A digest of the biblical narrative that serves as the historical kernel lying
behind the story of the tribes is in order. Derived mainly from the first and
second books of Kings, the story has been universally regarded by ten tribes
seekers as historical truth. Of course, nearly two centuries of probing biblical
criticism and contested biblical archaeology have taught us nothing if not that
the biblical narrative cannot be treated as a chronological history narrating the
past as it happened. Indeed, in the case of the biblical narrative with which
we’re concerned here, it is important to bear in mind that at least the first part
of the actual (as opposed to the prophetic) history of the ten tribes story (the
first book of Kings, which tells the story of the united kingdom created by
David and its split into two under his grandson) is considered by biblical
scholars to be almost entirely fictional. The second part, found in 2 Kings
(which covers the history of the two kingdoms and the deportations of the
Israelites), is thought to have been heavily edited and full of interpolations.
Nevertheless, for the purposes of this book, it is imperative that we follow the
biblical narrative as it tells the story. For this is the truth of the tribes as their
various seekers have understood it.
In the beginning, there was one unified kingdom under the great kings,
David and Solomon, in the land of Israel, home of the twelve tribes, who had
descended from the third patriarch, Jacob. Things were good under Solomon
and the kingdom enjoyed prosperity and many years of peace. However, as
Solomon aged, he began to sin. He married foreign women and worshipped
their gods. He even built altars for these gods in Jerusalem, next to the temple
he himself had built for the Lord God. As a result, God becomes angry with
him and sends his messenger Ahijah the Shilonite to a “mighty man of valor”
from the tribe of Ephraim, Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He is to lead the Ephrai-
mites out of the kingdom and tear it into two.
As the biblical account has it, on his way out of Jerusalem, Jeroboam
encounters Ahijah, who in a dramatic gesture tears his own new garment
into twelve pieces. He then turns to Jeroboam: “take thee ten pieces: for thus
saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the
hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee.” Ahijah explains that one
tribe, Judah, will remain in the hands of the Davidic house, “for my servant
David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city that I have chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel.” The prophet soon repeats this message, again speaking of
God’s plan to divide up the united Davidic kingdom: “But I will take the
kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give unto thee even ten tribes”
( 1 Kings 11 : 30 – 36 ).
This prophecy is the first mention in the biblical narrative of the “ten
tribes”—indeed, it coins the term, which appears nowhere else in the Hebrew
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