was ahab a descendant of david
12), near the cemetery of Enakim ( Septuagint rendering of; ib. 21:5). His great kingdom, enlarged and more richly endowed by his son Solomon, had been fractured into two weakened fragments. God wants to break our sinful, stubborn wills. All rights reserved. Wikipedia: Ahab & . 29b). [36][37] The patriarch of the Meisels family, Yitskhak Eizik Meisels, was an alleged 10th generation descendant of the Exilarch, Mar Ukba. Omri is mentioned briefly and unfavourably in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 16; Micah 6:16). The Seder Olam Zutta attributes the office to Zerubbabel, a member of the Davidic line, who is mentioned as one of the leaders of the Jewish community in the 6th century BC, holding the title of Achaemenid Governor of Yehud Medinata. Zechariahs reprimand didnt sit well with Joash. But Ahabs self-will becomes even more evident in an incident involving the king and his vegetable garden. Squeak up! Photo credit: GettyImages/Sviatlana Lazarenka. Ahab , Jehoshaphat's contemporary, was the son of Omri who usurped the throne and founded the third dynasty of Israel. As we might expect, Ahab rejected Micaiahs prophecy and had him cast into prison. Jesus would come to establish His eternal kingdom and it would be through the line of David. Ahab is portrayed by Eduard Franz in the film Sins of Jezebel (1953). There are a few points that stand out in the, Terror on Every Side! It was obvious that God was guiding that arrow, and Ahabs self-will ended in his untimely death. Jehoidas son, Zechariah came before the king and confronted him about his actions. Jezebel was fanatical about her religion. In 2005, another Dayan, Rabbi Yosef Dayan, was recognized by the nascent Sanhedrin as a direct descendant of King David and, as such, a candidate to re-establish the Davidic Dynasty. The descendants of the Karaite Exilarchs have been referred to above. Kings over Judah and Israel shared a few names: Now available with pre-order savings here. Sidonians was another name for the Phoenicians, that seafaring people on the Mediterranean coast who occupied the great cities of Tyre and Sidon. [33] Similarly Maimonides claimed 37 generations between him and Simeon ben Judah ha-Nasi, who was also a fourth-generation descendant of Gamaliel. Hezekiah, Ahaz's son, is attested to by numerous royal seals[10][11] and Sennacherib's Annals;[12] Manasseh is recorded giving tribute to Esarhaddon;[13] Josiah has no relics explicitly naming him; however, seals belonging to his son Eliashib[14] and officials Nathan-melech[15][16] and Asaiah[17] have been discovered; and the kings Jehoahaz II, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah are never explicitly named in historical records but are instead alluded to; however, Jeconiah is mentioned by name in Babylonian documents detailing the rations he and his sons were given while held prisoner during the Babylonian captivity. 22:24, 28), and therefore of the royal line of David. He is also the namesake of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick by Herman Melville. She knew what was about to happen, but she was going to die like a queen, arrogant, self-willed and unrepentant to the end. A descendant of David: The son of Arnan and father of Shecanian was named Obadiah. The incident started over a city east of Jordan called Ramoth-Gilead, which Ahab said belonged to Israel but was still in the hands of Syria. During the Hasmonean period the Davidic line was largely excluded from the royal house in Judea, but some members had risen to prominence as religious and communal leaders. The king of Judah called Jehoahaz was also known as Shallum, a name he shared with an earlier king of Israel. Jehoram/Joram: Both Jehoshaphat king of Judah and Ahab king of Israel had a son with this name. Ahab was succeeded by his sons, Ahaziah and Jehoram. With unyielding obstinacy they keep demanding their own way and looking for every possible means and method of doing or having what they want. Ahab Ahab (Hebrew: , Modern A'av Tiberian A; Akkadian: , translit. I dont want her. The kingdom fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 587/6 BCE. Joash/Jehoash: Ahaziah king of Judah and Jehoahaz king of Israel each had a son with this name who became king after them. [32] Because you have forsaken theLord, he has forsaken you 2 Chronicles 24:20 ESV. He gives wisdom. daughter of Jezebel and Ahab, King of Northern Kingdom of . The first step to victory is simply to admit that continually demanding our own way is disobedience to Gods Word, and therefore sin. )She was married to Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, probably in the lifetime of his father, to cement the alliance concluded between Ahab and Jehoshaphat against the Syrians (1 Kings 22:2-4).She inherited much of her mother Jezebel's character, obtained an unlimited . 126 0 obj <> endobj What do I do about calling a priest father at my Catholic University? His denunciation of the royal dynasty of Israel and his emphatic insistence on the worship of Yahweh and Yahweh alone, illustrated by the contest between Yahweh and Baal on Mount Carmel,[1 Kings 18] form the keynote to a period that culminated in the accession of Jehu, an event in which Elijah's chosen disciple Elisha was the leading figure and the Omride Dynasty was brutally defeated. Athaliah married King Joram, son of Judah's King Jehoshaphat. But Jehoshaphat was still not satisfied. (Called also Jehoash.) If Athaliah his daughter had succeeded in her attempts to wipe out David's descendants them the Davidic covenant . Joash established a voluntary donation system which provided abundantly for the necessary restoration. Of this disgraceful incident in Ahabs life, God said, Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him (1 Kgs. As the boy-king grew under Jehoiadas tutelage, he did what was right. Her mother may have been Ahabs wife Jezebel the Sidonian (and her behaviour was very similar), but we do not know. Of course, Ahab was just as self-willed as Jezebel, but with a different temperament. 28b; Tanna debe Eliyahu Rabba ix, Zua xxiv.). And destroyed all the seed royal All of the royal family that had not been cut off by Jehu and others, except one, mentioned 2 Kings 11:2.To this wickedness she was impelled by many motives: 1st, By rage to see Ahab's family destroyed, which made her resolve that the family of David should share the same fate. That soldier did not know he was shooting at the king, but his arrow penetrated the narrow slit between the pieces of Ahabs armor. Proud member [1 Kings 22:39] Adherents of the Yahwist religion found their principal champion in Elijah. Rehoboam was the son of Naamah the Ammonitess (1 Kings 14:21, 31). King Jehoshaphat was a descendant of King David, from the tribe of Judah, and began to reign over Judah about 100 years after the death of King David. David had at least 8 wives and at least 10 concubines (1 Samuel 18:27; 2 Samuel 3:2-5; 11:26-27; 15:16). Her love for pasta and all things Italian stems from years of ministry abroad. So Ahab came into his house sullen and vexed because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him . And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food (1 Kgs. The first was Ahaziah. He could have turned them out and stopped them in their tracks. Joash had ruled Judah for 40 years. The Levites had always been excluded from the Israelite monarchy, so when the Maccabees assumed the throne in order to rededicate the defiled Second Temple, a cardinal rule was broken. Initially, David was king over the Tribe of Judah only and ruled from Hebron, but after seven and a half years, the other Israelite tribes, who found themselves leaderless after the death of Ish-bosheth, chose him to be their king as well.[28]. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. His greatest achievement asking was repairing the temple. xliii). Why didnt you stand up to him? one wife jeered when she heard of her husbands latest disagreement with the boss. Jehoram/Joram had more than one wife (exact number unknown) (2 Chronicles 21:17). In David's time, the capital probably served as little more than a formidable citadel, and the Davidic "kingdom" was most likely closer to a loosely-confederated regional polity,[19] albeit a relatively substantial one. You'll get a new micro-tale, or an informative article every week, as well as occasional special offers from Bible Tales Online. Yoash is a descendant of Ahab but he is also the only surviving royal heir of David. And it slowly but surely eats away at our relationship. [3], King Omri, Ahab's father and founder of the short-lived Omri dynasty, seems to have been a successful military leader; he is reported in the text of the Moabite Mesha Stele to have "oppressed Moab for many days." Jehoshaphat was a direct descendant of David and ruled Judah. At Jehorams death, his son by Athaliah became king of Judah. The family tree of David (whose descendants became the royal family of the kingdom of Judah) contains quite a few women who were not Jewish. He wanted another opinion: Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of him? (1 Kgs. 1:12; Coniah, Jer. Jewish tradition alludes to two redeemers, both of whom are called mashiach and are involved in ushering in the Messianic age: Mashiach ben David; and Mashiach ben Yosef. Jezebel had grown up steeped in the worship of Baal and his female consort, Astarte (or Ashtoreth). The mention of Rahab in Jas. Omri left to Ahab an empire that comprised not only territory east of the Jordan River, in Gilead and probably Bashan, but also the land of Moab, whose king was tributary. 29). Naboth declined the offer, just as he should have done, for God had forbidden the Jews to sell their paternal inheritance (Lev. But it didnt work out quite like he planned. They had a special economic and social status in the Jewish community, and they were close to their respective governments, some serving as advisers and tax collectors/finance ministers. Jehu Slaughters Ahab's Descendants. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. The account of Joash is a piece in an even bigger story of Gods faithfulness to His promises. King David had been absent from the scene of Hebrew history for about 135 years when this story opens. In his book, A Jewish Princedom in Feudal France, Arthur J. Zuckerman proposes a theory that from 768 to 900 CE a Jewish Princedom ruled by members of the Exilarchs existed in feudal France. 'God is my close relative' (Pfeiffer, 1988: 40), owed much of his success to his father Ormi's efforts to set the Northern Kingdom on a firm political foundation. The Hasmoneans were not considered connected to the Davidic line nor to the Tribe of Judah. During those years, they waited and planned Joashs coronation. 11:31, shows that her fame had risen at the time when St. Matthew wrote. A controversial artifact called the Jehoash Tablet recalls deeds performed by Jehoram of Judah, who reigned about 44 years before Uzziah; however, scholars are tensely divided on whether or not the inscription is genuine. The prophets of Baal were slain and it looked as though the nation would turn back to God. 5. Exilarchs continued to be appointed until the 11th century, with some members of the Davidic line dispersing across the Islamic world. i. ", "We Are Family: King David's Descendants Gather for 'Reunion', "The Real Messiah A Jewish Response to Missionaries", "David, Prophetic Figure of the Last Days", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Davidic_line&oldid=1148547226, This page was last edited on 6 April 2023, at 20:51. 21:1). According to some Islamic sources, some of the Jewish settlers in Arabia were of the Davidic line, Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi recorded: "A Jewish man from the Davidic line entered Medina and found the people in deep sorrow. 61b), the Crsus of his time, he was, according to ancient tradition (Meg. He generously supported the students of the Law out of his royal treasury, in consequence of which half his sins were forgiven him. Jehu killed Jehoram and Jezebel . 0 He owned it, they said, and he controlled its weather and the increase of its crops and cattle. Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines (2 Chronicles 11:21). According to the Bible, David, of the Tribe of Judah, was the third king of the United Monarchy of Israel and Judah. Joash did not need to give the time of day to the voices of those whose advice contradicted Gods commands. Choose carefully what andwho you allow to influence you. Later rabbinical authorities grant the office of exilarch to family members that traced its patrilineal[29] descent from David, King of Israel. So the next round went like this: You cant even provide for your family. Then she brought 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Ashtoreth from Phoenicia, housed them in the palace, and fed them in royal style. Scripture says, When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head, and looked out the window (2 Kgs. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. . In the 11th-15th century, families that descended from the Exilarchs that lived in the South of France (Narbonne and Provence) and in northern Iberian peninsula (Barcelona, Aragon and Castile) received the title "Nasi" in the communities and were called "free men". Soon after he immigrated to Israel in 1968, Rabbi Dayan buried his grandfather . 245) makes Micah an Ephraimite. She shouted abuses at Jehu from her upstairs window, but at Jehus command, several of her servants threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot (2 Kgs. 2d, By ambition and desire of rule, to make way for which many . Ahab was allied by marriage with Jehoshaphat, who was king of Judah. Several Ashkenazi scholars also claimed descent from King David. 22:2-4). Tell Him frankly that you would rather have your own way than be unselfish and considerate of others, but acknowledge that it is contrary to His Word. He will not only enable you to carry through with your decision to act in love, but He will give you genuine delight in doing His will. Jehoshaphat agreed, but wanted to consult the Lord first. [1 Kings 16:2934] The Hebrew Bible presents Ahab as a wicked king, particularly for condoning Jezebel's influence on religious policies and his principal role behind Naboth's arbitrary execution. Not yet. A advice to you Michel do not use as source of anything that has been . Since, however, it was Ahab's idolatrous wife who was the chief instigator of his crimes (B. M. 59a), some of the ancient teachers gave him the same position in the world to come as a sinner who had repented (Sanh. 25:23-34). Maybe the husband will not let his wife buy something she thinks she has a right to have, or the wife prepares an absolutely terrible dinner on the very day hubby is expecting his favorite dish. Does the Bible Condemn Using Tarot Cards? Very few bowmen would have been that accurate. 2. [1][2] He was later succeeded by his son, Solomon. Whenever Gods people leave a crack open to sin inevitably that sliver allows Satan to sneak his temptations inside. He dug in his heels to his own detriment and the nations. endstream endobj startxref | Ahab and Jezebel also had a daughter, Athaliah, and she married another man named Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of the southern kingdom of Judah. 11). Interestingly, two of the sons had the same name: Azariah. In Judaism it is based on texts from the Hebrew Bible and through the succeeding centuries based on later traditions. Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor (1 Kgs. Only with Aram-Damascus is he believed to have had strained relations, though the two kingdoms also shared an alliance for some years.[4]. The Tel Dan Stele mentions the death of the reigning king from "BYTDWD",[6] (interpreted as "House of David") and thus far is the only extrabiblical explicit mention of David himself. A type of worldliness (Ber. Descendants of the house of exilarchs were living in various places long after the office became extinct. Jehu, the captain of Israels army, was to be the instrument of divine discipline in her case. The bulk population of the Northern Kingdom of Israel was forced to relocate to Mesopotamia and mostly disappeared from history as The Ten Lost Tribes or intermixed with exiled Judean populations two centuries later, while the remaining Israelite peoples in Samaria highlands have become known as Samaritans during the classic era and to modern times. In Judaism and Christianity, the Davidic Line is the bloodline from which the Hebrew Messiah has a patrilineal descent. . Sylvia is co-author of a devotional book and her writing is included in several book compilations. He was a righteous and faithful king who would be high on the list of the best kings of Judah although he had a problem with being too tolerant of evil people. Money, relationships, addictions, and power can be idols that vie for our affections and gain control over us. Commentary for June 1, 2017 Contrasts of Two Kings. Ahab's contribution was estimated at 2000 chariots and 10,000 men. According to the Bible, David, of the Tribe of Judah, was . God sent prophets to pull Joash back from sliding into the same sins as his forefathers committed. In the Christian interpretation the "Davidic covenant" of a Davidic line in 2 Samuel 7 is understood in various ways, traditionally referring to the genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament. Have you both yielded yourselves to Christ as Lord of your lives and are you willing to let Him make the changes necessary to improve your relationship with each other? Self-will of either variety, the violent kind or the peevish kind, can ruin a marriage. Biblical figure; seventh monarch of the Kingdom of Israel, List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources, "The Monolith Inscription of Salmaneser II", List of Jewish leaders in the Land of Israel, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ahab&oldid=1149045259, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles containing Akkadian-language text, Articles containing Koin Greek-language text, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from May 2021, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia without a Wikisource reference, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The second encounter is between Ahab and an unnamed prophet in. The southern kingdom of Judah was being ruled by his descendants, while the northern kingdom of Israel suffered under a succession of wicked men at the helm. 2; Tosef., Sanh. Joash survived a massacre staving off a wicked plot that would have brought the Davidic throne to the edge of extinction. . The Hebrew Bible presents Ahab as a wicked king. Can you believe that a grown man would act this childishly? But the Septuagint adds that pigs also licked his blood, symbolically making him unclean to the Israelites, who abstained from pork. [41][42], In 2012, The Jerusalem Post reported that philanthropist Susan Roth created Davidic Dynasty as subsidiary of her Eshet Chayil Foundation, dedicated to finding, databasing, and connecting Davidic descendants and running the King David Legacy Center in Jerusalem. They will not listen to reason; they will not consider the feelings of others; they will not face the potential consequences of their intended actions. Dont listen to bad advice. [12] Naboth's soul was the lying spirit that was permitted to deceive Ahab to his death.[13]. 1 Kings 16:28-34. This article is part of our People from the Bible Series featuring the most well-known historical names and figures from Scripture. The New Testament books of Matthew and Luke give two different accounts of the genealogy of Jesus that trace back to David. And the evil influence lived on! 9:22). 21:4). (John 14:17). [1], Ahab became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah, and reigned for twenty-two years, according to 1 Kings. They just want to feel sorry for themselves and let everybody know how bad things are for them. He sent prophets to steer him back to do right. Instead, he reacted with offense. Jesse's disobedience to Samuel's command and Naboth 's disobedience to Ahab's command to give his descendants a vineyard were not unusual. She slaughtered all the royal heirs, or so she thought. One of them was the husband in the next marital relationship we want to study. But go back to Ahab and his vegetable garden for a moment. R. xiv). Joash the king of Israel reigned from 798-782 BC. We have choices. Many of the kings had large numbers of wives and/or concubines: We do not know how many wives Jehoshaphat himself had, but we know that he had seven sons. The information in the article above and shown in Jehoshaphats family tree can be found in the Bible books of Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles and Jeremiah. On his father's side, Rashi has been claimed to be a 33rd-generation descendant of Johanan HaSandlar, who was a fourth-generation descendant of Gamaliel, who was reputedly descended from the Davidic line. . Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1997, nos. Why Does God Compare Our Relationship with Him to That of a Bride and Groom? Your throne shall be established forever 2 Sam 7:16 ESV. The Bible Story of Elijah The Life of Ruth - 5 Essential Faith Lessons The Bible Story of Queen EstherThe Greatest Villain - King NebuchadnezzarThe Bible Story of Mary Magdalene. David was the great grandson of Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:13-22). Joram "did evil in the sight of the Lord" ( 2 Chronicles 21:6 ). 16:31). Abijah/Abijam had 14 wives (2 Chronicles 13:21). These offenses and atrocities stirred up populist resentment from figures such as Elijah and Micaiah. Accounts of the life of Athaliah are to be found in 2 Kings 8:16-11:16 and 2 Chronicles 22:10-23:15. The Hasmoneans, who established their own monarchy in Judea in the 2nd century BCE, were not considered connected to the Davidic line nor to the Tribe of Judah. While the forceful ones rant and rave, strike out at those who stand in their way, throw fits and destroy things, the weak ones sulk and pout and fret like spoiled children. 104b, Num. "Solomon's stables" (or Ahab's), "King Solomon's mines" at Timna - and there are some who are still hard at work and have found Mount Sinai (at Mount Karkoum in the Negev) or Joshua's altar at Mount Ebal. 2 Kings 11:1. Yet their influence lived on in their children. [4], Ahab was one of the three or four wicked kings of Israel singled out by tradition as being excluded from the future world of bliss (Sanh. Sylvia Schroeder loves connecting Gods Word with real life and writing about it. Ahab decided he wanted Naboths property, so he went to him and said, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if you like, I will give you the price of it in money (1 Kgs. Marriages to stubborn, willful people can bring unhappiness to all concerned. 22:52, 53). He had the dubious distinction of being the most wicked king who reigned over Israel up until his day. Talk to the Lord about it. Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of the King of Tyre. The worship of Jehovah must have seemed dull and commonplace by comparison, and she was determined to change it. Another group of 100 were hidden in a cave and fed secretly by a godly servant of Ahab named Obadiah. The influences in our lives matter. The existence of Ahab is historically supported outside the Bible. The highest official of Babylonian Jewry was the exilarch (Reish Galuta, "Head of the Diaspora"). 13:5), but have only self-love which insists on its own rights and demands its own way. In Christianity, the New Testament follows the line through Mary and Joseph to Jesus.. A godly wife will challenge her husband to listen to God and live for Him, not encourage him to sin. Elijah met Ahab in Naboths vineyard and pronounced Gods judgment on both him and his wife for their wicked deed. He could have acknowledged his sin and repented when confronted. After Ahab's death, Jehu killed Jezebel (2 Kings 9) and all of Ahab's descendants (2 Kings 10). Intermarriage between Israelite and Judean royalty added a twisted mess of seriously bad branches toJoashs family tree. Ahaziah: Jehoram king of Judah and Ahab king of Israel each had a son with this name, but neither of them reigned for very long. Nevertheless, he paid great respect to the representatives of learning, "to the Torah given in twenty-two letters," for which reason he was permitted to reign for twenty-two successive years. Two hundred and thirty subject kings had initiated a rebellion; but he brought their sons as hostages to Samaria and Jerusalem. There were two other names which were later used as names of kings in both kingdoms: Jehoahaz and Shallum. When we clean spiritual house, but dont slam the door completely, it leaves us vulnerable to greater sin. The Life of Ruth - 5 Essential Faith Lessons, The Greatest Villain - King Nebuchadnezzar, Why Everyone Should Know about Joash, the Boy-King Who Survived a Massacre. A widely spread traditional Christian interpretation relates the non-continuation of the main Davidic line from Solomon to the godlessness of the line of Jehoiachin which started in the early 500s BC, when Jeremiah cursed the main branch of the Solomonic line, by saying that no descendant of "[Je]Coniah" would ever reign on the throne of Israel again (Jeremiah 22:30). ), Richard L. Strauss authored nine books, and served as pastor of churches in Fort Worth, TX, Huntsville, AL. Ahab, and Jehu, but the southern kingdom of Judah, which is said to be a descendant of David, was independent Instead of letting the love and graciousness of Jesus Christ control us, our sinful natures take over and we go into our rage routine or sulk syndrome, whichever it is with us. (1-11) Ahab's descendants are executed at Jezreel. Jewish Quarterly Review, hereafter "J. Q. R.", xv. He could have, but he chose not to. Aabbu; Greek: ; Latin: Achab) was the seventh king of Israel since Jeroboam I, the son and successor of Omri, and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, according to the Hebrew Scriptures. But the high places were not taken away (2 Kings 12:3). According to 1 Kings 20, war later erupted between Ahab and king Hadadezer of Aram-Damascus (which the Bible refers to as "Ben-Hadad II") and that Ahab was able to defeat and capture him; however, soon after that, a peace treaty was made between the two and alliance between Israel and Aram-Damascus was formed. But they react differently when they do not get it. King David and King Ahab . The people rejoiced to have their legitimate king take the throne. Ahaziah also died after a short reign, leaving no one in the immediate royal family left to take the throne. 1, 2). But Elijah was the only one courageous enough to stand up openly against Jezebels wickedness. [10][pageneeded]. SBL Academia Biblica 12. Answer. Joash/Jehoash had at least two wives (2 Chronicles 24:3-4). Because the stele coincides the death of the Davidic king with the death of [Jeho]ram, the king of the Kingdom of Samaria, scholars have reconstructed the second slain king as Ahaziah of Judah, the only king contemporary to Jehoram with a name ending in -yah. A man will do strange things when he is taunted and ridiculed by his wife. According to scholars within Orthodox Judaism, this is considered to have contributed to their downfall and the eventual downfall of Judea; internal strife allowing for Roman occupation and the violent installation of Herod the Great as client king over the Roman province of Judea; and the subsequent destruction of the Second Temple by the future Emperor Titus. She was going to teach Ahab her philosophy of life: Take what you want and destroy anyone who stands in your way. And Ahab did not have the courage to stop her. It is never easy to admit when we have sinned. So defiant in his apostasy was he that he had inscribed on all the doors of the city of Samaria the words, "Ahab hath abjured the living God of Israel." He was a descendant of King David through Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:21). The Tel Dan Stele, as aforementioned, remains the only mention of David himself outside the Bible, and the historical reliability of the United Monarchy of Israel is archaeologically weak.
