“My father was a fugitive Aramaean”

After Solomon's death his kingdom splits. Both Jeroboam in the North and Rehoboam in the South fail to rule successfully. Interactions between Israelites and other peoples continue, featuring the usual pattern of battles on the one hand and commerce on the other. Archeological excavations and administrative and royal records provide significant data on these strangers from the east. This chapter begins by tracing the appearance of Aram in earlier biblical narratives, a necessary context for understanding its persistent presence in 1 and 2 Kings. Unlike the legitimacy granted David in his successes against the Philistines, Aramaean kings are just as likely to delegitimize, as to reinforce, Israelite royal rule. The Aramaean choice of sides this time is especially poor since the Ammonites humiliate David, turning him into an even more ferocious opponent. The extent to which that counter-trajectory makes it way through these tales creates empathy for Aramaeans and the fate they share with the Israelites.