#kingdom of judah

[daniel-nerd]

people who try to play the “but jewish people were here 3000 years ago” card really need to learn what christians and muslims are.

christianity branched from judaism like 2000 years ago.

and islam branched from christianity like 1400 years ago.

you could say jewish people were here 3000 years ago but that’s like saying europeans have the right to africa’s land because humans were there 20,000 years ago!! at some point you went too far back and who was or wasn’t there doesn’t matter anymore.

especially when the religion you’re trying to discredit haven’t branched from your religion yet so they’re part of the “jewish people” you’re referring to!!

[secular-jew]

The land of Israel has been populated by the Jewish people since 2000 BCE. Here's the timeline, in case you didn't realize that it is their homeland.

1900 BCE:

- Abraham chosen by G-d as the Father of the Jewish Nation.

1900 BCE:

- Isaac, Abraham's son, rules over Israel.

1850 BCE:

- Jacob, son of Issac, rules over Israel.

1400 BCE:

- Moses leads the people out of Egypt and back to Israel.

1010 BCE:

- King David unites the 12 tribes into one nation.

970 BCE:

- King Solomon, son of David, builds the first temple structure in Jerusalem

930 BCE:

- Israel is divided into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.

722 BCE:

- Kingdom of Israel is conquered by Assyrians.

605 BCE:

- Kingdom of Judah is conquered by the Babylonians.

586 BCE:

- Solomon's Temple is destroyed by the Babylonians.

539 BCE:

- Persians conquer the Babylonians and take control of Israel.

538 BCE:

- The Jews return to Israel from exile.

520 BCE:

- The Temple is rebuilt.

432 BCE:

- The last group of Jews return from exile.

333 BCE:

- The Greeks conquer the Persian empire.

323 BCE:

- The Egyptian and Syrian empires take over Israel.

167 BC:

- Hasmoneans recapture Israel, and the Jews rule independently.

70 BCE:

- Romans conquer Israel.

70 CE:

- Romans destroy the temple.

After that, the Jewish people were captives to the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Crusaders. Through all of these events, the Jewish people continued to live in Israel. There were more or fewer of them, depending on the centuries, but there was never a time when the Jews didn't live in the land.

They stayed, they built their communities, they raised their families, practiced their faith and they suffered at the hands of many outside rulers, but they always kept their faith. It is what sustains them, even now.

May 1948 CE:

- the UN established the State of Israel, the sovereign nation of the Jews.

Don't buy the Palestinian lies that they are entitled to the land. It simply is not true. HaShem will also provide a way for his chosen people to live in Israel, as He has for thousands of years.

Based off of a post by Raymond García of Julesburg, Colorado USA

[koenji]

Inscribed Hebrew seals, Various sites and unknown provenance, Iron Age II, 8th–6th century BCE, Semiprecious stones, limestone, bone, glass, bronze, silver, H: 0.5–2 cm. The Israel Museum. x

In ancient times, when only a small minority of people could read and write, the seal impression was used as a mark of ownership and as a means of authenticating documents, just as the signature is used today. The seals are usually made of semi precious stone or hard limestone, and a few are carved from bone, glass, bronze, or silver.

Archaeological evidence shows that pottery vessels containing wine, oil, or valuables were closed with clay stoppers which were then stamped with a seal. Papyrus documents were rolled up, tied with a string, and secured with a lump of wet clay on which a seal was impressed (bulla). Great importance is ascribed to the seal in the Bible: it was the symbol of the king's authority, appearing on all royal edicts (I Kings 21:8).

Seal inscriptions were carved in mirror writing, so as to appear correctly in the seal impression. The seals bear the name of the owner, generally with the father's name appended, used as a sort of 'family name.' Some seals also bear an ornamental design. A particularly important group of seals is inscribed with the names of ministers or other royal functionaries, many bearing titles or names that are mentioned in the Bible.

[applesauce42069]

watching a history video and this guy said that the name "Jew" came about during the Babylonian exile, after the kingdom of Judah. I had previously assumed that it came from "Judea" as in the Roman province. Very cool stuff.

[todaysjewishholiday]

10 Tammuz 5784 (15-16 July 2024)

The monarchy of Judah began when Dovid HaMelekh replaced Shaul ben Kish as king of Israel, and then separated from the monarchy of Israel in the time of Dovid’s grandson Rechab’am, around the year 2828. It ended twenty kings and 345 years later on the tenth of Tammuz 3173 when the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar the Second deposed Tzidkiyahu, the last descendant of David to ever rule as a monarch in Jerusalem.

Tzidkiyahu had been placed on the throne by Babylonian forces who had deposed his nephew after a failed revolt by Judah against its status as a tributary state of Babylon. Tzidkiyahu swore fealty to Nebuchadnezzar II, but soon violated his oath and sought the support of Egypt’s Pharoahs for another rebellion against the Babylonians six years into his reign. The Egyptians did not provide the promised support, and the Babylonian army began a brutal siege of the capital of Judah and most sacred city of the Israelites.

When the Babylonians breached Jerusalem’s walls on the ninth of Tammuz, Tzidkiyahu fled the city, hoping to escape, but was captured the next day on the plains outside Jericho. He was then taken to Nebuchadnezzar II’s camp at Riblah and forced to watch the murder of his sons, then was blinded and taken to the Babylonian capital as a prisoner. The counselors and courtiers who had encouraged the policy of revolt were also put to death in the Babylonian camp.

Tzidkiyahu’s death, and the slaughter of his family, put an end to the dynasty of the kings of Judah, but not to the hope of an eventual restoration of the monarchy. In the Babylonian exile, prophecies and songs expressing hope for a righteous king of Judah were reinterpreted as predictions of the eventual reestablishment of the dynasty by one of Dovid’s descendants. A good king who would avoid all the pitfalls that earlier kings of Judah had foundered in, and who would restore the Beis HaMikdash and ensure Jewish autonomy from foreign occupation. This hoped for future king came to be known by the name of the priestly ritual that had elevated the kings of Judah to the throne— Mashiach, or anointing. Centuries of occupation by a series of empires following the Babylonian exile only deepened this hope and the mythology surrounding it.

Mashiach went from being a common term for any anointed person or object to referring specifically to the hope of redemptive liberation through the efforts of a righteous heir to the throne of Judah. While Jewish monarchies such as the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties were established after the exiles returned, none of the kings had either the right lineage or political accomplishments to be accepted as the special good king who would free the people from oppression. Numerous messianic claimants have presented themselves in the millenia since Tzidkiyahu was dethroned, but none have brought about the hoped for national redemption.

[jesusislord3333]

“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭12‬ ‭

[lightdancer1]

Pharaoh Taharqa happens to be another case of the early intersections of Jewish and Black history:

Ironically posterity would make Taharqa one of many cases of a Pharaoh whose reign wound up caught up in the discussions of Biblical historicity, in the proof of the existence of King Hezekiah of Judah/Yehudah/Yahud, fighting against both Sennacherib, who besieged Judah and helping to relieve the Israelite Kingdom, and then getting driven back into Kush by Sennecharib's successor as Emperor of Assyria, Esarhaddon.

Taharqa would have seen this as one of many battles and campaigns in a long career that brought the Kushite dynasty to its furthest reaches, Hezekiah and his Edomite counterpart as tribute-paying subordinates to him after he liberated them, and his career as predominantly directed against Assyria much as the most powerful Pharaohs fought the Hittites and the Mitanni.

Taharqa also makes the same point that would recur in other points, that rulers of Africa did have the power to push into Asia and Europe where geography permitted. It was not just the Amazigh or the Khemetic peoples who did this, where it was possible, the rulers of Black Africa did so and did so unapologetically like everyone else did.

Unfortunately geography meant that it was much harder to push up north against the weight of world states like Assyria, Rome, or the original Caliphates (not so much against the fragmented successors or the smaller state orders that were much more vulnerable).

[bibleblender]

New article has been published on https://www.bibleblender.com/2023/biblical-lessons/biblical-history/ancient-history/quick-history-israel-palestine-gaza-strip-west-bank-promised-land

The battle for the Promised Land - a quick history covering the ever-changing control over Israel, Palestine, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

Our entire Old Testament is a story, not just about the Jewish people but their land ��� the Land of Milk and Honey. From the earliest chapters in Genesis to the fiery culmination in Revelations – the story is centered in Israel. It’s a tale about the land God gave to the Israelites, his people, who serve as foundation stones in the history of mankind.

[kdmiller55]

Faithful to the End

Faithful to the End

53 “I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, 54 that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them. 55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her…

[svartikotturinn]

That’s all fine and dandy but why are you showing a map indicating that Gaza and the Negev, and in fact even a big chunk of land north of Ashdod, were not Jewish/Israeli, and in fact a big chunk of the Negev was under Arab (or ‘Arubu’ for some reason) rule? The borders changed a few times back then, you could have used a whole bunch of other maps from the era to make your point.

For fuck’s sake why do Israelis get so cocky and callous when they try to speak with others…?

Go back to where you came from, they said.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Assyrians Invade Judah

1 During Hezekiah’s fourteenth year as king, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the strong, walled cities of Judah and captured them. 2 The king of Assyria sent out his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. When the commander came near the waterway from the upper pool on the road where people do their laundry, he stopped. 3 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah went out to meet him. Eliakim son of Hilkiah was the palace manager, Shebna was the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph was the recorder.

4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this:

“‘The great king, the king of Assyria, says: What can you trust in now? 5 You say you have battle plans and power for war, but your words mean nothing. Whom are you trusting for help so that you turn against me? 6 Look, you are depending on Egypt to help you, but Egypt is like a splintered walking stick. If you lean on it for help, it will stab your hand and hurt you. The king of Egypt will hurt all those who depend on him. 7 You might say, “We are depending on the Lord our God,” but Hezekiah destroyed the Lord’s altars and the places of worship. Hezekiah told Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship only at this one altar.”

8 “‘Now make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough men to ride them. 9 You cannot defeat one of my master’s least important officers, so why do you depend on Egypt to give you chariots and horsemen? 10 I have not come to attack and destroy this country without an order from the Lord. The Lord himself told me to come to this country and destroy it.’”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew, because the people on the city wall can hear you.”

12 But the commander said, “My master did not send me to tell these things only to you and your king. He sent me to speak also to those people sitting on the wall who will have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine like you.”

13 Then the commander stood and shouted loudly in the Hebrew language, “Listen to what the great king, the king of Assyria says, 14 The king says you should not let Hezekiah fool you, because he can’t save you. 15 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely save us. This city won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria.’

16 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria says, ‘Make peace with me, and come out of the city to me. Then everyone will be free to eat the fruit from his own grapevine and fig tree and to drink water from his own well. 17 After that I will come and take you to a land like your own—a land with grain and new wine, bread and vineyards.’

18 “Don’t let Hezekiah fool you, saying, ‘The Lord will save us.’ Has a god of any other nation saved his people from the power of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? They did not save Samaria from my power. 20 Not one of all the gods of these countries has saved his people from me. Neither can the Lord save Jerusalem from my power.”

21 The people were silent. They didn’t answer the commander at all, because King Hezekiah had ordered, “Don’t answer him.”

22 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes to show how upset they were. (Eliakim son of Hilkiah was the palace manager, Shebna was the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph was the recorder.) The three men went to Hezekiah and told him what the field commander had said. — Isaiah 36 | New Century Version (NCV) The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Cross References: Deuteronomy 12:2; 1 Kings 4:25; 1 Kings 13:18; 1 Kings 20:23; 2 Kings 7:6; 2 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:7; 2 Kings 18:11; 2 Kings 18:13; 2 Kings 18:17,18 and 19; 2 Kings 18:27; 2 Chronicles 32:15; 2 Chronicles 32:18; Ezra 4:7; Psalm 146:3; Proverbs 9:7-8; Isaiah 22:5; Isaiah 37:10-11; Jeremiah 36:24

[koenji]

“To the place of trumpeting …,” Hebrew inscription on a parapet from the Temple Mount, Western Wall excavations at the south-western corner of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem. Herodian period, 1st century BCE. Stone, H: 31; L: 86; W: 26 cm. Israel Antiquities Authority. x

This incised stone block is one of the most fascinating remains of Herod's Temple (also known as the Second Temple). It apparently fell from the southwest corner of the Temple Mount to the street below, where it was discovered by excavators. The formal inscription "to the place of trumpeting..." and the shape of the stone suggest that it was once part of a parapet that ran along the wall of the Temple complex. According to Josephus, this was the location of "the roof of the priests' chambers, where one of the priests invariably stood to proclaim by trumpet blast, in the late afternoon the approach of every seventh day, and on the next evening its close..." (Josephus, The Jewish War, 4, 9). Presumably, the trumpet blasts could be heard throughout Jerusalem – in the City of David to the south and in the Upper City to the west.

The final word in the inscription is partially missing and can be interpreted in either of two ways: "to declare [the Sabbath]" or "to distinguish [between the sacred and the profane]."

[lionofthegoldsun]

“For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

-Psalm 19:1

[allscripture]

The Lord’s Judgment on Ahaziah

1 After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 

2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”

3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 

4 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’” So Elijah went.

5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you come back?”

6 “A man came to meet us,” they replied. “And he said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”’”

7 The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?”

8 They replied, “He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.”

The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

9 Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’”

10 Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

11 At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’”

12 “If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants!

14 See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!”

15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

16 He told the king, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”

17 So he died, according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.

2 Kings 1:1-16 (NIV)

[coreofthebible]

Vigilantly protecting our hearts keeps our way sure

Today we will be looking at the core Bible principle of vigilance, and how the strength to stay on the right path begins in the vigilant commitment to keep our hearts pure. We will be reviewing some of the Proverbs of Solomon and a history of civil strife in Israel to help us understand how important it is to have hearts that are pure. The Proverbs contain a wealth of instruction and wisdom, and…

[nanshe-of-nina]

I looked up the one book on the site's recommended reading for Levantine history before 1700 CE (Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History) last night to see if it was any better and it ... was really not.

It's hard to read, due to a rather strange method of organizing information, but seems to claim, among other things, that:

The kingdoms of Judah and Israel never existed ever. Such a claim which requires one to overlook royal Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions mentioning some of their kings, such as Ahab of Israel and Hezekiah of Judah. Evidence for the existence of David or Solomon and the united monarchy is extremely scant, but to claim the kingdoms of Judah and Israel did not ever exist is another matter entirely.

and

The expulsions of Jews from Judea after the Jewish-Roman Wars didn't happen. This requires one to dismiss the archeological evidence and the written accounts of Josephus, Cassius Dio, Jerome of Stridon, and Eusebius of Caesarea.

The author mentions Sennacherib, Josephus, Jerome, and Eusebius (though not Shalmaneser III, Nebuchadnezzar II, or Cassius Dio), so deliberate obfuscation seems more likely than ignorance.

The author also makes a number of weird claims, such as that Aramaic is "closely related to Arabic". While not technically untrue, Aramaic's classification as a Northwest Semitic language makes it more closely related to the Canaanite languages, such as Phoenician, Edomite, and Hebrew. (Though, as a matter of course, the fact that Hebrew is a Canaanite language is not mentioned.)

There is a massive historical discourse issue when it comes to Israel-Palestine and yeah it pisses me off, firstly as a Jew, second as someone who is pursuing a degree in Jewish history.

You can see a part of it by looking at the historical narrative presented by a very popular source, DecolonizePalestine. This source has been shared widely by celebrities, by activists. It has been quoted to me on this website. It was even in the instagram bio of one of my TA's. It is considered a helpful and trustworthy source on Israel-Palestine.

The website has a Palestine 101 section, which includes this helpful module:

okay lets take a look:

I've never heard of the Peselet tablet, so let's do a quick google.

Huh. That's weird.

There actually is a 3,000 year old Egyptian tablet (stele) that talks about the levant though.

Oh no! Anyways. Lets move on:

I'm sorry but how do you mention the Assyrians without mentioning that they destroyed the ancient Kingdom of Israel. And the Persians without mentioning that they allowed for the end of the Babylonian exile and the building of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem . And the Romans without mentioning what they named their province in the levant. Judea. This is where the name "Jew" comes from. There isn't a J in Hebrew.

wait the ottomans???? We already got to the Ottomans??? We just skipped literal centuries.

There's clearly a narrative being created here, not by the inclusion of historical facts, but rather the purposeful omission of historical facts. No serious scholar would be able to discuss the history of the levant and COMPLETELY LEAVE OUT THE JEWS.

This is the dominant historical narrative in discourse on Israel-Palestine and it is harmful. Not only because its untrue, but because it involves the destruction of Jewish history and the right of Jews to steward our own history.

Where we come from is and has always been a huge part of Jewish identity. I cannot stress this enough. It is wrong and yes, it is antisemitic to warp and erase Jewish history for your own political purposes.

and here's what gets me: it is completely unnecessary.

You can recognize all the horrors that the zionist movement and Israel has inflicted upon Palestinians without denying Jewish history. You can demand Israel take accountability and stop what it is doing without denying Jewish history. You can advocate for Palestinian freedom, statehood and self determination, without denying Jewish history.

But people don't want to *just* do that. In the minds of many, the only acceptable Free Palestine is a Palestine Free of Jews or Jewish autonomy.

And for that, fuck you. Palestinians are indigenous to the levant. They know their history and where they come from. Jews are indigenous to the levant. We know our history and where we come from.

No one is going anywhere.

Be better.

Free Palestine and Am Yisrael Chai.