In this lecture, we follow the transformation of the Israelites from a
tribal society into a monarchy under the reigns of David and Solomon
and learn how the United Monarchy eventually dissolved as a result of
tensions between the northern and southern tribes. We will analyze the
biases and perspectives of the authors of the Hebrew Bible and conclude
by examining the origin of the New Testament references to Beelzeboul,
ruler of the demons.
King David
1. Sometime around 1030 B.C., the Israelite tribes united together
under the rule of Saul. In 1 Samuel 14:52, we read that there
was constant fighting against the Philistines during Saul’s reign.
This is the background for David’s rise to power. In one battle,
David kills the Philistine Goliath with a sling and stone. According
to the biblical accounts, Saul and his sons lost their lives in battle
against the Philistines.
2. David succeeded Saul as king sometime around 1000 B.C.
David then expanded the Israelite kingdom and ruled for 40
years. One of his most significant accomplishments was to
capture Jerusalem, in the heart of the hill country that had been
settled by the Israelites. But in the 200 years since the Israelites
had first arrived, they had not been able to take Jerusalem from
its native population, the Jebusites. It had remained a foreign
enclave in the heart of Israelite territory.
3. David made Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom and called it
the City of David. In addition to making Jerusalem the political
capital of the Israelite kingdom, David also brought the Ark of the
Covenant to Jerusalem, thereby making the worship of the God
of Israel the unifying bond of the 12 tribes.
King Solomon
1. Sometime around 970 B.C., David died and was succeeded
to the throne by his son, Solomon. Solomon used diplomatic
means to cement political alliances, including marrying female
members of the ruling families of neighboring peoples. The
peoples represented by the ruling families were those bordering
the Israelites on all sides-Ammonites, Edomites, and Moabites.
2. In addition to these politically motivated marriages or alliances,
Solomon also is known for having built the First Temple of the
God of Israel on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The temple
housed the Ark of the Covenant, which David had brought
to the city. We are told in 1 Kings 6:1 that in the fourth year
of Solomon’s reign over Israel, he built the house of the Lord.
Notice the reference to the temple as a house; it was the house
in which the God of Israel dwelled.
3. Solomon’s death in about 930 B.C. brought to an end a period
in the history of Israel that is referred to as the United Kingdom
or the United Monarchy. During this time, the 12 Israelite tribes
were unified under the rule of a single king.
Archaeological Evidence
1. Some scholars debate whether David and Solomon existed at
all and, instead, speculate that they are legendary or mythical
figures that were fabricated by later biblical writers to create a
mythology, a basis for the establishment of the Israelites.
2. The accuracy of the biblical descriptions of the United Monarchy
are lively topics for debate in scholarship today. One of the
problems facing scholars is that even by the most optimistic
estimates, the biblical text was not written down and edited until
centuries after the time of David and Solomon. The archaeological
evidence is not unequivocal either. Just as the text can be
interpreted in different ways, so can the archaeological evidence.
3. In the 1990s, a stele (inscribed stone) was found at Tel Dan,
in the northern part of Israel. This stele dates to the second
half of the 9"‘ century B.C., the century after the time of David.
Significantly, the stele mentions the house of David, meaning
the dynasty of King David. This means that within a century of
when David is thought to have lived, people were tracing their
ancestry back to him-which would argue that there was in fact
a historical David.
Dissolution of the United Monarchy
1. When Solomon died, the United Monarchy dissolved and split
into a northern and a southern half. The transformation of Israelite
society into an early state and a unified monarchy had always
been resisted by the northern tribes, known as the house of
Israel. The northern tribes resented the southern tribes, who held
superior positions in the civil government and the military. In fact,
the capital of the United Monarchy was at Jerusalem, in the south.
2. Now there were two independent and separate kingdoms, each
with its own political capital and king. In the Northern kingdom
of Israel, the capital was Samaria. In the Southern kingdom of
Judah, the capital remained in Jerusalem.
3. Against this background of conflict and tension between the
northern and southern tribes, there was significant disagreement
over how to properly worship Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Essentially, the dispute centered on the issue of inclusive versus
exclusive Yahwism.
Biases of the Biblical Writers
1. ln analyzing the Hebrew Bible, we must account for the biases
of the writers and editors of that work. Creators of the Hebrew
Bible were pro-Judah and anti-Israel-that is, pro-south and
anti-north. Further, they favored exclusive rather than inclusive
Yahwism. Inclusive Yahwists allowed the veneration of other
gods alongside Yahweh but worshipped Yahweh, the god of
Israel, as their national god. By contrast, exclusive Yahwists
did not tolerate the worship of any other gods than Yahweh. Of
course, that perspective is the one that eventually won out.
2. Another predisposition of the biblical writers is that they favored
the centralization of the cult-that is, they believed that there
was only one place where one may offer sacrifices to the God
of Israel. The biblical writers condemned kings who established
sanctuaries outside of Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel.
3. Centralization of the cult in Jerusalem placed religion under
the control of the high priests serving in the Jerusalem Temple.
What’s more, centralization of the cult favored the kingdom of
Judah, which controlled Jerusalem.
The 10 Lost Tribes
1. We see the bias of the biblical authors reflected in various biblical
passages. For example, Jeroboam, who succeeded Solomon
as the king of Israel in the north, established an alternative
sanctuary in the territory of the Northern kingdom. He took two
calves of gold and set up one in Bethel and the other in Dan.
This became a sin to Israel.
2. Omari, a king of Israel after Jeroboam, secured an alliance
with the Phoenician king of Tyre by marrying his son Ahab to
Ithobaal’s daughter Jezebel. Notice that Ithobaal and Jezebel
both have a similar component in their names: baal or bel. Baal
was the national god of the Canaanites and the Phoenicians;
thus, embedded in the names of Ithobaal and Jezebel is the
name of the national deity.
3. King Ahab (c. 872-851 B.C.) was actually a capable king under
whose rule the kingdom of Israel prospered. However, Ahab is
presented in an extremely negative light in the Hebrew Bible
because the writers or editors were anti-north and anti-Israel,
and because Ahab was an inclusive Yahwist, like other members
of the Samaria aristocracy. What’s more, Ahab’s wife Jezebel
aggressively promoted the worship of Baal in Israel.
4. Ahab reigned over Israel and Samaria for 22 years, but he
provoked the God of Israel by also worshipping Baal. After Ahab
died, the members of his family were executed during a bloody
purge, and Jezebel was put to death.
5. About two centuries later, the Northern kingdom of Israel fell.
At this time, the dominant power in the ancient Near East was
the Assyrian Empire, based in the northern part of modern Iraq.
in 722 B.C., the Assyrians conquered the Northern kingdom of
Israel and sent the people of Israel into exile. This is the source
of the story of the 10 lost tribes.
From Baal to Beelzebub
1. Analyzing the worship of Baal, the patron deity of the Canaanites
and the Phoenicians, leads us to a figure who is connected with
the New Testament accounts: Beelzeboul. ln Mark 3:22, we
read, “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said,
he has Beelzeboul. And by the ruler of the demons, he cast out
demons.” ln other words, in the New Testament, Beelzeboul is
the ruler of the demons.
2. Consider the god Baal, the chief deity of the Canaanites and the
Phoenicians. The word baal literally means “lord” or “master.”
Baalezebul originally meant “Baal the prince,” as in the chief
deity. Beelzeboul is a variation on that name.
3. The story of Beelzebub is found in 2 Kings 1:2-3. This story
reflects the condemnation by the biblical writers of inclusive
a. Yahwism in the time of Ahab’s son Ahaziah:Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper chamberin Samaria, and lay injured; so he sent messengers, tellingthem, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whetherI shall recover from this injury.” But the angel of the Lord saidto Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers ofthe king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there isno God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub,the god of Ekron?”4. Ekron was one of the cities of the Philistine pentapolis, and
Beelzebub was the god who was being consulted. The name
Beelzebub is very close to Baalezebul or Beelzeboul. Beelzebub,
translated literally, means “lord of the flies.” In effect, the biblical
writers created an intentional corruption and a deliberate pun
or play on that name-turning a prince into the lord of the flies.
Suggested Reading
Goldenberg, The Origins of Judaism, chapter 2, “The Beginnings of
Monotheism.”
Questions to Consider
1. What are some of the current debates concerning David and his
kingdom?
2. What is inclusive versus exclusive Yahwism?
