(5) The Center of the Monarchy. Jeroboam originally fixed on Shechens as the center of his monarchy, and fortified it ; moved perhaps not only by its natural suitability, but by the remem brances of Jacob which clung to it, and by the aus picious fact that here first Israel had decided for him against Rehoboam. But the natural delight fulness of Tirz-A (Cant. vi :4) led him, perhaps late in his reign, to erect a palace there (t Kings xiv :17). After the murder of Jeroboam's son, Baasha seems to have intended to fix his capital at Rainalt, as a convenient place for annoying the king of Judah, whom Ile looked on as his only dangerous enemy; but when forced to renounce this plan (xv:17, 21), he acquiesced in Tirzah, which continued to be the chief city of Israel, until Omri who, since the palace at Tirzah had been burned during the civil war (1 Kings xvi:t8), built Samaria, with the ambition not uncommon in the founder of a new dynasty (xvi :24). Sam aria continued to the end of the monarchy to be the center of administration; and its strength ap pears to have justified Oinri's choice. (For details, see SAIHARIA ; also TIRZAH, 2.) There is reason to believe that Jeroboam carried back with him into Israel the good will, if not the substantial assistance, of Shishak; and this will account for his escaping the storm from Egypt which swept over Rehoboam in his fifth year. During that first period Israel was far from quiet within. Although the ten tribes collectively had decided in favor of Jeroboam, great numbers of individuals remained attached to the family of David and to the worship at Jerusalem. and in the first three years of Rehoboam migrated into Ju dah (2 Chron. xi:t6, 17).
(6) Rival Sanctuaries. Perhaps it was not until this process commenced that Jeroboam was worked up to the desperate measure of erecting rival sanctuaries with visible idols (1 Kings xit: 27) ; a measure which met the usual ill success of profane statecraft, and aggravated the evil which he feared. It set him at war with the whole order of priests and Levites, whose expulsion or subju gation, we may be certain, was not effected with out convulsing his whole kingdom, and so occupy ing him as to free Rehoboam from any real dan ger. although no peace was made. The king of Judah improved the time by immense efforts in fortifying his territory (2 Chron. xi:5-11); and, although $hishak soon after carried off the most valuable spoil, no great or definite impression could be made by Jeroboam. Israel having so far taken the place of heathen nations. and being al ready perhaps even in alliance with Egypt, at an early period—we know not how soon—sought and obtained the friendship of the kings of Damascus.
(7) Union with Ring of Damascus. A sense of the great advantage derivable from such a union seems to have led Ahab afterwards to be have with mildness and conciliation towards Ben hadad, at a time when it could have been least expected (1 Kings xx :31-34). From that trans action we learn that Benhadad I had made in Damascus 'streets for Omri.' and Omri for Ben hadad in Samaria. This, no doubt, implied that 'a quarter' was assigned for Syrian merchants in Samaria, which was prohably fortified like the 'camp of the Tyrians' in Memphis, or the English factory at Calcutta ; and in it, of course, Syrian worship would be tolerated. Against such inter course the prophets, as might be expected, entered their protest (vers. 35-43) ; hut it was in many ways too profitable to be renounced. In the reign of Baasha, Asa, king of Judah, sensible of the dangerous advantage gained by his rival through the friendship of the Syrians, determined to buy them off at any price (see JUDAH, KINGDON1 OF); and by sacrificing 'the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house' (xv:t8), induced Benhadad I to break his league with Baasha and to ravage all the northern dis trict of Israel. This drew off the Israelitish mon arch. and enabled Asa to destroy the fortifications of Rama11, which would have stopped the course of his trade (xv:17), perhaps that with. the sea
coast and with Tyre. Such was the beginning of the war between Israel and Syria, on which the safety of Judah at that time depended. Cordial union was not again restored between the two northern states until the days of Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, when Damascus must have already felt the rising power of Nineveh. The renewed alliance instantly proved so disastrous to Judah, which was reduced to extremcst straits (Is. Vii :2; 2 Kings XV :37; 2 Chron. xxviii:5, 6), as may seem to justify at least the policy of Asa's proceeding. Although it was impossible for a prophet to approve of it (2 Citron. xvi :7), we may only so much the more infer that Judah was already brought into most pressing difficulties, and that the general course of the war, in spite of occasional reverses, was decidedly and increasingly favorable to Israel.
(8) Wars of Syria and Israel. The wars of Syria and Israel were carried on chiefly under three reigns, those of Benhadad II, Hazael, and Benhadad III, the first two monarchs being gen erally prosperous, especially Hazael, the last being as decidedly unsuccessful. Although these resuits may have depended in part on personal qualities, there is high probability that the feebleness dis played by the Syrians against Jehoash and his son Jeroboam was occasioned by the pressure of the advancing empire of Nineveh.
Asa adhered, through the whole of his long reign, to the policy of encouraging hostility be tween the two northern kingdoms; and the first Benhadad had such a career of success that his son found himself in a condition to hope for an entire conquest of Israel. His formidable inva sions wrought an entire change in the mind of Jehoshaphat (1 Kings xxii:44), who saw that if Israel were swallowed up by Syria there would be no safety for Judah. We may conjecture that this consideration determined him to unite the two royal families; for no common cause would have induced so religious a king to select for his son's wife Athaliah the daughter of Jezebel. The age of Ahaziah, who was sprung from this mar riage, forces us to place it as early as B. C. 912, which is the third year of Jehoshaphat and sixth of Ahab. Late in his reign Jehoshaphat threw himself most cordially (t Kings xxii:4) into the defense of Ahab, and by so doing probably saved Israel from a foreign yoke. Another mark of the low state into which both kingdoms werc is, that after Ahab's death the Moabites refused their usual tribute to Israel, and (as far as can be made out from the ambiguous words of 2 Kings iii:27), the united force of the two kingdoms failed of doing more than irritate them. Soon after, in the reign of Jchoram, son of Jehoshaphat, the Edomitcs followed the example, and estab lished their independence. This event possibly engaged the whole force of Judah, and hindered it from succoring Samaria during the cruel siege which it sustained from Benhadad II, in the reign of Jehoram, son of Ahab. The declining years and health of the king of Syria gave a short respite to Israel; hut, in B. C. 885, Hazael, by de feating the united Hebrew armies, commenced the career of conquest and harassing invasion by which he 'made Israel like the dust by threshing.' Even under Jehu he subdued the trans-Jordanic tribes (2 Kings x:32). Afterwards. since he took the town of Gath (2 Kings xii:17) and pre pared to atrack Jerusalem—an attack which Jehoash, king of Judah, averted only by strictly following Asa's precedent—it is manifest that all the passes and chief forts of the country west of the Jordan must have been in his hand. Indeed, as he is said, 'to have left Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot men,' it would seem that Israel was strictly a con quered province, in which Hazael dictated (as the English to the native rajahs of India) what military force should be kept up.