Judah, Kingdom of

The Kingdom of Judah was the southern Israelite state formed after the division of the united monarchy following Solomon's death, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and centered on Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic dynasty continuously for nearly three and a half centuries, from Rehoboam (c. 930 B.C.) until the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem under Zedekiah (586 B.C.). Its kings ranged from reformers like Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah to deeply apostate rulers like Manasseh.

The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and others addressed their oracles primarily to Judah, and its survival long after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel was attributed by those prophets to God's faithfulness to the Davidic covenant and his purpose for the temple and the city he had chosen.