ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF. 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 began almost from the first conquest of the land; nor is it unsignificant, that as Caleb belonged to the tribe of Judah, so did Joshua to that of Ephraim. From the very begin ning Judah learned to act by itself ; but the central 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, Bethle hem, names of traditional sanctity ; 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 the powerful Philistines, Ephraim had to fear only those Canaanites from within who were not subdued or conciliated. The haughty behaviour of the Eph raimites towards Gideon, a man of Manasseh (Jud,g. viii. t), sufficiently indicates the pretensions they made. Still fiercer language towards Jeph thah the Gilcadite (Judg. xii. r) was retorted by less gentleness than Gideon had shewn ; 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 centre of authority at Shiloh, but to Samuel, whose administmtion issued from three towns of Benja min. Of course his prophetical character and per sonal excellence eminently contributed to this result ; and it inay seem that Ephraim, as well as all Israel besides, became habituated to the pre dominance of Benjamin, so that no scrious rcsistance was made to the supremacy of Saul. At his death a new schism took place through their jealousy of Judah ; yet, in a few years' time, by the splendour of David's victories, and afterwards by Solomon's peaceful powcr, 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 prdial slaves, necessarily impeded the perfect fusion of the tribes, by discouraging intermarriage, 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 (t Kings xi. 26), being suspected of treason, fled to Shishak, king of Egypt. The death of Solomon was followed by a defection of ten of the tribes, which established the separation of Israel from Yuclak (n.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-defence, set up a sanc tuary 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 established at Dan and Bethel. In whatever else his successors differed, they one and all agreed in upholding this worship, which, once established, appeared essential to their national unity. Nevertheless it is generally understood to have been a worship of Jehovah, though under un lawful and degrading forms. Worse by far was the worship of Baal, which came in under one monarch only, Ahab, and was destroyed after his son was slain by Jehu. A secondary result of the revolution was the ejection of the tribe of Levi from their lands a.nd 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 also the power to assist the crown. The succession of Jeroboam's family was hallowed by no religious blessing ; and when his son was slain, 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 ot dynasties, with several short and tumultuous reigns. This was one cause of disorder and weakncss to Israel, and hindered it from swallowing up Judah : another was found in the relations of Israel to wards foreign powers, which will presently be dwelt upon.