'état, the longest rule was the Jeu (Jehu) dynasty. In 721 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian king Sargon II. A significant part of the population of the kingdom were taken into Assyrian captivity and settled in small groups in various areas of this vast power. Thus began the first Jewish diaspora. The bulk of the Israelites were gradually assimilated by the peoples among whom they lived.

Assyrian captivity, or Assyrian exile

The period in the history of the people of Israel, during which several thousand Israelites from ancient Samaria were driven to Assyria and its provinces. The northern kingdom of Israel was defeated by the Assyrian kings Tiglath-pileser III and Shalmaneser V. The next ruler of Assyria, Sargon II, completed the siege of Samaria in 721 BC, thus finally destroying the northern kingdom, which summed up its twenty-two-year decline.

According to Assyrian cuneiform sources from Dur-Sharrukin, 27,290 captives were deported from Samaria.

Unlike the later exiles of the Kingdom of Judah, who were able to return from the Babylonian captivity, the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom did not receive permission to return to their homeland. Many centuries later, the rabbis of the restored Judea continued to argue about the fate of the lost tribes.

Israel [Israel]

The legendary patriarchs of the Jews (habiru)

Shoftim [judges] of the Jews in Canaan (Palestine)

Anointed Priests, or High Priests of the Tabernacle of Congregation [Jewish Camping Temple]

Kings of the Kingdom of Israel 1040 - 928

Kings of the Northern, or Israelite kingdom 928 - 721

Very little is known about the time in which the prophet Hosea lived. However, the author makes an attempt to describe this period in the history of the Kingdom of Israel and the political balance of power both in the country and abroad. The course of events in the described time precedes a complete catastrophe - the disappearance of the Israeli kingdom from human history, the deportation and subsequent assimilation of its population in the expanses of the Assyrian Empire. The history of biblical Israel was written by the prophets. It is no coincidence that many of those Old Testament books that we used to call "historical" - the books of Joshua, Judges, 1-4 Kings (or, according to Western division, 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings) - in the ancient Jewish tradition belong to the Prophets section.

Biblical prophets have always been in the thick of things, constantly intervening in politics. Their actions and their words sometimes had a greater influence on contemporaries than the deeds of kings and military leaders. In their speeches and actions there were more interpretations of the present than predictions about the future. The written or later prophets, to which Hosea belongs, are no exception in this sense. Therefore, before proceeding to explain the little book that bears his name, it will be useful to pay attention to the historical context in which this book appeared. Although very little is known about the time in which the prophet lived, we will nevertheless try, on the basis of the available data, without pretending to be a complete review, to describe it.

North wind

The long reign of Jeroboam II was the last successful period in the history of Israel. Under the leadership of this king, the kingdom of Israel reached the pinnacle of its economic and military-political power. In most modern studies, the death of Jeroboam II is dated to 747 BC. . From this date until the capture of Shomron (Samaria) by the Assyrians in 722 - 25 years. A quarter of a century of unrest, rebellion, anarchy. This last period of Israeli history ended in a complete catastrophe - the disappearance of the Israeli kingdom from human history, the deportation and subsequent assimilation of its population in the expanses of the Assyrian Empire.

Since Shalmaneser I (1274-1245) succeeded in conquering the kingdom of Mitanni and mastering all of northern Mesopotamia, the Euphrates River became the natural western border of Assyria. Crossing this river, the Assyrians found themselves in the territories inhabited by the Arameans. The Assyrians from ancient times sought to capture cities west of the Euphrates, and sometimes they succeeded. So, long before the formation of the Assyrian kingdom itself, Shamshi-Adad I (1813-1781), who ruled in the city of Ashur, managed to capture a large trading center in Syria - the city of Qatna (200 km north of Damascus). Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1077) made a punitive campaign against the Arameans, passing far to the south-west from the great bend of the Euphrates. Having passed the Bekaa valley, his troops reached the Mediterranean coast and occupied Phoenicia up to Sidon. However, the Assyrians could not subjugate the lands so far from native Assyria for a long time. In the XI-X centuries. even Northern Mesopotamia was not yet completely under the control of the Assyrian rulers, it was constantly flooded with nomads - the Mushki (Proto-Armenians), the Apeshlays (possibly the ancestors of the Abkhazians) and the Proto-Georgian tribes from the north, the Arameans from the south. In general, we can say that although in the II millennium BC. some Assyrian kings undertook campaigns to the west and southwest of the Euphrates, they failed to gain a foothold in the occupied territories. Perhaps they did not strive for this, because the main goal of the Assyrian military expeditions of that time was control over international trade routes and simply outright robbery. The territorial annexation of lands to the west of the Euphrates began later, in the so-called "New Assyrian" era.

The first king of the New Assyrian state, whose campaign to the west beyond the Euphrates was successful, was Ashur-natsir-apal II (884-858). This is how our Russian Assyriologist Vladimir Yakobson describes this campaign: “In 876, Ashur-natsir-apal crossed the Euphrates ... and moved his troops west, to the Mediterranean Sea. No one seemed to even try to resist him. Taking tribute and gifts from local kings along the way, the Assyrian king passed through the Orontes valley and Lebanon. On the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, according to ancient custom, he washed his weapons in its waters. Having established an Assyrian colony on the Orontes, Ashur-natsir-apal returned to Assyria with huge booty and cedars cut in the mountains of Lebanon and Aman. He built himself a new magnificent capital - the city of Kalha, populated it with prisoners and lived here for the remaining years of his reign. The strategy of Ashur-natsir-apal was to deliver lightning strikes and create strongholds in the annexed territories. This campaign of the Assyrians forced the small Syrian states to unite into two military alliances - the North with a center in Karchemish and the South with a center in Damascus.

The son of Ashur-natsir-apal II Shalmaneser III (858-824) conducted several military campaigns against the Aramaic states and their allies, during which he made several attempts to capture Damascus. The most famous battle of Shalmaneser III was the Battle of Karkara in 853. The Assyrian army was opposed then by a powerful coalition of the armies of Hamat, Arvad, Byblos, Damascus and Israel, as well as Ammonite and Arab detachments. Ahab was at the head of the Israelite army. The Bible does not say anything about this battle, but Assyrian sources mention twelve kings who were defeated in this battle by Shalmaneser III. Whether this really happened, scientists doubt: the battle did not have positive consequences for Assyria in 849, 848 and 845. Shalmaneser III had to organize new expeditions beyond the Euphrates, but the resistance of the Syrians and their allies was so fierce that the 120,000-strong Assyrian army could not break him. In 841, Shalmaneser III again undertakes a campaign to the southwest, during which he lays siege to the capital of Israel, Shomron (Samaria). The Israeli king Jehu (Jehu) is forced to recognize vassal dependence on Assyria and pay tribute to Shalmaneser III. This event is captured on the "black obelisk of Shalmaneser" stored in the British Museum, on which Yehu is depicted in front of the Assyrian king in prostration. But neither during this most successful campaign, nor during the next, undertaken in 838, Shalmaneser III was unable to conquer Damascus.

The next campaign against the Syrians and their allies was undertaken by Adad-Nerari III (811-781), the son of the legendary queen Shammuramat (Semiramis). During the campaign, he collected tribute from the Syrian kingdoms, but he could not completely subdue them. For the next few decades, Adad-nirari III and his successors were forced to resist the military expansion of Urartu. In difficult wars with this young and aggressive state, Assyria was losing its northern positions, and it had no time for Syrian campaigns.

The situation changes in the second half of the 40s of the VIII century, when the reformer Tiglath-pileser III comes to power in Assyria. He comes to the throne in 745 and proclaims himself "King of the universe." The years of his reign (745-727) almost completely cover the last period of the history of Israel (from the death of Jeroboam II in 747 to the fall of Shomron in 722). Under him, the New Assyrian state reaches the peak of its power, becomes an empire in the true sense of the word. It was he who manages to take in 732 the hitherto impregnable Damascus. His reforms radically changed both the face of Assyria itself and the political situation throughout the Middle East, including Israel and Judea. Therefore, a few words should be said about them.

Prior to Tiglath-Pileser III, Assyrian military policy was as follows. The attacked cities and peoples were offered a choice: either recognize the power of the Assyrians and start paying tribute, or, in case of disobedience, undergo total extermination. As long as robbery was the only military goal, this policy was quite effective. All the loot - horses, military equipment, metals, jewelry, etc. - was transported to native Assyria. The walls of the conquered cities were destroyed, the canals were filled up, the gardens were cut down, the inhabitants without exception, including women and children, were exterminated. There was no television at that time, and for propaganda purposes the Assyrians used the methods of the simplest and most visual agitation: the disobedient were subjected to the most cruel terror - massively impaled or burned alive; in the city squares, pyramids were built from bound captives, thereby dooming them to a painful death. All this was to convince the inhabitants of other cities that had not yet been captured to open the gates to the invader themselves. But in the long run, such a policy was disastrous: when cities are destroyed and their inhabitants are exterminated, when herds are stolen or simply put under the knife, when fields and gardens are burned, this cannot but affect the economy. This is how the consequences of the economic miscalculations of the Assyrians in the occupied territories are described by V.A. Jacobson: “The newly annexed provinces were largely devastated. They no longer gave income, but only demanded new and new expenses to keep them ... Trade began to gradually be directed along new routes, bypassing the Assyrian possessions and areas of possible military operations. Due to the economic decline, a significant part of small producers fell into debt bondage and lost their land. This weakened the military power of Assyria. Huge military booty was spent on new military expeditions or settled in the hands of the military-bureaucratic elite, which was gaining more and more influence. The governors of the provinces had excessive power, they were almost kings, and some of them were not averse to becoming kings completely.

Tiglath-Pileser III carried out radical reforms in all areas. First of all, he reorganized the army, which now consisted not of militias and military colonists, but of professional soldiers who were fully supported by the king. Cavalry became the main striking force under Tiglath-Pileser III, traditional chariots became only an auxiliary arm of the army. Sappers appeared in the Assyrian army, who laid roads, built crossings, and built siege ramparts. Scholars note the excellent intelligence and communications service in the reorganized Assyrian army. The core of the army was the elite "royal regiment", which included all types of troops - a kind of army in miniature. During offensive operations, tactics such as surprise raids by light cavalry and envelopment from the flanks began to be widely used. All operations were carefully worked out, and each unit received a strictly defined task from the commander-in-chief (the king or the turtan who replaced him - the highest military leader).

The administrative reform was no less radical. Vast regions were fragmented into smaller ones, and unreliable princes from the local nobility were replaced by "regional governors" - proteges loyal to the king from the Assyrians, most often eunuchs (so that they could not encroach on the transfer of power by inheritance). Vassal treaties gave way to the annexation of conquered territories. This sharply suppressed the separatist encroachments of the outskirts. The newly formed regions were called simply by the name of their main city - Arpad, Tsumur, Dor, Damascus, Megiddo, etc. The successors of Tiglath-Pileser will continue this tradition. So, after the capture of Samaria, Shomron will appear in the list of Assyrian provinces.

But, perhaps, the most important reform of Tiglath-pileser III is associated with a change in attitude towards the conquered population. If recalcitrant peoples are exterminated, it will have a bad effect on the country's economy; if left to live on their native land, this is fraught with separatism, especially during periods of political instability or during defensive wars with external aggressors. Both happened in the long history of Assyria more than once, and therefore Tiglath-Pileser III comes up with an ingenious solution to the problem - deportation. The population of the conquered countries had previously moved to native Assyria, but this was rare and very limited - only small groups of warriors or highly skilled artisans were resettled. Now deportation is becoming a domestic political dominant. Entire nations are moving, entirely. Usually as far as possible from their native places, preferably in general on the opposite outskirts of the empire. Far from their homeland, the settlers are not capable of rebellion, of organizing people's liberation resistance. And in the second or third generations, for the most part, they simply assimilate. What will happen to the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel, resettled in Assyria and settled "in Halakha and Habor, by the river Gozan, and in the cities of Media" (2 Kings 17:6).

Tiglath-Pileser III is known from Assyrian history under a different name. In 729, a powerful monarch who reformed the country and pushed its borders to unprecedented limits (in the south - to Gaza itself, that is, to the Egyptian border), was crowned in Babylon with the name Pulu. Whether he bore this name before enthronement in Babylon, Assyro-Babylonian sources do not report. Let us turn to the actions of this great conqueror in Israel and Judah below.

Tiglath-Pileser III was replaced by Shalmaneser V (726-722), whose name is associated with the fall of Israel. In 724, Shalmaneser V began a three-year siege of Samaria. During the capture of the Israeli capital, he died or was killed by the conspirators. Sargon II (722-725), the founder of a new dynasty of Assyrian kings, already took advantage of the fruits of the victory over the kingdom of Israel. After the fall of Israel, the Assyrian Empire will last for more than a century, its kings will conquer Egypt and conquer Elam, Assyria will become the first "world superpower" in the history of mankind. But all this will be after the death of the kingdom of Israel.

Let us now turn to the history of Israel itself in the last decades of its political existence.

Sunset Israel

During the long reign of Jeroboam II (787-747) Israel reached its economic and political apogee. The kingdom of Israel under this last successful king stretched from Hamat (Hamath) in the north to the Dead Sea in the south: "He restored the borders of Israel, from the entrance to Hamath to the desert sea" (2 Kings 14:25). He even succeeded in what the Assyrian army had not been able to do until now - to capture Damascus, the main center of anti-Assyrian resistance (2 Kings 14:28). The native historian of Israel, Igor Tantlevsky, suggests that Ammon and Moab at this time became vassals of the Kingdom of Israel. The era of Jeroboam II coincided with the temporary weakening of Assyria and Aram. Taking advantage of this, Israel, as Tantlevsky rightly notes, took "a leading position in the region." The main trade routes leading from Egypt to Mesopotamia - the "Seaside Route" along the Mediterranean coast, through Phoenicia and the "Royal Road", passing through Moab, Ammon, Bashan (Vasan) and Damascus - were under the control of the Israelites for quite a considerable length. Control over trade within the Fertile Crescent provided an extraordinary economic rise in Israel, which in turn led to a deep stratification of property within Israeli society and sharply exacerbated social contradictions in it: all duties fell into the hands of the aristocracy, and the bulk of the population ended up in the latter in mortgage bondage. Amos, who prophesied in the era of Jeroboam II, severely denounced the social ills of Israeli society.

After the death of Jeroboam II, his son Zharyahu (Zechariah), the last representative of the Jehu dynasty, reigned over Israel. He did not reign for long, only six months (2 Kings 15:8-9). And then, quite in the traditions of the northern kingdom, “Sellum, the son of Jabez, plotted against him, and defeated him before the people, and killed him, and reigned in his place” (2 Kings 15:10). The writer of the Fourth Book of Kings sees in this event the fulfillment of the promise given by God to the founder of the dynasty, Jehu: “Such was the word of the Lord, which He spoke to Jehu, saying: your sons to the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Israel. And it came to pass” (2 Kings 15:12). For Israel, where, unlike Judah, power was not centralized and where the tribal traditions of the tribes were strong, the reign of one dynasty for ninety years (namely, as long as Jehu and his descendants reigned) was a rather long period of stability and prosperity. This, says the 2 Kings writer, was Jehu's reward for his zeal in eradicating the Phoenician cult of Baal, officially introduced in Israel by Ahab. Jehu put an end to the "house of Ahab", exterminated all his descendants, thus putting an end to the dynasty of Omri (omrids). In 2 Kings, the history of Jehu, from his secret anointing to the kingdom by the prophet Elisha until his death, is described in detail, the punishments that Jehu subjected the "house of Ahab" and the priests of Baal (2 Kings 9-10) are described in particular plasticity and vividly. The repression was so severe that it was long remembered in Israel (cf. Hos 1:4). But although Jehu showed commendable zeal in the fight against the cult of Baal and with its guides, in establishing, purifying and centralizing the cult of YHWH, he was not so zealous: “Jehu destroyed Baal from the land of Israel. However, from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Navat, who led Israel into sin, Jehu did not depart from them - from the golden calves that are in Bethel and that are in Dan. And the Lord said to Jehu: Because you willingly did what was right in my sight, fulfilled over the house of Ahab all that was in my heart, your sons to the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Israel. But Jehu did not try to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, who led Israel into sin" (2 Kings 10:28-31). We must not forget that the historiography of the books of Kings, as well as the entire corpus of Nav-4 Kings, is Deuteronomic, the theology of these books is the theology of Deuteronomy, their author is a resident of Judea, not Israel. And for a pious Jew during the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah, Jehu’s unwillingness to destroy the heights, even if they are dedicated not to Baal, but to YHWH, is an unforgivable sin, a continuation of the religious policy of Jeroboam I, the founder of the kingdom of Israel independent of the Davidids. Since in Judea the cult of YHWH was strictly centralized in the Jerusalem sanctuary, and the heights in honor of YHWH were destroyed and defiled, for the sacred writers of Judea, the entire religious and political history of the northern neighbor has become the history of schism, they describe it all from the theological positions of Deuteronomy. And these positions are so, so to speak, Davido- and Jerusalem-centric that the one who stands on them can describe the history of the Kingdom of Israel exclusively in dark colors.

Shallum (Sellum) reigned for only a month: "Sellum son of Jabez reigned ... and reigned one month in Samaria" (2 Kings 15:13). There was another, stronger contender for the Israeli throne - Menahem (Menaim). It can be assumed that the Shallum plot was a palace coup, and the Menachem plot was a military one. The lines of Scripture are sparing, but still suggest that the army took the events in Samaria negatively. Probably, Menachem was one of the authoritative military leaders. His decision to take the Israeli capital and destroy Shallum could well be presented as righteous revenge for the last murder of Zechariah and therefore receive support in the troops and approval among the people. Menahem makes a forced march from Tirtza (Tirza), one of the ancient Israelite capitals, captures Samaria and kills Shallum: “And Menahem, the son of Gadi from Tirza, went and came to Samaria, and struck down Sellum, the son of Jabesh, in Samaria, and killed him, and reigned in his stead" (2 Kings 15:14).

The reign of Menachem lasted ten years, apparently from the end of 747 to 738 (incomplete years of the reign of the biblical tradition usually count as complete). Not everyone recognizes his authority. Having established himself in Samaria, Menahem arranges a punitive expedition against the rebellious, whose stronghold was the city of Tipsah: and cut all the pregnant women in it” (2 Kings 15:16). Probably, the ruins of ancient Tipsakh are located under the hill of Khirbet-Tafsakh, 11 km southwest of present-day Nablus. Interestingly, the Septuagint in 2 Kings 15:16 speaks not of Tipsach, but of Tappuakh, which, according to the book of Joshua, was located on the border of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. Joshua 16:8; 17:8). If the localization of Tapuakh at the site of the Sheh Abu Zarad hill 12 km southwest of Nablus and the localization of Tipsakh at the site of Khirbet Tafsakh are correct, then these cities were located very close to each other: on the Ephraim Highlands, 11-12 km south of Nablus ( Shechem), present-day Nablus. Tirza (Firza), in turn, judging by the excavations of the Tel el-Farah hill, was located northeast of Shechem, about 10 km from it. That is, from Tipsakh or Tappuakh to Tirtsa - about 20 km.

Cutting up pregnant women was a military custom of the time, as was the practice of all Middle Eastern armies in captured cities, and Israel was no exception. This meant depriving the conquered city or people of the future. But this was done in relation to other peoples, but Menachem showed this cruelty in relation to part of his own people - some cities of the Ephraim Highlands. But the nearest history will show - Israel as a state will indeed be deprived of its future. The ten tribes inhabiting it will be driven away from their native places and settled in the expanses of Mesopotamia.

Some scholars believe that Menachem's repression provoked a full-scale civil war and that under him Israel was divided into two territories, which the prophet Hosea calls "Israel" and "Ephraim" ("Ephraim").

By terrorizing the population, Menachem wanted to achieve not only obedience to himself personally, not only to assert his throne with frightening repressions, but, apparently, to eradicate pro-Egyptian sentiments in the country. It is quite possible to assume that the quick death of Zechariah and with him the entire dynasty of Jehu, the failure of Shallum and his supporters were due to the struggle in Israel of two "parties" - the pro-Egyptian (to which Shallum probably belonged) and the pro-Assyrian (to which Menachem belonged). Apparently, the prophet Hosea hints at this internal party struggle when he says: “And Ephraim became like a foolish dove, without a heart: the Egyptians are called, they go to Assyria” (Hos 7:11). The prophets are the creators of spiritual history, it is obvious to them: one must rely not on Egypt, and not even on Assyria, but only on God: “The pride of Israel is humiliated in their eyes - and for all that they did not turn to the Lord their God and did not seek Him ” (Hos 7:10). Unlike them, tsars are the creators of political history, and they cannot do without diplomacy in foreign policy, especially when the very existence of the kingdoms they rule is threatened.

At the end of the 40s of the 8th century, the political situation in the Middle East changed so much that not a single state could think of true political independence: the aggressive shadow of Assyria hung over everyone. Israel had little choice: either to recognize complete, total dependence on Assyria, or to resist. To do the latter alone would be madness, so the eyes of the anti-Assyrian party turned to Assyria's natural rival in the Fertile Crescent - to Egypt (the same alternative would be in Judea at the beginning of the 6th century: either Babylon or Egypt). But alas, at that time Egypt itself was in a protracted and deep internal crisis, the collapse of the XXIII dynasty and the anarchy of itself in a few decades will lead to the loss of independence and to the Assyrian conquest. So the choice in favor of Assyria, made by Menachem, was justified. If Menachem had not recognized the vassal dependence on Tiglath-pileser III and had not confirmed it by all possible means, not even stopping at terror against his own people, the history of the Northern Kingdom could have ended two decades earlier.

Having defeated the army of Urartu in the battle on the upper Euphrates in 743, Tiglath-Pileser III laid siege to the capital of the Northern Syrian Union, Arpad, and after a long siege took it. In 738, his second campaign to the west took place, as a result of which, as Jacobson writes, “many countries of Syria, as well as the southeast of Asia Minor (Tabal) and the Arab tribes of the Syrian semi-desert were forced to submit and bring tribute. New provinces were created in Syria, and a significant part of the population was taken into captivity. Apparently, it was during this campaign that Menachem paid Tiglath-pileser III that huge tribute, which is mentioned in the Bible: “Then came Phu, the king of Assyria, to the land of Israel. And Menaim gave Ful a thousand talents of silver, that his hands might be for him, and that he might establish the kingdom in his hand. And Menaim distributed this silver among the Israelites, among all the rich people, fifty shekels of silver for each person, to give to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria went back, and did not remain there in the land” (2 Kings 15:19-20). Biblical data are confirmed by the annals of Tiglath-Pileser III himself, in which Menachem is listed along with many other kings who paid tribute to the king, in particular, with Rezin of Damascus and Hiram of Tire. A thousand talents of silver (about 30-35 tons!) is a huge amount. In one talent - 3000 shekels. Total - 3 million shekels. If this amount is divided by 50 shekels, which the rich owners were obliged to pay, we get the number of these owners - 60,000 people. It is unlikely that such a radical contribution could please the subjects of Menachem. And anti-Assyrian sentiments she could not help but strengthen.

The son of Menachem Pekahya (Fakia) reigned for a short time - two (most likely, incomplete) years (738-737). The next, the seventh in the history of Israel, the dynasty, the dynasty of Menachem, ended as soon as it began. She was forcibly interrupted by one of the military dignitaries of Pekahia - Pekah (Fakei): “And Fakey, the son of Remalia, his dignitary, plotted against him, and struck him in Samaria in the chamber of the royal house, with Argov and Arius, having with him fifty people of Gileadites, and slew him, and reigned in his stead” (2 Kings 15:25). Argov and Arye (Arius) mentioned here were either close associates of Pekahya (perhaps, the chiefs of his personal guard), or, on the contrary, they came along with Pekah to kill Pekahya. The biblical text admits both understandings. The second option is followed by medieval Jewish exegesis in the person of David Kimchi: “These are the names of two heroes. Pekah came with them and with fifty soldiers from the sons of Gil "hell and killed the king." himself a slave of Tiglath-pileser III, was not popular in the country: too expensive a price was given to Israel for an illusory independence.

In contrast to Menachem and Pekahya, Pekah (737-732) was apparently determined to break the vassal treaty with Assyria. This is eloquently evidenced by his alliance with Rezin II, the last king of Damascus. Two kings, Rezin and Pekah, made a pact and, in order to secure their rear, they attacked Judea with joint forces. Historians called this war the “Syro-Ephraimite”: Ephraim (Ephraim) in this name parsprototo denotes the entire kingdom of Israel. In military terms, Judea was not then something significant. Having been defeated on the battlefield by the Israeli-Syrian coalition and secluded in Jerusalem, the young Jewish king Ahaz (736-716) sends envoys to Tiglath-pileser III, with rich gifts from the Jerusalem temple he plundered and from his own treasury, hastening to recognize himself as his slave and asking about protection (2 Kings 16:5-9. Compare 2 Chronicles 28:5-8,16. Is 7). About protection not only from the Israelites and Syrians, but also from the Philistines, who captured the southwestern territories of Judah (2 Chronicles 28:18). Under the pretense of helping Judah, the Assyrian armies invade Gilead and Galilee and easily capture these Israeli territories: and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and removed them to Assyria” (2 Kings 15:29). This expedition took place, according to Assyrian documents, in 734-732. The annals of Tiglath-Pileser III speak of 13,500 Israelis deported from the country. Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein writes that this figure is not exaggerated, it can be trusted: "Archaeological evidence from the Lower Galilee," he says, "speaks of a strong decrease in population." The destruction discovered by archaeologists in Tel Kinneret, En Gev and Tel Hadar, located on the shores of the Lake of Galilee, is usually associated with this campaign. The same can be said about other, larger Israeli cities. Finkelstein writes: “In many places one can observe the terrible consequences of the capture begun by Tiglath-Pileser. In Hazor (Hazor of the Russian Synodal translation, 2 Kings 15:29 - Ig. A.) ... the last Israeli city was destroyed and turned to ashes. There is clear archaeological evidence that in the period before the final Assyrian attack, the city's fortifications were destroyed. Also in Dan and Bet Shean there is evidence of total destruction. Of the large cities, only Megiddo was saved from complete destruction. There is a simple explanation for this: Megiddo was destined to become the center of a new Assyrian province, and its administration would be located in palaces with pilasters. Captures Tiglath-Pileser III and all of Palestine up to Gaza, the gates of Egypt. King Hannon of Gaza flees to Egypt, leaving the city to be sacked by the Assyrians. In 732, the Assyrian king finally takes Damascus, finally putting an end to the Damascus kingdom: “And the king of Assyria went to Damascus, and took it, and resettled its inhabitants to Cyrus, and killed Rezin” (2 Kings 16:9). Thus, the prophecy of Amos came true: “And the people of Aramaea will go into captivity to Cyrus” (Amos 1:5). After paying tribute to Judea, Tiglath-pileser III leaves alone, and the rest of the kingdoms lose their semi-independence, are divided into provinces under the direct control of the Assyrians (on the lands taken from Israel, these are the provinces of Megiddo, Dor, Karnaim and Gilad), their population is deported, and the territories settled by settlers from native Assyria.

The Kingdom of Israel, whose territory after this devastating campaign of Tiglath-Pileser III remains only the Ephraim Highlands with a center in Samaria (about 20% of the former territory), continues to exist, unlike Damascus. This "oversight" on the part of the Assyrians can be explained by at least two reasons. Firstly, during the long campaign of the Assyrian king to Palestine and Southern Syria, which lasted about two years, anarchy reigned in Assyrian subordinate Babylon, and the king was forced to go there with all his army to restore order, and at the same time to be crowned under the Babylonian name of Pulu . To besiege Samaria Tiglathpalasar III was simply too busy. Secondly, in this desperate situation in Samaria, and again through a coup, a new king comes to power, expressing his complete obedience to the Assyrian ruler. Israel again becomes a vassal of Assyria.

This last king of Israel was called Hoshea (Hosea, 732-724): “And Hosea the son of Elah plotted against Pekai the son of Remalien, and struck him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead” (2 Kings 15:30). Orientalist Igor Lipovsky suggests that Hosea "represented the interests of the same forces as the Yehu dynasty, that is, the Yahwists from the Israeli tribes, who compromised on Assyria" . The scientist substantiates his assumption with a reference to the biblical text: “And he did evil things in the sight of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who were before him” (2 Kings 17:2). It is possible that the Assyrians themselves helped Hosea come to power. At least, Tiglath-Pileser III himself speaks of this, unless one sees in this only boasting, which is usual for Assyrian documents: “I moved the house of Omri, all his people with all their property to Assyria. Since they overthrew (iskipuma) their king Pekah, I put Hosea in charge of them. Ricciotti believes that for Tiglath-Pileser III Hosea became a sort of longamanus: “The conspiracy against Pekah... could have been inspired by Tiglath-Pileser himself... The Kingslayer was rewarded with a crown, but recognized only as a vassal king, who... had to, according to the Assyrian document , pay tribute to Tiglathpalasar in the amount of ten talents of gold and an unspecified amount of silver.

The destruction of Israel

The entire period from the death of Jeroboam II in 747 to the fall of Samaria in 722 Finkelstein calls "the death agony (the Death Throes) of Israel" . This metaphor fits especially well in the last decade of Israeli history.

Tiglath-pileser III died in 727. The time from the death of one sovereign to the enthronement of another is always a time of instability, especially on the outskirts, where at such critical moments “peoples are in turmoil and tribes are plotting” (Ps 2:1) how to get out from under a foreign yoke. The psalmist said this about the vassals of his kingdom, but for the great empire of the East, Assyria, the deposition of borders during the interregnum was a constant danger. Vassal princelings, and sometimes their own Assyrian governors, in the periods between the death of one king and the accession of another, no longer considered themselves bound by oaths given to the deceased, and began to seek independence. Perhaps it was during this period of uncertainty between the death of Tiglath-Pileser III and the coronation of his successor Shalmaneser V that the last Israeli king decided on the most dangerous enterprise - to break away from Assyria.

But Assyrian intelligence worked well, as historians say, the Assyrians had spies and informers everywhere, so the new king soon found out about the conspiracy and his reaction did not slow down. The Bible says this about it: “And the king of Assyria noticed treason in Hosea, since he sent ambassadors to Sigor, the king of Egypt, and did not deliver tribute to the king of Assyria every year; And the king of Assyria took him into custody, and locked him up in a prison house” (2 Kings 17:4). Hosea is not difficult to understand. Remain a slave of Assyria, a nominal king of a vassal state, reduced by Tiglath-Pileser III to a capital with its environs - or, with the military support of the Egyptians, free yourself from the Assyrians and not only restore independence, but also return the selected territories? Sending envoys to the pharaoh was a gesture of desperation: strangled by the seizure of fertile lands and exorbitant indemnities, Samaria was slowly dying under the Assyrian yoke. Israel no longer had any significant army of its own, the only hope for the revival of the country was Egypt, which probably promised Israel military support in the event of a speech against Assyria. These promises, the founder of the short XXIV Dynasty Tefnakht I, who owned only part of the Delta (with the capital in Sais) and was desperately defending himself from the Nubians advancing from the south, could hardly fulfill. But it was undoubtedly profitable for him to withdraw Israel from the Assyrian dependence. Lipkowski suggests: "By their promises of support, the Egyptians deliberately pushed Israel into action against Assyria in order to delay her army in Palestine and thereby buy time to strengthen their own positions."

Under what circumstances Hosea's arrest took place is unknown. Maybe Shalmaneser V (726-722), who launched a pacifying campaign against Gaza and Palestine, summoned him to his headquarters and arrested him, or maybe Hosea fled from the already besieged Samaria and was captured. It happened in 724 or 723. Hosea's further fate is not known. The capital held the siege already without its king.

The Bible speaks of a three-year siege of Samaria, but these three years may not be complete: Biblical tradition considers incomplete years to be complete. Given this fact, the "three years" of the siege referred to may actually be two years, or even less than two. But still, it's not enough. We know nothing of what happened in those months and years inside the walls of the besieged city. But one cannot help but be surprised at the heroism and courage of its inhabitants, left without a king, who for so long resisted the onslaught of the besiegers - the most powerful army at that time under the command of Shalmaneser V himself.

“In the ninth year of Hosea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and resettled the Israelites in Assyria, and settled them in Halakha and in Habor, by the river Gozan, and in the cities of Media” (2 Kings 17:6; cf. 18:9-11). During the siege or during the capture of the city, Shalmaneser V suddenly died (or rather was killed). All the fruits of the victory went to the new "king of the universe" - Sargon ΙΙ (722-705). In his annals, Sargon II boasts: “27,290 inhabitants [of Samaria] I evicted, 50 captured chariots included in my army ... I rebuilt Samaria and made it larger than it was. I left the people of the earth conquered by me in place. I put one of my eunuchs in charge of them and imposed tribute and taxes on them as Assyrians. The destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians is evidenced by the VI archaeological layer of the city; Layer VII of Samaria is already an Assyrian city. In 722 (or 721), the last piece of the state that left the historical arena - Samaria and its environs - became another Assyrian province, which traditionally received the same name as the administrative center - Shomron (Samaria). The history of the State of Israel is over.