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The Tanakh isn't at all shy of mentioning the flaws of many of the most famous and looked up to Kings, and for good reasons too. David and Batsheba is one such story as far as I know where David ended up realizing that he sinned, Solomon turned to idol worship (G-d, blessed be He, forbid), and many others. Even Saul consulted I think the witch of Endor to summon Samuel which is forbidden.

My question is then: Are there any Kings who didn't have any major and obvious flaws? Sure, they don't have to be super duper successful rules in the sense of expanding the Kingdom territorially or economically, but in the sense of being decent rulers who didn't sin in any major way.

setszu
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    You’ve listed in your question all three kings of the united monarchy. The kingdom splits in two at the start of the reign of Solomon’s son and successor Rehoboam. – Joel K Sep 02 '23 at 18:39
  • @JoelK whoops thx for pointing that out, I will edit it – setszu Sep 02 '23 at 19:24
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    King Solomon did not 'turn to idol worship.' He failed to stop some of his wives from doing so, but that's not quite the same thing. – יהושע ק Sep 02 '23 at 23:23
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    @יהושעק That’s true, but it is not apparent from the text of the Tanakh. See I Kings 11. It is the Talmud that suggests King Solomon did not himself physically err in this way. “Anyone who says Solomon sinned is in error.” (Shabbat 56b) – ezra Sep 03 '23 at 01:17
  • @ezra thank you for helping me correct someone who was in error :) – יהושע ק Sep 03 '23 at 01:43
  • @יהושעק The Torah says that Solomon "did evil in the eyes of Hashem". He's defended here: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/83040/paskening-shlomo-out-of-shamayim. David is defended by many, and I've listed some here: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/133563/31534 – Rabbi Kaii Sep 03 '23 at 12:28

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In total, there were 20 kings of Judah, and 19 kings of Israel.

Of the 20 kings of Judah, only 8 of them are recorded as righteous, namely:

  • Asa (I Kings 5:11)
  • Jehoshaphat (I Kings 22:43)
  • Jehoash/Joash (II Kings 12:3)
  • Amaziah (II Kings 14:3)
  • Azariah/Uzziah (II Kings 15:3)
  • Jotham (II Kings 15:34)
  • Hezekiah (II Kings 18:3)
  • Josiah (II Kings 22:2)

All of the kings of Israel are recorded as wicked.

ezra
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