“He reviewed them in Bezek; there were 300,000 from the people of Israel; the men of Y’hudah numbered 30,000.”-1 Samuel 11:8
As Saul prepares for war, in verse 8, we’re given a revolutionary piece of information at this point in Hebrew history.
We’re told there were 300,000 people from Israel and 30,000 men from Judah.
Now, for your average Bible reader out there, this verse doesn’t mean diddly squat…
But if you’re reading my blog, I know already you’re NOT your average braindead Bible student who doesn’t think for him or herself and just mindlessly accepts whatever his pastor or preacher force-feeds him or her from the pulpit.
So here’s why verse 8 is so significant.
Recall yesterday I talked about how there were 3 main political factions that made up all of Israel.
They consisted of the “Northern Alliance”, the “Southern Alliance”, and the “Trans-Jordanian Alliance”.
Now here’s the thing…
And pay attention because this is really important.
Each of these alliances had solidified to the point where the Israelites saw themselves as belonging to one of these political alliances instead of to greater Israel as a whole.
In other words, the 12 tribes were no longer seen as one unified national entity even though they now had a king.
Are ya feeling me here homie?
I hope you are because this is CRITICAL man!!!
If you wanna be able to understand the Bible from this point onwards, and especially prophecy, you had better grasp this point, and grasp it NOW.
Not only did Judah seem themselves as separate from all the other tribes…
But the northern tribes acknowledged this as well.
Let me say that again so it’s super clear.
At this point in history, Judah was now viewing itself as a separate and sovereign entity.
And this separate sovereignness is clearly expressed in verse 8:
“There were 300,000 from
the people of Israel;
the men of Y’hudah
numbered 30,000″
That’s why the Biblical author goes out of his way to call the Northern alliance “Israel” while calling the Southern alliance “Judah”.
And Saul’s tribe (Benjamin) had allied themselves with the northern alliance.
Plus, the fact that the word “Israel” now only refers to the 10 northern tribes instead of all 12 of the tribes also represents a HUGE shift in Biblical history.
This is a major change which I’ll be discussing tomorrow.
Later.
What was the original Eberith Text and Aramaic Text which transliterate to Isreal? Yahudah or Judah? Why ‘Y’ and ‘J’? Hebrew text has gotten to do with the vowel or consonant ‘J’. Ioesus aka Hesus was what was found in the 1611th edition of KJV but 1628th was the first time Jesus existed. The letter ‘J’ was formed in the year 1524 which is lesser than 500yr till date
True.
Cannot Wait tomorrow
I am curious to see what you trefer to as a change of the spelling of Israel due to politics
How comes only Judeans are reffered to as Jews?
Many thanks and God bless you
Thank you. I also studied this for myself and was able to see where the root of the infighting began. In my opinion it started with Solomon’s son Rehoboam who was not willing to hear his people’s concerns and assumed he and his young counselors were smarter than everyone else. That’s when the kingdom was torn into two; northern and southern or Israel and Judah.
Hi
I think you made a good observation of one of the biblical patterns
However, the root of the infighting and divisions has already started in 1Samuel.
The historical account of Biblical events suggests that Solomon , Rehoboam etc have not yet appeared on the scene since we are still dealing with 1Samuel.
In other words Solomon and Rehoboam came later to meet the roots of the division.
Richoka introduced the topic in an intriguing way and I found the answer NOT until I finished reading thearticle
‘How politics changed the definition of Israel ‘
Isreal is made up of 12 triibes. Basically, the 12 sons of our Patriarch Jacob
Here the reference scripture is already telling us about divisions and factions. 1Samuel 11:8. . . that the the people of Israel had 300,000 men and Judah had to 30,000
The interesting part of the story is that,Judah at this point in history was seen as rebellious.
but It latter unfolded that even though God chose Saul to be a king and for that matter everybody was expected to comply
Judah disregarded him.and the decision to follow such a path was not a child’s play. This involved previous lives and I there is no doubt weather there were lives lost in the process
On our blndside God was on the side of Judah.
Why?
Firstly, the choice for a human king was not in accordance with God’s plan.
Secondly,
Jacob’s prophecy about Judah was ‘ticking on the clock ‘ that will Judah stand out like a lion
Thirdly, since the days of Adam humans are given the freedom to make our independent CHOICES but God is shaping history throughout all these generations, even today .
Nothing eludes GOD
Thanks