The United Monarchy- Utopian ideal or failed reality
We are taught from our very first exposure to Tanach that Yaakov's twelve sons were progenitors of the twelve tribes that became the nation of Israel- Bnei Yisrael( literally the "Sons of Israel"- Israel of course being Yaakovs other name.). The question is whether this was the "natural" state of the polity in Eretz Yisrael. Were the twelve tribes always a cohesive unit only to be torn in two by the secession of the Northern kingdom under Jeroboam. Perhaps this is an idyllic notion. Certainly the unity of the tribes is stressed by Moshe in Bamidbar and Devarim when the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Menashe stake a claim on the other side of the Jordan river.
In the book of Yehoshua the incident of the trans Jordanian altar reinforces the unity of the tribes. After that, however , it appears that each tribe looks after its own interests. So that in the war against Yavin, king of Hazor only some of the tribes participate. And so it is throughout the book of Judges. Each story is localized to a particular tribe or few tribes. This culminates in the civil war with Binyomin at the end of Shofetim. It is only under the kingship of Shaul, Dovid and Shlomo that the tribe are united for about 100 years. When the 10 northern tribes secede under Yeravam, the idealistic union of 12 shevatim is forever torn apart. So if we use the figure of the Tanach of 480 years from the exodus until the dedication of the first Temple( or 440 years from the entry into Canaan) and assume the Temple stood for 410 years- we see that the tribal confederation lasted 100 out of about 700 years, the North falling to the Assyrians in 722. ( Personally I find it difficult to take literally the number 480 but consider it a starting point for calculation.) So purely from a percentage of time one would have difficulty calling the tribal confederation a strong establishment. The Tanach also notes differences in modes of worship of HaShem by the northern and Southern kingdoms. Whether this is the result of separation geographically from Yehudah or the proximity of some of the Northern tribes to the Phoenicians is hard to say.
