The Divided Monarchy is also marked by the emergence of two rival polit-
ical parties. One scholar recently dubbed these an accommodationist-
cosmopolitan party, which was willing to compromise the primacy of the
Israelite religion for the sake of political gain; and a nationalist-reform party
that, buttressed by the covenantal tradition, advocated limiting foreign influ-
ence regardless of the political or diplomatic consequences. The tensions
between these two political outlooks would remain in play until the end of
Israelite independence in the sixth century B.C.E.
When Solomon died, his son and successor Rehoboam inherited the divine
sanction but lacked his father’s wisdom and charisma. The succession from
Solomon to Rehoboam was the exact inverse of the succession from David to
Solomon. The latter succession had been complicated by family intrigue, but
once Solomon ascended the throne, there was no further resistance.
Rehoboam ascended with no family intrigue but encountered resistance from
virtually every other direction. As with David and Solomon, Rehoboam’s
ascension to the throne required him to be crowned in Shechem by the north-
ern tribes, as well as in Judah. In Judah, he was crowned without incident. In
Shechem, however, he was greeted with a host of petitions and grievances
against his father that the northern tribes asked him to address, especially the
matter of excessively high taxes. As recounted in I Kings, Rehoboam was first
counseled by an older cadre of advisers who had served Solomon that he
address at least some of these grievances. A younger, more arrogant cadre con-
sisting of his own contemporaries advised him to defy this resistance. Some
scholars have suggested that the story of the sons of heaven in Genesis referred
to Rehoboam and his entourage. The new king followed the latter group, at
which point his emissary to the northern tribes was hanged, forcing
Rehoboam and his entourage to flee back to Judah.
At this point, Jeroboam returned from Egypt and led a secession by the
northern ten tribes. Neither Judah nor the northern tribes were strong
enough to force the other party into some sort of union, and the United
Monarchy split into two kingdoms: Judah in the south, and Israel in the
north. Neither kingdom was able to hold on to the other parts of the United
Monarchy – Moab, Transjordan, and Philistia – which broke away, leaving
Judah and Israel as two rump kingdoms.
The inability of either side to restore a united monarchy resulted from four
factors. First, proponents of a confederation had opposed any kind of monarchy
even while the United Monarchy had existed. Second, neither side had the
military capability to restore a union. Third, both kingdoms were too busy
defending their own newly established borders; five years after the secession of
the northern tribes, Shishak and the lionized Twenty-second Egyptian dynasty
formed an alliance with Libya and attacked Judah and Israel. Finally, prophetic
sanction for secession of the northern tribes precluded any religiously moti-
vated initiative to restore a united kingdom. Loss of territory also meant loss of
16 The world of the Hebrew Bible