prepared by Skylar H. Burris
The Kings & Queens of Judah
and Israel
prepared by Skylar H. Burris
I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles can be very confusing. Sometimes the kings of Judah and Israel had the same names as each other, and many times one king was known by two different names. What is more, the books have different focuses. Whereas Kings tells of both Judah and Israel, Chronicles focuses only on Judah. Furthermore, Chronicles seems to be more God-centered than Kings; it includes more prayers and ascribes religious motives to events which are not elaborated upon (or which are explained differently) in Kings. I hope this chart, which I have compiled from information in both Kings and Chronicles, will help to clear up some of the confusion. The chart lists the Kings (and Queens) of both Judah and Israel in chronological order. (It is loosely aligned to show overlapping reigns, although this is by no means exact.) The chart also includes a summary of each reign (except for Israel's first three kings--Saul, David, and Solomon).
United Kingdom |
|
Judah (South)--Eventually exiled in Babylon |
Israel (North)--Eventually exiled in Assyria |
| Rehoboam--increases the burden of the people against the advice of his old advisors | Jeroboam--leads 10 tribes that split off--establishes Dan and Bethel as religious centers to prevent trips to Jerusalem; sets up two golden calves |
| Abijam (Abijha) --three year reign--wars w/ Jeroboam and takes some of Israel's towns | Nadab--short and evil reign |
| Asa--good king--takes away sodomites (male religious prostitutes) and idols--wars with the Ethiopians and wins after crying out to God; but when Baasha comes against him, he sends to Syria for help, so Benhadad, king of Syria, attacks Israel. Hanani the seer tells Asa that because he relied on the king of Syria, and not God, he will henceforth have wars. | Baasha--kills Nadab--wars with Asa, king of Judah |
| Elah | |
| Zimri--kills Elah--reigns 7 days, then killed | |
| Omri--builds Samaria | |
| Jehosophat--reigns 25 years--he does that which is right in the eyes of the Lord, making reforms. He makes peace with Ahab and goes to battle with him for Ramoth-gilead. Although Ahab's paid prophets tell them God will give them victory, Jehosophat asks that Ahab call a prophet of the Lord. He calls Michaiah, who prophecies: "I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd. . . Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets." After praying for God's assistance, he has victory over Moab and Ammon. | Ahab--enemy of Elijah--"But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up." Ahab wars with Benhadad, king of Syria, but, instead of killing him, he makes a covenant with him. Consequently, a prophet of God tells Ahab, "thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people." Ahab disguises himself when he goes into battle for Ramoth-gilead; he is randomly shot with a bow and dies. |
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Jehoram (Joram)--eight year reign--marries Ahab's daughter and is wicked--apparently co-reigned with his father Jehosophat for part of his reign--when Jehosophat died, he slew all his brethren. He fought the Edomites. Elijah prophecies against him. |
Ahaziah--when
he falls sick, he sends a messenger to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron. Elijah meets his messenger and tells him Ahaziah will die.
He dies without an heir. Joram (Jehoram)--brother of Ahaziah--reigns in Israel after Ahaziah dies. He is evil, but not as bad as Ahab. He wars with Moab, and Jehosophat joins him. He calls Elisha to prophecy to him. Elisha aids him against Syria as well. |
| Ahaziah--one year reign--does evil in the sight of the Lord--goes with Joram (king of Israel) to war against Hazael king of Syria. When Joram is wounded, he goes to visit him. He is killed by Jehu. | Jehu is anointed king on God's command, and he carries out, with force, Elijah's prophecy against Ahab's house. Joram and Judah's king Ahaziah go out to meet Jehu and ask if he comes in peace. Jehu kills Joram and then has Ahaziah killed. |
| Athaliah--the mother of Ahaziah--destroys all the royal seed when she sees Ahaziah is dead. But Ahaziah's sister hides his son Joash. Athaliah rules six years. | Jehoahaz--does evil in God's sight. He wars with Syria. |
| Jehoiada the priest has Joash (Jehoash) anointed king at age 7 and Athaliah slain. He then has the people destroy all the idols of Baal and slay the priests of Baal. But after Jehoiada's death, Joash allows pagan worship again. Zecheriah prophecies against him, so the king has him stoned. Joash slays Jehoiada's son, so the Lord delivers a great host of Judah into the hands of the Syrians. 40 year reign. | |
| Amaziah--does that which is right in the Lord's sight--yet the high places remain. He slays his father's killers, but not their children. He smites Edom. But then he takes their gods and sets them up to be his gods, so God punishes him: Amaziah challenges Joash, king of Israel, to battle, and he is defeated. Later Amaziah is conspired against and slain. | Joash (Jehoash)--does evil in God's sight. He weeps over Elisha, who is dying, and who tells him he will smite Syria only three times. He also defeats Amaziah king of Judah in battle, breaking down the wall of Jerusalem and plundering the house of God. |
| The people make Amaziah's son, Azariah (Uzziah), king, and he does right, reigning 52 years. Contemporary with the prophet Zechariah. Warred with the Philistines. But he forsakes God, burning incense upon the altar. The other priests withstand him, since only the sons of Aaron can burn incense on the altar, and so God smites the king with leprosy. | Jeroboam II--recovers Damascus and Hamth from Judah for Israel--does evil in God's sight |
| Zechariah--reigns six months, doing evil | |
| Shallum kills Zachariah and reigns one month | |
| Menahem kills Shallum and wars with Pul king of Asyria, eventually paying him tribute by exacting the money of Israel. | |
| Pekahiah--killed by Pekah | |
| Jotham--does right, reigning 16 years, though the high places still are not removed--he fought with Ammon and prevailed | Pekah--In his days, Tiglathpileser begins to take captives to Assyria. Hoshea kills Pekah. |
| Ahaz--sacrifices his children to pagan gods, so as punishment he is besieged by Pekah in league with Rezin king of Syria. Reigns 16 years. | |
| Hezekiah--a good king--he initiates a revival, takes down the high places, and invites both Judah and Israel to Passover. He refuses to serve the King of Assyria. When Hezekiah falls sick, Isaiah comes to tell him he will die. But Hezekiah prays to God, who says through Isaiah, "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee." Hezekiah asks for a sign that he will be healed--that the shadow return backward ten degrees. He lives 15 more years, but he makes the mistake of showing the delegates of Babylon all the treasures in his house. Isaiah tells him that God will allow Babylon to carry Judah away in exile after Hezekiah's days. 29 year reign. | Hoshea--becomes servant of Shalmaneser king of Assyria, but one year he does not bring tribute; so Shalmaneser puts Hoshea in prison and besieges Samaria, carrying away Israel captive |
| Manasseh--rebuilds altars to Baal--sheds much innocent blood--sacrifices his children--and other evils. So God says He "will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies." Manasseh is bound and carried into Babylon. But there he prays to God, and God sees that he is brought back to Jerusalem. He then takes away the idols and repairs the Lord's altar. Reigns 55 years. | |
| Amon--reigns two years--his servants slay him in his own house, but the people slay the conspirators and make his son Josiah king. | |
| Josiah--reigns 31 years--he carries out a great reform inspired by the finding of the book of the law. He is slain in battle by the king of Egypt. (Contemporary with Jeremiah.) | |
| Jehoahaz--Pharaoh puts him in bands so that he would not rule Jerusalem. 3 year reign. | |
| Jehoiakim (Eliakim)--11 year reign--set up by Pharaoh. Nebuchadnezzar binds him and carries him to Babylon. Jehoiakim becomes his servant, but later rebels. | |
| Jehoiachin--3 month reign--in his days Nebuchadnezzar seizes Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin surrenders to him. Neb. plunders the temple and carries Jerusalem into exile. Jehoiachin is later released from prison and treated well by Evil-merodach. | |
| Zedekiah (Mattaniah)--11 year reign--set up by Neb., but rebels against him, so Neb. besieges Jerusalem, slays Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, and then puts out his eyes. Neb. burns the temple and completes the deportation of the Jews to Babylon (except for the poor). | |
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Quiz:
Want to review by testing your knowledge? See the Kings of Judah and the Kings of Israel quizzes I contributed to FunTrivia.
Chart Annotations:
At Mt. Carmel, Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal. They are unable to get Baal to respond and burn up their sacrifice, but God immediately responds and consumes Elijah's sacrifice. Elijah has all of the priests of Baal slaughtered. Ahab tells Jezebel, who then seeks Elijah's life. Elijah flees.
At Mt. Horeb, God speaks to him in "a still small voice." God sends him to anoint Jehu as king over Israel and Elisha as a prophet. So Elijah casts his mantle upon Elisha.
Meanwhile, Ahab wants Naboth's vineyard, so Jezebel has Naboth accused of blasphemy and killed. Elijah is sent to prophecy against Ahab: "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. . . The dogs shall eat Jezabel by the wall of Jezreel." But because Ahab repents, God promises to delay some of the evil until his son's days. Back
Elijah also prophesies to Ahaziah. After telling Ahaziah's messenger the king will die, Ahaziah sends 50 men and a captain after Elijah, but they are consumed by fire from God. So Ahaziah sends another 51, and they too are burned. So he sends a third 51, who beg Elijah to come down and not destroy them, and he does, prophesying to Ahaziah that he (Ahaziah) will die. Back
Elijah also tells Jehoram (Joram) king of Judah that for his sin his people will be smitten with a great plague. Also, Philistia is sent to war with Joram, and they break up his house and take away his wives. Finally, God smites Joram in the bowels with an incurable disease, and he dies. Back
Elisha -- prophet of God, from Samaria
Elisha follows Elijah faithfully until Elijah is translated to heaven (during Jehoram's reign). Before Elijah's translation, Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit. A chariot of fire appears, and Elijah goes up in a whirlwind to heaven, his mantle falling upon Elisha. Afterwards, Elisha heals some diseased waters and curses some young men who curse him (effectively challenging his ministry). 42 of them are then killed by two bears.
Elisha prophecies to Joram that God will deliver the Moabites into his hands.
Elisha aids a widow, telling her to borrow vessels, which she is miraculously able to fill with oil, and which she then sells to quit her debt.
A woman whom Elisha had told would conceive comes to him when her son dies. Elisha sends his servant Gehazi, who is unable to resurrect the child. So Elijah goes himself and stretches himself out upon the child and resurrects him.
Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, is a leper. Elisha tells him to wash in the Jordan seven times and he will be clean, but Naaman, expecting Elisha to call on God and cure him in a more miraculous way, is angry. But his servants persuade him to wash, and he is cured. He offers Elisha a gift, but he refuses it. Naaman then promises to offer sacrifice only unto God, though he asks to be excused his bowing in the house of Rimmon, since he must go there with the King. Gehazi runs after him and gets some money from him (in Elisha's name). Elisha curses Gehazi: "Is it a time to receive money? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee."
Elisha thwarts the king of Syria by revealing his planned raids to Jehoram, the king of Israel. So the king of Syria seeks to kill Elisha. But God smites his would-be attackers with blindness, and Elisha leads them to Samaria, restoring their sight. He feeds them and sends them back to the king. So Syria stays away from Samaria for a while, but eventually Ben-hadad raids it, and there is famine. When Jehoram hears that women are boiling each others' children to eat, he seeks to kill Elisha, who had apparently told him to wait on the Lord and not surrender to Syria. Elisha assures him that there will be plenty to eat on the morrow. Sure enough, God makes the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, so they flee, leaving all their possessions and food behind.
Ben-hadad king of Syria is sick, so Hazael goes to ask Elisha if he will recover. Elisha say he can, but he won't. He tells Hazael that the Lord has shown him Hazael will be the next king of Syria and will do terrible things to the Israelites. So Hazael kills Ben-hadad. Back
Elisha is visited by King Joash (Israel) on his death bed. He makes Joash shoot an arrow and says, "The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria." He then tells Joash to smite the ground, and he smites it three times. Elisha is angry: "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shall smite Syria but thrice." Then Elisha dies. Later, men cast a dead man into the sepulcher of Elisha, and when he hits the prophet's bones, he revives. Back
Jehu Fulfills the Prophecy
After killing the king, Jehu goes after Jezebel, Ahab's still-living wife. Her own eunuchs throw her out the window, and Jehu treads her body under his horse's feet, so that the dogs lick up her blood.
The leaders of Samaria, afraid of Jehu, agree to kill Ahab's 70 sons, and they send Jehu their heads.
Jehu slays all of the remaining servants, priests, and house of Ahab.
Jehu feigns that he will serve Baal, calling a solemn assembly. So all the Baal worshipers and prophets come, and Jehu has them all slain. However, he does not take down the golden calves. Back
Rezin, King of Syria, and Pekah
Syria and Ephraim (the 10 northern tribes of Israel, who had been taken captive under the reign of Pekah) rebel against Assyria and try to make Judah join their alliance; to do so, they seek to depose Ahaz and put in his place a puppet king. So Ahaz sends silver and gold from the Lord's house to Assyria, asking for assistance. According to Kings, Assyria slays Rezin and takes Damascus captive. But according to Chronicles, Assryia "helped him not." Back
After the fall of Samaria, the capital of Israel, the Assyrian kings planted colonist who intermarried with those left in Israel. From them descended the mixed race of the Samaritans, who were despised by the Jews because of their Gentile blood and their worship, which centered at Mt. Gerzim (Ryrie Study Bible). But Jesus made the point that "the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet a Jerusalem, worship the Father . . But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth" (John 4:20-24). Back
Hezekiah refuses to serve Assyria
Sennacherib takes the fenced cities of Judah, so Hezekiah agrees to pay tribute, giving him the silver in the house of the Lord and the gold on the doors. But he does not surrender.
Sennacherib sends the Rabshakeh (commander) of Assyria to meet the Jewish officials, and he speaks to them in their own language (so the Jews about the wall can understand), telling them their only hope is surrender and voluntary exile. Upset, Hezekiah sends his servants to the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah assures them that God will cause Rabshakeh to hear a rumor, so that he returns to his own land and dies there.
Later, when Sennacherib writes "letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel" and pressures Hezekiah into surrendering, Hezekiah prays before God a beautiful and pleading prayer. Isaiah, speaking for God, tells him that a remnant will survive and Jerusalem will not fall to Assyria. That night, an angel of the Lord goes out and smites the camp of the Assyrians. Back
Josiah's Reform
Hilkiah the high priest finds the book of the law while repairing the breaches of the house of the Lord. (It may have been the entire first five books of the bible or just the curses in Deuteronomy).
Shaphan, Josiah's scribe, reads the book to him, and Josiah rends his clothes and tells them to inquire of the Lord for him. They go to Huldah the prophetess. Through her, God says that he will bring the curses upon Judah, but that it will not happen in Josiah's day.
Josiah renews the covenant, having the book read to the people. He tears down the high places, burns the chariots of the sun with fire, and destroys pagan idols and altars. He burns the high place in Bethel, and he takes the bones out of the sepulchres, burning them on the altar; he also slays the priests of the high place and burns men's bones on the altars, fulfilling an earlier prophecy made to Jeroboam by an unnamed man of God (1 Kings 13:2).
"And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned unto the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might." Back
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