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the Scriptures—and established an orderly succession with his son Ahab following him. In Assyrian court records, Israel was actually known as the “House of Omri.”

RULERS OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM

(Dates of reign in parentheses; these dates are imprecise but generally accepted. All dates are BCE.)

ISRAEL (NORTH)

JUDAH (SOUTH)

Jeroboam I (922-901)

Rehoboam (922-915)

Abijam (915-913)

Nadab (901-900)

Asa (913-873)

Baasha (900-877)

Elah (877-876)

Jehoshaphat (873-849)

Zimri (876)

Omri (876-869)

Ahab (869-850)

Ahaziah (850-849)

Jehoram (849-842)

Jehoram (849-842)

Ahaziah (842)

Athalia (842-837)

Jehu (842-815)

Jehoash (837-800)

Jehoahaz (815-801)

Amaziah (800-783)

Jehoash (801-786)

Jeroboam II (786-746)

Uzziah (783-742)

Zechariah (746-745)

Shallum (745)

Menahem (745-738)

Jotham (742-735)

Pekahiah (738-737)

Ahaz (735-715)

Pekah (737-732)

Hoshea (732-721)

JUDAH (AFTER THE FALL OF ISRAEL)

Hezekiah (715-687)

Manasseh (687-642)

Amon (642-640)

Josiah (640-609)

Jehoahaz (609)

Jehoiakim (609-598)

Jehoiachin (598-597)

Zedekiah (597-586)

(Source: New Oxford Annotated Bible)

In the period of the divided kingdom, the focus of the Bible books moves away from the kings to the exploits of a series of “prophets” who try to counsel—usually with little success—the rulers and people of Israel and Judah. There had been prophets or “seers” earlier in Israelite history, including Samuel and Deborah, the prophetess and judge. But in the period of the divided kingdoms, the various prophets emerge as the crucial biblical characters, overshadowing the kings to whom these prophets often tried to preach. Hebrew “prophets” aren’t easily defined; they were more than “fortune-tellers.” In general, the prophets were men or women who received divine messages—generally through dreams or visions. These messages were then communicated to the entire nation or to individuals, such as kings. The first of this generation of prophets were Elijah, one of Judaism’s great folk heroes, and his successor, Elisha.

BIBLICAL VOICES

The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. (1 Kings 21:23 KJV)

Was Jezebel really so bad?

Few names in biblical lore conjure up as negative an image as that of Jezebel, now synonymous with an evil, scheming woman, with a smattering of sexual temptress thrown in as well. The biblical Jezebel was a Phoenician princess, wife of King Ahab, Omri’s son. While he is viewed as one of the great scoundrels in the Bible, historical records show Ahab to have been an effective ruler who increased Israel’s strength in the region during a reign of nearly twenty years. When a coalition of Canaanite nations united to fend off an Assyrian invasion in 853 BCE, Ahab supplied the largest contingent: two thousand chariots and ten thousand fighting men. He even improved ties with the southern kingdom of Judah by marrying his daughter to the southern king Jehoram. The biblical authors—from southern Judah—did not think too highly of this northern king and glossed over his accomplishments, focusing instead on his shortcomings, the greatest of which was his wife: “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.” (1 Kings 21:25 KJV)

To the authors of Kings, Ahab was merely a pawn of his scheming wife. He willingly allowed her to promote the worship of Baal, the chief Canaanite god, and Baal’s consorts Astarte and Asherah. To counter the growth of Baal worship under Jezebel and Ahab, God sent a drought and famine on Israel, then dispatched the prophet Elijah to preach to the sinful rulers and people. Having been miraculously fed in the wilderness by ravens and then at a wisdom’s home by food that never ran out, Elijah was a wonder-worker whose powers were much greater than simple prophecy. He also raised a child from the dead. But his essential mission was to bring all of Israel back to Yahweh’s fold.

To prove