How many kings did Israel and Judah have?

After Saul, David and Solomon ruled the united kingdom, the northern kingdom of Israel had 19 kings (20 counting the rival Tibni) until Samaria fell to Assyria in 722 BC. Judah had 19 kings and one queen, Athaliah, until Jerusalem fell to Babylon in 586 BC.

Which kings of Judah were good?

Kings says that Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Hezekiah and Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, several with reservations. Every king of the northern kingdom is said to have done evil, with Jehu partly commended.

Why do dates for the kings differ?

The reign lengths and cross-references in 1–2 Kings do not add up simply. Edwin Thiele reconciled them with coregencies and different ways of counting accession years; William Albright proposed a lower chronology. The two usually differ by a few years to a decade.

Which kings are named outside the Bible?

Among others: Omri (Mesha Stele), Ahab (Kurkh Monolith), Jehu (Black Obelisk), Joash of Israel (Tell al-Rimah Stele), Menahem, Pekah, Hoshea and Ahaz (Tiglath-pileser III), Hezekiah (Sennacherib’s annals), Manasseh (Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal) and Jehoiachin (Babylonian ration tablets).

Kings of Israel and Judah

Every ruler from Saul to Zedekiah with dates in Edwin Thiele’s and William Albright’s chronologies, the reign length given in Scripture, the verdict in Kings and how each reign ended.

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United monarchy

Ruler	Thiele	Albright	Reign in the Bible	Verdict in Kings	End of reign	Passage
Saul	1050–1010 BC	1020–1000 BC	40 years (Acts 13:21); the Hebrew of 1 Sam 13:1 is incomplete	Did evil	Fell on his sword after defeat on Mount Gilboa	1 Samuel 9:1
Ish-bosheth also Eshbaal	1010–1008 BC	1000–998 BC	2 years	No verdict given	Murdered in his bed by two of his captains	2 Samuel 2:8
David	1010–970 BC	1000–961 BC	40 years: 7½ in Hebron, 33 in Jerusalem	Did what was right	Died in old age after making Solomon king	1 Samuel 16:1
Solomon also Jedidiah	970–930 BC	961–922 BC	40 years	Mixed	Died in Jerusalem	1 Kings 1:1

Kings of Judah

The southern kingdom, ruled from Jerusalem by the house of David, from the division of the kingdom (c. 931 BC) to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (586 BC).

Ruler	Thiele	Albright	Reign in the Bible	Verdict in Kings	End of reign	Passage
Rehoboam	931–913 BC	922–915 BC	17 years	Did evil	Died in Jerusalem	1 Kings 12:1
Abijah also Abijam	913–911 BC	915–913 BC	3 years	Did evil	Died in Jerusalem	1 Kings 15:1
Asa	911–870 BC	913–873 BC	41 years	Did what was right (with reservations)	Died with a disease in his feet	1 Kings 15:9
Jehoshaphat	870–848 BC	873–849 BC	25 years	Did what was right (with reservations)	Died in Jerusalem	1 Kings 22:1
Jehoram also Joram	848–841 BC	849–842 BC	8 years	Did evil	Died of a painful disease of the bowels, “to no one’s regret”	2 Kings 8:16
Ahaziah also Jehoahaz	841 BC	842 BC	1 year	Did evil	Killed by Jehu’s men while visiting Joram of Israel	2 Kings 8:25
Athaliah	841–835 BC	842–837 BC	6 years	Did evil	Executed when the priest Jehoiada crowned Joash	2 Kings 11:1
Joash also Jehoash	835–796 BC	837–800 BC	40 years	Did what was right (with reservations)	Assassinated by his servants	2 Kings 11:21
Amaziah	796–767 BC	800–783 BC	29 years	Did what was right (with reservations)	Assassinated at Lachish	2 Kings 14:1
Uzziah also Azariah	767–740 BC	783–742 BC	52 years	Did what was right (with reservations)	Died a leper, having lived apart while Jotham governed	2 Kings 15:1
Jotham	740–732 BC	742–735 BC	16 years	Did what was right (with reservations)	Died in Jerusalem	2 Kings 15:32
Ahaz	732–716 BC	735–715 BC	16 years	Did evil	Died in Jerusalem	2 Kings 16:1
Hezekiah	716–687 BC	715–687 BC	29 years	Did what was right	Died in Jerusalem	2 Kings 18:1
Manasseh	687–643 BC	687–642 BC	55 years	Did evil	Died and was buried in the garden of his house	2 Kings 21:1
Amon	643–641 BC	642–640 BC	2 years	Did evil	Assassinated by his servants	2 Kings 21:19
Josiah	641–609 BC	640–609 BC	31 years	Did what was right	Killed by Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo	2 Kings 22:1
Jehoahaz also Shallum	609 BC	609 BC	3 months	Did evil	Deposed by Neco and taken to Egypt, where he died	2 Kings 23:31
Jehoiakim also Eliakim	609–598 BC	609–598 BC	11 years	Did evil	Died as Babylon moved against Jerusalem	2 Kings 23:34
Jehoiachin also Jeconiah, Coniah	598–597 BC	598–597 BC	3 months	Did evil	Surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon	2 Kings 24:8
Zedekiah also Mattaniah	597–586 BC	597–587 BC	11 years	Did evil	Captured near Jericho, blinded and taken to Babylon	2 Kings 24:17

Kings of Israel

The northern kingdom, ruled from Shechem, Tirzah and finally Samaria by nine dynasties, until the Assyrian conquest (722 BC).

Ruler	Thiele	Albright	Reign in the Bible	Verdict in Kings	End of reign	Passage
Jeroboam I	931–910 BC	922–901 BC	22 years	Did evil	Struck down by the LORD	1 Kings 11:26
Nadab	910–909 BC	901–900 BC	2 years	Did evil	Assassinated by Baasha at Gibbethon	1 Kings 15:25
Baasha	909–886 BC	900–877 BC	24 years	Did evil	Died at Tirzah	1 Kings 15:32
Elah	886–885 BC	877–876 BC	2 years	Did evil	Killed while drunk by Zimri	1 Kings 16:8
Zimri	885 BC	876 BC	7 days	Did evil	Burned the palace over himself when Omri besieged Tirzah	1 Kings 16:9
Tibni	885–880 BC	876–871 BC	Not stated	No verdict given	Died, leaving Omri sole king	1 Kings 16:21
Omri	880–874 BC	876–869 BC	12 years, 6 of them at Tirzah	Did evil	Died at Samaria	1 Kings 16:15
Ahab	874–853 BC	869–850 BC	22 years	Did evil	Killed by a random arrow at Ramoth-gilead	1 Kings 16:29
Ahaziah	853–852 BC	850–849 BC	2 years	Did evil	Died after falling through a lattice, having consulted Baal-zebub	1 Kings 22:51
Joram also Jehoram	852–841 BC	849–842 BC	12 years	Did evil (with reservations)	Shot by Jehu at Jezreel	2 Kings 3:1
Jehu	841–814 BC	842–815 BC	28 years	Mixed	Died at Samaria	2 Kings 9:1
Jehoahaz	814–798 BC	815–801 BC	17 years	Did evil	Died at Samaria	2 Kings 13:1
Jehoash also Joash	798–782 BC	801–786 BC	16 years	Did evil	Died at Samaria	2 Kings 13:10
Jeroboam II	782–753 BC	786–746 BC	41 years	Did evil	Died at Samaria	2 Kings 14:23
Zechariah	753–752 BC	746–745 BC	6 months	Did evil	Assassinated in public by Shallum	2 Kings 15:8
Shallum	752 BC	745 BC	1 month	No verdict given	Killed by Menahem in Samaria	2 Kings 15:10
Menahem	752–742 BC	745–738 BC	10 years	Did evil	Died at Samaria	2 Kings 15:14
Pekahiah	742–740 BC	738–737 BC	2 years	Did evil	Assassinated by his officer Pekah	2 Kings 15:23
Pekah	740–732 BC	737–732 BC	20 years	Did evil	Assassinated by Hoshea	2 Kings 15:25
Hoshea	732–722 BC	732–724 BC	9 years	Did evil (with reservations)	Imprisoned by Shalmaneser V before Samaria fell	2 Kings 17:1

Prophets during the monarchy

Samuel (c. 1070–1015 BC): 1 Samuel 3:19
Gad (c. 1015–975 BC): 2 Samuel 24:11
Nathan (c. 1000–965 BC): 2 Samuel 7:2
Ahijah (c. 935–910 BC): 1 Kings 11:29
Shemaiah (c. 931–913 BC): 1 Kings 12:22
Elijah (c. 875–848 BC): 1 Kings 17:1
Micaiah (c. 854–853 BC): 1 Kings 22:8
Elisha (c. 850–797 BC): 2 Kings 2:1
Jonah (c. 790–770 BC): 2 Kings 14:25
Amos (c. 765–750 BC): Amos 1:1
Hosea (c. 755–715 BC): Hosea 1:1
Isaiah (c. 740–686 BC): Isaiah 1:1
Micah (c. 735–700 BC): Micah 1:1
Nahum (c. 663–612 BC): Nahum 1:1
Zephaniah (c. 640–621 BC): Zephaniah 1:1
Jeremiah (c. 627–580 BC): Jeremiah 1:1
Huldah (c. 623–621 BC): 2 Kings 22:14
Habakkuk (c. 609–598 BC): Habakkuk 1:1
Daniel (c. 605–536 BC): Daniel 1:1
Ezekiel (c. 593–571 BC): Ezekiel 1:1

Key events

1010 BC: David becomes king at Hebron (2 Samuel 2:4)
966 BC: Solomon begins the temple (1 Kings 6:1)
930 BC: The kingdom divides (1 Kings 12:16)
925 BC: Shishak of Egypt plunders Jerusalem (1 Kings 14:25)
853 BC: Battle of Qarqar against Assyria (1 Kings 22:1)
841 BC: Jehu’s revolt; tribute to Shalmaneser III (2 Kings 9:24)
734 BC: Syro-Ephraimite war against Judah (Isaiah 7:1)
732 BC: Assyria takes Damascus (2 Kings 16:9)
722 BC: Samaria falls; Israel deported to Assyria (2 Kings 17:6)
701 BC: Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:13)
622 BC: Book of the Law found; Josiah’s reform (2 Kings 22:8)
612 BC: Nineveh falls (Nahum 1:1)
605 BC: Babylon defeats Egypt at Carchemish; first exiles (Jeremiah 46:2)
597 BC: Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:10)
586 BC: Jerusalem and the temple destroyed (2 Kings 25:8)
562 BC: Jehoiachin released in Babylon (2 Kings 25:27)

Frequently asked questions

How many kings did Israel and Judah have?: After Saul, David and Solomon ruled the united kingdom, the northern kingdom of Israel had 19 kings (20 counting the rival Tibni) until Samaria fell to Assyria in 722 BC. Judah had 19 kings and one queen, Athaliah, until Jerusalem fell to Babylon in 586 BC.
Which kings of Judah were good?: Kings says that Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Hezekiah and Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, several with reservations. Every king of the northern kingdom is said to have done evil, with Jehu partly commended.
Why do dates for the kings differ?: The reign lengths and cross-references in 1–2 Kings do not add up simply. Edwin Thiele reconciled them with coregencies and different ways of counting accession years; William Albright proposed a lower chronology. The two usually differ by a few years to a decade.
Which kings are named outside the Bible?: Among others: Omri (Mesha Stele), Ahab (Kurkh Monolith), Jehu (Black Obelisk), Joash of Israel (Tell al-Rimah Stele), Menahem, Pekah, Hoshea and Ahaz (Tiglath-pileser III), Hezekiah (Sennacherib’s annals), Manasseh (Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal) and Jehoiachin (Babylonian ration tablets).

Dates are approximate. Thiele: The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings (3rd ed., 1983). Albright: “The Chronology of the Divided Monarchy of Israel”, BASOR 100 (1945). Dates for Saul, David and Solomon are conventional estimates.