Chapter 9: Kings and Prophets 1: The Early Monarchy

Omri

Founding king of an Israelite dynasty, father of Ahab, and established Samaria as the capital of the kingdom of Israel

Jehu

King of Israel who was instrumental in engineering the demise of the house of Ahab

Ahab

King of Israel, married to Jezebel, whose Baalistic practices were opposed by the northern prophet Elijah

Solomon

The son of David and Bathsheba who became the king of united Israel after David; he was renowned for his wisdom; he built the temple of YHWH in Jerusalem

Rehoboam

The son of Solomon who became the first king of Judah after the division of the kingdoms

Bathsheba

The wife of Uriah who committed adultery with David; later became David's wife and the mother of Solomon

Adonijah

A son of David who was executed by Solomon

Elijah

An Israelite prophet during the reign of Ahab; he defeated the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel and was taken to heaven in a firestorm

Ahijah

An Israelite prophet who encouraged Jeroboam to rebel against Solomon's administration

Jezreel

An Israelite royal city of the Omride dynasty; the place where Jehu executed Jezebel; it became a byword for Jehu's cruelty, and Hosea named his son Jezreel to signal God's judgement

Jeroboam

An administrator in Solomon's court who rebelled and became the first king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel; he built non-Yahwistic shrines in the cities of Dan and Bethel; a king of Israel in the eighth century BCE also held this name and is sometimes referred to as Jeroboam II

Jezebel

The Phoenician wife of Ahab who promoted Baal worship in Israel and opposed Elijah the prophet

United Monarchy

The period of Israel's monarchy when all twelve tribes were united under one king; this period lasted through the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon

Elisha

The prophet who succeeded Elijah in the northern kingdom of Israel