Why did the Jewish kingdom split after Solomon's death?

Answer 1

The kingdom was split into two, the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. The kingdom of Judah, led by Solomon's son Rehoboam, was the southern kingdom and included the tribes of Judah and Simon. While kingdom of Israel, led by Jeroboam was the northern kingdom and was comprised of the other 10 tribes.

Answer 2

When Solomon died, the northerners rebelled and fighting broke out. Their complaint concerned taxation. Ten of the Twelve Israelite tribes, led by Yeravam ben Nevat, set up their own nation in the north (1 Kings ch.12-13).

Answer 2
His son Rehoboam decided to listen to his younger advisors rather than his father's older advisors and told the representatives from the northern 10 tribes that he would be even stricter than his father and lay even heavier taxes on them just to prove he was in charge. (His father's advisors told him to lighten the burden, but he ignored them). The northern 10 tribes pretty much said "forget that" and split away to form a separate nation called "Israel" with Solomon's former superintendent Jeroboam as their new king. Rehoboam was left with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to rule over what was now just the kingdom of Judah.

Answer 3

According to The Bible, Solomon was the king of a glorious United Monarchy of Israel, stretching from Egypt all the way to Mesopotamia. After his death, the northern tribes of Israel rebelled against his unwise and swingeing taxes, arrogantly maintained by his son Rehoboam, and created their own kingdom, also called Israel.

Archaeologists differ. Israel Finkelstein says there never was a United Monarchy of Israel and that Solomon, if indeed he existed, was merely a local chieftain. Israel and Judah had always been separate, and this did not change on Solomon's death. The stories of the United Monarchy of Israel and of Solomon were developed to give the people of Judah a sense of national pride, and perhaps to justify a future claim on the 'lost' territories of Israel.

Answer 4

The Kingdom of Israel, led by Joseph's two tribes Ephraim and Manasseh, split with the Kingdom of Judah [the Jews], led by Solomon's son, Rehoboam, because he refused to ease up on the extreme taxes that his father imposed upon the people to build the Temple [which was now complete]. In other words: Israel's kingdom split from the kingdom of the Jews because of "taxation without representation."

The king of Israel changed the times to observe God's Sabbaths to coincide with the customs and traditions of the pagan nations around his kingdom, so that the people wouldn't be compelled to return to Jerusalem, the Jew's throne, to observe the Holy Days God commanded. In the course of time, God removed "Israel" from their land by the Assyrians [from whom the Germanic tribes descended]; leaving only the Kingdom of Judah [the Jews] visible to the world.

The ten tribes of Israel, led by the two birthright tribes of Joseph [see Gen.48], disappeared from world view, scattered among the nations of the world... their identity and heritage seemingly lost in history.

Israel never returned to the Promised Land... and some 130 years later, Judah [the Jews] followed them into captivity in Babylon for 70 years for their own forsaking of God and His Sabbaths [the one sign or mark God reveals that truly IDENTIFIES who His people are - see Ex.31:13, 16-17], after which they returned to Jerusalem for a time before being scattered again among the nations, themselves, by Rome.

Answer 5

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 the Related Links.

Link: Solomon's errors

Link: List of kings

Link: Jewish history timeline

Answer 6

The people complained to the next king (Rehoboam) about the rate of taxation, and he ignored them, so some of the tribes seceded into a separate kingdom.

Answer 7

it became part of the desert.