Judges and the United Monarchy
From tribal leaders to kings: Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon, the capture of Jerusalem and the building of the first temple.
After a period of local leaders called judges, Israel asks for a king. When that period began depends on the date of the exodus: about 1375 BC on the early date, about 1200 BC on the late one. David makes Jerusalem his capital and receives the promise of a lasting dynasty; Solomon builds the temple. Dates rest on the Bible’s regnal figures, counted back from later reigns that Assyrian records fix.
Events of this era
- c. 1375 or c. 1200 – c. 1050 BC, traditional dateThe Age of the Judges
After Joshua, Israel lives in its tribes without a king. The book of Judges tells of a repeated turn to other gods, foreign oppression, and rescue by leaders called judges, among them Deborah, Gideon and Samson.
- about 1100 BC, traditional dateRuth and Boaz
A Moabite widow follows her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem, gleans in the fields of Boaz and marries him. Their son Obed is the grandfather of David, and Matthew names Ruth in the genealogy of Jesus.
- about 1070 BC, traditional dateSamuel and the Loss of the Ark
Samuel is called as a boy at the shrine of Shiloh. The Philistines defeat Israel, capture the ark of the covenant and kill the sons of the priest Eli, then send the ark back after seven months. Samuel leads Israel as prophet and judge.
- about 1050 BC, traditional dateSaul Becomes Israel’s First King
Israel’s elders ask the aged Samuel for a king “like all the nations”. Samuel warns them, then anoints Saul of Benjamin, who is chosen by lot at Mizpah and made king at Gilgal. Saul is later rejected for disobedience.
- about 1025 BC, traditional dateDavid and Goliath
Samuel anoints David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem. In the valley of Elah the young shepherd kills the Philistine champion Goliath with a sling and a stone, and his fame turns King Saul against him.
- about 1010 BC to 1003 BC, estimated dateDavid Becomes King
After Saul dies in battle on Mount Gilboa, the men of Judah anoint David king at Hebron. Seven and a half years later, when the war with Saul’s house is over, the elders of all Israel anoint him king over the whole nation.
- about 1003 BC, estimated dateDavid Takes Jerusalem and Brings the Ark
David captures the Jebusite stronghold of Zion, makes it his capital and brings the ark of the covenant there with music and dancing. Jerusalem becomes both the royal city and a centre of Israel’s worship.
- about 1000 BC, traditional dateGod’s Covenant with David
David proposes to build a temple for the ark. Through the prophet Nathan he is told instead that God will build him a house, a dynasty whose throne will stand for ever. The promise becomes the root of the hope for a Messiah.
- about 995 BC, traditional dateDavid, Bathsheba and Nathan
Samuel tells how David takes Bathsheba, the wife of one of his warriors, and when she is pregnant has her husband Uriah killed in battle. The prophet Nathan confronts him. The child dies; a second son, Solomon, is born.
- about 966 BC to 959 BC, estimated dateSolomon Builds the Temple
In the fourth year of his reign Solomon begins a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem, with cedar and craftsmen from Hiram of Tyre. Seven years later the ark is carried into its inner room and the house is dedicated.