The Kings of Judah were the monarchs who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Judah, which was formed in about 930 BC, according to the Hebrew Bible, when the United Kingdom of Israel split, with the people of the northern Kingdom of Israel rejecting Rehoboam as their monarch, leaving him as solely the King of Judah.
The capital of the Kingdom of Judah was Jerusalem. All of the kings of Judah lived and died in Judah except for Ahaziah (who died at Megiddo in Israel), Jehoahaz (who died a prisoner in Egypt) and Jeconiah and Zedekiah who were deported as part of the Babylonian captivity.
Judah was conquered in 587 or 586 BC, by the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nebuzaradan, captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard. With the death or deportation of most of the population and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, the Kingdom of Judah was dissolved.
List Most modern historians follow either the older chronologies established by William F. Albright or Edwin R. Thiele,Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). , 9780825438257 or the newer chronologies of Gershon Galil and Kenneth Kitchen,On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003) by Kenneth Kitchen. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. . all of which are shown below. All dates are BCE.
Common/Biblical nameAlbrightThieleGalilKitchenRegnal Name and styleNotesHouse of DavidRehoboam Reigned for 17 years.922–915931–913931–914931–915רחבעם בן-שלמה מלך יהודהRehav’am ben Shelomo, Melekh YehudaDeath: natural causesAbijahReigned for 3 years.915–913913–911914–911915–912אבים בן-רחבעם מלך יהודה ’Aviyam ben Rehav’am, Melekh YehudaDeath: natural causesAsaReigned for 41 years.913–873911–870911–870912–871אסא בן-אבים מלך יהודה ’Asa ben ’Aviyam, Melekh YehudaDeath: severe foot diseaseJehoshaphatReigned for 25 years.873–849870–848870–845871–849יהושפט בן-אסא מלך יהודה Yehoshafat ben ’Asa, Melekh YehudaDeath: natural causesJehoram Reigned for 8 years.849–842848–841851–843849–842יהורם בן-יהושפט מלך יהודהYehoram ben Yehoshafat, Melekh YehudaDeath: severe stomach diseaseAhaziahReigned for 1 year.842–842841–841843–842842–841אחזיהו בן-יהורם מלך יהודה ’Ahazyahu ben Yehoram, Melekh YehudaDeath: killed by Jehu, who usurped the throne of IsraelAthaliah (Queen)Reigned for 6 years.842–837841–835842–835841–835עתליה בת-עמרי מלכת יהודה‘Atalya bat ‘Omri, Malkat YehudaDeath: killed by the troops assigned by Jehoiada the Priest to protect Joash.Queen Mother, widow of Jehoram and mother of AhaziahJehoash (Joash)Reigned for 40 years.837–800835–796835–802835–796יהואש בן-אחזיהו מלך יהודה Yehoash ben ’Ahazyahu, Melekh YehudaDeath: killed by his officials namely: Zabad, son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.AmaziahReigned for 29 years.800–783796–767805–776796–776אמציהו בן-יהואש מלך יהודה ’Amatzyahu ben Yehoash, Melekh YehudaDeath: killed in Lachish by the men sent by his officials who conspired against him.Uzziah(Azariah)Reigned for 52 years.783–742767–740788–736776–736עזיהו בן-אמציה מלך יהודה‘Uziyahu ben ’Amatzyahu, Melekh Yehudaעזריה בן-אמציהו מלך יהודה‘Azarya ben ’Amatzyahu, Melekh YehudaDeath: TzaraathGeorge Syncellus wrote that the First Olympiad took place in Uzziah's 48th regnal year.JothamReigned for 16 years.742–735740–732758–742750–735/30יותם בן-עזיהו מלך יהודה Yotam ben ‘Uziyahu, Melekh YehudaDeath: natural causesAhazReigned for 16 years.735–715732–716742–726735/31–715אחז בן-יותם מלך יהודה’Ahaz ben Yotam, Melekh YehudaDeath: natural causesThe Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III records he received tribute from Ahaz; compare 2 Kings 16:7-9HezekiahReigned for 29 years.715–687716–687726–697715–687חזקיהו בן-אחז מלך יהודהHizqiyahu ben ’Ahaz, Melekh YehudaDeath: Natural CausesContemporary with Sennacherib of Assyria and Merodach-Baladan of Babylon.ManassehReigned for 55 years.687–642687–643697–642687–642מנשה בן-חזקיהו מלך יהודהMenashe ben Hizqiyahu, Melekh YehudaDeath: natural causesMentioned in Assyrian records as a contemporary of EsarhaddonAmonReigned for 2 years.642–640643–641642–640642–640אמון בן-מנשה מלך יהודה’Amon ben Menashe, Melekh YehudaDeath: killed by his officials, who were killed later on by the people of Judah.JosiahReigned for 31 years.640–609641–609640–609640–609יאשיהו בן-אמון מלך יהודהYo’shiyahu ben ’Amon, Melekh YehudaDeath: shot by archers during the battle against Neco of Egypt. He died upon his arrival on Jerusalem.JehoahazReigned for 3 months.609609609609יהואחז בן-יאשיהו מלך יהודהYeho’ahaz ben Yo’shiyahu, Melekh YehudaDeath: Necho II, king of Egypt, dethroned him, and Jehoahaz was replaced by his brother, Eliakim. Carried off to Egypt, where he died.JehoiakimReigned for 11 years.609–598609–598609–598609–598יהויקים בן-יאשיהו מלך יהודהYehoyaqim ben Yo’shiyahu, Melekh YehudaDeath: Natural CausesThe Battle of Carchemish occurred in the fourth year of his reign (Jeremiah 46:2)Jehoiachin(Jeconiah)Reigned for 3 months & 10 days.598598598–597598–597יהויכין בן-יהויקים מלך יהודהYehoyakhin ben Yehoyaqim, Melekh Yehudaיכניה בן-יהויקים מלך יהודהYekhonya ben Yehoyaqim, Melekh YehudaDeath: King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon sent for him and brought him to Babylon, where he lived and died.Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians and Jehoiachin deposed on 16 March, 597 BCE. Called Jeconiah in Jeremiah and EstherZedekiahReigned for 11 years.597–587597–586597–586597–586צדקיהו בן-יאשיהו מלך יהודהTzidqiyahu ben Yo’shiyahu, Melekh YehudaDeath: In prison.Jeremiah 52:11His reign saw the second rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar (588–586 BC). Jerusalem was captured after a lengthy siege, the temple burnt, Zedekiah blinded and taken into exile, and Judah reduced to a province.
A footnote in the Amplified Bible regarding Jeremiah 36:3 disputes that King Jehoiakim died of natural causes, asserting that the king rebelled against Babylon several years after these events (II Kings 24:1) and was attacked by numerous bands from various nations subject to Babylon (II Kings 24:2), concluding that he came to a violent death and a disgraceful burial as foretold by Jeremiah (Jer. 22:13–19).
Chronology
There has been considerable academic debate about the actual dates of reigns of the Judahite kings. Scholars have endeavored to synchronize the chronology of events referred to in the Bible with those derived from other external sources. These scholarly disagreements are reflected in the table above, which contains scholarly attempts to date the reigns of Judahite monarchs in terms of the Gregorian calendar.
Biblical scholars have noted the apparent inconsistencies in the chronology of the kings of Judah and Israel based on the biblical sources. Some have also pointed out the difficulties of cross-synchronising that dating with those of the other cultures of the area. Some have attempted to give as much historical weight as possible to the biblical sources, while others discount their reliability as historic sources, some even denying any historical value to the biblical sources at all.
Using the information in Kings and Chronicles, Edwin Thiele calculated the dates of the reigns of the kings of Judah from the division of the kingdom, which he calculates to have been in 931–930 BCE. Thiele noticed that for the first seven kings of Israel (ignoring Zimri's seven-day reign), the synchronisms to Judean kings fell progressively behind by one year for each king. Thiele saw this as evidence that the northern kingdom was measuring the years by a non-accession system (first partial year of reign was counted as year one), whereas the southern kingdom was using the accession method (it was counted as year zero). He also concluded that the calendars for reckoning the years of kings in Judah and Israel were offset by six months, that of Judah starting in Tishri (in the fall) and that of Israel in Nisan (in the spring). This is the conclusion from cross-synchronizations between the two kingdoms which often allows the narrowing of the beginning or ending dates of a king within a six-month period, identifying the difference as due to the calendar starting date. Once these were understood, the various reign lengths and cross-synchronisms for these kings was determined, and the sum of reigns for both kingdoms produced 931/930 BCE for the division of the kingdom when working backwards from the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC.
Thiele showed that for the reign of Jehoram, Judah adopted Israel's non-accession method of counting the years of reign, meaning that the first partial year of the king's reign was counted as his first full year, in contrast to the "accession" method previously in use, whereby the first partial year was counted as year "zero", and "year one" was assigned to the first full year of reign. Thiele attributed this change to the rapprochement between Judah and Israel, whereby Jehoshaphat, Jehoram's father, united with Ahab at the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, and chose a daughter for his son from the house of Ahab (, ).Thiele, Mysterious Numbers, 58. This convention was followed in Judah for the next three monarchs: Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Jehoash, returning to Judah's original accession reckoning in the time of Amaziah. These changes can be inferred by comparison of the textual data in the Bible; however, the biblical texts do not explicitly state whether the reckoning was by accession or non-accession counting, nor do they indicate explicitly when a change was made in the method. Thiele's reckoning has been criticized as arbitrary in its assignment of accession and non-accession dating systems. The official records of Tiglath-Pileser III show that he switched (arbitrarily) to non-accession reckoning for his reign, in contrast with the accession method used for previous kings of Assyria.Hayim Tadmor, The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III, King of Assyria (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994) 232, n.3. Tiglath-Pileser left no record for modern historians to indicate which dating method he used, nor whether he was switching from the method used by his predecessors; this is instead determined by comparison of the relevant texts by Assyriologists, the same as Thiele did for the regnal data of Judah and Israel.
Co-regency Additional potential confusion arises from periods of co-regency when a son's reign may begin prior to the end of his father's reign. In those situations, years of reign are specified in terms of both the father and of the son. At times, the period of co-regency is clearly indicated, while in others it must be inferred from the source material.
As an example of the reasoning that finds inconsistencies in calculations when coregencies are a priori ruled out, dates the fall of Samaria (the Northern Kingdom) to the 6th year of Hezekiah's reign. William F. Albright dated the fall of the Kingdom of Israel to 721 BC, whereas E. R. Thiele calculated the date as 723 BC.Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings (3rd ed.; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983) pp. 134, 217. If Albright's or Thiele's dating are correct, then Hezekiah's reign would begin in either 729 or 727 BCE. On the other hand, states that Sennacherib invaded Judah in the 14th year of Hezekiah's reign. Assyrian records date this invasion to 701 BC, and Hezekiah's reign would therefore begin in 716/715 BC.Leslie McFall, “A Translation Guide to the Chronological Data in Kings and Chronicles,” Bibliotheca Sacra 148 (1991) p. 33. (Link) This dating would be confirmed by the account of Hezekiah's illness in chapter 20, which immediately follows Sennacherib's departure (). This would date his illness to Hezekiah's 14th year, which is confirmed by Isaiah's statement () that he would live fifteen more years (29−15=14). These problems are all addressed by scholars who make reference to the ancient Near Eastern practice of coregency.