An Atheist's Guide to the Bible

Judah - the southern kingdom

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The historical background of the Old Testament story is the rise and fall of two kingdoms in the land of Canaan - one was Israel and the other was Judah.

The people of the southern hill country of Canaan regarded themselves as descended from a heroic ancestor called Judah, who was incorporated into the Genesis traditions as one of the sons of Jacob, the hero-ancestor of the Israelites.

The kingdom of Judah began to prosper after the fall of the northern kingdom to the Assyrians in 722 BCE. The Assyrians also campaigned against the neighbouring Philistines, and in particular they captured the powerful city of Lachish in 701 BCE which had previously dominated the area of Jerusalem and the surronding southern hill country. After this time the way was clear for Jerusalem to expand and take on the role of regional urban centre.

In the Biblical legend, the two kingdoms were supposed to have originated in a division of a United Monarchy, ruled by David and Solomon from Jerusalem. Archaeologically it is clear that Jerusalem was not a major settlement in the period immediately before the late eighth century, but that it grew dramatically following the fall of Israel.

The prophets took the example of Israel's defeat and the deportation of some of its people into exile, and warned that the same might happen to Judah. They interpreted the fall of the northern kingdom as resulting from Yahweh's anger against idolatry and the failure of the kings to follow the divine commands. Eventually the warnings proved true and the kingdom of Judah was defeated by the Babylonians - see the Fall of Judah.

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