Page 37 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

The next major ruler of the period was David.
David expanded the borders of the kingdom
to their largest state. It is important to
remember that these boundaries still did not
fulfill the boundaries promised to Abraham in
Genesis. David and his son Solomon are still
considered the golden age rulers of Israel.
Notice that as we said in the last chapter,
even at this level of expansion the Philistines
and the Phoenicians were never
conquered.
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Solomon succeeded David to the throne.
There was an attempt to take the throne and
put Adonijah, David’s oldest son who still
lived, on it. Solomon did not initially want to
put Adonijah to death for the attempt. Adonijah then asked for their father’s concubine. This could be
viewed as the chance to gain another claim to the throne. When Solomon heard this, he saw through
the plan of Adonijah and had him put to death.

Solomon would expand the land and greatly increase the wealth of Israel. Unfortunately, he would be
the last king of the united monarchy. After his reign there would be civil division, two kingdoms, the
Northern Kingdom would go into exile, and eventually the Southern kingdom would as well.

King Approximate Dates of Reign Length of Reign
Saul Around 1050-1010 BCE 42 years (Some scholars say 22)
David Around 1010-970 BCE 40 years
Solomon Around 970-931 BCE 40 years

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It is important to remember these dates are approximate. The issue of the length of Saul’s reign is
rooted in a possible textual variant. One variant makes the length of the reign 42 years and the other
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22.

Government during the United Monarchy:

As mentioned already the government structure was in a state of transition. The primary transition was
from the theocracy to the monarchy. Then from king to king. In between however there was multiple
points of friction. This transition was anything but seamless. In fact, it was problematic at times. God did

th
79 Norris, D. Thaine. “The Kingdom of David and Solomon, 10 Century B.C.” Logos Deluxe Map Set. Oak Harbor,
WA: Lexham Press, 1997.
80 Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan
Publishing House, 2009), 263.
81 Israel, Finkelstein. Y. Amit, E. Ben Zvi, I. Finkelstein and O. Lipschits (eds.), “The Last Labayu: King Saul and the
Expansion of the First North Israelite Territorial Entity” in Essays on Ancient Israel in its Near Eastern
Context, A Tribute to Nadav Na'aman, Winona Lake 2006. 173.
https://www.academia.edu/1070440/The_Last_Labayu_King_Saul_and_the_Expansion_of_the_First_Nor
th_Israelite_Territorial_Entity

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