A Working History of Israel

A work in progress for St. Francis' Tuesday night Bible conversations.

Abraham (out of the land of Ur)

|                          |

Isaac               Ishmael

|

Esau & Jacob/Israel

                        |
Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Issachar
Zebulun
Joseph 
Benjamin
         

The Pre-Jerusalem History of Jerusalem

·         Abraham blessed there by King Melchizedek, King of “Salem”

·         Isaac bound there @ Mt Moriah

·         Jacob’s dream there (one inference of the rabbinic tradition: “the place” of the binding of Isaac)

MOSES

Exodus from slavery in Egypt,

desert wanderings,

JOSHUA (ca. 1250 BCE)

entrance into the Promised Land (Reuben, Gad, ½ Manasseh do not enter)

#battle of Jericho #lots of battles #conquests #first mention of “Jerusalem”

JUDGES

1000-587 BCE Period of Kings

David = Jerusalem made the capital of Israel (1010-970 BCE)

Solomon = Temple constructed in Jerusalem (970-931 BCE)

930 BCE = Benjamin and Judah establish Kingdom of Judah in the South, 10 other tribes establish Kingdom of Israel in the North.

In 722 BCE, Assyria overtook the Northern Kingdom’s capital, Samaria, whose people were gradually assimilated; thus the “10 Lost Tribes of Israel”

History of Occupying Empires

598/7-537 BCE; Babylonian     
Destruction of 1^st Temple (587 BCE)

#nebuchadnezzar; 3 exiles: 597, 587, 582 BCE

537/8-333 BCE; Persian           
“Messiah” Cyrus, returned exiled Jews from Babylon (538), 2^nd Temple constructed (beginning of 2^nd Temple Period) #ezra #nehemiah #malachi #esther #zecharaiah #haggai

333-63 BCE; Hellenistic      
Greek rule, desecration of the Temple, Maccabean revolt #Hanukah

63 BCE – 313 CE; Roman           
2^nd Temple destroyed in 70 CE, people in exile; 132, attempted revolt; Rome decimates Jewish people, reclaims land of Judah as “Palaestina” in effort to obliterate Jewish association with the land of Israel.

Continued occupation until 1948...

Prophets of Assyrian Period                                      

(740 - 722 BCE)                     

Jonah                                      
Joel                                         

Amos                                  

Hosea                                    

Isaiah                                    

Micah

Zephaniah

Nahum           

Prophets of Babylonian Period
(586 – 537 BCE) 

Jeremiah
Habakkuk
Ezekiel  
Obadiah
Daniel

Prophets of Persian Period
(537 – 333 BCE)
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

Sources

http://www.science.co.il/israel-history.php

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/587080/Ten-Lost-Tribes-of-Israel

http://www.templemount.org/history.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity