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• 
  Ashkelon
  Ashkelon (also Ashqelon and Ascalon; Hebrew: אַשְׁקְלוֹן‎‎  (audio) (help·info); Arabic: عسقلان (ˁAsqalān)‎; Latin: Ascalonia; Akkadian: Isqalluna) is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Tel Aviv, and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age. In the course of its history, it has been ruled by the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Israelites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Persians, the Egyptians and the Crusaders, until it was destroyed by the Mamluks in 1270. The Arab village of al-Majdal (Arabic: المجدل‎, Hebrew: אל-מג'דל, מגדל‎), was established nearby in the 16th century, under Ottoman's own rule.
  In 1918, Ashkelon became part of the British Mandate for Palestine. In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Majdal was the forward position of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force based in Gaza. The village was occupied by Israeli forces on November 5, 1948, by which time most of the Arab population of 11,000 had been forced to leave. In 2010, the population of Ashkelon was 112,900.
  
  wn.com/Ashkelon
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  Ein Gedi
  Coordinates: 31°27′0″N 35°23′0″E / 31.45°N 35.383333°E / 31.45; 35.383333
  Ein Gedi (Hebrew: עֵין גֶּדִי‎‎) is an oasis in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the caves of Qumran.
  The name Ein Gedi is composed of two Hebrew words: ein means spring and gdi means goat-kid. En Gedi thus means "Kid spring."
  In the 2 Chronicles 20:2 it is identified with Hazazon-tamar, where the Moabites and Ammonites gathered in order to fight Josaphat. In Genesis 14:7 Hazazon-tamar is mentioned as being a Amorite city, smitten by Chedorlaomer in his war against the cities of the plain.
  In Joshua 15:62, Ein Gedi is enumerated among the cities of the Tribe of Judah in the desert Betharaba, but Ezekiel 47:10 shows that it was also a fisherman's town. Later, King David hides in the desert of Ein Gedi (1 Samuel 24:1-2) and King Saul seeks him "even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats" (1 Samuel 24:3).
  The Song of Songs (Songs 1:14) speaks of the "vineyards of En Gedi." The words of Ecclesiasticus 24:18, "I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades" (’en aígialoîs), may perhaps be understood of the palm trees of Ein Gedi.
  
  wn.com/Ein_Gedi
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  Gibeah
  Coordinates: 31°49′24.14″N 035°13′52.14″E / 31.8233722°N 35.23115°E / 31.8233722; 35.23115 Gibeah (^{[pronunciation?]}; Hebrew: גבעה‎ Giv'a) is a biblical site identified by archaeologists as a hill in Jerusalem, on the outskirts of the Pisgat Ze'ev and Shuafat neighborhoods, known as Tell el-Ful.
  Gibeah may be a variation of the Hebrew word meaning “hill,” other names include Gibeah of God (גִּבְעַת הָאֱלֹהִים) Gibeah of Benjamin (גִּבְעַת בִּנְיָמִין) for it is in the territory of the Tribe of Benjamin and Gibeah of Saul (גִּבְעַת שָׁאוּל) where lived biblical King Saul.
  Gibeah is believed to be located along the Central Benjamin Plateau, 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Jerusalem along the Watershed Ridge at 2,754 feet (839 m) above sea level.
  The site was first excavated in 1868 by Charles Warren, while C.R. Conder described the remains in 1874. William F. Albright led his first excavation from 1922 to 1923, and returned for a second season in 1923. His work was published in 1960. P.W. Lapp conducted a six-week salvage excavation in 1964. According to Kenneth Kitchen "Upon this strategic point was found an Iron I occupation replaced (at an interval) by a fortress ("I"), subsequently refurbished ("II"), and then later in disuse. The oldest level may reflect the Gibeah of Judg 19-20. The excavations by Albright, checked by Lapp, would favor the view that it was Saul who built the first fortress, later repaired by him or David. the first fort (quadrangular) had at least one rectangular corner-tower at its southwest angle; it may have had others at the other corners, but no traces were detected."
  
  wn.com/Gibeah
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  Israel
  Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
  Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or  /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل‎, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
  Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.^{[neutrality is disputed]} Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.
  
  wn.com/Israel
• Mizpah in Benjamin
  Mizpah ("watch-tower; the look-out") was a city of Benjamin.
  Tell en-Nasbeh is one of two sites often identified with Biblical Mizpah of Benjamin, and is located about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. The other suggested location is Neby Samwil, which is some 4 miles north-west of Jerusalem, and situated on the loftiest hill in the vicinity, some 600 feet above the plain of Gibeon.
  When the Levite's concubine was raped by the men of Gibeah, the sons of Israel met at Mizpah of Benjamin, where they decided to attack the men of Benjamin for this grievous sin.
  After the debacle at Aphek, where the Hebrews lost the Ark to the Philistines, Samuel gathered all Israel to Mizpah to offer sacrifices to the Lord and ask Him to forgive their sin. To memorialize this event, Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Shen and named it Eben-Ezer ("stone of help"), because the Lord had helped them.
  Samuel also gathered the people of Israel to Mizpah for the Lord to identify their first king. There, Saul was chosen by lot from all the tribes and families of Israel.
  
  wn.com/Mizpah_in_Benjamin
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  Mount Gilboa
  Mount Gilboa (Hebrew: הר הגלבוע‎, Har haGilboa'; Arabic: جبال فقوعة‎ Jabal Faqu'a) is a mountain range overlooking the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel.
  In the Bible, King Saul, Israel’s first monarch, led a charge against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. The battle ends with the king falling on his own sword and Jonathan being killed in battle. David, who returns to the site after the battle, curses the mountain: “Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of choice fruits; for there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil” (II Samuel 1:21)
  The formation extends from southeast to northwest, bordering the highlands of the West Bank and the Beit She'an valley. The Green Line between Israel and the West Bank runs south and west of the ridge.
  Every year, Irus Ha-Gilboa, a purple iris, blooms on the mountain. Two nature reserves have been declared on the Gilboa ridge; The Irus Ha-Gilboa nature reserve in 1970, covering 7,280 dunams (728 ha) and the eastern Gilboa reserve in 2005, covering 18,290 dunams (1,829 ha).
  
  wn.com/Mount_Gilboa

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  Abijah of Judah
  Abijam (Hebrew: אֲבִיָּם, ʼĂḇiyyām ; meaning "father of the sea" or "my father is the sea"; Greek: Αβιου; Latin: Abiam) was the fourth king of the House of David and the second of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the son of Rehoboam, the grandson of Solomon and the great-grandson of David. The Chronicler refers to him as Abijah (Hebrew: אֲבִיָּה, ʼĂḇiyyāh ; "my father is Yah"; Greek: Αβια; Latin: Abia).
  His mother's name was Maacah, or Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, and the granddaughter of the infamous Abishalom (Absalom). Abijah married fourteen wives, and had 22 sons and 16 daughters.
  Abijah went to considerable lengths in his short reign to reunite the northern Kingdom of Israel with Judah, by bringing Israel under his control. He waged a major battle against King Jeroboam of Israel in the mountains of Ephraim. 2 Chronicles 13:3 gives the sizes of the two armies as 400,000 on Abijah's side and 800,000 on Jeraboam's.
  Before the battle, Abijah addressed the armies of Israel, urging them to submit and to let the Kingdom of Israel be whole again. However, his plea fell on deaf ears. Abijah then rallied his own troops with a phrase which has since become famous: "Jehovah (God) himself is with us for a captain (commander of the army)." His elite warriors fended off a pincer movement to rout Jeroboam's troops. According to 2 Chronicles 13:17, 500,000 of Jeroboam's troops were killed.
  
  wn.com/Abijah_of_Judah
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  Agag
  Agag ( /ˈeɪɡæɡ/; Hebrew: אגג‎ ʾĂḡāḡ, Arabic: يأجوج‎) was the name of two kings of the Amalekites mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It has been conjectured that the name was a standing title of the kings of the Amalekites. The name or title may mean "flame" in ancient Northwest Semitic.
  The first Agag is mentioned very briefly by Balaam in Numbers 24.7, the context implies that he was a king, but he is not clearly stated to be an Amalekite.
  The second and better-known Agag was taken alive by King Saul after destroying the Amalekites (I Samuel 15). His life was spared by Saul and the Israelites took the best of the sheep, cattle, fat calves and lambs from the Amalekites.
  The prophet Samuel regarded this clemency as a defiance of the will of God, which was "to completely destroy" the Amalekites. Samuel put Agag to death at Gilgal saying that "[a]s your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women." And so Samuel proceeded to personally cut Agag to pieces.
  The story also indicates that this is the last time Samuel and Saul ever saw each other. As a result of this incident, Samuel said to Saul that "[y]ou have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel."
  
  wn.com/Agag
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  Agrippa I
  Agrippa I, also known as Herod Agrippa or simply Herod (10 BC – 44 AD), was a King of the Jews during the 1st century AD. The grandson of Herod the Great and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. He was born Marcus Julius Agrippa, so named in honour of Roman statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. He is the king named Herod in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Bible, "Herod (Agrippa)" (Ἡρώδης Ἀγρίππας). He was, according to Josephus, known in his time as "Agrippa the Great". Christian and Jewish historiography take different views of this king, with the Christians largely opposing Agrippa and the Jews largely favoring Agrippa.
  Agrippa's territory comprised most of Israel, including Iudaea, Galilee, Batanaea and Perea. From Galilee his territory extended east to Trachonitis.
  Josephus informs us that, after the murder of his father, young Agrippa was sent by Herod the Great to the imperial court in Rome. There, Tiberius conceived a great affection for him, and had him educated alongside his son Drusus, who also befriended him, and future emperor Claudius. On the death of Drusus, Agrippa, who had been recklessly extravagant and was deeply in debt, was obliged to leave Rome, fleeing to the fortress of Malatha in Idumaea. There, it was said, he contemplated suicide.
  
  wn.com/Agrippa_I
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  Agrippa II
  Agrippa II (born AD 27/28), son of Agrippa I, and like him originally named Marcus Julius Agrippa, was the seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great, thus last of the Herodians. He was the brother of Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla (second wife of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix). He is sometimes also called Herod Agrippa II.
  Agrippa was educated at the court of the emperor Claudius, and at the time of his father's death was only seventeen years old. Claudius therefore kept him at Rome, and sent Cuspius Fadus as procurator of the Roman province of Judaea. While at Rome, he voiced his support for the Jews to Claudius, and against the Samaritans and the procurator of Iudaea Province, Ventidius Cumanus, who was lately thought to have been the cause of some disturbances there. On the death of Herod of Chalcis (in 48), his small principality (Chalcis, Syria) was given to Agrippa, with the right of superintending the Temple in Jerusalem and appointing its high priest. In 53, he was deprived of that kingdom by Claudius, who made him governor over the tetrarchy of Philip and Lysanias. Agrippa celebrated by marrying off his two sisters Mariamne and Drusilla. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, repeats the gossip that Agrippa lived in incestuous carnality with his sister, Berenice.
  
  wn.com/Agrippa_II
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  Ahab
  Ahab (Hebrew: אַחְאָב, Modern Aẖ'av Tiberian ʼAḥʼāḇ ; "Brother of the father"; Greek: Αχααβ; Latin: Achab) was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri according to the Hebrew Bible. His wife was Jezebel.
  Ahab became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned for twenty-two years.William F. Albright dated his reign to 869 – 850 BC, while E. R. Thiele offered the dates 874 – 853 BC.Michael D. Coogan dates his reign to 871-852 BCE.
  Omri (Ahab's father and founder of the short lived Omri Dynasty) seems to have been a successful military leader being reported in the text of the Moabite Mesha Stele to have "oppressed Moab for many days". Ahab was succeeded by Ahaziah and Jehoram who reigned over Israel until Jehu's revolt of 842 BC. Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of the King of Tyre, and the alliance was doubtless the means of procuring political support. Jezreel has been identified as Ahab's fortified chariot and cavalry base. 1 Kings chapters 16-22 tells the story of Ahab and Jezebel, and indicates that Jezebel was a bad influence on Ahab.
  
  wn.com/Ahab
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  Ahaziah of Judah
  Ahaziah of Judah (Hebrew: אֲחַזְיָה, ʼĂḥazyāh; Greek: Οχοζιας Okhozias; Latin: Ahazia) was king of Judah, and the son of Jehoram and Athaliah, the daughter (or possibly sister) of king Ahab of Israel. He is also called Jehoahaz (2 Chronicles 21:17; 25:23).
  According to 2 Chronicles 22:2, Ahaziah was 42 years old when his reign began, while 2 Kings 8:26 gives his age as 22 years. Most scholars regard the 42 years in 2 Chronicles 22:2 as a copyist's error for an original 22 years. The age of 22 is also found in some Greek and Syrian manuscripts of 2 Chronicles 22:2. According to the biblical sources, he reigned for only one year. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 842 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the date 841/840 BC. As explained in the Rehoboam article, Thiele's chronology for the first kings of Judah contained an internal inconsistency that placed Ahaziah's reign one year after his mother Athaliah usurped the throne. Later scholars corrected this by dating these kings one year earlier, so that Ahaziah's dates are taken as one year earlier than Thiele's in the present article. Under the influence of his mother Athaliah, he introduced forms of worship that offended the Yahwistic party.
  
  wn.com/Ahaziah_of_Judah
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  Ahimaaz
  Ahimaaz (Hebrew: אחימעץ áḤYMaàTs "My Brother Is Counselor") was son and successor of Zadok in the office of high priest (1 Chronicles 6:8, 53). On the occasion of the revolt of Absalom he remained faithful to David, and was of service to him in conveying to him tidings of the proceedings of Absalom in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 15:24-37; 17:15-21). He was swift of foot, and was the first to carry to David tidings of the defeat of Absalom, although he refrained, from delicacy of feeling, from telling him of his death (2 Sam. 18:19-33).
  He may have been the same Ahimaaz who took as wife Basemath, one of Solomon's daughters(I Kings 4:15). Subsequent kings of Israel, Ahaz, also married daughters of the high priest.
  This article incorporates text from the entry Ahimaaz in Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.
  
  wn.com/Ahimaaz
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  Ahimelech
  
  Ahimelech (Hebrew: אחימלך "the [divine] king is brother"), the son of Ahitub and father of Abiathar (1 Sam. 22:20-23), described in 2 Sam. 8:17 as the son of Abiathar and in four places in 1 Chronicles. He descended from Eli in the line of Ithamar. In 1 Chr. 18:16 his name is Abimelech according to the Masoretic Text, and is probably the same as Ahiah (1 Sam. 14:3, 18). He was the twelfth High Priest, and officiated at Nob, where he was visited by David (to whom and his companions he gave five loaves of the showbread) when David fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:1-9). He was summoned into Saul's presence, and accused, on the information of Doeg the Edomite, of disloyalty because of his kindness to David; whereupon the king commanded that he, with the other priests who stood beside him, 86 in all, should be slain with his family. This sentence was carried into execution by Doeg in the most cruel manner (1 Sam. 22:9-23). Possibly Abiathar had a son also called Ahimelech, or the two names, as some think, may have been accidentally transposed in 2 Sam. 8:17; 1 Chr. 18:16, marg.; 24:3, 6, 31. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia on David's descendant Joash (Jehoash of Judah), Rabbinical literature would deem the extermination of the male descendants of David as a divine retribution for David's action which led to the extermination of the priests by Saul (cf. David's remorse, 1 Sam 22:22), but Joash escaped death because in the latter case one priest, Abiathar, survived. Part of the curse on the House of Eli – that none of Eli's male descendants would live to old age – was fulfilled with the death of Ahimelech; the other part of the Curse on the House of Eli – that the priesthood would pass out of his descendants – was fulfilled when Abiathar was deposed from the office of High Priest.
  
  wn.com/Ahimelech
• Ahinoam
  Ahinoam (Hebrew: אחינועם‎) is a Hebrew name literally meaning brother of pleasantness, thus meaning pleasant.
  There are two references in the Bible to people who bear that name:
  Some scholars suggest that the two may be, in fact, one person. In 2 Samuel 12:8, God tells David through the prophet Nathan, "I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms." Jon Levenson suggests that this implies David took Ahinoam from Saul. Levenson goes on to note that Ahinoam is always mentioned before Abigail and that she bears David a son before Abigail does, and concludes from this that "she was already married to David when the conflict with Nabal erupted." However, with Jonathan about the same age as, if not older than, David, Ahinoam, the wife of Saul, would be too old to give birth to David's first-born son, Amnon. Another objection is that the marriage of Ahinoam and David occurred during The Civil War between the house of David and the house of Saul.
  The term "your master's wives" would actually imply that David inherited Saul's harems, as was common among the kings of ancient time.
  
  wn.com/Ahinoam
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  Amalek
  Amalek (Hebrew: עֲמָלֵק, Modern Amalek Tiberian ʻĂmālēq) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible. According to the Book of Genesis and 1 Chronicles, Amalek was the son of Eliphaz and of the concubine Timna. Timna was a Horite and sister of Lotan. Amalek was the grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:12; 1 Chr. 1:36) who was the chief of an Edomite tribe (Gen. 36:16).
  At Genesis 36:16, Amalek is described as the "chief of Amalek", and thus his name can be construed to refer to a clan or a territory over which he ruled. Josephus calls him a 'bastard' (νόθος), though in a derogative sense.A late extra-Biblical tradition, recorded by Nachmanides, maintains that the Amalekites were not descended from the grandson of Esau but from a man named Amalek, from whom the grandson took his name. An eponymous ancestor of the Amalekites is also mentioned in Old Arabian poetry.^{[citation needed]}
  The Amalekites were a people mentioned a number of times in the book of Genesis, and considered to be Amalek's descendents. In the chant of Balaam at Numbers,24:20, Amalek was called the 'first of the nations', attesting to high antiquity.
  
  wn.com/Amalek
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  Amaziah of Judah
  Amaziah of Judah, Amasias (DRB), pronounced /æməˈzaɪ.ə/, and Amatzyah (Hebrew: אֲמַצְיָהוּ, ʼĂmaṣyāhû ; meaning "the strength of the Lord," "strengthened by Jehovah," or "Yahweh is mighty"; Greek: αμασιας; Latin: Amasias) was the king of Judah, the son and successor of Joash. His mother was Jehoaddan (rendered "Joadan" in the Douay-Rheims and some other translations) (2 Kings 14:1-4) and his son was Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:1). He took the throne at the age of 25 (2 Chronicles 25:1). He reigned for 29 years (2 Kings 14:2) from 797/796 to 768/767 BC.Edwin R. Thiele's chronology has Uzziah becoming co-regent with his father in 792/791 BC, with his sole reign starting on the death of Amaziah.
  Amaziah began his reign by punishing the murderers of his father (2 Kings 14:5; 2 Chronicles 25:3). He was the first to employ a mercenary army of 100,000 Israelite soldiers, which he did in his attempt to bring the Edomites again under the yoke of Judah (2 Chr. 25:5, 6). He was commanded by an unnamed prophet to send back the mercenaries, to whom he acquiesced (2 Chr. 25:7-10, 13), much to the annoyance of the mercenaries. His obedience to this command was followed by a decisive victory over the Edomites (2 Chr. 25:14-16).
  
  wn.com/Amaziah_of_Judah
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  Ammon
  Ammon (Hebrew: עַמּוֹן, Modern Ammon Tiberian ʻAmmôn ; "People"; Arabic: عمّون, Transliteration: ʻAmmūn), also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation described in the Old Testament to be located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital. Milcom and Molech (who may be one and the same) are named in the Bible as the gods of Ammon.
  According to the biblical account, Genesis 19:37-38, Ammon and Moab were born to Lot and Lot's younger and elder daughters, respectively, in the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible refers to both the Ammonites and Moabites as the "children of Lot". Throughout the Bible, the Ammonites and Israelites are portrayed as mutual antagonists. During the Exodus, the Israelites were prohibited by the Ammonites from passing through their lands. In the Book of Judges, the Ammonites work with Eglon, king of the Moabites against Israel. Attacks by the Ammonites on Israelite communities east of the Jordan were the impetus behind the unification of the tribes under Saul.
  
  wn.com/Ammon
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  Amon of Judah
  Amon of Judah (Hebrew: אָמוֹן‎; Greek: Αμων; Latin: Amon) was a 7th century BC King of Judah who, according to the biblical account, succeeded his father Manasseh of Judah. Amon is most remembered for his idolatrous practices while king, which led to a revolt against him and eventually his assassination in c. 641 BC.
  Amon, whose name is derived from the Egyptian god Amun, was the son of King Manasseh of Judah and Meshullemeth, a daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. Although the date is unknown, the Hebrew Bible records that he married Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. Amon began his reign of Judah at the age of 22, and reigned for two years. Biblical scholar and archeologist William F. Albright has dated his reign to 642 – 640, while professor E. R. Thiele offers the dates 643/642 – 641/640. Thiele's dates are tied to the reign of Amon's son Josiah, whose death at the hands of Pharaoh Necho II occurred in the summer of 609. Josiah's death, which is independently confirmed in Egyptian history, places the end of Amon's reign, 31 years earlier, in 641 or 640 and the beginning of his rule in 643 or 642.
  
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  Aristobulus I
  Judah (Yehudah, Heb. יהודה) Aristobulus I (reigned 104–103 BC), the first ruler of the Hebrew Hasmonean Dynasty to call himself "king," was the eldest of the five sons of John Hyrcanus, the previous leader. Josephus would declare him the first Jew in 481 years to “wear the diadem on his head” (Ant. xiii, 301). According to Jewish tradition, only descendants of Judah, or, more specifically, the House of David, were qualified to be kings of Israel, so all of Aristobulus' predecessors used the title of "nasi"/"president".
  According to the directions of John Hyrcanus, the government of the country after his death was to be placed in the hands of his wife, and Aristobulus was originally to receive only the high-priesthood. But he seized the crown with support of his brother Antigonus, imprisoning his mother and other three brothers. Like his father, Aristobulus was a Sadducee who took actions to erode Jewish identity. Under Aristobulus’ reign, the name of the Jewish community or counsel of the Jews became “Hever ha-Yehhdim” and in the Greek, the “Sanhedrin.” The identity of ‘the community of the Jews’ may have been on his coins, but their title, like his crown, was seen and spoken in Greek terms. Like many crowns, the one Aristobulus wore held the weight of suspicion and jealousy. When he showed signs of disease, his wife, Queen Shelomit (Salome) Alexandra, conspired to murder Antigonus. She poisoned the king’s mind with suggestions that his brother was attempting to steal the throne by force. She then convinced Antigonus that his king wished to see his new armor, while telling Aristobulus that his brother was coming to kill him. Antigonus died before reaching the throne. Days later, Aristobulus died of internal bleeding from a disease. The Queen released the younger brothers from prison, placing Alexander Jannaeus on the throne (Jewish Wars i, 74-85).
  
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• Armoni
  Armoni was the first-named of the two sons of Saul with his concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah. He and his brother Mephibosheth were two of the seven descendants of Saul to be given by David to the Gibeonites to be hanged. (2 Samuel 21:8-9)
  This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.
  
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  Asa of Judah
  Asa (Hebrew: אָסָא, Modern Asa Tiberian ʾĀsâ; Greek: Ασα; Latin: Asa) was the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the House of David. He was the son of Abijam, grandson of Rehoboam, and great-grandson of Solomon. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign as 41 years. His reign is dated between 913-910 BCE to 873-869 BCE. He was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat, with Azubah. According to Thiele's chronology, when Asa became very ill, he made Jehoshaphat coregent. Asa died two years into the coregency.
  Asa was zealous in maintaining the traditional worship of God, and in rooting out idolatry, with its accompanying immoralities (1 Kings 15:8-14). After concluding a battle with Zerah of Egypt in the 10th year of his reign, there was peace in Judah(2 Chronicles 14:1,9) until the 35th years of Asa's reign (2 Chronicles 16:1). In his 36th year he was confronted by Baasha, king of Israel. He formed an alliance with Ben-Hadad I, king of Aram Damascus, and convinced him to break his peace treaty with Baasha and invade the Northern Kingdom. (2 Chronicles 16:2-6) It is also recorded of Asa that in his old age, when afflicted with a foot disease, he “sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians”. He died greatly honoured by his people, and was considered for the most part a righteous king. However, his reign was said to have been marred by his reliance on Ben-Hadad.
  
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  Athaliah
  Athaliah ( /ˌæθəˈlaɪ.ə/; Hebrew: עֲתַלְיָה, ʻĂṯalyâ ; "God is exalted"; Greek: Γοθολια; Latin: Athalia) was the queen of Judah during the reign of King Jehoram, and later became sole ruler of Judah for six years. William F. Albright has dated her reign to 842–837 BC, while Edwin R. Thiele's dates, as taken from the third edition of his magnum opus, were 842/841 to 836/835 BC. However, a starting date of 842/841 for Athaliah is one year before the date of 841/840 that Thiele gave for death of her son Ahaziah, a conflict that Thiele never resolved. The present article accepts the one-year adjustment to Thiele's dates for Ahaziah given by later scholars that is explained in the Rehoboam and Ahaziah articles, thereby reconciling Thiele's dates for Athaliah with those of her predecessor. These dates are also compatible with cross-synchronisms between Ahaziah and Athaliah and the northern kingdom. Athaliah is usually considered the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel (see discussion below); her marriage to Jehoram sealed a treaty between Israel and Judah.
  
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  Bathsheba
  According to the Hebrew Bible, Bathsheba (Hebrew: בת שבע‎, Bath Shebha, "daughter of the oath") (Arabic: بثشبع‎, "ابنة القسم") was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. She is most known for the Bible story in which King David seduced her.
  Bathsheba was a daughter of Eliam, one of David's "thirty" (2 Sam. 23:34; cf 1 Chr. 3:5); Eliam was the son of Ahitophel, one of David's chief advisors. Ahitophel was from Giloh (Josh. 15:51;cf 2 Sam. 15:12), a city of Judah, and thus Bathsheba was from David's own tribe and the granddaughter of one of David's closest advisors (2 Sam.15:12)." She was the mother of Solomon, who succeeded David as king, making her the Queen Mother.
  The meaning of the Hebrew form of the name "Bathsheba" is "daughter of the oath", "bath" meaning daughter. The second part of the name appears in 1 Chronicles 3:5 as "shua" (signifying "wealth") (compare Genesis 38:2).
  Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam (2 Samuel 11:3, who is called Ammiel in 1 Chronicles 3:5). Her father is identified by some scholars with Eliam mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:34 as the son of Ahithophel, who is described as the Gilonite. (See King David's Warriors.)
  
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  David
  David (Hebrew: דָּוִד, דָּוִיד, Modern David Tiberian Dāwîḏ; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Strong's Daveed; beloved; Arabic: داوود‎ or داود‎ Dāwūd) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and, according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, an ancestor of Jesus. David is seen as a major Prophet in Islamic traditions. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC,^{[citation needed]} and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC.^{[citation needed]} The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan stele records "House of David", which some take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David".
  David is very important to Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and culture. In Judaism, David, or David HaMelekh, is the King of Israel, and the Jewish people. Jewish tradition maintains that a direct descendant of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is known as Dawud, considered to be a prophet and the king of a nation. He is depicted as a righteous king, though not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.
  
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  David and Jonathan
  David (Hebrew: דָּוִד; Dāwīḏ or David) and Jonathan (Hebrew: יְהוֹנָתָן; Yəhōnāṯān or Yehonatan) were heroic figures of the Kingdom of Israel, whose covenant was recorded favourably in the books of Samuel. Jonathan was the son of Saul, king of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and David was the son of Jesse of Bethlehem and Jonathan's presumed rival for the crown. David became king. The covenant the two men had formed eventually led to David graciously seating Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, a cripple, at his own royal table instead of eradicating the former king Saul's line.
  The biblical text does not explicitly depict the nature of the relationship between David and Jonathan. The traditional and mainstream religious interpretation of the relationship has been one of platonic love and an example of homosociality. Some later Medieval and Renaissance literature drew upon the story to underline strong personal friendships between men, some of which involved romantic love and could perhaps be described as romantic friendships. In modern times, some scholars, writers and activists have emphasized what they interpret as elements of homoeroticism (chaste or otherwise) in the story.
  
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• Doeg the Edomite
  Doeg was an Edomite, chief herdsman to Saul, King of Israel. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible book of First Samuel, chapters 21 and 22, where he is depicted as responsible for the deaths of a large number of priests.
  After parting from Jonathan, David fled from Saul's jealous anger and went to Nob. He went to Ahimelech, the High Priest, claiming to be on a clandestine royal mission. Ahimelech fed David and his men with the showbread, and gave David the sword of Goliath. Doeg was present and witnessed Ahimelech's service to David. (1 Sam 21)
  Later, Saul asked about the whereabouts of David, and his herdsman spoke up:
  However, Doeg omitted to inform King Saul that David had pretended to be on a secret mission on behalf of the king. He did not inform the king that Ahimelech was deceived by David, and that Ahimelech provided support because he thought he was serving the king.
  Therefore Saul, with only part of the story, summoned the High Priest and his entire company and, in a rage, ordered them all killed. His officials refused to raise their hands against the priests and Saul turned to Doeg, who carried out the executions. Saul followed that up with an attack on the city of Nob, the city of the priests, and the families of the priests – men, women, and children – were put to the sword. Only Abiathar escaped, and fled to join David.
  
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  Edom
  Edom ( /ˈiː.dʌm/; Hebrew: אֱדוֹם, Modern Edom Tiberian ʼĔḏôm ; "red"; Assyrian: Udumi; Syriac: ܐܕܘܡ) or Idumea (Greek: Ἰδουμαία, Idoumaía; Latin: Idūmaea) was a Semitic inhabited historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region. The name Edom means "red" in Hebrew, and was given to Esau once he ate the "red pottage". (Genesis 25:30 KJV)
  The Bible and The Torah describe the Edomites as descendants of Esau the eldest son of the Jewish patriarch Isaac, although no written records of the time have been discovered that support this claim.
  The Edomites may have been connected with the Shasu and Shutu, nomadic raiders mentioned in Egyptian sources. Indeed, a letter from an Egyptian scribe at a border fortress in the Wadi Tumilat during the reign of Merneptah reports movement of nomadic "shasu-tribes of Edom" to watering holes in Egyptian territory. The earliest Iron Age settlements—possibly copper mining camps—date to the 9th century BCE. Settlement intensified by the late 8th century BC and the main sites so far excavated have been dated between the 8th and 6th centuries BC. The last unambiguous reference to Edom is an Assyrian inscription of 667 BC; it has thus been unclear when, how and why Edom ceased to exist as a state, although many scholars point to scriptural references in the Bible, specifically the historical book of Obadiah, to explain this phenomenon.
  
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  Goliath
  Goliath (Hebrew: גָּלְיָת, Modern Golyat Tiberian Golyāṯ; Arabic: جالوت, Ǧālūt (Qur'anic term), جليات Ǧulyāt (Christian term)) or Goliath of Gath (one of five city states of the Philistines) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament). Described as a giant Philistine warrior, he is famous for his combat with the young David, the future king of Israel. The fight between them is described in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and, more briefly, in the Qur'an.
  The purpose of the original story was to show David's identity as the true king of Israel. Post-Classical Jewish traditions stressed Goliath's status as the representative of paganism, in contrast to David, the champion of the God of Israel. Christian tradition gave him a distinctively Christian twist, seeing in David's battle with Goliath the victory of God's King over the enemies of God's helpless people as a prefiguring of Jesus' victory over sin on the Cross and the Church's ongoing struggle against Satan.
  The account of the battle between David and Goliath is given in 1 Samuel, chapter 17.Saul and the Israelites are facing the Philistines at the Valley of Elah. Twice a day for 40 days, Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, comes out between the lines and challenges the Israelites to send out a champion of their own to decide the outcome in single combat, but Saul and all the Israelites are afraid. David, bringing food for his elder brothers, hears that Saul has promised to reward any man who defeats Goliath, and accepts the challenge. Saul reluctantly agrees and offers his armor, which David declines, taking only his sling and five stones from a brook.
  
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  Herod Antipas
  Herod Antipater (Greek: Ἡρῴδης Ἀντίπατρος, Hērǭdēs Antipatros; born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), known by the nickname Antipas, was a 1st-century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter"). He is best known today for accounts in the New Testament of his role in events that led to the executions of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth.
  After inheriting his territories when the kingdom of his father Herod the Great was divided upon his death in 4 BC, Antipas ruled them as a client state of the Roman Empire. He was responsible for building projects at Sepphoris and Betharamphtha, and more important for the construction of his capital Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Named in honor of his patron, the emperor Tiberius, the city later became a center of rabbinic learning.
  Antipas divorced his first wife Phasaelis, the daughter of King Aretas IV of Nabatea, in favour of Herodias, who had formerly been married to his brother Herod Philip I. According to the New Testament Gospels, it was John the Baptist's condemnation of this arrangement that led Antipas to have him arrested; John was subsequently put to death. Besides provoking his conflict with the Baptizer, the tetrarch's divorce added a personal grievance to previous disputes with Aretas over territory on the border of Perea and Nabatea. The result was a war that proved disastrous for Antipas; a Roman counter-offensive was ordered by Tiberius, but abandoned upon that emperor's death in 37 AD. In 39 AD Antipas was accused by his nephew Agrippa I of conspiracy against the new Roman emperor Caligula, who sent him into exile in Gaul. Accompanied there by Herodias, he died at an unknown date.
  
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  Herod Archelaus
  Herod Archelaus (23 BC – c. 18 AD) was the ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea (biblical Edom) from 4 BC to 6 AD. He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samaritan, the brother of Herod Antipas, and the half-brother of Herod Philip I.
  Archelaus received the Tetrarchy of Judea by the last will of his father, though a previous will had bequeathed it to his brother Antipas. He was proclaimed king by the army, but declined to assume the title until he had submitted his claims to Caesar Augustus in Rome. Before setting out, he quelled with the utmost cruelty a sedition of the Pharisees, slaying nearly three thousand of them. In Rome he was opposed by Antipas and by many of the Jews, who feared his cruelty; but in 4 BC Augustus allotted to him the greater part of the kingdom (Samaria, Judea, and Idumea) with the title of ethnarch (not king) until 6 AD when Judaea province was formed, under direct Roman rule, at the time of the Census of Quirinius.
  The first wife of Archelaus is given by Josephus simply as Mariamne, perhaps Mariamne III (Mariamne bint Aristobulus), whom he divorced to marry Glaphyra. She was the widow of Archelaus' brother Alexander, though her second husband, Juba, king of Mauretania, was alive. This violation of the Mosaic law along with Archelaus' continued cruelty roused the ire of the Jews, who complained to Augustus. Archelaus was deposed in the year 6 and banished to Vienne in Gaul; Samaria, Judea proper, and Idumea became the Roman province of Iudaea.
  
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  Herod the Great
  Herod (Hebrew: הוֹרְדוֹס‎, Hordos, Greek: Ἡρῴδης, Hērōdēs), also known as Herod the Great (born 73 or 74 BCE, died 4 BCE in Jericho), was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple) and the construction of the port at Caesarea Maritima. Important details of his biography are gleaned from the works of the 1st century CE Roman-Jewish historian Josephus Flavius.
  The Romans made Herod's son Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea (biblical Edom) from 4 BCE to 6 CE, referred to as the tetrarchy of Judea. Archelaus was judged incompetent by the Roman emperor Augustus who then combined Samaria, Judea proper and Idumea into Iudaea province under rule of a prefect until 41. Herod's other son Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee from 4 BCE – 39 CE.
  
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  Hezekiah
  Hezekiah /ˌhɛzɨˈkaɪ.ə/ (Hebrew: חִזְקִיָּ֫הוּ, חִזְקִיָּ֫ה, יְחִזְקִיָּ֫הוּ, Modern H̱izkiyyahu, H̱izkiyya, Yeẖizkiyyahu Tiberian Ḥizqiyyā́hû, Ḥizqiyyā, Yəḥizqiyyā́hû; Greek: Ἐζεκίας, Ezekias, in the Septuagint; Latin: Ezechias; also transliterated as Ḥizkiyyahu or Ḥizkiyyah) was the son of Ahaz and the 14th king of Judah.Edwin Thiele has concluded that his reign was between c. 715 and 686 BC. He is also one of the most prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Testament.
  According to the Hebrew Testament, Hezekiah witnessed the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel by Sargon's Assyrians in c 720 BC and was king of Judah during the invasion and siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 BC. Hezekiah enacted sweeping religious reforms, during which he removed the worship of foreign deities from the Temple in Jerusalem, and restored the worship of Yahweh, God of Israel, as instructed by the Torah.Isaiah and Micah prophesied during his reign.
  Hezekiah, more properly transliterated as Ḥizkiyyahu (and sometimes as Ezekias) (Hebrew: חִזְקִיָּ֫הוּ Ḥizqiyyāhu, Khizkiyahu; or יְחִזְקִיָּ֫הוּ Yəḥizqiyyāhu, Y'khizkiyahu); ; or Ḥizkiyyah (Hebrew: חִזְקִיָּ֫ה Ḥizqiyyāh). The root of the name חִזְקִיָּהוּ Ḥizkiyyahu is חזק, a verb stem that can mean
  
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  Hoshea
  See also Hosea, who has the same name in Biblical Hebrew.
  Hoshea (Hebrew: הושע, Modern Hoshea Tiberian Hôšēăʻ ; "salvation"; Latin: Osee) was the last king of the Israelite Kingdom of Israel and son of Elah (who may or may not be the Israelite king Elah). William F. Albright dated reign to 732 – 721 BC, while E. R. Thiele offered the dates 732 – 723 BC.
  Assyrian records basically confirm the Biblical account of how he became king. According to 2 Kings, Hoshea conspired against and slew his predecessor, Pekah (2 Kings 15:30). Shalmaneser V then campaigned against Hoshea, and forced him to submit and render tribute (2 Kings 17:3). An undated inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III boasts of making Hoshea king after his predecessor had been overthrown:
  Israel (lit. : "Omri-land" Bit-Humria)…overthrew their king Pekah (Pa-qa-ha) and I placed Hoshea (A-ú -si') as king over them. I received from them 10 talents of gold, 1,000(?) talents of silver as their [tri]bute and brought them to Assyria.
  The amount of tribute exacted from Hoshea is not stated in Scripture, but Menahem, about ten years previously (743 or 742 BC) was required to pay 1,000 talents of silver to Tiglath-Pileser in order to "strengthen his hold on the kingdom" (2 Kings 15:19), apparently against Menahem's rival Pekah. The Assyrian Eponym Canon shows that Shalmaneser campaigned "against" (somewhere, name missing) in the years 727, 726, and 725 BC, and it is presumed that the missing name was Samaria. The Babylonian Chronicle states that Shalmaneser ravaged the city of Sha-ma-ra-in (Samaria). Additional evidence that it was Shalmaneser, not Sargon II who initially captured Samaria, despite the latter's claim, late in his reign, that he was its conqueror, was presented by Tadmor, who showed that Sargon had no campaigns in the west in his first two years of reign (722 and 721 BC).
  
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  Hyrcanus II
  Hyrcanus II, a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, was the Jewish High Priest and King of Judea in the 1st century BC.
  Hyrcanus was the eldest son of Alexander Jannaeus, King and High Priest, and Alexandra Salome. After the death of Alexander in 76 BC, his widow succeeded to the rule of Judea and installed her elder son Hyrcanus as High Priest.
  When Salome died in 67 BC, she named Hyrcanus as successor to the Kingship as well. Hyrcanus was already High Priest but also shared his mother's religious views, sympathetic to the Pharisees. In contrast to this, Alexander Jannaeus had supported the Sadducees.
  Hyrcanus had scarcely reigned three months when his younger brother Aristobulus II, who agreed with his father's Sadducean stance, rose in rebellion. Hyrcanus advanced against him at the head of his mercenaries and his followers. The brothers met in battle near Jericho and many of Hyrcanus' soldiers went over to Aristobulus II, and thereby gave the latter the victory.
  Hyrcanus took refuge in the citadel of Jerusalem; but the capture of the Temple by Aristobulus II compelled Hyrcanus to surrender. A peace was then concluded, according to the terms of which Hyrcanus was to renounce the throne and the office of high priest, but was to enjoy the revenues of the latter office.
  
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• Isidore Singer
  Isidore Singer (1859, Hranice (Přerov District), Moravia - d. 1939, New York City) was an editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man.
  He was born in 1859 in Hranice (Přerov District), Moravia. Singer studied at the Universities of Vienna and Berlin, receiving his Ph.D. in 1884. He became literary secretary to the French ambassador in Vienna. From 1887, he worked in Paris in the press bureau of the French foreign office and was active in the campaign on behalf of Alfred Dreyfus.
  Singer moved to New York City in 1895 where he raised the money for the Jewish Encyclopedia he had envisioned and subsequently edited the twelve-volume work (1901–1906) himself.
  
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  Jean Fouquet
  Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (1420–1481) was a preeminent French painter of the 15th century, a master of both panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature. He was the first French artist to travel to Italy and experience at first hand the Italian Early Renaissance.
  Jean Fouquet was born in Tours. Little is known of his life, but it is certain that he was in Italy before 1447, where he executed a portrait of Pope Eugene IV who died in that year (now surviving only in much later copies), and that upon his return to France, while retaining his purely French sentiment, he grafted the elements of the Tuscan style, which he had acquired during his period in Italy, upon the style of the Van Eycks, which was the basis of early 15th-century French art, and thus became the founder of an important new school. He worked for the French court, including King Charles VII, the treasurer Etienne Chevalier, and the chancellor Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins; near the end of his career, he became court painter to Louis XI. His work can be associated with the French court's attempt to solidify French national identity in the wake of its long struggle with England in the Hundred Years' War.
  
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  Jeconiah
  Jeconiah (Hebrew: יְכָנְיָה‎ [jəχonjoː], meaning "God will fortify (his people)"; Greek: Ιεχονιας; Latin: Joachin), also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin (Hebrew: יְהֹויָכִין‎ [jəhoːjɔːxiːn]; Greek: Ιεχονιας; Latin: Joachin), was a king of Judah who was dethroned by the King of Babylon in the 6th Century BCE and was taken into captivity. Most of what is known about Jeconiah is found in the Hebrew Bible. After many excavations in Iraq, records of Jeconiah's existence have been unearthed, such as the Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets. These tablets were excavated near the Ishtar Gate in Babylon and have been dated to c. 592 BC. Written in Cuneiform, they mention Jeconiah ("Ia-'-ú-kinu") and his five sons as recipients of food ration in Babylon. Comparing Babylonian records with date references found in Hebrew biblical texts, the length of Jeconiah's captivity can accurately be determined. To some extent, even the dating of the Fall of Jerusalem can be established to 597 BCE.
  King Jeconiah reigned three months and ten days, from December 9, 598 to March 15/16, 597 BCE. He succeeded his father, Jehoiakim, King of Judah^[2Ki.24:6] in December 598, after raiders from surrounding lands invaded Jerusalem^[2Ki.24:2] and killed Jehoiakim, his father. It is likely that the King of Babylon was behind this effort, as a response to Jehoiakim's revolt,^{[citation needed]} starting sometime after 601 BCE. Three months and ten days after Jeconiah was established King, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar II seized Jerusalem that following spring. The intention was to take high class Judian captives and assimilate them into Babylonian society. On March 15/16th, 597 BCE, Jeconiah, his entire household and three thousand prestigious Jews, were exiled to Babylon.
  
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• Jehoahaz of Judah
  Jehoahaz or Joachaz in the Douay-Rheims and some other English translations (Hebrew: יְהוֹאָחָז, Modern Yeho'aẖaz Tiberian Yəhôʼāḥāz ; "Yahweh has held"; Greek: Ιωαχαζ Iōakhaz; Latin: Joachaz) was king of Judah (3 months in 609 BC) and son of king Josiah whom he succeeded and Hamautal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. (2 Kings 23:31) He was born in 633/632 BC and his birth name was Shallum (1 Chronicles 3:15). Although he was two years younger than his brother, Eliakim, he was elected to succeed his father on the throne at the age of twenty-three, under the name Jehoahaz. He reigned for only three months, before being deposed by the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II (2 Kings 23:31-34) and taken into Egytian captivity.
  He disregarded the reforms of his father Josiah. (2 Kings 23:32; Jeremiah 22:15-16)
  Both William F. Albright and E. R. Thiele dated his reign to 609 BC, making his birth in 633/632 BC. Jehoahaz was the first king of Judah to die in exile.^{[citation needed]}
  In the spring or early summer of 609 BC, Necho II went to war against Babylon, in aid of the Assyrians. He moved his forces along the coast route Via Maris into Syria, the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon and prepared to cross the ridge of hills which shuts in on the south the Jezreel Valley. There he found his passage blocked at Megiddo by the Judean army led by Josiah, who sided with the Babylonians. After a fierce battle Josiah was killed. (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chronicles 35:20-24) The Assyrians and their allies the Egyptians fought the Babylonians at Harran. The Babylonian Chronicle dates the battle from Tammuz (July–August) to Elul (August–September) of 609 BC. Josiah was therefore killed in the month of Tammuz, 609 BC, 609 BC or the month prior, when the Egyptians were on their way to Harran. Chronological considerations related to his successor limit the month in which Josiah was killed and Jehoahaz took the throne to Tammuz. He was deposed three months later, in the month Tishri (2 Kings 23:31).
  
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  Jehoash of Judah
  Jehoash or Joas (in Douay-Rheims) (Hebrew: יְהֹואָשׁ, Yəhôʾāš ; "Jehovah-given"; Greek: Ιωας; Latin: Joas; fl. c. 800 BC), sometimes written Joash or Joás (Hebrew: יֹואָשׁ, Yôʾāš), was the eighth king of the southern Kingdom of Judah, and the sole surviving son of Ahaziah. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba (2 Kings 12:1).
  William F. Albright has dated his reign to 837 – 800 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 835 – 796 BC.
  While yet an infant, he was saved from the general massacre commanded by Athaliah of the family by his aunt Jehosheba (or Josaba in Douay-Rheims), and was apparently the only surviving male descendant of his grandfather Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:4,17). His great-uncle, the high priest Jehoiada, brought him forth to public notice when he was seven years of age, and had Jehoash crowned and anointed king. Athaliah was taken by surprise when she heard the shout of the people, "Long live the king"; and when she appeared in the temple to challenge this coup, Jehoiada commanded her to be led forth out of the Temple to be put to death (2 Kings 11:13-20).
  
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  Jehoiakim
  Jehoiakim (pronounced /dʒɨˈhɔɪ.əkɪm/; Hebrew יְהוֹיָקִים "he whom Jehovah has set up", also sometimes spelled Jehoikim (Greek: Ιωακιμ; Latin: Joakim), c. 635-597 BC, was a king of Judah. He was the second son of king Josiah by Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim (אֶלְיָקִים Greek: Ελιακιμ; Latin: Eliakim).
  On Josiah's death, Jehoiakim's younger brother Jehoahaz (or Shallum) was proclaimed king, but after three months pharaoh Necho II deposed him and replaced him with the eldest son, Eliakim, who adopted the name Jehoiakim and became king at the age of twenty-five. Jehoahaz died in exile in Egypt.
  Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and reigned for eleven years to 598 BC and was succeeded by his son Jeconiah, (also known as Jehoiachin), who reigned for only three months.
  Jehoiakim was installed as king of Judah by pharaoh Necho II in 608 BC, who deposed his younger brother Jehoahaz after a reign of only three months and took him to Egypt, where he died. Jehoiakim ruled originally as a vassal of the Egyptians, paying a heavy tribute. To raise the money he "taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments."
  
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  Jehoram of Israel
  Jehoram (or Joram) was a king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. (2 Kings 8:16, 8:25-28) He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. According to 2 Kings 8:16, in the fifth year of Joram of Israel, (another) Jehoram became king of Judah, when his father Jehoshaphat was (still) king of Judah, indicating a co-regency. The author of Kings also speaks of both Jehoram of Israel and Jehoram of Judah in the same passage, which can be confusing.
  Jehoram began to reign in Israel in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat of Judah, and reigned 12 years. (2 Kings 3:1) William F. Albright has dated his reign to 849 BC-842 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 852 BC-841 BC.
  His final known act was when he, aided by his nephew Ahaziah, king of Judah, fought unsuccessfully against the army of Hazael, king of the Arameans at Ramoth-Gilead, where Jehoram was wounded. It is likely that their defeat at Ramoth-Gilead was serious, for while Jehoram was recuperating at Jezreel, his general Jehu incited a revolt, slew Jehoram, and took the throne of Israel for himself.
  
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  Jehoram of Judah
  Jehoram of Judah (Hebrew: יְהֹורָם, Yəhôrām; Greek: Ιωραμ; Latin: Joram) was the king of the southern Kingdom of Judah, and the son of Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 8:16).
  According to 2 Kings 8:16, Jehoram became king of Judah in the fifth year of Jehoram of Israel, when his father Jehoshaphat was (still) king of Judah, indicating a co-regency. The author of Kings also speaks of both Jehoram of Israel and Jehoram of Judah in the same passage, which can be confusing. Jehoram took the throne at the age of 32 and reigned for eight years. (2 Chronicles 21:5) To secure his position Jehoram killed all his brothers. (2 Chronicles 21:2-4)
  William F. Albright has dated his reign to 849 BC – 842 BC. Edwin Thiele placed a coregency of Jehoram with his father Jehoshaphat, starting in 853/852 BC, with the beginning of his sole reign occurring in 848/847 and his death in 841/840 BC. As explained in the Rehoboam article, Thiele's chronology for the first kings of Judah contained an internal inconsistency that later scholars corrected by dating these kings one year earlier, so that Jehoram's dates are taken as one year earlier in the present article: coregency beginning in 854/853, sole reign commencing in 849/848, and death in 842/841 BC.
  
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  Jehoshaphat
  Jehoshaphat (pronounced /dʒəˈhɒʃəfæt/, alternately spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat; Hebrew: יְהוֹשָׁפָט, Modern Yehoshafat Tiberian Yəhôšāp̄āṭ ; " Jehovah has judged"; Greek: Ἰωσαφάτ; Latin: Josaphat) was the fourth king of the The Kingdom of Judah, and successor of his father Asa. His children included Jehoram, who succeeded him as king. His mother was Azubah Historically, his name has sometimes been connected with the Valley of Jehosaphat, where, according to Joel 3:2, the god of Israel will gather all nations for judgment.
  Jehoshaphat took the throne at the age of thirty-five and reigned for twenty-five years.William F. Albright has dated the reign of Jehoshaphat to 873 – 849 BC. E. R. Thiele held that he became coregent with his father Asa in Asa's thirty-ninth year, 872/871 BC, the year Asa was afflicted with a severe disease in his feet, and then became sole regent when Asa died of the disease in 870/869 BC, his own death occurring in 848/847 BC. Thiele's chronology for the first kings of Judah contained an internal inconsistency that later scholars corrected by dating these kings one year earlier, so that Jehoshaphat's dates are taken as one year earlier in the present article: coregency beginning in 873/871, sole reign commencing in 871/870, and death in 849/848 BC.
  
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  Jeroboam
  Jeroboam  /ˌdʒɛrəˈboʊ.əm/ (Hebrew: יָרָבְעָם yarobh`am, Greek: Ιεροβοάμ Hieroboam) was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy.
  Jeroboam reigned for 22 years. William F. Albright has dated his reign from 922 to 901 BC, while Edwin R. Thiele offers the dates 931 to 910 BC.
  The name Jeroboam (יָרָבְעָם) is commonly held to have been derived from riyb (רִיב) and `am (עַם), and signifying "the people contend," or, "he pleads the people's cause" It is alternatively translated to mean "his people are many" or "he increases the people" (from רבב (rbb), meaning to increase); or even "he that opposes the people". In the Septuagint he is called Hieroboam (Ιεροβοάμ).
  Jeroboam was the son of Nebat (Douay-Rheims: Nabat), a member of the Tribe of Ephraim of Zereda, whose mother's name was Zeruah (who later became a widow, and could have been leprous^{[citation needed]}, as her name translates; 1 Kings 11:26) He had at least two sons — Abijam and Nadab, who succeeded him on the throne.
  
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  Jesse
  Jesse ( /ˈdʒɛs.iː/), Eshai or Yishai, (Hebrew: יִשַׁי, Modern Yishay Tiberian Yīšáy, meaning "God exists" or "God's gift"; Arabic: يَسَّى‎ Yassa; Greek: Ἰεσσαί Iessai; Latin: Isai, Jesse) is the father of the David, who became the king of the Israelites. His son David is sometimes called simply "Son of Jesse" (Ben Yishai).
  Jesse was the son of Obed and the grandson of Ruth and of Boaz. He lived in Bethlehem, in Judah, and was of the Tribe of Judah, he was a farmer, breeder and owner of sheep. He was a prominent resident of the town of Bethlehem. Jesse is important in Judaism because he was the father of the most famous king of Israel. He is important in Christianity, in part because he is in the Old Testament and mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.
  Jesse is stated as having eight sons, including David the youngest. Among his grandchildren were the three sons of Zeruiah, Abishai, Joab and Ashashel. One day the prophet Samuel came to Bethlehem sent by God, to anoint the next king of Israel. Ostensibly, his visit to Bethlehem was to offer a sacrifice to God. He used that excuse because he was afraid that Saul might kill him if he suspected the true reason for his arrival in Bethlehem. Samuel offered a sacrifice with Jesse and then went to his house, where he sanctified him and his family. The prophet asked Jesse to present his sons, after seeing them, he realized that God has not chosen any of them. Then he said to Jesse if he had any other sons, Jesse told him that David the youngest was tending the flock. The prophet then asked for him, waited and when he came, God asked the prophet to anoint him as king over Israel.
  
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  Jezebel
  Jezebel (/ˈdʒɛzəbəl/, /ˈdʒɛzəbɛl/;Hebrew: אִיזֶבֶל / אִיזָבֶל, Modern Izével / Izável Tiberian ʾÎzéḇel / ʾÎzāḇel) (fl. 9th century BC) was a princess, identified in the Hebrew Book of Kings as the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre (Phoenicia) and the wife of Ahab, king of north Israel. According to genealogies given in Josephus and other classical sources, she was the great-aunt of Dido, Queen of Carthage.
  Jezebel was a power behind the throne. Ahab and Jezebel allowed temples of Baal to operate in Israel, and that religion received royal patronage. After Ahab's death, Ahaziah and Jehoram, his sons by Jezebel, acceded to the throne. The prophet Elisha had one of his servants anoint Jehu as king to overthrow the house of Ahab. Jehu killed Jehoram as he attempted to flee in his war chariot.
  Jehu confronted Jezebel in Jezreel, where he incited her court officials to murder the queen by throwing her out of a window and leave her corpse to be eaten by dogs. Jezebel became associated with false prophets. In some interpretations, her dressing in finery and putting on makeup before her death led to the association of use of cosmetics with "painted women" or prostitutes.
  
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  John Hyrcanus
  John Hyrcanus (Yohanan Girhan;^{[citation needed]}Yohanan Hyrcanus – יוחנן הורקנוס, Ιωάννης Υρκανός) (reigned 134 - 104 BC, died 104 BC) was a Hasmonean (Maccabeean) leader of the 2nd century BC.
  Josephus explains in The Jewish War that John was also known as "Hyrcanus", but does not explain the reason behind this name. The only other primary source, the Books of the Maccabees, never use this name with respect to John, with the single reference to Hyrcanus in 2 Maccabees 3:11 referring to a man to whom some of the money in the Temple belonged during the c.178 BCE visit of Heliodorus.
  The reason for the name is disputed amongst biblical scholars, with a variety of reasons proposed:
  He was the son of Simon Maccabaeus and hence the nephew of Judas Maccabaeus, Jonathan Maccabaeus and their siblings, whose story is told in the deuterocanonical books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, in the Talmud, and in Josephus. John was not present at a banquet at which his father and his two brothers were murdered, purportedly by his brother-in-law, Ptolemy, son of Abubus. He attained to his father's former offices, that of high priest and national leader (but not king). Josephus said that John Hyrcanus had five sons but only named three in his histories--Judah Aristobulus I, Antigonus I, and Alexander Jannai.
  
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  Joseph Jacobs
  Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 - 30 January 1916) was a folklorist, literary critic and historian. His works included contributions to the Jewish Encyclopedia, translations of European works, and critical editions of early English literature. Jacobs wrote for journals and books on the subject of folklore and produced a popular series of fairy tales.
  Jacobs was born in Australia, sixth surviving son of John Jacobs, a publican who had emigrated from London c.1837, and his wife Sarah, née Myers. Jacobs was educated at Sydney Grammar School and at the University of Sydney, where he won a scholarship for classics, mathematics and chemistry. He did not complete his studies in Sydney, but left for England at the age of 18 and entered St John's College, Cambridge. He graduated B.A. in 1876, and in 1877 studied at the University of Berlin. He was secretary of the Society of Hebrew Literature from 1878 to 1884, and in 1882 came into prominence as the writer of a series of articles in The Times on the persecution of Jews in Russia. This led to the formation of the mansion house fund and committee, of which Jacobs was secretary from 1882 to 1900.
  
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  Josiah
  Josiah or Yoshiyahu ( /dʒoʊˈsaɪ.ə/ or /dʒəˈzaɪ.ə/;Hebrew: יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ, Modern Yoshiyyáhu Tiberian Yôšiyyāhû, literally meaning "healed by Yahweh" or "supported of Yahweh"; Greek: Ιωσιας; Latin: Josias; c. 649–609 BC) was a king of Judah (641–609 BC) who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Jewish scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.
  Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after the assassination of his father, King Amon, and reigned for thirty-one years, from 641/640 to 610/609 BC.
  He is also one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
  Josiah was the son of King Amon and Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. His grandfather Manasseh was one of the kings blamed for turning away from the worship of Yahweh. Manasseh adapted the Temple for idolatrous worship. Josiah's great-grandfather was King Hezekiah who was a noted reformer.
  Josiah had four sons: Johanan, Eliakim (born c. 634 BC) by Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah, Mattanyahu (c. 618 BC) and Shallum (633/632 BC) both by Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
  
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  Jotham of Judah
  Jotham or Yotam (Hebrew: יוֹתָם, Modern Yotam Tiberian Yôṯām ; meaning "God is perfect" or "God is complete"; Greek: Ιωαθαμ; Latin: Joatham) was the king of Judah, and son of Uzziah with Jerusha, daughter of Zadok.
  He took the throne at the age of twenty-five and reigned for sixteen years.William F. Albright dated his reign to 742 – 735 BC. Edwin R. Thiele dated his coregency with Uzziah as starting in 751/750 BC and his sole reign from 740/39 to 736/735 BC, at which time he was deposed by the pro-Assyrian faction in favor of his son Ahaz. His reign of sixteen years started with the coregency. Thiele then places his death in 732/731 BC. He is also one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
  Because his father Uzziah was afflicted with tzaraas when he entered the Temple to burn incense, Jotham became governor of the palace and the land at that time, i.e. coregent, while his father lived in a separate house as a leper. Thiele concluded he was 25 when he became coregent. He is recorded as having built the Upper Gate of the Temple of Jerusalem, and extended the "wall of Ophel".
  
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  Julius Kronberg
  Julius Kronberg, Swedish painter, 1850 - 1921. [Image:Julius Kronberg David och Saul 1885.jpg|thumb|right|David och Saul (1885) by Kronberg.]]
  Julius Kronberg received education at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm in the 1860s. A travel scholarship brought him to Paris via Düsseldorf and Copenhagen. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. He stayed in München where he continued studying before settling in Rome in 1877. He was a professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts between 1895-1898.
  The painting Jaktnymf made Kronberg known to a wider audience. Among his largest official commissions rank three major paintings for the Royal Palace in Stockholm (1891-1893) and works for the Royal Dramatic Theatre (1906-1908). Apart from the official commissions, Kronberg made several paintings for the Hallwyl palace in Stockholm. One of his famous paintings is David och Saul (David and Saul the King), a painting which is considered by modern scholars as strongly homoerotic.
  
  wn.com/Julius_Kronberg
• Manasseh of Judah
  Manasseh (Hebrew: מְנַשֶּׁה; Greek: Μανασσης; Latin: Manasses) was a king of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the only son of Hezekiah with Hephzi-bah. He became king at an age 12 years and reigned for 55 years. (2 Kings 21:1; 2 Chronicles 33:1) Edwin Thiele has concluded that he commenced his reign as co-regent with his father Hezekiah in 697/696 BC, with his sole reign beginning in 687/686 BC and continuing until his death in 643/642 BC.William F. Albright has dated his reign from 687 – 642 BC.^{[citation needed]}
  Manasseh was the first king of Judah who would not have had a direct experience of a Kingdom of Israel, which had been destroyed by the Assyrians in c. 720 BC and most of its population deported. He re-instituted pagan worship and reversed the religious reforms made by his father Hezekiah; for which he is condemned by several religious texts.
  He was married to Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah, and they had a son Amon, who succeeded him as king of Judah upon his death.
  After a reign of 55 years (for 10 of which he was co-regent with his father), the longest in the history of Judah, he died in c. 643 BC and was buried in the garden of Uzza, the "garden of his own house" (2 Kings 21:17-18; 2 Chronicles 33:20), and not in the City of David, among his ancestors. The biblical account of Manasseh is found in II Kings 21:1-18 and II Chronicles 32:33-33:20. He is also mentioned in Jeremiah 15:4.
  
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• Mephibosheth
  Mephibosheth (מפיבושת) was the name of two men of the family of Saul, who is stated in the books of Samuel of the Hebrew Bible to have been the first king of ancient Israel:
  Some years later, when King David had subdued all the adversaries of Israel, he recalled the family of Jonathan, and discovered that Mephibosheth was residing in the house of Machir. So he sent royal messengers there, and brought Mephibosheth and his infant son Micah to Jerusalem, where they resided from that point on (2 Sam. 9).
  When David was a fugitive, according to the story of Ziba (2 Sam. 16:1-4), Mephibosheth proved unfaithful to him, and Ziba was subsequently awarded all of Mephibosheth's estate. However (2 Sam. 19:24-30), Mephibosheth later told David that he had remained loyal to him, and that Ziba had lied. David then ordered the estate divided between the two. Mephibosheth allowed Ziba to keep everything as he was simply content in knowing that David was safe. After this incident, Mephibosheth is only mentioned as having been protected by David (2 Sam. 21:7).
  
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  Michal
  Two window scenes
  Michal (Hebrew: מיכל‎) was a daughter of Saul, king of Israel, who loved and became the wife of David, (1 Samuel 18:20-27) who later became king of Judah, and later still of the united Kingdom of Israel.
  Their story is recorded in the Book of Samuel. It is recorded that she chose the welfare of David over the wishes of her father. When Saul's messengers were searching for David in order to kill him, Michal secretly sent him away while pretending he was ill and laid up in bed. She let David down through a window and hid teraphim in his bed as a ruse. (1 Samuel 19:11-17)
  Whilst David was hiding for his life, Saul gave Michal as a wife to Palti, son of Laish, and David took several other wives, including Abigail. (1 Samuel 25) Later when David became king of Judah and Ish-bosheth Michal's brother (and Saul's son) was king of Israel, David demanded her return to him, in return for peace between them. This Ish-bosheth did, despite the public protests of Palti.
  These events have raised moral issues within Judaism, especially in the context of the prohibition in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. On the one hand, some argue that it is prohibited to re-establish a marriage with a previous spouse who has subsequently remarried. On the other hand, other commentators explain that David had not divorced Michal at this point in time, but rather Saul acted to break their marriage by marrying her off to another without David's consent. On that view, they were not technically divorced as David had not issued a writ of divorcement according to biblical law.
  
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  Moses
  Moses (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה‎, Modern Moshe Tiberian Mōšéh ISO 259-3 Moše; Greek: Mωϋσῆς Mōüsēs; Arabic: موسىٰ Mūsa) was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew (מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, Lit. "Moses our Teacher/Rabbi"), he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths.
  The existence of Moses as well as the veracity of the Exodus story is disputed amongst archaeologists and Egyptologists, with experts in the field of biblical criticism citing logical inconsistencies, new archaeological evidence, historical evidence, and related origin myths in Canaanite culture. Other historians maintain that the biographical details, and Egyptian background, attributed to Moses imply the existence of a historical political and religious leader who was involved in the consolidation of the Hebrew tribes in Canaan towards the end of the Bronze Age.
  
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  Nahash of Ammon
  Nahash was the name of a king of Ammon, mentioned in the Books of Samuel. In the Bible, Nahash appears abruptly as the attacker of Jabesh-Gilead, which lay outside the territory he laid claim to. Having subjected the occupants to a siege, the population sought terms for surrender, and were told by Nahash that they had a choice of death (by the sword) or having their right eye gouged out. The population obtained seven days grace from Nahash, during which they would be allowed to seek help from the Israelites, after which they would have to submit to the terms of surrender. The occupants sought help from the Kingdom of Israel, sending messengers to Saul, and he responded by sending an army that decisively defeated Nahash and his cohorts.
  The strangely cruel terms given by Nahash for surrender were explained by Josephus as being the usual practice of Nahash. A more complete explanation has more recently come to light; although not present in either the Septuagint or masoretic text, an introductory passage, preceding this narrative, was found in a copy of the Books of Samuel among the Dead Sea Scrolls:
  
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  Pekah
  Pekah ( /ˈpiː.kɑː/; Hebrew: פקח‎, Pẹqakh; "open-eyed"; Latin: Phacee) was king of Israel. He was a captain in the army of king Pekahiah of Israel, whom he killed to become king. Pekah was the son of Remaliah ( /rɛm.ə.ˈlaɪ.ə/; Latin: Romelia).
  Pekah became king in the fifty-second and last year of Azariah, king of Judah, and he reigned twenty years. In the second year of his reign Jotham became king of Judah, and reigned for sixteen years. Jotham was succeeded by his son, Ahaz in the seventeenth year of Pekah's reign.William F. Albright has dated his reign to 737 – 732 BC, while E. R. Thiele, following H. J. Cook and Carl Lederer, held that Pekah set up in Gilead a rival reign to Menahem's Samaria-based kingdom in Nisan of 752 BC, becoming sole ruler on his assassination of Menahem's son Pekahiah in 740/739 BC and dying in 732/731 BC. This explanation is consistent with evidence of the Assyrian chronicles, which agree with Menahem being king in 743 BC or 742 BC and Hoshea being king from 732 BC.
  
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  Philip the Tetrarch
  Philip the Tetrarch (sometimes called Herod Philip II by modern writers) was son of Herod the Great and his fifth wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem and half-brother of Herod Antipas and Herod Archelaus (not to be confused with Herod II, whom some writers call Herod Philip I.)
  Philip inherited the northeast part of his father's kingdom, which includes Iturea and Trachonitis as mentioned briefly in the Bible by Luke (3:1) or Gaulonitis, and Trachonitis, and Paneas as noted by Flavius Josephus.Augustus Caesar made his own division of Herod's kingdom, giving one half to Archelaus, while dividing the other half into two, to Antipas and Philip. Batanea, with Trachonitis, as well as Auranitis, with a certain part of what was called the House of Zenodorus, paid the tribute of one hundred talents to Philip.
  He married his niece Salome, the daughter of Herodias and was a member of the Herodian dynasty sometimes called Herod Philip I, but also known as Herod II, or sometimes Philip of Rome. This Salome appears in the Bible in connection with the execution of John the Baptist. The evangelist Mark (6:17) and Matthew (14:3) write that Philip was her father, which seems an odd mistake until one realizes that the older half-brother of Philip the Tetrarch (Herod Philip II) is also sometimes named Herod Philip - Herod Philip I. Philip the Tetrarch rebuilt the city of Caesarea Philippi, calling it by his own name to distinguish it from the Caesarea on the sea-coast which was the seat of the Roman government.
  
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  Philistines
  The Philistines ( /ˈfɪlɨstiːnz/, /ˈfɪlɨstaɪnz/, /fɨˈlɪstɨnz/, or /fɨˈlɪstiːnz/;Hebrew: פְּלִשְׁתִּים‎‎, Plištim), Pleshet or Peleset, were an Indo-European people who appeared in the southern coastal area of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age (circa 1175 BC), most probably from the Aegean region. According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states (the "Philistine Pentapolis") of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with no fixed border to the east. The Bible paints them as the Kingdom of Israel's most dangerous enemy. Originating somewhere in the Aegean, their population was around 25,000 in the 12th century BC, rising to a peak of 30,000 in the 11th century BC, of which the Aegean element was not more than half the total, and perhaps much less.
  The etymology of the word into English is from Old French Philistin, from Classical Latin Philistinus found in the writings of Josephus, from Late Greek Philistinoi (Phylistiim in the Septuagint) found in the writings by Philo, from Hebrew Plištim, (e.g. 1 Samuel 17:36; 2 Samuel 1:20; Judges 14:3; Amos 1:8), "people of Plešt" ("Philistia"); cf. Akkadian Palastu, Egyptian Parusata.
  
  wn.com/Philistines
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  Rehoboam
  Rehoboam (pronounced /ˌriːəˈboʊ.əm/; Hebrew: רְחַבְעָם, Modern Reẖav'am Tiberian Rəḥaḇʻām ; meaning "he who enlarges the people"; Greek: Ροβοαμ; Latin: Roboam) was initially king of the United Monarchy of Israel but after the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled in 932/931 BC to form the independent Kingdom of Israel he was king of the Kingdom of Judah, or southern kingdom. He was a son of Solomon and a grandson of David. His mother was Naamah the Ammonite.
  Conventional Bible chronology dates the start of Rehoboam's reign to the mid 10th century BC. His reign is described in 1 Kings 12 and 14:21-31 and in 2 Chronicles 10-12 In the Hebrew Bible, Rehoboam was 41 years old when he ascended the throne.
  The people, led by Jeroboam, feared that Rehoboam would continue to tax them heavily - as had his father Solomon. Jeroboam and the people promised their loyalty in return for lesser burdens. The older men counseled Rehoboam at least to speak to the people in a civil manner (it is not clear whether they counseled him to accept the demands). However, the new king sought the advice from the people he had grown up with, who advised the king to show no weakness to the people, and to tax them even more, which Rehoboam did. He proclaimed to the people,
  
  wn.com/Rehoboam
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  Rizpah
  Rizpah ("coal", "hot stone") was the daughter of Aiah, and one of Saul's concubines. She was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 3:7; 21:8-11).
  After the death of Saul, Abner took her as wife, resulting in a quarrel between him and Saul's son and successor, Ishbosheth. (2 Samuel 3:7-8) The quarrel led to Abner's going over to the side of David, (2 Samuel 3:17-21) who was then king of the breakaway Kingdom of Judah. This incident led to the downfall of Ishbosheth and the rise of David as king of a reunited Kingdom of Israel.
  A famine lasting three years hit Israel during the earlier half of David's reign at Jerusalem. This calamity was believed to have happened because of "Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites." The Gibeonites were not Israelites, but the remnant of the Amorites, which Saul pursued from within Israel. David inquired of the Gibeonites what satisfaction they demanded, and was answered that nothing would compensate for the wrong Saul had done to them but the death of seven of Saul's sons.(2 Samuel 21:1-6)
  
  wn.com/Rizpah
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  Salome Alexandra
  Salome Alexandra or Alexandra of Jerusalem (139–67 BCE), (Hebrew: שְׁלוֹמְצִיּוֹן אלכסנדרה‎‎, Shelomtzion or Shlom Tzion) was the only Jewish regnant queen, with the exception of her own husband's mother whom he had prevented from ruling as his dying father had wished, and of the much earlier usurper Athaliah. The wife of Aristobulus I, and afterward of Alexander Jannaeus, she was the last woman ruler of Judaea, and the last ruler of ancient Judaea to die as the ruler of an independent kingdom.
  Her personal genealogy is not given by Josephus. Rabbinical sources designate the Sage Simeon b. Shetah as her brother. If this is meant literally and true, she was the daughter of Setah Bar Yossei Rabbi and granddaughter of Yossei Bar Yochanan. Salome Alexandra's oldest son by Alexander Jannaeus was Hyrcanus II who fought his younger brother Aristobulus II in the 60's BC over the Jewish High Priesthood. Hyrcanus II was eventually successful after enlisting the help of the Nabataean king, Aretas III; bribing Roman officials, including Scaurus; and gaining the favour of Pompey the Great who defeated his brother and took him away to Rome.
  
  wn.com/Salome_Alexandra
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  Salome I
  Salome I was the sister of Herod the Great and the mother of Berenice by her husband Costobarus, governor of Idumea.
  Upon the death of Herod the Great in 4 BCE, she was given a toparchy including the cities of Jabneh, Ashdod, Phasaelis, and 5000 drachmae. Caesar Augustus supplemented this with a royal habitation at Ashkelon. While nominally queen of these areas, they were ultimately subject to the Judaean prefect.
  Berenice's children were Herodias, Herod Agrippa I, king of Judea, Herod of Chalcis and Aristobulus Minor, and Mariamne III (who may have been the first wife of her uncle, Herod Archelaus, ethnarch of Judea).
  
  wn.com/Salome_I
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  Samuel
  Samuel ( /ˈsæm.juː.əl/;Hebrew: שְׁמוּאֶל, Modern Shmu'el Tiberian Šəmûʼēl; Greek: Σαμουήλ Samouēl; Latin: Samvel; صموئيل, Ṣamu’īl; Strong's: Shemuwel) is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also known as a prophet and is mentioned in the Qur'an.
  His status, as viewed by rabbinical literature, is that he was the last of the Hebrew Judges and the first of the major prophets who began to prophesy inside the Land of Israel. He was thus at the cusp between two eras. According to the text of the Books of Samuel, he also anointed the first two kings of the Kingdom of Israel: Saul and David.
  Samuel's mother was Hannah and his father was Elkanah. Hannah, at the beginning of the narrative, is barren and childless, like Abraham's wife Sarah. Hannah prays to God for a child. Eli who is sitting at the foot of the doorpost in the sanctuary at Shiloh, sees her apparently mumbling and thinks Hannah is drunk, but is soon assured of her motivation and sobriety. Eli was, according to the Books of Samuel, the name of a priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel. He blesses her after she promises the child to God. Subsequently Hannah becomes pregnant; her child is Samuel. After he is weaned, she leaves him in Eli's care.
  
  wn.com/Samuel
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  Saul
  Saul (Hebrew: שָׁאוּל, Šāʼûl ; "asked for, prayed for"; Arabic: طالوت‎, Ṭālūt; Greek: Σαούλ Saoul; Latin: Saul) (circa 1079 BC – 1007 BC) was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah. He fell on his sword to avoid capture in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, during which three of his sons were also killed. The succession to his throne was contested by Ish-bosheth, his only surviving son, and his son-in-law David, who eventually prevailed. The main account of Saul's life and reign is found in the Books of Samuel.
  According to the Tanakh, Saul was the son of Kish, of the family of the Matrites, and a member of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the twelve Tribes of Israel. (1 Samuel 9:1-2; 10:21; 14:51; Acts 13:21) It appears that he came from Gibeah.
  Saul married Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz. They had four sons and two daughters. The sons were Jonathan, Abinadab, Malchishua and Ish-bosheth. Their daughters were named Merab and Michal.
  
  wn.com/Saul
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  Solomon
  Solomon (Hebrew: שְׁלֹמֹה, Modern Shlomo Tiberian Šəlōmō ISO 259-3 Šlomo; Arabic: سليمان‎ Sulaymān, also colloquially: Silimān; Greek: Σολομών Solomōn), according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah (Hebrew יְדִידְיָהּ) in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah split; following the split his patrilineal descendants ruled over Judah alone. In the Qur'an, he is considered as a major Prophet, known as Sulaiman, son of David.
  The Hebrew Bible credits Solomon as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem, and portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power, but ultimately as a king whose sin, including idolatry and turning away from Yahweh, leads to the kingdom being torn in two during the reign of his son Rehoboam. Solomon is the subject of many other later references and legends.
  
  wn.com/Solomon
• Talut
  Talut is the Qur'anic name for Saul. Talut is mentioned in Sura 2 (The Cow), verses 246-251, as a king appointed by God to rule over the Children of Israel. The Qur'an then describes him leading a few of his men (those who kept faith) into battle against the warriors of Goliath, who is slain by David.
  Talut is also mentioned in the Hadith literature thus: "Narrated Al-Bara: The companions of (the Prophet) Muhammad who took part in Badr, told me that their number was that of Saul's (i.e. Talut's) companions who crossed the river (of Jordan) with him and they were over three-hundred-and-ten men. By Allah, none crossed the river with him but a believer."
  
  wn.com/Talut
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  Uriah the Hittite
  Uriah the Hittite (Hebrew: אוריה החתי) was a soldier in King David’s army mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. He was the husband of Bathsheba, and was murdered by order of David by having the soldiers retreat from him in battle. Uriah's wife was pregnant by King David through an adulterous affair. Although under David's order to return home and see his wife, Uriah repeatedly refused to leave his post or leave the King's presence to see her. Contact between the couple could have hidden the adulterous nature of her pregnancy by David. As a result of this murder, David was rebuked by the prophet Nathan; furthermore, later turmoil in David's household and throughout the kingdom of Israel, including the death of Bathsheba's baby and the insurrection of prince Absalom, was contemporarily explained as punishment for the sins of adultery and murder.
  Based on the Biblical account, Uriah was probably of the ethnic Hittite minority resident in Israel that had lived in and around the region, "the Land of Canaan", since before the time of Abraham. The Hebrews, upon their entry into Canaan, had been commanded (Deuteronomy 20:16-17) to kill "anything that breathes... in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance," with the explanation that "otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 20:18). Even so, some of the earlier inhabitants were spared, in some cases for cooperating with the Hebrews (Joshua 2:12-14, 6:23, Judges 1:24-25) in other cases from failure to carry out the extermination order (Joshua 15:63, 16:10, Judges 1:19, 21, 27-36).
  
  wn.com/Uriah_the_Hittite
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  Uzziah
  Uzziah (^{[pronunciation?]}; Hebrew: עֻזִּיָּהוּ‎‎, meaning Yahweh is my strength;Greek: Οζίας; Latin: Ozias), also known as Azariah (Hebrew: עֲזַרְיָה‎‎ Greek: Αζαρις; Latin: Azarias), was the king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, and one of Amaziah's sons, whom the people appointed to replace his father (2 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 26:1). (According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the second form of his name most likely results from a copyist's error.) He is one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
  Uzziah was sixteen when he became king of Judah and reigned for fifty-two years. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 783 – 742 BC. Edwin R. Thiele's chronology has Uzziah becoming coregent with his father Amaziah in 792/791 BC, when Amaziah was struck with leprosy for disobeying the Lord (2 Kings 14:5), with his sole reign starting on the death of his father in 768/767 BC. Thiele dates Uzziah's being struck with leprosy to 751/750 BC, at which time his son Jotham took over the government, with Uzziah living on until 740/739 BC.Pekah became king of Israel in the last year of Uzziah's reign. The Catholic Encyclopedia dates his reign from 809-759 B.C.
  
  wn.com/Uzziah
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  Witch of Endor
  The witch of Endor, sometimes called the medium of Endor, was a woman who apparently called up the ghost of the recently deceased prophet Samuel, at the demand of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel in the First Book of Samuel, chapter 28:3–25. The witch is absent from the version of that event recounted in the deuterocanonical Book of Sirach (47:19–20).
  After Samuel had died, he was buried in Ramah. After Samuel's death Saul received no answer from God from dreams, prophets, or the Urim and Thummim as to his best course of action against the assembled forces of the Philistines. Consequently Saul, who had earlier driven out all necromancers and magicians from Israel, sought out a medium, anonymously and in disguise. Following the instruction of her visitor, the woman claims that she sees the ghost of Samuel rising from the abode of the dead. The voice of the prophet's ghost, after complaining of being awakened from his long sleep, berates Saul for disobeying God, and predicts Saul's downfall, with his whole army, in battle the next day, then adds that Saul and his sons will join him, then, in the abode of the dead. Saul is shocked and afraid, and following the encounter his army is defeated and Saul commits suicide after being wounded.
  
  wn.com/Witch_of_Endor
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  Zechariah of Israel
  Zechariah (spelled Zachariah in the KJV and Zacharias in the DRB; Hebrew: זכריה‎, meaning "remembered by the Lord"; Latin: Zacharias) was a king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel, and son of Jeroboam II.
  Zechariah became king of Israel in Samaria in the thirty-eighth year of Azariah, king of Judah. (2 Kings 15:8) William F. Albright has dated his reign to 746 BC – 745 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 753 BC – 752 BC.
  The account of his reign is briefly told in 2 Kings (2 Kings 15:8-12). Zachariah ruled Israel for only six months before Shallum murdered him and took the throne. This ended the dynasty of Jehu after four generations of his descendants, fulfilling the prophecy in 2 Kings 10:30.
  
  wn.com/Zechariah_of_Israel
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  Zedekiah
  Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu (^{[pronunciation?]}; Hebrew: צִדְקִיָּהוּ, Modern Tsidkiyyahu Tiberian Ṣiḏqiyyā́hû ; "My righteousness is Yahweh"; Greek: Ζεδεκίας, Zedekías; Latin: Sedecias) was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and ten days.
  William F. Albright dates the reign of Zedekiah to 597 – 587 BC, while E. R. Thiele to 597 – 586 BC. On that reckoning, he was born c. 618 BC, being twenty-one on becoming king.
  The prophet Jeremiah was his counselor, yet "he did evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Kings 24:19-20; Jeremiah 52:2-3).
  Zedekiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II in 597 BC at the age of twenty-one. The kingdom was at that time tributary to Nebuchadnezzar II. Despite the strong remonstrances of Jeremiah, Baruch ben Neriah and his other family and advisors, as well as the example of Jehoiakim, he revolted against Babylon, and entered into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar responded by invading Judah. (2 Kings 25:1). Nebuchadnezzar began a siege of Jerusalem in January 589 BC. During this siege, which lasted about thirty months, "every worst woe befell the city, which drank the cup of God's fury to the dregs". (2 Kings 25:3; Lamentations 4:4, 5, 9)
  
  wn.com/Zedekiah
• Zuph
  Zuph meaning honeycomb in Hebrew - is the Biblical name of:
  
  wn.com/Zuph

Saul (1959)

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