What happened to the Kingdom of Israel after Solomon died? David became king

Answer 1

After the death of King Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel faced a split. The northern ten tribes, led by Jeroboam, rebelled against Solomon's son, Rehoboam. This split resulted in two separate kingdoms: the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah.

The northern Kingdom of Israel, consisting of the ten tribes, was ruled by a succession of kings. However, this kingdom remained politically unstable with frequent changes of rulers, palace coups, and power struggles. Over time, the northern Kingdom of Israel drifted away from worshiping Yahweh, the God of Israel, and embraced other gods and idols, leading to a decline in moral and religious values.

In 722 BCE, the northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. The Israelite population was either deported or assimilated into other regions of the Assyrian empire, resulting in the so-called Lost Tribes of Israel.

On the other hand, the southern Kingdom of Judah, consisting of two tribes (Judah and Benjamin), remained intact for a more extended period. The descendants of King David continued as rulers in Judah, and Jerusalem was the capital of this kingdom. However, the Kingdom of Judah also faced periods of turmoil and faced various conquests by foreign powers, including the Babylonians.

Ultimately, the Babylonian Empire, under King Nebuchadnezzar II, captured and destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BCE. The Kingdom of Judah was crushed, and many of its people were exiled to Babylon in what became known as the Babylonian Captivity. This marked the end of the independent Kingdom of Israel and initiated a significant period of exile and dispersion for the Israelites.