From an early period the land was inhabited by the descendants of Canaan,
who retained possession of the whole land “from Sidon to Gaza” till the
time of the conquest by Joshua, when it was occupied by the twelve
tribes. Two tribes and a half had their allotments given them by Moses on
the east of the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:12-20; comp. Numbers 1:17-46;
Joshua 4:12-13). The remaining tribes had their portion on the west of
Jordan.
From the conquest till the time of Saul, about four hundred years, the
people were governed by judges. For a period of one hundred and twenty
years the kingdom retained its unity while it was ruled by Saul and David
and Solomon. On the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam ascended the
throne; but his conduct was such that ten of the tribes revolted, and
formed an independent monarchy, called the kingdom of Israel, or the
northern kingdom, the capital of which was first Shechem and afterwards
Samaria. This kingdom was destroyed. The Israelites were carried captive
by Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, B.C. 722, after an independent existence
of two hundred and fifty-three years. The place of the captives carried
away was supplied by tribes brought from the east, and thus was formed
the Samaritan nation (2 Kings 17:24-29).
Nebuchadnezzar came up against the kingdom of the two tribes, the
kingdom of Judah, the capital of which was Jerusalem, one hundred and
thirty-four years after the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel. He
overthrew the city, plundered the temple, and carried the people into
captivity to Babylon (B.C. 587), where they remained seventy years. At
the close of the period of the Captivity, they returned to their own land,
under the edict of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4). They rebuilt the city and temple,
and restored the old Jewish commonwealth.
For a while after the Restoration the Jews were ruled by Zerubbabel, Ezra,
and Nehemiah, and afterwards by the high priests, assisted by the
Sanhedrin. After the death of Alexander the Great at Babylon (B.C. 323),
his vast empire was divided between his four generals. Egypt, Arabia,
Palestine, and Coele-Syria fell to the lot of Ptolemy Lagus. Ptolemy took
possession of Palestine in B.C. 320, and carried nearly one hundred
thousand of the inhabitants of Jerusalem into Egypt. He made Alexandria
the capital of his kingdom, and treated the Jews with consideration,
confirming them in the enjoyment of many privileges.