The Southern Kingdom of Judah

The Southern Kingdom of Judah is the name for the region ruled over by the descendants of the kings, David and Solomon, from around 926 BC. Its capital city was Jerusalem. There were often tensions between the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In 586 BC, the Southern Kingdom collapsed. The Babylonians took over the capital, Jerusalem, and destroyed the Temple.

Solomon aimed to keep the Israelite tribes together politically. After his death, the northern tribes wanted more independence, but Solomon’s son Rehoboam was not prepared to grant them this. Jeroboam successfully managed to consolidate the resistance, with the result that the ten northern tribes separated themselves from the alliance. The new state where Jeroboam was king, is called “Israel” in the Bible.
Rehoboam was also not successful in conquering the Northern Kingdom. He remained king over the two southern tribes, with Jerusalem as his capital city. Because this region belonged chiefly to the tribe of Judah, the Southern Kingdom is called “Judah” in the Bible.

Compared with Israel, Judah was economically weak and politically unimportant. It was not situated on a trade route. The Temple in Jerusalem had however, much prestige going back to King David, the founder of the royal house. One stable factor in this small kingdom was that a descendant of David was on the throne (2 Samuel 7:1-16).
Israel remained a dangerous neighbour. Therefore, in 732 BC the Judean King Ahaz, sought the support of the Assyrian king and Judah became a vassal state of Assyria. In 722 BC, the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom and only the Southern Kingdom of Judah survived.

Judah flourished under King Josiah, who conquered the region from the former Northern Kingdom around 620 BC. But his son, Jehoiakim again became a vassal, first of Egypt and later of Babylonia. Jehoiakim rebelled against the king of Babylonia, but the uprising was crushed.
The last king of Judah was Zedekiah. He too revolted against the Babylonians, but was defeated. This defeat meant the end of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem was conquered and the Temple which King Solomon had built, went up in flames.