The Causes of the Division of Israel\u27s Kingdom

The article describes the various causes of the division of the Israelite monarchy following the reign of Solomon: 1) tribal jealousy, particularly between Ephraim and Judah; 2) sectionalistic military policies favoring Judah, through which Solomon alienated much of northern Israel; 3) Solomonic exploitation of the population for personal enrichment; and 4) Solomonic apostasy and spiritual compromise through idolatry and intermarriage with pagans, resulting in divine judgment for violating Israel\u27s covenant with Yahweh. The article concludes that these factors were used by God\u27s providence to further his program of discipline and eventual messianic deliverance of Israel

The Origin and History of the Samaritans

The development of Samaritanism and its alienation from Judaism was a process that began with the division of the kingdom of Israel and continued through successive incidents which promoted antagonism, including the importation of foreign colonists into Samaria by Assyria, the rejection of the new Samaritan community by the Jews, the building of a rival temple on Mt Gerizim, the political and religious opportunism of the Samaritans, and the destruction of both the Samaritan temple and their capital of Shechem by John Hyrcanus during the 2d century BC. The Samaritan religion at the time of Jesus had become Mosaic and quasi-Sadducean, but strongly anti-Jewish. Jesus recognized their heathen origins and the falsity of their religious claims

The Census and Quirinius: Luke 2:2

The article shows that the statement in Luke 2:2 concerning the census of Quirinius, governor of Syria, can be harmonized with available historical and grammatical data. Various proposed solutions are listed, Quirinius\u27 career is described, and two crucial questions are discussed: 1) when was Quirinius governor of Syria, and 2) when did the census of Luke 2:1-2 take place? the article concludes that, although Quirinius may have governed Syria as early as 8-6 BC, a better solution is to translate protē in Luke 2:2 as first or before. Luke was thus referring to a census taken before that of Quirinius in AD 6