Judah after Jewish exile in Babylon
Israel after the Exile in what is now Iraq
The scenes in Malachi probably took place in the Persian province of Yehud, which is translated Judah or Judea. It was roughly a 40-mile-wide square plug of ground (60 km), in territory that became known as Palestine. The Jewish province included Jerusalem and beyond, into what are now central parts of Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories. Jerusalem is where Jews sacrificed animals to God. And this was a topic Malachi covered with emotion and blunt words.Israel, Judah capture land
Israel, Judah capture land
Land grab
Israel and Judah take land from Syria and Edom
Israel, Judah, and Moab are the big winners in a land grab. Each nation fought for control over their individual corners of the region.Assyria weakens Syria
Assyria attacks Syria, leaving it too weak to defend itself against an opportunist like Israel's King Jeroboam. Jeroboam II recovered territory Israel lost to Syria. He restores Israel’s border from Lebo-hamath in the north (about 50 miles/80 km northwest of Damascus), to the Dead Sea in the south. A prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, said it would happen. Jonah came from the town of Gath-hepher.God helped make it happen
The LORD helped Jeroboam do these things because he saw how desperate the people had become. There was no one else willing to help them, free or slave. One more reason the LORD helped is because he promised not to let anyone erase them from the world. Those are the reasons he helped Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash.Edom and Judah gain land, too
Edom can't stop the young king of Judah, Amaziah, still in his early 20s and ambitious. After taking Edom, he challenges Israel to a battle. He loses, gets captured, and for punishment, Israel's soldiers knock down part of Jerusalem's city walls. Many citizens are taken as slaves.Moab's last stand
As for Moab, the combined armies of Judah and Israel can't break through the defenses of Moab's capital city, Kir-hareseth. Moab’s king saw he was losing the city. So, he took 700 swordsmen and tried to punch through Edom’s line and scatter the enemy. He failed and had to retreat.King sacrifices his son on city wall
Then he killed his oldest son, who would have succeeded him as king. He burned the body on top of the city wall as a sacrifice for everyone to see. Israel saw it, too. Angry and disgusted, they went home.Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Israel and Judah grab land
Moab’s last stand
Moab's last stand
MOAB’S LAST STAND
Moab stops paying Israel
King Mesha of Moab bred sheep. When King Ahab was alive and Israel was powerful, Mesha had to pay him to live in peace. Mesha gave Ahab 100,000 lambs and wool from 100,000 sheep. But Ahab was dead now. So, Mesha was done with that. He declared his independence by refusing to make those payments.Israel declares war
King Joram mustered his army, pulling fighters in from all over Israel. They marched out of Samaria. Along the way, Joram sent a message to King Jehoshaphat in Judah: “Moab’s king has rebelled. Will you join the battle with me and fight Moab?” Jehoshaphat said, “I will. We are one. My people are your people. My horses are your horses. 8Which way should we go?” Joram said, “We’ll attack from the south, from Edom’s desert.” Israel, Judah, and Edom joined forces against Moab. Armies of Israel and Judah marched around the southern tip of the Dead Sea, into Edom territory. It was a seven-day march through badland territory, with no water to drink.Israel and Judah overrun Moab cities
Israel’s coalition army overran Moab’s cities, filled the plowed fields with rocks, plugged every spring of water they found, and cut down every tree worth the trouble. Only one city remained unconquered: Kir-hareseth. Israel surrounded that town with mobile artillery: slingers firing rocks at Moab’s defenders. Moab’s king saw he was losing the city. So, he took 700 swordsmen and tried to punch through Edom’s line and scatter the enemy. He failed and had to retreat. Then he killed his oldest son, who would have succeeded him as king. He burned the body on top of the city wall as a sacrifice for everyone to see. Israel saw it, too. Angry and disgusted, they went home.For more Bible features
Boss of Edom, Moab
Boss of Edom, Moab
Bosses of the Promised Land
Kings of Israel and Judah controlled their neighbor countries of Edom and Moab for part of the era of Israelite kings. Moab had apparently lived under the dominance of Israel since David conquered the nation (2 Samuel 8:12). This likely meant, in part, that they paid annual tribute to Israel’s king—essentially tax payments. This marks a turning point in the history of the northern Jewish kingdom, the beginning of the end of their empire.2 Kings 1-4, Israel's king, about to die
"1When King Ahab of Israel died, Moab decided to declare its independence from Israel. 2Israel’s King Ahaziah fell through the latticework of an upper window in Samaria. Injured, he wanted to know if he would recover. So, he sent messengers to ask Baalzebub, god of the people in the city of Ekron. 3But a messenger from the LORD told Elijah, a prophet from the town of Tishbe, to go and intercept the king’s people. Elijah was to say, “Tell me this, why are you going to Ekron to consult Baalzebub? Don’t we have a God here in Israel? 4Take this message as a reminder that we do. Tell the king the LORD says this: ‘You won’t leave your sickbed. You’ll die there.’” Elijah delivered that message."2 Kings 2:1-9, Moab declares independence
Israel declares war
1King Ahab’s son, Joram, became king of the northern Jewish nation of Israel. By that time, Jehoshaphat was into his 18th year as king of Judah. Joram reigned a dozen years.
2In God’s eyes, Joram was a poor excuse of a king. But Joram wasn’t as wretched and evil as his parents, Ahab and Jezebel. Joram tore down the Baal pillar [1] his father built. 3Still, he continued King Jeroboam’s long tradition of sinning.
Moab stops paying Israel
4King Mesha of Moab bred sheep. When King Ahab was alive and Israel was powerful, Mesha had to pay him to live in peace. Mesha gave Ahab 100,000 lambs and wool from 100,000 sheep. 5But Ahab was dead now. So, Mesha was done with that. He declared his independence by refusing to make those payments.Israel declares war
6King Joram mustered his army, pulling fighters in from all over Israel. They marched out of Samaria. 7Along the way, Joram sent a message to King Jehoshaphat in Judah: “Moab’s king has rebelled. Will you join the battle with me and fight Moab?” Jehoshaphat said, “I will. We are one. My people are your people. My horses are your horses. 8Which way should we go?” Joram said, “We’ll attack from the south, from Edom’s desert.”Moab's last city refuses to fall
Israelites defeat much of Moab's army and finally surround the last city, where Moab's king reigns. He sacrifices his son on the city wall, and Israelites give up and go home. The writer doesn't say why.
For more Bible features
Map of Israel, Judah, Moab, and Edom
Israel and Judah, one nation divided
Israel and Judah, one nation divided
CONSTANT WAR
Israel and Judah live in perpetual hostility toward one another. They are brothers in blood, united to their common and revered ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they remain bitter rivals for as long as they exist...until one at a time, invaders from what is now Iraq, erase them from the world map. JUDAH AND SYRIA FIGHT ISRAEL War between Israel and Judah continued throughout the lives of King Asa and King Baasha of Israel. King Baasha reinforced the border town of Ramah. He wanted to shut the door on anyone trying to come or go between Israel and Judah.King ASA BUYS AN ALLY
Asa collected all the silver and gold in the Temple treasury. He told some officials to deliver it to King Ben-hadad at Damascus in Syria. Ben-hadad was the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion. Asa sent this message to Ben-hadad: “Let’s become allies. King Baasha of Israel is trying to invade and defeat me. I need your help. Please accept this gift of silver and gold. Then walk away from your treaty with Baasha, join forces with me, and help me push Baasha back where he belongs.It's a deal
Ben-hadad agreed to Asa’s deal. Then he unleashed his commanders and their armies. They attacked Israel and captured the cities of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the territory of Chinneroth and all the tribal land of Naphtali. When Baasha heard what Syria was doing, he stopped work on Ramah and retreated to the safety of his capital at Tirzah.Taking down Ramah
King Asa drafted all the men in Judah, no exceptions. He mobilized everyone to carry stones and timber that Baasha used to fortify Ramah. He used the material to fortify the town of Geba in the tribe of Benjamin, along with the town of Mizpah. (1 Kings 15:16-22)Israel, Judah: One nation divided
Absalom and David run away
Absalom and David run away
Israel's royalty run for their lives
Prince Absalom orchestrates the murder of his big brother, and then runs for his life from his Dad, King David. A few years later, the world flips and David is running for his life away from his son, who was leading a coup.Rape of the princess
The family troubles all started with lust and incest. David's oldest son, Amnon, first in line for the throne, fell in lust with his half sister, Tamar. She was the full sister of Absalom. Amnon raped her. She tried to stop him. She said, “No, no, no. Don’t do this to me. It’s disgusting. And it’s not allowed in Israel. Who would marry me after you shamed me like this? It would ruin your reputation, too. I’m begging you, if you want me, go to the king and ask him for me. He’ll give you anything you want” (2 Samuel 13:12-13). He raped her anyhow, and the kicked her out of his house. Bible writers seem to imply she spent the rest of her life as a single woman living with her brother.David gets mad
The rape infuriated David, yet he didn't even mention it to Amnon.Absalom gets even
Absalom slowly fumed for months, plotting murder of his brother...years later he would attempt to murder David as well, in a coup. In the spring, when shepherds shear the sheep and harvest a crop of wool, Absalom threw a party to celebrate the payday. Amnon got the invite. He got drunk. And he got dead.Absalom runs to grandpa, king of Geshur
Absalom's mother came from the royal family of Geshur, a territory just beyond the eastern of the Sea of Galilee. He would live there in exile for three years before David finally invited him home. That's when David's biggest problem blew up in his face.Absalom and David run for their lives
David’s war with Ammon
David's war with Ammon
Take a little off the top
Ammon's king took a little off the bottom, too...and King David went to war because of it. David sent ambassadors to Ammon to show his respect for the king who had just died. But the king's son and successor, Hanun, took it the wrong way,From 2 Samuel 10:3-19
3Some of King Hanun’s officials said, “Don’t be fooled by these men. David didn’t send them here to honor you with his condolences. They’re spies. David wants to take our land.”DAVID’S MEN HALF-SHAVED, HALF-STRIPPED
4Hanun arrested David’s men. Then he shamed them by shaving off their beards on just one side of the face and by stripping away their clothes from the waste down. He sent them home that way, horribly humiliated. 5When David met the men, they were ashamed of the way they looked. David said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then come home.” 6When leaders of Ammon heard about how angry they made David, they hired armies of mercenaries to protect them. They hired 20,000 Syrian soldiers from the cities of Beth-rehob and Zobah in Aram. They also hired 1,000 from the king of Maacah and another 12,000 from Tob territory.DAVID INVADES AMMON
7When David found out, he sent Joab and the entire Israelite army to Ammon. 8Ammon’s army defended the front gate into the capital city. All the other units took positions in the open field outside the city: Syrians from Aram, along with the soldiers from Tob and Maacah. 9Joab saw he would have to fight on two fronts, between Ammon’s own warriors inside the city and mercenaries behind him in the fields. He picked elite troops to lead into battle against the Syrians. 10He gave the rest of the army to his brother, Abishai, and ordered him to engage the locals of Ammon at the guarded city gate. 11He told his brother, “If the Syrians are too much for me, then stand down from the city and come reinforce my troops. But if the army of Ammon is too strong for you, I’ll come to reinforce you. 12Show your courage and your strength. Remember that we’re fighting for our people and for the land that belongs to the people God. Let’s trust that the LORD will do what he knows is best.”ISRAEL’S ENEMIES RUN AWAY
13Joab and his men sent the Syrian army running away. 14When locals of Ammon saw that their allies had left, they retreated back behind the city walls. So, Joab took his army back home to Jerusalem. 15Syrians of Aram, humiliated by their defeat, called in more troops. They consolidated all their armies into a single attack force. 16Syrian king Hadadezer called up warriors from the other side of the Euphrates River. All the armies assembled at the territory of Helam. Hadadezer led the offensive campaign, with Shobach commanding the army. 17When David got the news, he assembled his army and marched his men to Helam. Syrians of Aram engaged David and the Israelites. 18Syrians eventually withdrew and then ran away. Syrian body count:- 700 charioteers
- 40,000 infantry
- Commander Shobach, mortally wounded
David's war with Ammon, Moab
David takes Jerusalem
David takes Jerusalem
Sneak attack
From 2 Samuel 5
6King David and his men marched north to Jerusalem. They intended to take the city from Jebusite people who lived there. Jebusites were so confident of their defenses that they yelled down to David, “Hey, you can’t get in here. A blind cripple could stop you.” 7David took the walled city anyhow. People sometimes call the city Zion. But David called it the City of David. The name stuck.8David said, “Let’s show those blind cripples how much I hate them. To get to them, you’re going to have to climb up the shaft that drops into their spring of water.” That’s where the old saying comes from, that “The lame and blind aren’t allowed in the Temple.”
9David moved into the walled town and named it City of David. He fortified the position even more, from Millo tower on the perimeter and then toward the center of the city. 10David became a stronger and more respected leader because the LORD of everyone was on his side.
11King Hiram decided to give David a palace as a gift. So, he sent ambassadors along with carpenters and masons, supplied with cedar trees. 12David took that as a sign that the LORD had, in fact, given him the job of king over Israel and had lifted his status for Israel’s sake.
13After David moved to Jerusalem, he took more women into his harem—concubines and wives. They gave him more sons and daughters. 14The names of David’s 11 children born in Jerusalem include: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
PHILISTINES PUT A BULLSEYE ON DAVID
17When Philistines heard David became king of Israel, they targeted him. And they came up from the coast to hunt him. David got news about that, and he retreated to his favorite fortified hiding spot.18Philistines invaded the Valley of Rephaim. 19David asked the LORD, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you let me defeat them?” The LORD said, “Go on up after them. I’ll give them to you.” 20So David went to a place called The Unstoppable Lord. He beat the Philistines, and gave the credit to God. He said, “The LORD plowed through my enemies like a flash flood.” That’s why the place is called The Unstoppable Lord. 21Philistines ran away, leaving their idols behind. David and his men carried the idols away.
PHILISTINES INVADE ISRAEL
22Philistines invaded Rephaim Valley again. 23Once again David asked the LORD what to do. The LORD told David, “Don’t go charging into their front line. Secretly circle behind them and wait at the balsam trees. 24When you hear marching in the treetops, that’s your signal. The LORD is already attacking the Philistines.”25David did what the LORD said. He defeated the Philistines and chased them from Gibeon to Gezer.
King Ishbosheth murdered, beheaded
King Ishbosheth murdered, beheaded
End of King Saul's family dynasty
King Ishbosheth died in his sleep, with the help of two of his bodyguards, both of whom commanded soldiers.
From 2 Samuel 4, Casual English Bible:
ISHBOSHETH’S TWO COMMANDERS
1News of Abner’s death stunned the people of Israel and terrified Ishbosheth.
2Saul’s son had two raiding parties. A pair of brothers commanded them: Baanah and Rechab. The men came from Beeroth, [1] a city considered part of Benjamin’s tribe. 3Original citizens of Beeroth fled earlier to Gittaim. [2] That’s where they live today, as foreigners.
4Saul’s son Jonathan had a young boy who couldn’t walk. The son, named Mephibosheth, was five years old when his father and grandfather died in battle. When the boy’s nurse got that news, in her panic to escape the enemy, she dropped him. He couldn’t walk right after that.
ISHBOSHETH’S LAST SEISTA
5One hot day about noon, the brothers Baanah and Rechab went into Ishbosheth’s house while he was resting. 6They said they were coming for some wheat supplies. But they stabbed Ishbosheth in the abdomen and ran away. 7They snuck into his bedroom while he was sleeping, stabbed him to death, hacked off his head, and ran away with it. They walked south along the Jordan River Valley all night. 8They took the head of Ishbosheth to David in Hebron. They told him, “This is the head of your enemy, Ishbosheth, the son of Saul who tried to kill you. Today the LORD is giving you justice for what Saul and his family did to you.”
9David told Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, “As God is my witness—the same God who saved me from every danger I’ve faced— 10I killed the man who told me Saul was dead. He came to me in Ziklag to deliver what he thought was welcome news. I welcomed him to death. That was his reward. 11I’m going to do more than that to you, a couple of men evil enough to assassinate a good man sleeping at home in his own bed. You’ll pay for that with your blood and your death.”
12David ordered his men to kill the two, cut off their hands and feet, [3]and hang their bodies by the Hebron pool so everyone could see them. David’s men buried Ishbosheth’s head in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.
Notes
1 4:2 The people of Beeroth, some scholars say, were likely not the original Canaanites, but Israelites who had moved into the city. That would mean Baanah and Rechab were Israelites of Benjamin’s tribe and not Canaanites from a town annexed by Benjamin. Centuries earlier, Beeroth was one of four cities of Gibeon that had tricked Joshua into making a peace treaty with them. The location of Beeroth is uncertain, but likely near Gibeon. Original citizens of the town were among the people Saul tried to wipe out, in spite of the ancient treaty (2 Samuel 21:1-9). Survivors later convinced King David to give them revenge and let them kill everyone in Saul’s family except Jonathan’s son, a crippled boy named Mephibosheth. As a cripple, he was no threat to becoming king. People considered him unfit.
2 4:3 Gittaim’s location remains uncertain. The name means “two winepresses,” which is double the meaning of “Gath.” One guess is a town in Philistine territory, about five miles (8 km) northeast of the Philistine town of Ekron. It was called Gath but wasn’t the large Philistine town of Gath. “Gath” was a common name for a town, often half the name, as in Gath-Rimmon (Joshua 19:45). Some say Gittaim may have been Gath-Rimmon.
3 4:12 It’s unclear why David cut off the hands and feet of the men’s bodies. People in ancient times occasionally cut off the hands and feet of living people, to disable them and force them to live in misery. But here, cutting off the hands and feet of the dead may have been to simply show contempt for two dishonorable human beings.
King Saul's son murdered, beheaded
Israel’s Civil War: Battle at Gibeon Pool
Israel's Civil War: Battle at Gibeon Pool
Battle at Gibeon Pool
Israel’s tribes started a civil war at the Battle of Gibeon pool. It was David, king of Judah’s tribe, against all the other tribes, led by King Ishbosheth, son of Saul. Israel’s first king, Saul died in a battle against an overwhelming force of Philistines. Most of his sons died too, including David’s best friend, Jonathan. Many Israelite leaders left their lands west of the Jordan River, where Israelis and Palestinians live today. Israelites fled east of the river and ruled out of the city of Mahanaim, near the river. Their general crowned one of Saul’s surviving sons as king: Ishbosheth.He was no Saul
As the Bible writers tell it, the new king was a weak ruler who seemed to let his general, Abner, get away with sleeping with one of the king's wives from the royal harem. When he called Abner on it, Abner threatened to take the army and go side with David.David, King of Judah’s tribe
“David asked the LORD what he should do next. ‘Should I go back to my tribal homeland of Judah and find a city to live in?’ The LORD said, ‘Yes, go up there.’ David said, ‘Okay, but what town?’ God said, ‘Hebron…’ People of Judah’s tribe came to Hebron and anointed David king of their entire tribe. Someone told David that people from Jabesh in Gilead had managed to recover Saul’s body and bury him. David sent ambassadors to the people of Jabesh in Gilead with this message: ‘May the LORD bless you with his kindness. May he do this for the devotion you showed to Saul, your king, when you buried him. I hope the LORD rewards you with the same love and devotion you showed your king. I certainly will. I’ll do this for what you’ve done. Stay brave and strong. Though your leader, Saul, is dead, the people of Judah have anointed me as their king.Kingish
Israel’s commander, Abner the son of Ner, escorted Saul’s surviving son, Ishbosheth, across the Jordan River to a place called Mahanaim. Abner appointed Ishbosheth king over Israel. That included the people of Gilead east of the Jordan River, and those in the Jezreel Valley, and of the tribes of Ashur in Galilee, along with Ephraim and Benjamin in the central hills. Saul’s son, Ishbosheth was 40 years old when Abner made him king. He lasted two years. Judah’s tribe, however, followed King David."2 Samuel, Casual English Bible
To read about this from other Bible translations, see Bible Gateway.