Who was the first king of Israel? Saul, and all the kings of Israel and Judah in one table

The first king of Israel was Saul, the son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin. The prophet Samuel anointed him privately (1 Samuel 10:1), presented him to the people at Mizpeh (1 Samuel 10:24), and the nation confirmed him as king at Gilgal (1 Samuel 11:15). Paul later says God gave Israel Saul "by the space of forty years" (Acts 13:21).

After Saul came David, then Solomon. When Solomon died, the kingdom split in two: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. From then on, the Bible tracks two lines of kings side by side through 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles.

Below you'll find how Saul became king, then every king of the united kingdom, of Israel and of Judah in order, each with the reign length the Bible gives and the verdict the text pronounces on him. Every reference was checked against the KJV text.

How Saul became the first king of Israel

Before Saul, Israel had no king. The book of Judges ends with a summary of that era: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). The people once offered Gideon a hereditary throne, and he refused: "the Lord shall rule over you" (Judges 8:23).

The request for a king finally came to Samuel when he was old and his sons were corrupt. The elders said, "make us a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Samuel 8:5). God told Samuel to listen, while naming what was really happening:

And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

God had already made room for a king in the Law (Deuteronomy 17:14-15), so the problem wasn't kingship itself. It was a request rooted in wanting to be like everyone else, instead of trusting the Lord as their King (1 Samuel 12:12).

Saul's rise happens in three steps:

1. Chosen and anointed in private. Saul goes looking for his father's lost donkeys and ends up at Samuel's door. God tells Samuel, "this same shall reign over my people" (1 Samuel 9:17), and Samuel pours oil on his head (1 Samuel 10:1).
2. Chosen by lot in public. At Mizpeh, the lot falls on the tribe of Benjamin, then on Saul, who has to be found: "he hath hid himself among the stuff" (1 Samuel 10:21-22). Samuel presents him and the people shout "God save the king" (1 Samuel 10:24).
3. Confirmed after a victory. After Saul rescues Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites, "they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal" (1 Samuel 11:15).

He looked the part. The Bible says no one in Israel was "goodlier" and that he stood head and shoulders above everyone (1 Samuel 9:2). He also started humble: "Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel?" (1 Samuel 9:21). You can read the whole account in the story of Saul becoming king, and his full life on the Saul character page.

If you'd like to learn the kings the way you'd learn a family tree, one story and one short quiz at a time, the app has a page for each major character.

How long did Saul reign?

This is a classic trick question. In the KJV, 1 Samuel 13:1 reads: "Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel". Many scholars think a number dropped out of the Hebrew text of this verse in copying, which is why modern translations handle it differently.

The clearest number comes from Paul's sermon in Acts 13:21: God gave them Saul "by the space of forty years". Some readers take that figure to include the years of Samuel's leadership alongside Saul. Either way, the safe trivia answer is "forty years, according to Acts 13:21".

Why did God reject Saul?

Saul's reign started well and ended badly. He offered a burnt offering instead of waiting for Samuel (1 Samuel 13:9-14), then spared what God had told him to destroy (1 Samuel 15). Samuel's verdict:

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

God sent Samuel to anoint David while Saul was still on the throne (1 Samuel 16:1, 13). Saul spent his last years chasing David, and died on Mount Gilboa, falling on his own sword (1 Samuel 31:4). See Saul rejected and David anointed by Samuel for the two turning points.

Was Saul really the first king? Two trick answers

Two names come up in hard trivia rounds.

Abimelech. Gideon's son Abimelech had himself made king by the men of Shechem (Judges 9:6) and "reigned three years over Israel" (Judges 9:22). He was a local strongman who murdered his brothers, never anointed by a prophet and never accepted by the whole nation. Most Bible teachers don't count him as Israel's first king, but it makes a great bonus question.

God himself. Samuel's point in 1 Samuel 8:7 and 12:12 is that Israel already had a King: the Lord. That's worth saying out loud in a youth group or small group, because it's the theological heart of the story.

So the standard answer stands: Saul was the first king of Israel. David was the second king of the whole nation, though Saul's son Ish-bosheth reigned over the northern tribes for two years while David reigned over Judah in Hebron (2 Samuel 2:10).

The kings of the united kingdom

God promised David that his throne would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:16). The New Testament sees that promise fulfilled in Jesus, the "son of David" in Matthew 1, to whom God gives "the throne of his father David" (Luke 1:32).

Why the kingdom split in two

Solomon turned to other gods late in life, and God told him, "I will surely rend the kingdom from thee" (1 Kings 11:11). When his son Rehoboam answered the northern tribes harshly, they walked away: "To your tents, O Israel" (1 Kings 12:16). They made Jeroboam their king, and "there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only" (1 Kings 12:20).

From that point, two words matter for every list you'll see:

• Israel (also called the northern kingdom, or Ephraim, or Samaria after its capital): ten tribes, 19 kings, several dynasties, ended by Assyria (2 Kings 17:6). The fall of Samaria is commonly dated to 722 BC.
• Judah (the southern kingdom): the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, Jerusalem and the temple, one dynasty from David (with one break under Athaliah), ended by Babylon (2 Kings 25:8-9). The fall of Jerusalem is commonly dated to 586 BC.

The story of the divided kingdom walks through the split itself.

All 19 kings of Israel (the northern kingdom)

Reign lengths come straight from 1 and 2 Kings. The verdict column quotes or summarizes what the text says about each king. Exact BC dates vary between scholars because reigns sometimes overlapped, so we leave them out.

One more name sits in the gap after Zimri: Tibni, whom half the people followed until "Tibni died, and Omri reigned" (1 Kings 16:21-22). He's usually not counted as a king.

The pattern is hard to miss. Not one northern king gets the phrase "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord". The reason the text gives again and again is the same: they kept the golden calves Jeroboam set up at Bethel and Dan. The prophets who confronted them are some of the most famous people in the Old Testament, starting with Elijah against Ahab in the showdown on Mount Carmel.

All 20 rulers of Judah (the southern kingdom)

That's 8 kings the text calls right (Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham, Hezekiah, Josiah). Two of them get unique praise. Of Hezekiah: "He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him" (2 Kings 18:5). Of Josiah:

And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

Josiah's reforms began when the priests found the book of the law in the temple. Read Josiah finds the Book of the Law and Hezekiah and Sennacherib for the two great revivals in Judah.

Records and surprises from the list

These make good trivia questions, and each answer is in the text.

Same names in both kingdoms (why lists get confusing)

Four names belong to a king in Israel and a different king in Judah, sometimes at nearly the same time. If a passage feels like it contradicts itself, check which kingdom you're in.

A simple habit helps: when you read 1 and 2 Kings, jot a small "I" or "J" next to each new king. A chronological Bible reading plan also helps, because it places the prophets (Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah) next to the kings they spoke to.

What the kings teach us today

The books of Kings aren't just a list of rulers. They're a long answer to one question: what happens when God's people trust him, and what happens when they don't? The summary over the northern kingdom is blunt: "the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God" (2 Kings 17:7).

A few lessons stand out for a quiet time or a small group:

• A good start isn't enough. Saul began humble (1 Samuel 9:21), and Solomon called himself "but a little child" (1 Kings 3:7). Both drifted (1 Kings 11:4). Faithfulness is a daily walk, not a launch.
• Mentors matter. Joash did right "all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him" (2 Kings 12:2). Who's speaking truth into your life?
• No one is too far gone. Manasseh was the worst king in Judah's story, yet when he humbled himself and prayed, God heard him (2 Chronicles 33:12-13).
• Every king points to a better King. The line of David stumbles all the way to exile, but God's promise holds. Jesus reigns "over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:33).

If you want to go deeper with one of these kings, the method in how to do a character study in the Bible works well with Saul, David, Hezekiah or Josiah. For more about David's place in Scripture, see the most mentioned person in the Bible.

Test yourself on the kings

The kings fill four books: 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Kings, with 1 and 2 Chronicles retelling much of the same history from Judah's side. Try three questions on 1 Kings:

Quick quiz: 1 Kings

What does Solomon ask of God in the dream at Gibeon?

A long lifeThe death of his enemiesAn understanding heartGreat riches

Which king of Tyre supplies Solomon with the cedars of Lebanon for the temple?

HiramEthbaalBen-hadadAchish

Where does Elijah confront the prophets of Baal?

On Mount HorebOn Mount CarmelOn Mount ZionOn Mount Gilboa

Continue the quiz

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start free, no card needed.

For more, there's a full 1 Kings quiz and 2 Kings quiz, and our Old Testament quiz questions and answers. If you like the trick questions above, you'll enjoy our hard Bible trivia questions.

Bible Academy's quizzes explain every answer with the verse it comes from, so you learn the kings instead of just guessing them.

Frequently asked questions

Who was the first king of Israel?

Saul, the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, was the first king of Israel. The prophet Samuel anointed him privately (1 Samuel 10:1), presented him publicly at Mizpeh (1 Samuel 10:24), and the people confirmed him as king at Gilgal (1 Samuel 11:15). Paul says God gave Israel Saul "by the space of forty years" (Acts 13:21).

Who was the second king of Israel?

David was the second king of the whole nation, reigning 40 years: seven and a half in Hebron over Judah, then 33 in Jerusalem over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:4-5). For two of those early years, Saul's son Ish-bosheth reigned over the northern tribes (2 Samuel 2:10), so some lists name him as the second king of Israel.

How many kings did Israel and Judah have?

After the kingdom split, the northern kingdom of Israel had 19 kings, from Jeroboam I to Hoshea. The southern kingdom of Judah had 19 kings plus one ruling queen, Athaliah, from Rehoboam to Zedekiah. Add the three kings of the united kingdom (Saul, David, Solomon) and you get 41 kings and one queen.

Were there any good kings of Israel?

In the northern kingdom, the text never says any king "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord". Jehu comes closest: God commends him for ending Ahab's house (2 Kings 10:30), but he kept Jeroboam's golden calves (2 Kings 10:29-31). In Judah, eight kings are called right, including Hezekiah and Josiah.

Who was the last king of Israel and of Judah?

Hoshea was the last king of the northern kingdom; in his ninth year the king of Assyria took Samaria (2 Kings 17:6). Zedekiah was the last king of Judah; Babylon captured him and burned Jerusalem and the temple (2 Kings 25:7-9). Jehoiachin, an earlier king, was later released from prison in Babylon (2 Kings 25:27).

Why did Israel want a king?

The elders told Samuel his sons were corrupt and asked, "make us a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Samuel 8:5). God told Samuel the people had rejected him, not Samuel, from reigning over them (1 Samuel 8:7). The Law allowed for a king God would choose (Deuteronomy 17:14-15), but this request came from wanting to be like other nations.