The Kingdom(s) of Israel

Check out my new chart for the United and Divided Kingdoms of Israel. If we are to understand the larger ideas and concepts of the Old Testament it's vitally important that we grasp the relationship between the actual biblical characters and the larger flow of events.  A chart like this can help you "relationalize" the biblical kings with their respective compadres.

History of Ancient Israel Schematic

For those of you interested in such things here is a chronological chart I just made up for my upcoming History of Ancient Israel course.  The flow chart basically shows the growth and prosperity (or lack thereof) of ancient Israel at any given time during her history.  A quick glance will produce mostly gibberish to the onlooker (as my wife rapidly informed me when I asked for her opinion), however, I think a chart such as this can be a valuable tool for anchoring biblical history into one's mind.
This chart can show you two basic things relative strength (comparing Israel and Judah) and overall historical flow.  So without further ado here is this afternoon's work.

For instance notice the difference between the period of the Judges and Solomon's rule.

Note that there are five basic peaks in Israelite history (only two coincide with Israel and Judah) the United Kingdom, Jehoshaphat and Ahab, Uzziah and Jeroboam II, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Understanding this basic framework is immensely helpful for understanding the History of Ancient Israel, as well as general Bible reading. Wherever you are in the OT you can simply ask yourself - am I in a peak or am I in a valley? If you have a chart like this you should be able to find out where you are historically.

Is There a Deeper Magic?

Growing up I cut my reading teeth on C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia - I must have read Clive's Chronicles at least 6 or 7 times if not more (thanks Dad for doing the Reepicheep voice) - not to mention the dozens of times I have watched the buck-toothed Lucy, giant-sized Beaver (yes I capitalized Beavers - are they not speaking animals?) BBC series.  Which by the way is still better than the modern version - at least so far.  To be fair the first two books (Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe and Prince Caspian) are the most boring, still good, but not as entertaining as say The Magician's Nephew.  I hope and pray they don't blow that one.  I can't wait to see the dying world of Charn and her wicked queen over against the singing creation of the birth of the Lion's world.

The BBC went with the true "British look" for Lucy - a young Kathleen Kenyon in my opinion.

BBC's Reepicheep looked like the morbid offspring of Abu, the monkey from Aladdin, and the flying monkeys of the Wicked Witch of The Wizard of Oz.

One of Clive's main motifs in his writings is the idea of the "true myth."  In our minds that seems to be an oxymoron - how can something be both true and myth (insert dumb - Jumbo-Shrimp joke)?  But in Lewis' mind every myth, every legend has a true substantive reality lying behind it.  This has massive ramifications for a number of different aspects including but not limited to the following:

• The nature of the New Heavens and the New Earth - what he called "living in the Shadowlands" - living in a shadow of the true reality that belies this earth.
• Our spiritual and physical affections - every inkling of enjoyment that we have in this shadow earth is because we have come into contact with a shadow of the "true" reality (this includes the king of the coming true world). 

If you are wondering whether or not this type of thinking is biblically valid just read this passage:

“For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:19–26 ESV)

The book of Hebrews is full of this type of thinking (its Platonic - but let's not get into that).  It's why I named this blog Seeking a Homeland - because in chapter 11 of Hebrews this idea is picked up again as the author writes, 

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:8–16 ESV)

What a passage! I think it might be my favorite Heaven passage.  It's my earnest desire that I "speak thus."

Clearly then Clive Staples was picking up on a biblical idea.  Perhaps the best example of this (or at least most well-known) is Aslan's sacrifice for Edmund (The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe) that leads to both Edmund's restitution and Aslan's resurrection.

At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise—a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate.... The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.

"Who's done it?" cried Susan. "What does it mean? Is it more magic?"

"Yes!" said a great voice from behind their backs. "It is more magic." They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.

"Oh, Aslan!" cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad....

"But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.

"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."

Do you have gooseflesh after reading that?

In the coming days I hope to flesh this Deeper Magic idea out in the following Biblical examples:

1. A Deeper Priesthood - Melchizedek, king of Salem (Gen. 14:18-21)
2. A Deeper King - David, Son of Yahweh and Priest of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4)
3. A Deeper Sacrifice - Mesha, king of Moab sacrifices his first-born son (2 Kings 3:27)

Torah as Conscience Pricker

“If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby— if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.”
(Leviticus 6:2–5 ESV)

Clearly there is a place for the conscience in Torah.  Torah is much more than law (as it is often defined as) - if it were merely law a passage like this would not exist.   Law is designed for governments to punish law-breakers (very impersonal) here is something else entirely - the law of the conscience (inherently personal).  This passage clearly calls for accountability of sin based upon the sinner’s conscience - Yahweh is providing a way to cover one’s sin, as well as restoring the seared conscience of the sinner.  This teaching differs greatly from modern laws in that instead of merely offering justice and repayment for the sinned against and punishment for the sinner it offers restitution and forgiveness for the sinner.  The result is holy living vs. unholy legalism.

The Reigns of Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel in Historical Perspective

Uzziah of Judah

The reign of Uzziah of Judah was a period of unparalleled expansion the Judahite kingdom. Uzziah, who is consistently called Uzziah in Chronicles and Azariah in Kings,[1] reigned for 52 years over Judah (792/791-740/739).[2] He came to power at the age of 16 after the assassination of his father Amaziah. His reign is defined by 2 Kings 15:3 and 2 Chr. 26:4 which state, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.” Uzziah expanded the southern border back to the port city of Elath (2 Kings 14:22; 2 Chr. 26:2) as it was during the days of United Monarchy (1 Kings 9:26, 2 Chr. 8:17), as Jehoshaphat had unsuccessfully tried to do (1 Kings 22:48). He subjugated the Philistines (2 Chr. 26:6-7) conquering the cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod and then building Judahite cities within Philistia. Uzziah also successfully fought against the Arab tribes in the Negev highlands (2 Chr. 26:7) and received tribute from Ammon (2 Chr. 26:8). In conjunction with Uzziah’s expansions Rainey writes, “He (Uzziah) succeeded in imposing his control over the Arabian elements, specifically the Meunites (according to the LXX), which action gave him a monopoly over the trade routes across Sinai and as far as Egypt.”[3] Uzziah’s subjugation of the Philistines would have allowed him unparalleled access to the best farmland in the country, the Philistine Coastal Plain, which he would have exploited to his benefit since “he loved the soil” (2 Chr. 26:10). Uzziah’s other feats include: the fortifications of Jerusalem and the Shephelah (2 Chr. 26:9-10), large agricultural and agrarian structures in the Shephelah (2 Chr. 26:10), and the formation of a vast war machine of 2,600 “men of valor” (2 Chr. 26:12), an army of 307, 500 (2 Chr. 26:13), advanced war equipment (2 Chr. 26:14), and siege engines (2 Chr. 26:15). The Chronicler who claims that Uzziah’s fame and amazing feats became his downfall. Uzziah apparently became puffed up in his own great wealth and fame. He entered the temple and officiated illegally as a priest on the incense alter when he was confronted he became angry. Consequently he was struck by the Lord and became a leper living in a separate house for the rest of his reign as his son Jotham reigned in his place (2 Kings 15:5; 2 Chr. 26:16-23). During his lifetime Uzziah was able to expand the kingdom of Judah farther than any king since the division of the kingdom. Isaiah (1:1; 6:1; 7:1), Hosea (1:1), and Amos (1:1) all ministered during the long reign of Uzziah. Interestingly in Amos 1:1 and Zechariah 14:5 an earthquake is said to have occurred during the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam II. Uzziah’s rise to prominence can largely be attributed to the overall weakness of the Assyrian kingdom at this point in history. During the 8^th century BCE Assyria had many local invasions and uprisings, which made the more outreaching objectives of their empire less important.[4] This gave Israel and Judah a period of time in which to prosper, but with the death of Uzziah this window of opportunity ended. In connection with this Rainey writes,

“With the death of Uzziah in 740 BCE the window of opportunity for Judah and Israel to dominate the southern Levant and to enjoy great prestige in the central Levant was closed. Israel was split apart and Judah became embroiled in disputes with her neighbors that led to the loss of all her geopolitical advantages in the south and west.”[5]

Jeroboam II of Israel

Jeroboam II reigned from Samaria for 41 years (2 Kings 14:23) (793-753 BCE).[6] His reign is defined as is all the kings of Israel by the statement in 2 Kings 14:24 that says, “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.” Despite this pronouncement against him the writer of Kings makes it clear that Jeroboam II was used greatly by Yahweh to save Israel. Jeroboam was able to restore the border of Lebo-hamath and restore Damascus and Hamath to the Israelites (1 Kings 14:25, 28). He had expanded Israel’s territory from the watershed Lebanese Beqa to Transjordan as far as the Dead Sea.[7] Like Judah, Israel’s expansion was largely due to the decline of the Assyrian empire. This is the time of the prophet Jonah (2 Kings 14:25) who also might reflect the weakness of the Assyrian empire in the prophetic book of Jonah. During this period of unparalleled expansion in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah the prophetic schools produced prophets to combat the rampant economic equality in the flourishing states. The prophet Amos proclaims judgment against the enemies of Judah and Israel for their iniquities against God’s people (1:3-2:3), but then turns his attention to the sins of Judah and Israel. Judah is berated for not keeping the Law of the Lord and is promised coming judgment upon their strongholds in Jerusalem (2:4-5). Likewise Israel is denounced for their disobedience in 2:6-16.[8] Judah’s disobedience is defined generally, but Israel’s iniquity is specifically addressed. Amos condemns Israel’s disregard for the poor saying, “they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals –those who trample the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted (2:6b-7a).” He goes on to denounce Israel for its gross debauchery and boastings of accomplishment. When seen against the background of the rich prosperity of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel this proclamation makes perfect sense. Jeroboam II like his Judahite counterpart, Uzziah, became puffed up with his success and did not attribute his victories to Yahweh. On account of this Jeroboam’s death and the exile of Israel were predicted by the prophet Amos in Amos 7:9-11 “And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, “‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.” Amos’ prophecy was fulfilled only a mere thirty years after the death of Jeroboam II when the Assyrian empire exiled Israel in 722 BCE.

---

[1] Anson Rainey and Steve Notley, The Sacred Bridge: Carta’s Atlas of the Biblical World, (Jerusalem: Carta, 2006). 217.

[2] For a discussion on Uzziah’s coregencies with his father Amaziah and his son Jotham see Ibid, 217-218 and Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Number of the Hebrew Kings, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965). 53-115.

[3] Ibid, 217.

[4] Ibid, 215-216.

[5] Ibid, 220.

[6] Ibid, 217.

[7] Ibid, 217.

[8] Yohanan Aharoni and Michael.Avi-Yonah, The Carta Bible Atlas, Jerusalem: Carta, 2002. 142.

The Plain of Sharon

Physical Description

The Sharon Plain is situated along the Mediterranean coast bordered by the Plain of Dor[1] to the north, the Carmel Range to the northeast, the Basin of Samaria to the east, and the Valley of the Craftsmen[2] to the south.[3] The plain itself is 10 miles wide by 27 miles long (16 by 45 km.) south of the Crocodile River and north of the Yarkon River and its tributary the Wadi Qana.[4] The center and largest portion of Sharon is made up of Mousterian Red Sand ranging in height from 150-300 feet (60-90 m.).[5] Karmon describes the properties of the red sand this way, “The red sand consists of grains of sand, each covered with a thin coat of colloidal matter, rich in iron and aluminum oxide.”[6] To the west of the red sand are three parallel Kurkar ridges that define Sharon’s coastline and encroach 5 miles inland.[7] Karmon defines the properties of Kurkar like this,

“Kurkar are solidified sand dunes, which were cemented with the aid of calcareous solutions. The main source for the supply of calcium is probably the seashells, which cover the beach in huge quantities after every storm in winter, and in the north their fragments for a coarse sand, called ‘zifzif.’ These are found between Netanya and ‘Atlit and they are widest around Caesarea.”^[8]

Sharon Plain with International Coastal Highway on the east

Moreover much of the Kurkar ridges themselves are covered with the red sand increasing the height of the ridge.[9] The combination of the red sands and ridges greatly impedes the drainage of the wadis coming off the hills of Samaria causing the area to become swampy.[10] This is particularly the case in the northern section where there are large quantities of sand dunes.[11] Because of its thick swamp, Sharon[12] in antiquity was densely forested with scrub brush. In antiquity the red sands were not cultivable as a consequence the region was not heavily settled, however, today the red sands are used to cultivate some of the finest citrus fruits in the world. Rainey calls this Mousterian Red Sand the citrus soil “par excellence.”[13] The combination of marsh and lack of deforestation due to its uncultivable nature in antiquity caused the region to be become densely forested.

Herod the Great's Aqueduct from Mt. Carmel to Caesarea

Photo Courtesy of Mindy M. Photography

The meaning of the Hebrew name, Sharon, is unclear,[14] however, the Greek name for the site in the LXX (Isaiah 35:2, et al) and in Josephus (War 1:12:2:250; Ant. 14:13:3:334) is Drumos, which means “Oak coppice.”[15] Concerning the name of the plain Smith writes, “The Maritime Plain between Carmel and Joppa was called in the Hebrew Sharon, probably meaning the Level, but in Greek the Forest, from a great oak forest which once covered it.” The Crusaders named it the Forest of Assur, Tasso Enchanted Forest, and the Napoleon Forest of Meski showing that the area was forested up until the medieval period.[16] Smith writes on the density of the forests in this way, “Sharon now scattered and ragged, it must have originally swept from the heights of Carmel to Aijalon.”[17] Today only a few of the offspring of the scrub oaks remain in Sharon.[18]

Historical Significance

The place name “Sharon” occurs 7 times in the Bible (1 Chr. 5:16; 27:29; Song 2:1; Is. 33:9; 35:2; 65:10; Acts 9:35.) 1 Chronicles 5:16 mentions the name Sharon, “they lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits.” Based on the context this Sharon clearly is in the Transjordan area next to Gilead and Bashan somewhere within the tribal territory of Gad. Moreover, Isaiah 65:10 says, “Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,” the implication was that it was not a pastureland at that time. This line of thought might also be applied to the other mentioning of Sharon in 1 Chronicles, which says, “Over the herds that pastured in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite.” The Plain of Sharon was not a large pastureland in antiquity, in order for there to be pasture there must be an abundance of grasses and a lack of dense forestation like the regions of Bashan and Gilead. The Plain of Sharon was covered with brush, marshy, and uneven, therefore not a likely candidate for sheepherders. Baly tries to tie the passages in 1 Chronicles together with the other references to show that it is a fertile land, but in so doing he misses the context of 1 Chronicles 5:16 and the irony of Isaiah 65:10.[19] Despite this Baly does acknowledge the difficulty as he writes, “The most that could ever be hoped for from Sharon was grazing on the fringes of the forest.”[20] Aharoni and Payne both came to the same conclusions regarding the references in 1 Chronicles 5:16.[21]

Consequently the region of the Plain of Sharon is referred to only 5 (maybe 6) times by name in the Bible (Song 2:1; Is. 33:9; 35:2; 65:10; Acts 9:35.) Each one of these passages (save Acts 9:35) either directly states or implies that Sharon is a region of fertility, beauty, and majesty. Song of Solomon 2:1 amidst numerous metaphorical allusions to nature’s beauty says, “I am a rose of Sharon” attesting to the abundance of flowers that grew there. Isaiah deftly uses Sharon to show quirks of fate. Isaiah 33:9 describes the coming of judgment of the Lord as causing “Sharon to be like a desert,” the implication is that it’s a fertile land and it would be shocking for it to lose its fertility. Isaiah 35:2 is the reverse of 33:9 as it describes that the “vengeance of God” will make the desert like “Carmel, Lebanon, and Sharon.” The Acts 9:35 account provides geographical data by placing the New Testament city of Lydda next to “Sharon.” In short the Bible’s idea of the Plain of Sharon is one of majestic fertility, but of uselessness for cultivation and herding. Smith gushes over the majesty of Sharon as he proclaims,

“The Maritime Plain possesses a rich but quiet beauty. If the contours are gentle the colours are strong and varied. Along almost the whole seaboard runs a strip of links and downs, sometimes of drifting sand, sometimes of grass and sand together. Outside this border of broken gold is the blue sea with its fringe of foam. Landward the soil is chocolate brown, with breaks and gullies, now bare of their dirty shingles and puddles, and now full of green reeds and rushes telling of ample water beneath. Over field and moorland millions of flowers are scattered – poppies, pimpernels, anemones, the convolvulus and the mallow, narcissus and blue iris – roses of Sharon and lilies of the valley. Lizards haunt the sunny banks. The shimmering air is filled with bees and butterflies, and the twittering of small birds, hushed now and then as the shadow of a hawk blots the haze. Nor when darkness comes is all a blank. The soft night is sprinkled with glittering fireflies.”[22]

In antiquity armies and caravans that travelled to Mesopotamia from Egypt and vice versa would have used the Great Trunk Route. For much of its distance this route runs along the coastal plain until it reaches the Yarkon and the city of Aphek, which forces the route northward in order to avoid the impassable swamps and forests of Sharon. Instead of traversing the Kurkar ridges and red sand dunes of Sharon travelers would have skirted the eastern edge of Sharon, the western seam of the foothills, in order to continue north through the Carmel Passes or to the port of Dor. The Plain of Sharon sits directly northeast of the Great Trunk Route this route would have been travelled by countless armies and caravans throughout history. Along this route there are some important cities that are on the border of this region those include: Socoh (1 Kings 4:110, Yaham, and Gath-Padalla. Caesarea also became an important city and port during the time of Herod the Great and following. Caesarea sits on the northwestern border of the Sharon plain before it is restricted into the narrow corridor of the Plain of Dor. The following is a summary of the historical events that occurred within the region.

• The first record of travel along this route was the first campaign of Thutmose III, whose forces marched to crush the Canaanite coalition at Megiddo.[23]
• Thutmose III’s successor Amenhotep II also used this route after his first campaign in Syria where he captured an emissary from Mitanni. Later in Amenhotep II’s last campaign he would raid the Sharon Plain from his base at Megiddo.[24]
• During the El Amarna age the capital of the region was a city called Gath-padalla, which is in the central part of the plain.
• Joshua 12:18 says that Joshua conquered “the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one” in the LXX this reads, “the king of Aphek of the Sharon.”
• In the early Iron Age there were many small, unfortified sites in the region.
• During the time of the United Monarchy the plain was included in Solomon’s third administrative district (1 Kings 4:10).
• Shishak marched along this route during his campaign against Israel and Judah (1 Kings 14:25-28). The sites of Gath-Padalla, Yaham, and Socoh all fell prey to Shishak’s campaign.
• After the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE the Sharon Plain was attached to the new Assyrian province of Samerina.
• In 671 BCE Esarhaddon passed through Sharon on his way to Egypt.[25]
• In the Persian period the Phoenicians made colonies at the mouths of the streams in Sharon. King Eshmunezer of Sidon claimed that the king of Persia had given him the ports of Dor and Joppa along with the rich grains of the land of Sharon.[26]
  
• During the time of the New Testament Herod the Great constructed the city of Caesarea that became the major port for the entire region. Sharon is mentioned in conjunction with the ministry of Peter in Acts 9:35. Simon Magus in Acts 8 is a resident of Gitta, which is probably Gath-padalla.[27]

---

[1] This is sometimes called the Coasts of Asher, this would be the southern coast of Asher that is sandwiched between Carmel and the Mediterranean and ends at the Crocodile River on the south. See Denis Baly, The Geography of the Bible, (New York: Harper and Row, 1973.) 118-119. Smith refers to the region as the “Maritime Plain.” George Adam Smith, The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, (Jerusalem: Ariel, 1966.) 112-124.

[2] This region is sometimes called the Lod/Lydda, Joppa, Aphek triangle.

[3] This delimitation is based on Baly’s boundaries. For a similar delimitation see Anson Rainey, A Handbook of Historical Geography, (Jerusalem: American Institute of the Holy Land Studies, 1984.) 221.

[4] The Qana formed the boundary between Manasseh and Ephraim (Josh, 16:8; 19:9). Ibid, 127-128.

[5] Ibid, 127.

[6] Yehuda Karmon, Israel: A Regional Geography, (London: Wiley-Interscience, 1971). 14-17.

[7] Ibid, 128.

[8] Ibid, 14-17; 34.

[9] Ibid, 16.

[10] Rainey discusses the wadis in Sharon as he says, “Several streams work their way from the foothills across the Sharon to the coast; among the most important are Crocodile River, Nahal Hadera, and Nahal Alexander which comes out of the foothills and curves NNE collecting several other streams until it finally turns west to the sea. Of lesser importance was Nahal Poleg. The Brook Kanah (Josh. 17:9-10) cuts across the plain to its outlet 3 ½ miles north of Joppa. It is joined by the biblical Yarkon (Josh. 19:46 LXX). Ibid, 221.

[11] Ibid, 130.

[12] Ibid, 55.

[13] Ibid, 221.

[14] On this topic Aharoni writes, “This name, which also applies to other regions in Palestine (1 Chron. 5:16), is taken by some to mean “level country,” but more likely means “forested region,” which aptly describes its nature and fits well the various biblical allusions.” Yohanan Aharoni, The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1979. 24-25.

[15] Ibid, 221.

[16] Ibid, 113.

[17] Ibid, 113.

[18] Ibid, 221. Smith also refers to this remnant. Ibid, 112.

[19] Ibid, 128.

[20] Ibid, 128.

[21] See Aharoni, 24-25 and J. Barton Payne, “1, 2 Chronicles,” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988). 4:346.

[22] Ibid, 113.

[23] Ibid, 222. For a more detailed discussion on Thutmose III’s first campaign see Anson Rainey and Steve Notley, The Sacred Bridge: Carta’s Atlas of the Biblical World, (Jerusalem: Carta, 2006.) 65-67.

[24] Ibid 69-71.

[25] James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, (Princeton: Princeton, 1955). 292.

[26] Eshmunezer Stele, Line 19. ANET, 505.

[27] The historical period list is adapted from Ibid, 222-223.

The Mesha Stele as an Archaeological Artifact and Historical Document

This upcoming semester I will be researching and preparing for my Master's thesis. My planned topic is "The Geopolitical Climate of the Reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah." The following short paper that I finished last semester was instrumental in helping me decide on this topic. The reign of king Jehoshaphat is a fascinating period in the kingdom of Judah that connects all of the small nations of the Levant (present-day Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and part of Turkey) I will probably be blogging on this topic more in the future.

Physical Description

The Mesha Stele (or the Moabite Stone) is a three feet tall by two feet wide basalt stone from biblical Dibon incised with 34 lines of alphabetic writing on one side of the stele with a raised frame surrounding it on both sides and on its rounded top. Its length makes it the longest monumental inscription ever found in Palestine.[1] The writing is in Moabite, which is very close to Hebrew.

Discovery

It was first discovered on August 19, 1868 by a French Anglican minister named, F.A. Klein, in Dhiban, Jordan, about three miles north of the Arnon River. [2] Klein discovered it while visiting a Bedouin tribe at Dhiban, when he saw it he understood it to be an importance artifact and tried to purchase it from the Bedouin. After some ensuing bargaining the Bedouin agreed to sell it for 120 napoleons (about $480) with the backing of the Prussian government. Despite the agreement local Bedouin politics would not allow the stone to be shipped out of Dhiban. Over a year later 21-year old Charles Clermont-Ganneau would send an Arab friend to Dhiban to establish its importance who would return with a hand copy of seven lines of the stone. Once Clermont-Ganneau received this he dispatched another Arab friend, named Karavaca, to take a paper squeeze and to offer a much higher sum than had been offered previously. The Bedouin of Dhiban agreed to this so Karavaca began to make the paper squeeze. Meanwhile, a fight broke out among the Bedouin and Karavaca feared for his life so he jumped on his horse and ran away. During the quarrel Sheik Jamil had the wherewithal to tear off the wet impression before scurrying away from the scene. Finally after numerous attempts to take the stone by the Turkish government and the Prussian government the Bedouin destroyed the stele. They broke it into countless pieces by pouring cold water on it after it had been heated in a fire. The fragments were then distributed among the Bedouin who put it in their granaries to be used as a talisman. After its destruction Clermont-Ganneau and Charles Warren were able to obtain 57 pieces of the stele, approximately 2/3’s of the stele. With the paper squeeze Clermont-Ganneau was able to fully reconstruct the stele. When it was translated it turned out to be a victory stele erected by Mesha, king of Moab in the ninth century BCE.[3]

[4]

[5]

Restoration

The line of “house of David” in the famous Tel Dan inscription was accepted by the majority of the scholarly community to be a reference to the dynastic kingdom of Judah and the person of David. This monumental discovery was hailed as being the first mention of the name of David in an inscription. However, two years prior to its discovery Andre Leimare had already come to believe that the dynastic term “house of David” was on the Mesha Stele, another stele from the 9^th century BCE. He came to this conclusion by studying the paper squeeze that had not been published previously.[6] On the evidence for coming to his conclusion Lemaire writes,

“One of the damaged lines has long posed an intriguing challenge to scholars. Line 31 on the stela begins by saying, “And as for Horonen, dwelt there … ,” but a break has partially obliterated the subject of the sentence. With the help of the squeeze, scholars had previously restored the broken subject of the sentence as bt[-]wd. Now, for the first time, Professor Lemaire proposes to reconstruct the missing letter as d, yielding bt[d]wd, “House of David,” referring to the king of Judah. This not only fits the context of the inscription, but the sentence structure parallels an earlier reference in the inscription to the “king of Israel.” In the Bible, “House of David” often refers to the king of Judah (2 Samuel 7:26; 1 Kings 2:24, etc.).”[7]

This groundbreaking restoration gives another mention of the name “David” and improves the understanding of the context on the Mesha Stele.[8]

Historical and Geographical Significance

Besides the obvious historical significance of the mentioning of the name of David, the Mesha Stele provides detailed data regarding the relations between Judah, Israel, and Moab.[9] The opening line of the stele identifies the inscription’s author as it says, “I am Mesha the son of Chemosh king of Moab, the Daibonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years and I reigned after my father…”[10] 1 Kings 3:4-5 mentions this Mesha king of Moab who rebelled against Israel who had previously required from Moab “100,000 lams and the wool of 100,000 rams.” The Mesha Stele goes on to describe Mesha’s military successes against Judah and Israel. He mentions that his father was under the dominion of Omri and “his son” for forty years. Their holding of the “land of Medeba” (the plateau situated between Moab, Ammon, and Israel) evidenced this. Mesha goes on to say that during his days Chemosh had returned Medeba to Moab and he rebuilt Baal-maon and Kiriaten.. Mesha then proceeds to discuss his military exploits these include the following:

Northern Campaign

1. Conquering of Ataroth from the men of the tribe of Gad, and the confiscating of the Davidic altar hearth there.

2. Seizing and slaughtering of Nebo, and the confiscating of the altar hearth of YHWH.

3. Conquering of the recently Israelite fortified city of Yahaz (which he added to the kingdom of Daibon).

Building Projects

1. Fortification of Dibon, which included: “the wall of the forests,” “the wall of the rampart,” gates, towers, a royal palace, a water system (with Israelite POWs), and cisterns in every home.

2. Rebuilding of Aroer, the highways in the Arnon, Beth-bamoth, Bezer, the temple of Medeba, the temple of Diblaten, and the temple of Baal-maon.

Southern Campaign

1. Conquering of Hawronen from the “House of David.”[11]

There is has been quite a bit of debate regarding the mentioning of the tribe of Gad and the two altar hearths ascribed to David and Yahweh. Even so a straightforward reading of the text seems to indicate that there were altars at Ataroth and Nebo devoted to the worship of Yahweh of which one of these was built by David or his line and that the tribe of Gad still had a remnant in Transjordan in the time of Mesha (9^th cent.).[12] Regardless of one’s view of its particular contents it is impossible for anyone to deny its importance as a historical and geographical source. On the importance and nature of the Mesha Stele Ahituv writes,

“The Mesha Stele is important for the abundant of multifaceted details it preserves. It elucidates in relatively large measure the details of the military actions of Mesha king of Moab, contemporary with Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and Jehoram, kings of Judah, as well as his building projects over an extensive period of time. It would appear that the inscription is a summary of Mesha’s actions up to the date of its writing. It addition to the historical data provided, it is the main witness to the Moabite language. It also gives important insights into the religion and religious attitudes of the Moabites in that period. This includes many points of similarity between the Moabites and their neighbors, the Israelites: the ritual devotion to destruction, the belief that the deity is angry with his people when things go wrong, or that he fights on behalf of his people. The stela also casts light on the world of the Israelites, e.g. we learn about a sanctuary to YHWH at Nebo”[13]

Much ink has been spent on trying to correlate the events described in the Mesha Stele (particularly line 31 ff.) and the events described in 2 Kings 3:4 ff. However, it seems best to see the war between Moab and the coalition of Judah, Israel, and Edom and Mesha’s account as two sides of the same coin. Joram of Israel could not stand for Mesha’s insubordination and outright rebellion as show in 2 Kings 3:4-5 and the Mesha Stele, so he had to take drastic measures. Likewise Jehoshaphat and the “ruler of Edom” could not afford rebellion from Mesha, who had already earlier tried to invade Judah with the help of Ammon (2 Chr. 20). At first the allies were successful in their invasion of Moab (2 Kings 3:24-25), but eventually they were repelled and Mesha counter-attacked and re-conquered Hawronen (Horonaim). This would fit both the biblical account Mesha’s account while leaving out details that were not relevant to the respective audiences of Mesha and the writer of Kings.[14] Rainey defends this position this way,

“There is no contradiction between the biblical and the Moabite narratives: they simply represents different sides of the same event. Naturally, Mesha has conveniently skipped over his abortive attempt to launch a joint invasion of Judah (2 Chron. 20). That ill-fated campaign followed the death of Ahab at Ramoth-gilead (before Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah launched their nautical enterprise) and preceded the war described in 2 Kings 3 (when Joram had succeeded his deceased brother Ahaziah).”[15]

---

[1] Andre Lemaire, “‘House of David’ Restored in Moabite Inscription.” BAR vol. 20 num. 3 (1994): 30-37.

[2] Siegfried Horn, “Why the Moabite Stone was Blown to Pieces,” BAR (1986): 50-61.

[3] Adapted from Horn, 50-61 and Leimare, 30-37.

[4] Reconstructed Mesha Stele from the Louvre Museum Ibid, 51.

[5] Paper squeeze from the Louvre Museum Ibid, 36.

[6] Adapted from Lemaire, 30-37.

[7] Ibid, 36.

[8] Ibid, 30-37.

[9] For a translation and discussion of the Moabite in the Mesha Stele see Shmuel Ahituv, Echoes from the Past: Hebrew and Cognate Inscriptions from the Biblical Period, (Jerusalem: Carta, 2008). 389-418.

[10] Translation taken from Anson Rainey and Steve Notley, The Sacred Bridge: Carta’s Atlas of the Biblical World, (Jerusalem: Carta, 2006): 203. Transliteration and other marks are not included.

[11] Adapted from Ibid, 211-212.

[12] For a discussion and in depth analyses on these very important issues see Anson Rainey, “Syntax, Hermeneutics and History,” IEJ 48 (1998), 244-251. Rainey summarily defends this position like this, “In summary, the reference to bt dwd in line 31 of the Mesha stele certainly refers to the kingdom of Judah. The ‘altar hearth’ taken as booty from Ataroth had beed donated to the Israelites from the tribe of Gad by David, or at least by the government of the United Monarchy. That these assertions shed positive light on the biblical sources for the tenth and ninth centuries BCE makes them automatically suspect in some circles. Nevertheless, these interpretations can all be supported by syntactical and rhetorical criticism of the text. They represent sound linguistic analysis, proper rhetorical hermeneutics and historical common sense.”

[13] Ibid, 389.

[14] Ibid, 250.

[15] Ibid, 251.