Kings Of The Divided Kingdom:
JUDAH
REHOBOAM
c. 930-913 BC
Son of Solomon; was 41 years old when he became king, and reigned for 17 years. After Solomon's death, the people came to him to complain about the heavy burden of servitude they were under. He consulted with the elders, who advised him to decrease their burden, so as to gain their support. Then he consulted his own peeers, who advised him to increase their servitude, to show them who was in charge. Unfortunately, he followed the advice of his peers, and the 10 northern tribes rebelled against him, making Jeroboam their king. Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. Rehoboam managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. There he amassed 180,000 soldiers to go to war against the northern tribes, but Shemaiah (a prophet of God)
told him not to go to war against his brothers, and he obeyed the word of the Lord.
Rehoboam's mother was an Ammonite. During his reign, he set up Asherah poles and altars to the gods of his mother. He allowed male shrine prostitutes, and indulged in all the evil practices of the pagan nations God had driven out before Israel. Judah was attacked by King Shishak of Egypt, who carried off all the golden shields made by King Solomon. The prophet Shemaiah told Rehoboam that the Lord had abandoned them because they had abandoned Him; then Rehoboam, and the people of Judah, humbled themselves, saying "God is just". Because they had humbled themselves, God did not destroy them; He allowed them to become subject to Shishak for a time, but then delivered them. Rehoboam had bronze shields made to replace the gold ones, and continued to reign in Judah until his death.
ABIJAH
c. 913-910 BC
Son of Rehoboam; reigned only 3 years. Continued all the sins of his father, so Judah remained at war with Israel all of Abijah's life. They finally amassed at Mt. Zemaraim for a full scale, all out war, Abijah with 400,000 men, and Jeroboam with twice that many. Abijah rebuked Israel, saying that the Lord was on his side, because Judah kept His commandments. Jeroboam had Abijah and the troops of Judah completely surrounded; they cried out to God, and He heard their cries. The priests blew their trumpets and Judah raised the battle cry, and God gave Judah the victory. They inflicted heavy casualties on Israel, injuring 500,000. They knew they had been victorious because they had depended on God. Abijah pursued Jeroboam until the Lord struck him down. Abijah grew in strength, marrying 14 wives, and having 16
daughters and 22 sons. Although his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord, God kept the promise He had made to David to always have a lamp in Jerusalem.
ASA
c. 910-869 BC
Son of Abijah, Asa reigned for 41 years. He walked in the ways of the Lord, getting rid of all the idols and the male shrine prostitutes, and even deposed his grandmother, Maacah, from her position as Queen Mother because she had made an Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it. He also brought back all the gold and silver pieces into the Lord's temple. There was peace for about the first ten years of Asa's rule; then Zerah, the king of the Cushites, brought a vast army against Judah. Asa cried out to God, and God struck down the Cushites. Then the Spirit of the Lord came down upon Azariah, and he told Asa and all of Judah that the Lord would be with them as long as they were with Him. When Asa heard this, he assembled all the people, and they made a covenant to seek the Lord with all their heart and soul. Because
of their faithfulness, the Lord gave them peace for a while; then war broke out between Asa and Baasha of Israel. Asa took all the gold and silver items from the temple of the Lord, as well as his own riches, and sent them to Ben-Hadad, grandson of the king of Aram, or Syria. Hanani, a prohet, later condemned Asa for this alliance, as it showed a lack of faith in God's protection. Asa became so angry at the prophet that he had him thrown in prison; however, as a result of this lack of faith, his feet became diseased in his old age.
JEHOSHAPHAT
c. 872-848 BC
Son of Asa, was 35 years old when he became king, and reigned 25 years. In his early years, he walked in the ways of his father, and did right in the eyes of the Lord. However, he aligned himself with Ahab through the marriage of his son, Jehoram, to Ahab's daughter, Athalia; this marriage later resulted in an attempt by Athalia to totally wipe out the descendants of David. Ahab of Israel asked Jehoshaphat to go against the Arameans with him, and Jehoshaphat agreed, even though his father had made a treaty with Ben-Hadad. Ahab told him to wear his royal robes into battle, although Ahab disguised himself. The Arameans saw Jehoshaphat in his royal garb, and started chasing him, as they thought he was the king of Israel. Jehoshaphat cried out to God, and God turned them away from him. The prophet Jehu later condemned
him for this alliance with Ahab. He built a whole fleet of ships, but they were all destroyed before they ever sailed. Later, he aligned with Joram of Israel, Ahab's son, when Moab rebelled. The armies of Israel and Judah ran out of water, and Jehoshaphat consulted the prophet Elisha; Elisha told them to dig ditches, and God would fill them with water. He told them God would give them victory over the Moabites. When the king of Moab saw 700 of his swordsmen fall, he sacrificed his son and heir on the walls of the city, but could not gain victory even with that sacrifice.
JEHORAM
c. 848-841 BC
Son of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and reigned for 8 years. As soon as he established himself as king, he killed all his brothers. He had married king Ahab's daughter, Athalia, and followed all the evils of Ahab. He built altars in the hills of Jerusalem, and led the people into Baal worship, but God did not destroy him because of the covenant God had made with David. Edom rebelled, and surrounded Jehoram, but he broke through at night and escaped back to his own territory. His pious father had been able to maintain control of Edom, but Jehoram could not, because of his wickedness. The prophet Elijah wrote to Jehoram, telling him that God was preparing a heavy blow to him and his house. The Lord then aroused the Philistines and the Arabs against Jehoram. They attacked, and carried off all
the valuables from his palace, and all of his wives and children, except for one son, Ahaziah. After that, God inflicted him with a terrible disease of the bowels, causing him great pain, and finally killing him. He died, to no one's regret; the people did not mourn him in the usual manner, and he was not buried in the tombs of the kings, an indication of the extent of his dishonor.
AHAZIAH
c. 841 BC
Youngest son of Jehoram; Ahaziah was 22 years old when the people made him king because the raiders had killed off all his older brothers; he reigned for only one year. His mother was Athalia, the daughter of Ahab and grand-daughter of Omri, who led him into doing evil in the eyes of the Lord; like his father, he walked in the ways of Ahab. He aligned Judah with his uncle Joram, king of Israel, in battle against Hazael, king of Aram, and this alliance ultimately led to his destruction. Joram was injured in that battle, and Ahaziah went to visit him. They saw Jehu (not the prophet by that name) coming toward Jezreel, where they were staying, and twice sent a messenger out to meet him to ask if he was coming in peace. When neither messenger returned, Ahaziah and Joram rode out themselves. Jehu, who had been annointed by
the Lord to become king of Israel, killed Joram, and fatally injured Ahaziah, although he escaped to Meggido before dying.
ATHALIA
c. 841-835 BC
Mother of Ahaziah, wife of Jehoram, daughter of Ahab and grand-daughter of Omri, Athalia represents the only break in the Davidic dynasty. When she found out Ahaziah was dead, she immediately seized power for herself, and ruled for 7 years. She proceeded to kill of every member of the royal family in a blatant attempt to wipe out the lineage of David, and thus destroy God's plan of redemption, as the Messiah was to come from the tribe of Judah. She was foiled in this effort by Jehosheba, who was the sister of Ahaziah and wife of the high priest Jehoida. She hid Joash, the infant son of Amaziah, and his nurse, in the temple of the Lord for 6 years to keep him from being murdered by his grandmother. In the seventh year, the high priest Jehoida crowned Joash king of Judah, and had Athalia killed in front of the temple.
Jehoida then made a covenant with the people of Judah, saying they would be only God's people. They tore down all the altars of Baal and killed the priests of Baal.
JOASH
c. 835-796 BC
Son of Ahaziah, saved from his wicked grandmother Athalia by his aunt Jehosheba, wife of the high priest Jehoida. Was 7 years old when Jehoida annointed him as king, reigned for 40 years. Joash restored the temple of the Lord, and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years that Jehoida instructed him.
However, when Jehoida died, Joash turned away from God. Jehoida's son, Zechariah, who was also Joash's own nephew, publicly rebuked Joash and the people of Judah for forsaking God, so Joash had him stoned to death, forgetting the fact that Zechariah's father had saved his life. Soon after that, the Aramean army invaded. Joash sent all the sacred objects from the temple to Hazael, king of Aram, paying tribute to him to keep him from invading Jerusalem; Asa had done the same thing many years earlier. The Arameans withdrew, but left Joash severely wounded. His own officials then rose up against him and killed him for the murder of Jehoida's son Zechariah. The invasion of the Aramean army was a direct result of Joash turning away from God after Jehoida's death. Joash became the second king who was dishonored by not being buried in the tombs of the kings.
AMAZIAH
c. 796-767 BC
Son of Joash; was 25 years old when he became king, and ruled for 29 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not whole-heartedly. He killed all the officials who had killed his father, but in accordance with the law, he did not kill their sons. He hired 100,000 mercenaries from Israel to fight against the Edomites; but a man of God told him not to march with them, because God was not with Israel, and would overthrow Amaziah to the enemy if he fought with them. Amaziah was obedient in this also, although it cost him a lot of money, and dismissed the mercenaries to return to Israel. He killed 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and the Judean army captured another 10,000 men and threw them all off a cliff. God gave Amaziah this victory because he had been obedient in not marching with the mercenaries
from Israel. However, after he slaughtered the Edomites, Amaziah brought their gods back to Judah and began worshipping them. He then arrogantly challenged Jehoash, king of Israel, to meet him face to face, an open declaration of war. Jehoash first told Amaziah to stay home and not start trouble which would lead to his own downfall. When Amaziah refused to listen, Jehoash attacked and took Amaziah prisoner. God gave Jehoash this victory because Amaziah had turned away and began worshipping other gods. Amaziah remained a prisoner until the death of Jehoash about 10 years later. He lived for 15 more years after the death of Jehoash, but the people of Judah turned against him because of his idolatry. He fled to Lachish, but they followed him even there, and killed him.
AZARIAH (also called UZZIAH)
c. 792-740 BC
Son of Amaziah; was 16 years old when he was named king by the people of Judah in place of his father, who was a prisoner of Jehoash of Israel. Ahaziah reigned for a total of 52 years, but the first 25 years overlapped the reign of his father. Azariah did right in God's eyes as long as Zechariah instructed him (another Zechariah, not Jehoida's son, who was killed by Joash), and as long as he continued to seek the Lord, God gave him success. He had a powerful army and defeated the Philistines and the Arabs with God's help, and the Ammonites paid tribute to him. All this power went to his head, however, and he arrogantly entered into the temple of the Lord to burn his own incense on the altar, which only the high priests were allowed to do. When the priests confronted him, he became very angry and would have harmed them, but God struck him down with leprosy right then
and there. He had leprosy until the day he died, living in a separate house, while Jotham, his son, ruled the kingdom. Azariah was the 3rd king who was not buried in the tombs of the kings because of his leprosy, which was a direct result of his sinfulness.
JOTHAM
c. 750-735
Son of Amaziah (Uzziah); Was 25 Years old when he became king and reigned for 16 years. For the first ten years of his reign he co-reigned with his father, who was still alive, but inflicted with leprosy. Jotham did right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father had done until he arrogantly entered the temple. Jotham did not make the mistake of becoming too arrogant. He rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple, and did extensive construction work throughout Judea, fortifying many cities. Jotham went to war against the Ammonites, conquering them and making them pay tribute of silver, wheat and barley for a period of three years. He became both powerful and prosperous because he walked steadfastly before the Lord.
AHAZ
c. 732-715 BC
Son of Jotham, Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king, and ruled for 16 years. Unlike his father and King David, Ahaz practiced idolatry and did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He even sacrificed his own sons in the fire, following the evil practices of the pagan nations God had driven out before Israel. Ahaz was the only king of Judah whose reign had no redeeming qualities whatsoever; in fact, Judah's religious fidelity was completely overthrown under the reign of Ahaz. Because of this rampant wickedness, God allowed both Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, to attack Judah. These two were not able to depose Ahaz, because of God's covenant with David, but they each inflicted heavy casualties upon the nation of Judah. Rezin took the city of Elath, where Edomites moved in and remained; he also took many
prisoners back to Damascus to serve as slaves. Israel was also able to inflict much damage; in one day, Pekah killed 120,000 of Judah's soldiers, and took 200,000 women and children captive. An Ephraimite named Zicri killed Ahaz's second in command and the officer in charge of the palace as well as his son, Maaseiah. The Israelites under Pekah took 200,000 captives and much plunder, but returned them all when they were rebuked by the prophet Oded. Then the Ephraimites attacked again, along with the Philistines. Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help, paying tribute by ransacking the Lord's temple. He closed the temple, putting out the lamps; thus offerings could not be made as God had commanded. He built altars on every street corner in Jerusalem, becoming increasingly unfaithful to God by making sacrifices to the gods of Damascus. The Lord humbled Judah, because they
completely turned their backs on God under the reign of Ahaz. Ahaz died, and became the 4th king who was not buried in the tombs of the kings because of his wickedness.
HEZEKIAH
c. 715-686 BC
Son of Ahaz; was 25 years old when he became king, and reigned for 29 years. Hezekiah did right in the eyes of the Lord. He re-opened the temple of the Lord, which his father had closed. He repaired the temple and had all the priests consecrate themselves, and remove every trace of defilement from the temple. For 16 days, the priests purified the temple, and on the following day, Hezekiah and all the city officials brought 7 bulls, 7 rams, 7 male lambs, and 7 male goats as a sin offering for the people and the kingdom, thus re-establishing services in the temple. He then invited all of Judah, and all of the Israelites who had escaped the Assyrians, to celebrate Passover, which had not been celebrated on a large scale in many years. Hezekiah told all of them that it was because of the wickedness of their fathers that
anger had burned toward them and brought them to this end. He warned them to turn back to God, saying the Lord would have mercy on them. They celebrated the Passover for the traditional 7 days, then 7 more days after that. There had been nothing like this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon. This was how Hezekiah united Judah and what was left of Israel. After this celebration, the people went out and smashed all the sacred stones and cut down all the Asherah poles and destroyed all the high places throughout all of Judah and Israel, then they all returned to their own towns. In every thing Hezekiah sought God and obeyed His commands, and so he prospered greatly. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invaded Judah, and Hezekiah stripped the temple once again of all it's gold and silver to pay tribute to Sennacherib. Three officers of Sennacherib's army spoke to the people of Judah,
mocking Hezekiah and saying that he lied to them when he said God was on their side; they said no god of any country had ever been able to save his people from Assyria. The prophet Isaiah foretold the deliverance of Judah and the fall of Sennacherib. That night, the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 men of the Assyrian army, causing Sennacherib to withdraw to Ninevah, where he was killed by his own sons. Then Hezekiah became very ill, and Isaiah told him the Lord had said he would die. Hezekiah prayed, saying he had always served God faithfully. God heard his prayer, and sent Isaiah back to tell him he would live 15 more years. Hezekiah asked for a sign that he would be healed, and the Lord made the shadow go backward 10 steps. He did recover, and was visited by envoys from Babylon. He welcomed them, and made the mistake of showing them all the treasures of his palace. His
hospitality was intended to prevent a future attack by that nation, but it ended up having just the opposite result. Isaiah prophesied the fall of Judah to Babylon 115 years before it happened, saying that everything in Judah would be carried off to Babylon, and that Hezekiah's own children would become slaves to Baylon's king. The divine nature of Isaiah's prophecy is evident in the fact that at the time it was spoken, Assyria was the greatest threat to Judah, not Babylon.
MANASSEH
c. 697-642 BC
Son of Hezekiah; was 12 years old when he became king, and reigned for 55 years. Unlike his father, he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following all of the detestable practices of the pagan nations God had driven out before Israel. Manasseh rebuilt the high places and Asherah poles his father had torn down, and built altars to Baal and to all the starry hosts; he even built such altars in the temple of the Lord. He practiced sorcery, witchcraft, and divination, and even sacrificed his own son in the fire of Molech. Manasseh led the people of Judah all astray, shedding innocent blood, and persecuting any of the priests or prophets who spoke out against his evil practices. Because of this rampant wickedness, God spoke through His prophets, saying He was going to bring terrible destruction to Judah, and hand them over
to their enemies. The Assyrian army once again invaded Judah, taking Manasseh prisoner, They put a hook in his nose and bronze shackles on his feet, and carried him to Babylon. In his tremendous distress, Manasseh finally humbled himself before God; and the Lord heard his prayer. Egypt had already defected from Assyria, and Manasseh may have received a pardon in Babylon in exchange for his agreement to aid them in their own defection from Assyria; or, the Assyrians might have released him to have a vassal near the Egyptian border. However his release came about, God restored him to Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah; thus he knew that the Lord is the one true God. He rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem, and fortified many cities. He tore down all the altars he had built, and got rid of the false gods and the false image from the Lord's temple. He restored the temple, and the
fellowship and thank offerings, telling all the people to serve the Lord. In spite of this change, he became the 5th king who was not buried in the tomb of the kings.
AMON
c. 642-640 BC
Son of Manasseh; was 22 years old when he became king, and ruled for only 2 years. Amon did evil in the eyes of the Lord as his father had done, worshipping idols and offering sacrifices to them. Unlike his father, however, Amon would not humble himself before the Lord; instead, he increased his guilt. Amon's own officials conspired against him, and assassinated him in the palace. The people of Judah in turn rose up against those who had killed Amon, and made his son Josiah king in his place. Amon became the 6th king who did not receive the honor of being buried in the tombs of the kings because of his wickedness.
JOSIAH
c. 640-609 BC
The son of Amon was only 8 years old when he became king; he reigned for 31 years. Began seeking the Lord of David during the 8th year of his reign, at the age of 16. During the 12th year, he began to destroy all the Asherah poles, idols, and false gods in all of Judah. He tore down altars of Baal, and burned the bones of the priests of of Baal on their own altars. He destroyed Tophet, where children had been sacrificed in the fire to Molech. In the 18th year of his reign, Josiah assigned men to repair the temple of the Lord. It was during this renovation that a priest found the Book of the Law that had been given through Moses. The book had been hidden in the temple, apparently to keep it safe from both invading armies and wicked kings.
When the priest read the words of the book, Josiah tore his robes, a sign of great distress, grief, or repentance. He sent to the prophetess Huldah, saying the Lord's anger was great against them because because their fathers had not kept the words of the law. Huldah sent the messenger back to tell the king that the Lord had said He would bring disaster on all the people of Judah, because they had forsaken Him, making false idols and worshipping other gods. The Lord also said that because Josiah had humbled himself when he heard the words of the Book of Law, God would gather him to his fathers and he would be buried in peace; he would not have to see all the disaster God was going to bring upon the people of Judah for their unfaithfulness. When he was told all of these things, Josiah gathered all the elders, and all the people of Judah from greatest to least, and read the entire
Book of the Law to them. Then he made a covenant in the presence of the Lord, to keep all of God's commandments and obey the Lord. He had every person pledge themselves to the covenant; and as long as Josiah was alive, the people did not stray from it. In that 18th year of his reign, Josiah had a massive Passover celebration, the likes of which had not been seen in Judah since the days of the prophet Samuel. He provided 30,000 sheep and goats from his own possessions along with 3,000 cattle, to be offered as sacrifices for the people. Eventually, Neco, king of Egypt, marched to the Euphrates river to help the King of Assyria battle the Babylonians. Josiah marched out to meet him, but Neco said he was not attacking Josiah, and that God was on his {Neco's} side. He told Josiah to stop opposing God or God would destroy him. Josiah did not listen to the words God had commanded Neco to say, perhaps not expecting the Lord to speak through a pagan king. Josiah disguised himself and engaged Neco in battle. He was wounded by archers, and had his officers bring him back to Jerusalem, where he died from those wounds. His death was the direct result of his disobedience to God's word, spoken to him by Neco. All the people of Judah mourned him greatly, and the prophet Jeremiah composed lamentations to him. Josiah was the only king to have 3 of his sons succeed him as king: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, (or Eliakim), and Zedekiah, (or Mattaniah) all became kings of Judah.
JEHOAHAZ
c. 609 BC
Son of Josiah; was 23 years old when he became king, but only reigned for 3 months, doing evil in God's eyes. The king of Egypt, who had not wanted a battle with Josiah in the first place, dethroned Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt. Jehoahaz died while in Egypt, but it is not clear whether his death was from natural causes or an act of violence, nor how long he was there before he died. The Egyptian king also imposed a fine of 1000 talents of silver and a talent of gold to be paid by Eliakim, the older brother of Jehoahaz. He also made Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, changing his name to Jehoiakim.
JEHOIAKIM also called ELIAKIM
c. 609-598 BC
Son of Josiah, and brother of Jehoahaz; was 25 years old when he was made king by Neco, king of Egypt, who changed his name to Jehoiakim. He ruled for 11 years, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. He persecuted the prophets of God, for which the prophet Jeremiah denounced him. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Jerusalem, and took Jehoiakim back to Babylon as his servant. Nebuchadnezzar also took all the valuables from the temple of the Lord back to Babylon to be used in his own temple. Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar for 3 years, then rebelled against him. His rebellion was short-lived, however. The Lord sent Babylonian, Moabite, Aramean, and Ammonite raiders against him; these pagan nations would soon destroy Judah because of their sinfulness, just as the prophet had foretold. Jehoiakim himself died before all these invading armies arrived, and Jerusalem fell
to the Babylonians; it is not known whether his death was from natural causes or an act of war.
JEHOIACHIN
c. 598-597
This son of Jehoiakim was only 18 years old when he became king at his father's death; he ruled for only 3 months and 10 days, but continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin prisoner, along with all his officers, and all his household. All in all, Nebuchadnezzar took a total of 10,000 people into exile in Babylon, as well as all the valuables from the Lord's temple. The people he took were the soldiers, artisans, and craftsmen, those who could be most useful as slaves. Only the very poorest people were left in Judah to tend the land, people who had neither the knowledge nor the resources to stage a rebellion. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Mattaniah, the son of Josiah and uncle of Jehoiachin, to be king over Judah, changing his name to Zedekiah. In the 37th year of the exile,
Jehoiachin was released from prison when Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon. The reason for his release is not known, but he was given an allowance and a place of honor at the king's table for the rest of his life.
ZEDEKIAH also called MATTANIAH
c. 597-586 BC
3rd son of Josiah to become king, Matteniah was 21 years old when Nebuchadnezzar made him king over Judah, and ruled for 11 years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and would not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke the word of the Lord to him. All the priests and the people of Judah became more and more unfaithful to God, following all the detestable practices of the pagan nations and defiling the temple of the Lord. This rampant wickedness was the reason the Lord's anger burned against Jerusalem. God had warned them again and again through His prophets, but they despised God's word and mocked and persecuted His prophets. Then Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian king beseiged Jerusalem in 588 BC. Zedekiah managed to hold out for 2 years, but in the end, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC;
this downfall of Judah had been prophesied by Isaiah more than one hundred years earlier. God turned them over to the Babylonians because of their stubborn disobedience to His word and their refusal to repent of their wickedness. The Babylonians killed everybody they came across, male or female, young or old. Zedekiah tried to escape, but was overtaken on the plains of Jericho. He was taken to Nebuchadnezzar, who had his sons killed right in front of his eyes, then had his eyes put out. Zedkiah was then bound with bronze chains and taken in captivity to Babylon, along with the small remnant in Judah that had managed to escape being killed. Zedekiah could have spared his own life and the absolute destruction of Jerusalem if he would only have heeded the prophet Jeremiah's call to repentence. The Babylonians completely destroyed the temple of the Lord, and tore down the walls around
the city of Jerusalem. The people of Judah remained in exile for 70 years, until Cyrus, king of Persia, issued the decree that allowed them to return to their own land; he also returned all the treasures that had been taken from the temple. This decree ushered in the restoration period of Israel--- even exile would not destroy the lineage of David.
There were a total of twenty kings of Judah, reigning for about 344 years; from about 930 BC when the kingdom was divided, to 586 BC, when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. There is some confusion over some of these dates in relation to historical events; most of this has been explained by scholars as sons reigns overlapping that of their fathers. The dates used here are from "A Chronology Of The Hebrew Kings", by Edwin R. Thiele, ©1977 by The Zondervan Corporation.
Reference:
NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Bible Publishers
Who's Who In The Bible, Publications International, Ltd
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