Why did the Jewish tribes Benjamin and judah split off from the other tribes?

Answer 1

The ten tribes (Reuvain, part of Shimon, most of Levi, Yissachar, Zevulun, Dan, Asher, Gad, Naphtali, and Joseph) broke away from Judah; while Benjamin remained loyal to Judah (I Kings ch. 12). The incident which instigated the breakaway was that when Solomon died, the people asked his son (Rechav'am) to ease up on the taxes and he loudly refused.

The revolt was led by a descendant of Joseph. Joseph's progeny had never forgotten how important they had been in Egypt and in the time of Joshua (who was also descended from Joseph).

Answer 2

A:There are traditionally twelve Hebrew tribes recognised, representing each of the sons of Jacob or Israel. However, the names of the tribes vary somewhat through the Old Testament narrative, suggesting a more fluid tribal history than generally recognised. Either there were at different times more than twelve tribes, or biblical tradition was unsure of just what tribes existed in the earliest times of Hebrew history. The tribe of Judah is not even mentioned in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:2-31), believed to be one of the earliest passages in The Bible. The absence of Judah from the earliest biblical records probably reflects the fact, confirmed by archaeologists, that Judah was the last region to be settled by the Hebrew people.

The biblical account says that the other ten tribes rebelled and separated from Judah and Benjamin, rather than the other way around. King Solomon had ruled most unwisely, levying swingeing taxes that the northern tribes found unbearable, so they rebelled when Solomon's son and successor refused to lower those taxes. The northern tribes took the name Israel for their kingdom and the southern tribes seemed not to have objected, calling their remnant kingdom Judah.

Archaeologists say the United Monarchy never really existed, and that Israel and Judah were always separate, with their own customs, pottery and dialects of the Hebrew language. Never having been united, neither really separated from the other.

Answer 3

The other way around. The other Israelite tribes split away from Judah and Benjamin.

Rehoboam's father, King Solomon, had levied relatively heavy taxes, which had been used for such large-scale endeavors as building the First Temple. The fact that the nation was so prosperous and happy in his time (1 Kings 4:20) demonstrates that Solomon conducted his governance in a praiseworthy manner.

After Solomon's death, the people approached his son Rehav'am (Rehoboam) and asked that he now lower the tax. He ignored the counsel of his elder advisers and refused the people's request. This led the Ten Tribes to turn away from him (1 Kings ch.12).

The background reason was because King Solomon had been less than perfectly righteous. This led God to punish him by diminishing his dynasty in the lifetime of his son (Rehoboam). 1 Kings ch.11.

A deeper reason is that God wanted the more righteous people of Judah to be influenced by the Ten Tribes as little as possible.

See also:

Solomon's errors

Jewish history timeline

Answer 4

The ten northern tribes were taken over and incorporated into the Assyrian Empire.