1 McKenzie (Trouble with Kings, 135) suggested that Dtr2 wrote all the passages in which a condition is attached to the promise of eternal rule given to the dynasty of David (2 Kings 2:4; 6:11–13; 8:25b; 9:4–5) – a promise that originally was unconditional.

2 I accept the view of scholars who suggest that the early history of the two kingdoms was written initially during Josiah's reign, amid the cultic reform that he carried out in his kingdom and the far-reaching religious and ideological transformations that took place in his court. For this view, see e.g., Cross, Canaanite Myth, 274–289; Nelson, Double Redaction; Friedman, The Exile; Mayes, Story of Israel; Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings; McKenzie, Trouble with Kings; Knoppers, Two Nations under God.

3 Labat, Le caractère religieux, 40–117; Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, 231–248; Ishida, Royal Dynasties, 6–25, with earlier literature.

4 Donner and Röllig, Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften, 168–179.

5 Donner and Röllig, Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften, 30–34.

6 Donner and Röllig, Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften, 9–10.

7 Biran and Naveh, Tel Dan Inscription, 11–13.

8 Grayson, Assyrian Rulers, 118 line 26.

9 Gibson, Textbook, 8–9.

10 Frahm, Sculpted Slab, 46–47.

11 Na'aman, Jehu Son of Omri.

12 For details, see Ishida, Royal Dynasties, 81–117; Mettinger, Cui Bono?; Van Seters, Biblical Saga of King David, 256–267; Kasari, Nathan's Promise, with earlier literature; Rückl, Une dynastie en crise.

13 For a detailed discussion, see Na'aman, The Opening Biblical Verses, 371, 374–375.

14 For a detailed discussion, see Na'aman, Queen Mothers, 483–484.

15 To avoid confusion, I consistently use the name Jehoash for the King of Judah and Joash for the King of Israel.

16 Liverani, L'histoire de Joas.

17 Liverani, L'histoire de Joas, 452–453.

18 Na'aman, Queen Athaliah.

19 This reconstruction is based in part on an analogy to the reign of Sennacherib, who had selected the young prince Esarhaddon as the designated heir to the throne, and Esarhaddon's elder brothers, who failed to be nominated, murdered the king and struggled with Esarhaddon over the throne of Assyria. For more details, see Parpola, Murderers of Sennacherib; Tadmor, Autobiographical Apology, 38–45; Talon, De mes frères aînés; Leichty, Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, 9–15, with earlier literature.

20 Hughes, Secrets of the Times, 149

21 A remarkable similarity also exists between the histories of Asa and Ahaz. See Tadmor and Cogan, Ahaz and Tiglath-Pileser, 499–503; Na'aman, Deuteronomist and Voluntary Servitude, 41–48; Adam, Saul und David, 184–192, 216–217.

22 Lewy, Die Chronologie, 11–12; Thiele, Mysterious Numbers; 77–87; Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 154, 159; Galil, The Chronology, 57–59.

23 Na'aman, Kingdom of Judah, 250–252.

24 Cogan and Tadmor, II Kings, 266.

25 Needless to say, exceptions can be found to this rule, and the kings of Assyria sometimes nominated princes that did not belong to the reigning dynasty. But this issue is broad and exceeds the scope of this study.

26 Oppenheim, Babylonian and Assyrian Historical Texts, 286a.

27 Leichty, Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, 19, iv 19.

28 Oppenheim, Babylonian and Assyrian Historical Texts, 296; Borger, Beiträge zum Inschriftenwerk Assurbanipals, 30, A II 82–94.

29 A seal acquired in the Jerusalem antiquity market bears the inscription “belonging to Manasseh son of the king”. Upon thorough microscopic examination of the seal, Avigad and Sass (Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals, 55 No. 16) suggested that “it appears to be authentic in form and spirit”.

30 Na'aman, Rezin of Damascus, 107–110. Possibly, the son of Tabeel failed to be elected heir to the throne after the death of Jotham and was willing to join the anti-Assyrian coalition of Rezin and Pekah in exchange for a second chance at the throne of Judah.

31 Alt, Das Königtum; idem, Die Staatenbildung der Israeliten, 11–33.

32 For criticism of Alt's hypothesis, see Thornton, Charismatic Kingship; Buccellati, Cities and Nations, 200–212; Tadmor, “The People” and the Kingship, 59–62; Ishida, Royal Dynasties, 171–182.

33 Na'aman, Settlement of the Ephrathites.

34 Zeredah is identified at Khirbet Bant Bar, north of Naḥal Shiloh (Wādi Seridah) and southwest of Shechem (Kochavi, The Identification of Zeredah).

35 The division of the monarchy might be interpreted as a refusal of the Sons of Ephraim to further support the Ephrathite lineage of David that established itself in Jerusalem. They thus elected as king Jeroboam, a prominent Ephrathite leader, and the newly elected king/tribal leader established his capital at Shechem, the ancient centre of the central hill country.

36 Debus, Die Sünde Jerobeams, 62.

37 Thenius, Die Bücher der Könige, 195; šanda, Die Bücher der Könige, 868; Benzinger, Die Bücher der Könige, 96; Gray, I & II Kings, 339.

38 Herrmann, Issakar, 24–25; Aharoni, Issachar and Manasseh, 33, 37–38; idem, Land of the Bible, 223; Gal, Settlement of Issachar, 82–83; Na'aman, Borders and Districts, 164.

39 For the late, non-historical nature of the Judge Tola son of Puah, See Zadok, Notes on the Prosopography, 44–45.

40 Abel, Tappouaḥ, 105–108; Lemaire, Inscriptions hébraïques, 57.

41 For Tirzah in the Iron Age I–II, see recently Finkelstein, Tell el-Far'ah, with earlier literature; idem, Forgotten Kingdom, 65–74.

42 Guthe, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, 158–159; Hermann, Issakar, 24b, with earlier literature in n. 39; Ishida, Royal Dynasties, 174–175.

43 Ishida (Royal Dynasties, 175) suggested that both Zimri and Tibni were of the tribe of Ephraim, possibly descendants of the Jeroboam's clan.

44 Aḥituv and Mazar, Inscriptions from Tel Reḥov, 43–45.

45 See Abel, Tappouaḥ.

46 Ishida, Royal Dynasties, 175–176; Na'aman, Rezin of Damascus, 108, with earlier literature.