Book of 1 Kings Explained
Title: First and Second Kings were
originally one book, called in the Hebrew text, “Kings,” from the first word (in
1:1). The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), divided
the book in two and this was followed by the Latin Vulgate version and English
translations. The division was for the convenience of copying this lengthy book
on scrolls and codexes and was not based on features of content.
The portrayal of the deeds of
Israel’s people, especially its kings, priests and prophets, is colored by the
shade of spiritual faithfulness and purity they maintained toward God and His
revealed standards. The selective rehearsal of the people’s repeated spiritual
failure, particularly among its leaders, point to Israel’s need of a coming One
who, as the heir to David’s throne, would be not only its righteous King but its
faithful Prophet and God’s High Priest.
Modern Hebrew Bibles title the
books “Kings A” and “Kings B.” The LXX and Vulgate connected kings with the
books of Samuel, so that the titles in the LXX are “The Third and Fourth Books
of kingdoms” and in the Vulgate “Third and Fourth Kings.” The books of 1 and 2
Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings combined are a chronicle of the entire history of
Judah’s and Israel’s kingship from Saul to Zedekiah. First and Second Chronicles
provides only the history of Judah’s monarchy.
Historical Setting:
The two books of Kings recorded the activities of the people of God, moving from
the days of Solomon (971-931 B.C.), to the division of the kingdom under
Rehoboam. And then through the history of the twin kingdoms to the occasion of
the respective defeats and exiles. The northern border Kingdom falling (in 722
B.C.), and the southern kingdom (in 586 B.C.). Israel is seen as the
focal point of God’s dealing with the various nations of mankind, especially the
Egyptians, Phoenicians, Aramaeans, Assyrians, and Babylonians. Israel’s
spiritual disobedience would repeatedly expose them to political threats at the
hands of these nations, until the northern kingdom of Israel would fall under
the weight of the mighty war machine of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. And the
remaining southern kingdom of Judah would come to an end at the hands of the
Chaldeans. The time thus covered, exclusive of the historical appendixes at the
end of 2 Kings is about 385 years.
Authorship and Date:
Jewish tradition proposed that Jeremiah wrote Kings, although this is unlikely
because the final event recorded in the book (see 2 Kings 25:27-30), occurred in
Babylon (in 561 B.C.). Jeremiah never went to Babylon, but to Egypt (Jer.
43:1-7), and would have been at least 86 years old by 561 B.C. Actually, the
identity of the unnamed author remains unknown. Since the ministry of prophets
is emphasized in Kings, it seems that the author was most likely an unnamed
prophet of the Lord who lived in exile with Israel in Babylon.
Liberal scholars have
conjectured that First and Second Kings in their present form are the work of a
Deuteronomic School of writers whose basic theological viewpoint is woven into
the books from Joshua to Kings and whose literary activity stretched from the
eighth century B.C. through the sixth century B.C. However, no real proof exists
of such a group and efforts to suggest the supposed parameters of their writing
activities have yielded varying and often conflicting results. Moreover, the
underlying idea that someone associated with the Book of Deuteronomy (also
considered to be a late book), was associated with these books is unproven and
fails in the growing body of evidence that increasingly shows that Deuteronomy
was almost entirely a product of Moses’ own writing.
The identity of the author of
Kings is unknown, although Jewish tradition holds that its author was Jeremiah.
Although there can be no final certainty in the matter, the fact that Jeremiah
was not only a member of a priestly, teaching family, but as God’s prophet was
an eyewitness and active participant in the events surrounding Judah’s demise,
argues for such a possibility. The author of Kings has used many official
records and unofficial sources in compiling his history (e.g. 11:41; 14:19, 29,
etc.; see the note on 2 Kings 20:20).
Kings was written between
561-538 B.C. Since the last narrated event (2 Kings 25:27-30), sets the earliest
possible date of completion and because there is no record of the end of the
Babylonian captivity in Kings. The release from exile (538 B.C.), identifies the
latest possible writing date. This date is sometimes challenged on the basis of
“to this day” statements (in 1 Kings 8:8; 9:13, 20-21; 10:12; 12:19; 2 Kings
2:22; 8:22; 10:27; 14;7; 16:6; 17:23, 34, 41; 21:15). However, it is best to
understand these statements as those of the sources used by the author, rather
than statements of the author himself.
It is clear that the author
used a variety of sources in compiling this book, including “the book of the
acts of Solomon” (1 Kings 11:41), “the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel” (1
Kings 14:19; 15:31; 16:5, 14, 20, 27; 22:39; 2 Kings 1:18; 10:34; 13:8, 12;
14:15, 28; 15:11, 21, 26, 31), and “the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah” (1
Kings 14:29; 15:7, 23; 22:45; 2 Kings 8:23; 12:19; 14:18; 15:6, 36; 16:19;
20:20; 21:17, 25; 23:28; 24:5). Further (Isaiah 36:1 - 39:8), provided
information used (in 2 Kings 18:9 - 20:19 and Jeremiah 52:31-34), seems to be
the source for (2 Kings 25:27-29). This explanation posits a single inspired
author, living in Babylon during the Exile, using these pre-Exilic source
materials at his disposal.
Although the author has
written Kings in a generally historically progressive fashion, he often writes
thematically, grouping his facts in a way that is not strictly chronological.
Thus, one must not assume that the details of a given chapter necessarily have
happened after those of the preceding chapter (see the note on 2 Kings 20:1).
However, especially in the details relative to the divided kingdom, there is a
general historical progression from (1 Kings 12 to the end of 2 Kings; from the
mid tenth to the mid-sixth century B.C.). The dates for the respective kings
given here result from a careful evaluation of the various dating methods used
in ancient Israel as they are compared with certain established anchor dates in
the ancient Near East. The difficulty of affixing precise dates is hampered by
the various ways in which dates were calculated in Israel. In the northern
kingdom, dating was reached by a non-accession system (by which the year that a
man became king was listed as both his first year and the last year of his
predecessor). In Judah, an accession year system was used, whereby a new king’s
first year was calculated from the beginning of the new year in the fall after
his enthronement, until about 841 B.C., after which a change was made to the
non-accession system. However, both kingdoms switched to the accession year
system in the early eighth century B.C., possibly under the influence of
Assyria. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that the length of the reign of
some kings included a period of serving as co-regent with their fathers. Despite
the complexity of the problem, a relatively accurate system of dating has been
established.
Setting and Background: A
distinction must be made between the setting for the books’ sources and that of
the books’ author. The source material was written by participants in and
eyewitnesses of the events. It was reliable information, which was historically
accurate concerning the sons of Israel, from the death of David and the
accession of Solomon (971 B.C.), to the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem
by the Babylonians (586 B.C.). Thus, Kings traces the histories of two sets of
kings and two nations of disobedient people, Israel and Judah, both of whom were
growing indifferent to God’s law and His prophets and were headed for captivity.
The book of Kings is not only
accurate history, but interpreted history. The author, an exile in Babylon,
wished to communicate the lessons of Israel’s history to the exiles.
Specifically, he taught the exilic community why the Lord’s judgment of exile
had come. The writer established early in his narrative that the Lord required
obedience by the kings to the Mosaic law, if their kingdom was to receive His
blessing; disobedience would bring exile (1 Kings 9:3-9). The sad reality that
history revealed was that all the kings of Israel and the majority of the kings
of Judah “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” These evil kings were apostates,
who led their people to sin by not confronting idolatry, but sanctioning it.
Because of the kings’ failure, the Lord sent His prophets to confront both the
monarchs and the people with their sin and their need to return to Him. Because
the message of the prophets was rejected, the prophets foretold that the
nation(s) would be carried into exile (2 Kings 17:13-23; 21:10-15). Like every
prophecy uttered by the prophets in Kings, this word from the Lord came to pass
(2 Kings 17:5-6; 25:1-11). Therefore, Kings interpreted the people’s experience
of exile and helped them to see why they had suffered God’s punishment for
idolatry. It also explained that just as God had shown mercy to Ahab (1 Kings
22:27-29), and Jehoiachin (2 Kings 25:27-30), so He was willing to show them
mercy.
The predominant geographical
setting of Kings is the whole Land of Israel, stretching from Dan to Beer-sheba
(1 Kings 4:25), including Transjordan. Four invading nations played a dominant
role in the affairs of Israel and Judah from 971 to 561 B.C. In the tenth
century B.C., Egypt impacted Israel’s history during the reigns of Solomon and
Rehoboam (1 Kings 3:1; 11:14-22, 40; 12:2; 14:25-27). Syria (Aram), posed a
great threat to Israel’s security during the ninth century B.C., ca. 890 – 800
B.C. (1 Kings 15:9-22; 20:1-34; 22:1-4, 29-40; 2 Kings 6:8 – 7:20; 8:7-15;
10:32-33; 12:17-18; 13:22-25). The years from ca. 800 to 750 B.C., were a
half-century of peace and prosperity for Israel and Judah, because Assyria
neutralized Syria and did not threaten to the south. This changed during the
kingship of Tiglath-Pileser III (2 Kings 15:19-20, 29). From the mid-eighth
century to the late seventh century B.C., Assyria terrorized Palestine, finally
conquering and destroying Israel (the northern kingdom in 722 B.C.; 2 Kings
17:4-6). And besieging Jerusalem (in 701 B.C.; 2 Kings 18:17 – 19:37). From (612
to 539 B.C.), Babylon was the dominant power in the ancient world. Babylon
invaded Judah (the southern kingdom), 3 times (605, 597 and 586 B.C.), with the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple occurring (in 586 B.C.), during that
third assault (2 Kings 24:1 – 25:21).
Although the historical
trustworthiness of Kings has been demonstrated repeatedly, one must not read
these two books simply as history. The two books are, above all, a telling of
God’s spiritual dealings with His vacillating people. It narrates how the people
of God managed their God-given responsibilities before a sovereign and gracious
God. It stands as a record of God’s reward for obedience and faithfulness, and
for His judgment of disobedience.
Before Israel entered the
Promised Land, Moses had sternly cautioned the people about falling prey to
pride and arrogance. Once they entered Canaan and became established in God’s
blessings, they would be tempted to say as a people, “My power and the might of
my hand have gained me this wealth.” But Moses exhorted them: “You shall
remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that
He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers … then it shall be,
if you by any means forget the Lord our God, and follow other gods … I testify
against you this day that you shall surely perish” (Deut. 8:17-19).
Those verses summarize First
and Second Kings (one long book in the original Hebrew Bible). It is the story
of how God blessed Israel and elevated her above all nations under the rule of
Solomon. But it is also a story of decline and destruction and warnings
unheeded.
The Nations divided into two.
10 tribes in the north with their capital of Samaria and two tribes in the south
centered around Jerusalem. Two lines of kings, two capitals, two agendas and
political divisions that symbolized the spiritual division in its heart. The
people grew double- minded, living luxuriously in their wealth and following
after idols instead of acknowledging the God who gave them everything. By the
end of 2 Kings, both Israel and Judah had been taken into captivity into other
lands.
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