<P> According to the account in the Book of Joshua, following a partial conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes (the Jebusites still held Jerusalem), Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes . Judah's divinely ordained portion is described in Joshua 15 as encompassing most of the southern portion of the Land of Israel, including the Negev, the Wilderness of Zin and Jerusalem . However, the consensus of modern scholars is that it never occurred . Other scholars point to extra-biblical references to Israel and Canaan as evidence for the potential historicity of the conquest . </P> <P> In the opening words of the Book of Judges, following the death of Joshua, the Israelites "asked the Lord" which tribe should be first to go to occupy its allotted territory, and the tribe of Judah was identified as the first tribe . According to the narrative in the Book of Judges, the tribe of Judah invited the tribe of Simeon to fight with them in alliance to secure each of their allotted territories . As is the case with Joshua, many scholars do not believe that the book of Judges contains reliable history . </P> <P> The Book of Samuel describes God's repudiation of a monarchic line arising from the northern Tribe of Benjamin due to the sinfulness of King Saul, which was then bestowed onto the Tribe of Judah for all time in the person of King David . In Samuel's account, after the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, while Judah chose David as its king . However, after the death of Ish - bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, all the other Israelite tribes made David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel . The Book of Kings follows the expansion and unparalleled glory of the United Monarchy under King Solomon . A majority of scholars believe that the accounts concerning David and Solomon's territory in the "united monarchy" are exaggerated, and a minority believe that the "united monarchy" never existed at all . Disagreeing with the latter view, Old Testament scholar Walter Dietrich contends that the biblical stories of circa 10th - century BCE monarchs contain a significant historical kernel and are not simply late fictions . </P> <P> On the accession of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, in c. 930 BCE, the ten northern tribes under the leadership of Jeroboam from the Tribe of Ephraim split from the House of David to create the Northern Kingdom in Samaria . The Book of Kings is uncompromising in its low opinion of its larger and richer neighbor to the north, and understands its conquest by Assyria in 722 BCE as divine retribution for the Kingdom's return to idolatry . </P>

What tribe was david from in the bible