ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF.
(1) Rivalry of Ephraim and Judah. The separation of the Hebrew nation into two parts, of which one was to embrace ten of the tribes, and be distinctively named Israel, had its origin in the early power and ambition of the tribe of Ephraim. The rivalry of Ephraim and Judah be gan almost from the first conquest of the land ; nor is it without significance that, as Caleb be longed to the tribe of Judah, so did Joshua to that of Ephraim. From the very beginning Judah learned to act by itself; but the cen tral position of Ephraim, with its fruitful and ample soil, and the long-continued authority of Joshua, must have taught most of the tribes west of the Jordan to look up to Ephraim as their head; and a still more important superiority was conferred on the same tribe by the fixed dwelling of the ark at Shiloh for so many generations (Josh. xviii, etc.). Judah could boast of Hebron, Machpelah, Bethlehem. names of traditional sanc tity; yet so could' Ephraim point to Shechem, the ancient abode of Jacob; and while Judah, being on the frontier, was more exposed to the attack of thc powerful Philistines, Ephraim had to fear only those Canaanites from within who were not subdued or conciliated. The haughty behavior of the Ephrairnites towards Gideon, a man of Man asseh (Judg. viii:1), sufficiently indicates the pre tensions they made. Still fiercer language to ward Jephthah the Gileadite (Judg. xii :t) was an swered by less gentleness than Gideon had shown: and a bloody civil war was the result, in which their pride met with a severe punishment. This may in part explain their quiet submission, not only to the priestly rule of Eli and his sons, who had their center of authority at Shiloh, but to Samuel, whose administration i-ssied from three towhs of Benjamin. Of course his. prophetical character and personal excellence eminently con tributed to the result; and it may seem that Eph raim, as well as all Israel b'esides, became habitu ated to the predominance of Benjamin, so that no serious resistance was made to the supremacy of Saul.
(2) A National Union. At his death a new schism took place through their jealousy of Ju dah; yet, in a few years' time, by the splendor of David's victories, and afterwards by Solomon's peaceful power, a permanent national union might seem to have been effected. But the laws of in heritance in Israel, excellent as they were for pre venting permanent alienation of landed property, and the degradation of the Hebrew poor into predial slaves, necessarily impeded the perfect fusion of the tribes, by discouraging intermar riage, and hindering the union of distant estates in the same hands. Hence, when the sway of
Solomon began to be felt as a tyranny, the old jealousies of the tribes revived, and Jeroboam, an Ephraimite (I Kings xi:26), being suspected of treason. fled to Shishak, king of Egypt.
(3) Defection of the Ten Tribes. The death of Solomon was followed by a defection of ten of the tribes, which established the separation of Is rael from Judah (B. C. 975). This was the most important event which had befallen the Hebrew nation since their conquest of Canaan. The chief territory and population were now with Jeroboam, but the religious sanction, the legitimate descent, lay with the rival monarch. From the political danger of allowing the ten tribes to go up to the sanctuary of Jerusalem, the princes of Israel, as it were in self-defense, set up a sanctuary of their own; and the intimacy of Jeroboam with the king of Egypt may have determined his preference for the form of idolatry (the calves) which he estab lished at Dan and Bethel. In whatever else his successors differed, they one and all agreed in up holding this worship, which, once established, ap peared essential to their national unity. Never theless it is generally understood to have been a worship of Jehovah, though under unlawful and degrading forms.
(4) Worship of Baal. Worse by far was the worship of Baal, which came in under one mon arch only, Ahab, and was destroyed after his son was slain, by Jehu. A secondary result of the rev olution was the ejection of the tribe of Levi from their lands and cities in Israel; at least, such as remained were spiritually degraded by the com pliances required, and could no longer offer any resistance to the kingly power by aid of their sacred character. When the priestly tribe had thus lost independence, it lost the power to assist the crown. The succession of Jeroboam's famiry was hallowed by no religious blessing; and when his son was murdered, no Jehoiada was found to rally his supporters and ultimately avenge his cause. The example of successful usurpation was so often followed by the captains of the armies, that the kings in Israel present to us an irregular series of dynasties, with several short and tumult uous reigns. This was one cause of disorder and weakness to Israel, and hindered it from swallow ing up Judah ; another was found in the relations of Israel towards foreign powers.