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KINGS, BOOKS OF

The final books of the Deuteronomistic history and the last of the Former Prophets. The title reflects the contents and core organizing principle of these books. Kings structures the history of Judah and Israel according to individual reigns and evaluates the loyalty of the whole nation on the basis of royal behavior. The kings are the focal characters, and the nations’ fate hinges on their fidelity or infidelity. The Hebrew canonical tradition considers 1-2 Kings to be a single book, and the practice of partitioning the book in two did not surface until the 15th century c.e. The division point between 1 and 2 Kings is awkward in that it splits the reign of Ahaziah and the career of Elijah. This division is associated with the formula of 2 Kgs. 1:1 (“after the death of”; cf. Josh. 1:1; Judg. 1:1; 2 Sam. 1:1). Placement within the Hebrew canonical division of Nebiʾim or Prophets reflects the major part played by prophets in the book. The LXX preserves an alternate tradition that holds Samuel and Kings together as an overall unity divided into four books of “Kingdoms” or “Reigns.” In places the Greek textual tradition in Kings is distinctive in both content and sequence.

Organization

The most obvious organizing structure is the system of opening and closing formulas for individual kings. Opening formulas synchronize each king’s year of accession with the regnal year of the ruler of the other kingdom, and then give the total length of his reign. The author narrates the entire reign of a particular monarch, then backtracks to report on the king or kings of the other kingdom who came to the throne during the first king’s rule. Thus after finishing a description of the 41-year reign of Asa king of Judah (1 Kgs. 15:24), the presentation turns back ca. 40 years to deal with Nadab, Baasha, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab, all of whom had succeeded to the kingship of Israel during Asa’s reign. This synchronizing movement conveys the notion that the story of a single people is being told.

The opening formulas consistently evaluate the kings of Israel as having done “evil in the sight of the Lord” for sacrificing outside of Jerusalem at Bethel. Some kings of Judah are also condemned, while others receive only qualified approval. Total approval is reserved for Hezekiah and Josiah, who centralized sacrificial worship at the Jerusalem temple. The closing formulas refer to other sources and report on the king’s death and his successor. Additional information is provided for the kings of Judah: age at accession, mother’s name, and notice of burial. These framing notices are fragmentary until Rehoboam receives the full form (1 Kgs. 14:21-22, 29-31). Concluding statements are missing for certain kings, such as the victims of Jehu’s purge, while Jehu lacks an introductory formula because of the circumstances of his accession. Jehoash of Israel is inexplicably provided with two closing formulas (2 Kgs. 13:12-13; 14:15-16). These formulas vary in wording, but become more fixed for the last rulers of each kingdom. The transfer of prophetic authority from Elijah to Elisha (2 Kgs. 2) and the story of Queen Athaliah (2 Kgs. 11) both take place outside the framework structure.

Further unity is provided by a pattern of prophetic promise and fulfillment. The prophets are Yahweh’s servants, announcing divine will and judgment (2 Kgs. 17:13, 23; 21:10; 24:2). The most striking example is the unerringly precise prediction of Josiah’s reform (1 Kgs. 13:1-10; 2 Kgs. 23:15-18). Other structurally important examples are the division of the united kingdom (1 Kgs. 11:29-39; 12:15), the fall of Israel (1 Kgs. 14:15-16; 2 Kgs. 17:23), the fate of Omri’s dynasty (1 Kgs. 21:21-24; 2 Kgs. 9:7-10; 10:17), and the destruction of Judah (2 Kgs. 21:10-15; 22:15-17; 24:2). Unity is also promoted by analogies between paired narratives. Examples are “two mothers and their sons” (1 Kgs. 3:16-28; 2 Kgs. 6:26-31), “death of the wicked queen” (2 Kgs. 9:30-37; 11:13-16), and “wisdom and folly with visitors” (1 Kgs. 10:1-13; 2 Kgs. 20:12-19).

Contents

Kings falls into three parts. 1 Kgs. 1–11 deals with Solomon and concludes with his closing formula in 11:41-43. 1 Kgs. 12–2 Kgs. 17 tells the story of the two independent kingdoms and ends with a long evaluative discourse. 2 Kgs. 18–25 recounts the further history of Judah down to its destruction. After the segment dealing with Solomon, most kings are treated briefly, with only a few sentences supplementing the bare formulaic framework. A smaller group of kings is treated more extensively, the space between the opening and closing formulas being filled with narratives in which prophets are typically involved. These highlighted kings and prophets (Jeroboam and Ahijah, Ahab and Elijah, Jehoram of Israel and Elisha, Jehu, Hezekiah and Isaiah, Josiah and Huldah) represent turning points in history.

After an account of his accession (1 Kgs. 1–2), the career of Solomon is reported positively (chs. 3–10) under the themes of wisdom, royal power, building programs, and piety. The portrayal turns negative in ch. 11. Solomon is enticed by foreign wives into the worship of alien gods and threatened by adversaries, including a domestic rebellion by Jeroboam. Hostility between the independent kingdoms of Israel and Judah is initiated in chs. 12–14 and traced down to the accession of Ahab by chs. 15–16. 1 Kgs. 17–2 Kgs. 10 focuses on Elijah and Elisha, exploring their conflict with the apostate kings of Omri’s dynasty. This culminates in the prophetically inspired revolution of Jehu. Briefer reports follow until 2 Kgs. 17, , a diatribe on the reasons for the fall of Israel. The remaining history of Judah falls into a pattern of alternating righteous and wicked kings (Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, Josiah’s successors). The reform of Josiah (chs. 22–23) climaxes the entire book and apparently resolves the ongoing theme of apostasy and reform. Briefer reports sketch the wickedness and rebellions of Josiah’s four successors. Kings ends with an enigmatic report about Jehoiachin as an honored captive in Babylon (25:27-30). This has been interpreted both positively as a sign of a potential future for the Davidic dynasty and negatively as the decisive last act in the national tragedy.

History of Composition

Kings is the last part of the Deuteronomistic history, a literary whole that begins with the introduction to Deuteronomy and chronicles Israel’s life of obedience and disobedience in the land of promise. The theology of Deuteronomy pervades and inspires its presentation of history. Evaluative discourses appear at important turning points, usually in the form of speeches by main characters. These review the past and point forward to the challenges of the future. Solomon’s temple dedication in 1 Kgs. 8 and the disapproving observations of 2 Kgs. 17 are two of these “end of era” summaries.

The Deuteronomistic historian used various sources to construct Kings. Three of these sources are cited by name. The “Book of the Acts of Solomon,” characterized as reporting on Solomon’s deeds and his “wisdom” (1 Kgs. 11:41), provided lists of an administrative nature and other historical notes, along with folkloristic narratives illustrating his glory and wisdom. Information about later kings was gleaned from two sources cited as the “Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel” and “of Judah” (e.g., 1 Kgs. 14:19, 29). These two works provided information on wars, conspiracies, and building projects (1 Kgs. 14:19, 30; 15:23, 32; 16:20; 22:39, 45[MT 46]; 2 Kgs. 20:20). That they were accessible to readers suggests that they were not actual royal annals, but published literary works, based perhaps on inscriptions and other official sources. For 1 Kgs. 1–2, the historian employed the conclusion of the Throne Succession narrative to describe the accession of Solomon (the earlier part is found in 2 Sam. 9–20). Prophetic materials of various sorts were also utilized. Previously collected stories about Elijah and Elisha make up most of 1 Kgs. 17:1–2 Kgs. 8:15. Held together by the transfer of Elijah’s mantle (2 Kgs. 2:13-14) and the completion of his mission (1 Kgs. 19:15-17), they were probably taken up as a unified whole by the historian. The appearance of narratives about other prophets (Ahijah, 1 Kgs. 11:29-39; 14:1-18; Shemaiah, 12:21-24; Micaiah, 22:1-28) suggests that other prophetic materials were used, but little can be ascertained about the character of these sources. Of these, the material about Isaiah is the most extensive and independent (2 Kgs. 18:13–20:19).

Ideology

Based on the tenets of Deuteronomy, Kings keeps up a steady critique of the nation’s failure to preserve the purity and unity of the cult. For example, the charges leveled against Rehoboam and Ahaz (1 Kgs. 14:22-24; 2 Kgs. 16:3-4) closely reflect what is forbidden by Deut. 12:2-3, 29-31. One focus of this criticism is the worship of foreign gods, a practice said to have started with Solomon and continued by certain kings of both Israel and Judah. This is sometimes called the “way of the kings of Israel” (2 Kgs. 8:18; 16:3) or “of the house of Ahab” (8:27). Special contempt attaches to the worship of Baal, sponsored by Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kgs. 16:31-32), purged by Jehu (2 Kgs. 10:18-28), but then revived again by Manasseh (2 Kgs. 21:3). The second focus of criticism is noncentral sacrifice, forbidden by Deut. 12. By sacrificing at Bethel, the northern kings universally warranted condemnation for participating in the “way” or “sins of Jeroboam” (e.g., 1 Kgs. 15:34; 16:2, 19, 26, 31). In Judah noncentral sacrifice took place at local “high places.” Even otherwise faithful kings of Judah received only qualified approval because “the high places were not taken away” (e.g., 1 Kgs. 15:14; 22:43). Only Hezekiah and Josiah, who shut down the high places, receive unconditional praise. These two strands of evaluation are brought together in the reform of Josiah, who removed both alien cults (2 Kgs. 23:4-5, 10-14) and local high places (vv. 8-9), even desecrating the shrine of Bethel and the high places of Israel (vv. 15-20). The infidelity of the northern kingdom resulted in its destruction by the Assyrians (2 Kgs. 17:7-18, 21-23). Judah eventually fell to Babylon as a result of similar offenses (2 Kgs. 17:19-20), especially those sponsored by Manasseh (21:10-15; 24:3-4).

Another important theme is God’s special favor to David (1 Kgs. 11:12-13) and the promise of an abiding Davidic dynasty in Jerusalem (11:36; 15:4-5; 2 Kgs. 8:19). David’s devotion serves as a model for measuring royal fidelity (e.g., 1 Kgs. 3:3; 11:4, 6, 38; 15:3, 11). Yahweh’s special favor to David is given as the reason for the security of Jerusalem in Hezekiah’s reign (2 Kgs. 19:34; 20:5-6).

Kings sometimes casts women as villains (Solomon’s wives, 1 Kgs. 11:1-8; Jezebel, 18:19; Athaliah, 2 Kgs. 11). Bathsheba, however, helps plot Solomon’s accession (1 Kgs. 1). Two prostitutes and the queen of Sheba enhance Solomon’s reputation for wisdom (1 Kgs. 3:16-28; 10:1-10). Women also play roles in some prophetic narratives (1 Kgs. 14:1-18; 17:8-24; 2 Kgs. 4:1-37; 8:1-6), and Huldah’s prophetic oracle interprets the significance of Josiah’s policies (2 Kgs. 22:14-20).

Issues in Recent Study

The chronology of Kings remains in dispute. The years of reign given for the kings of Israel do not coordinate with those for the kings of Judah, and the system of sychronisms does not match the system of reign lengths. There are also discrepancies with established dates from Mesopotamia. In trying to untangle these problems, scholars postulate error in textual transmission, different calendrical conventions for the two kingdoms at various times, and coregencies in which a king and his designated successor reign concurrently (cf. 2 Kgs. 15:5).

The general reliability of Kings as a historical source is also debated. Its use of sources indicates considerable historical value in places, but the theory of historical causation in Kings is theological rather than political or economic. The short shrift given to the important northern king Omri (1 Kgs. 16:23-28) evidences a historical perspective altogether different from that of modern historians. Many of the narratives, especially the prophet legends and folk tales, cannot be used as trustworthy historical sources. It has been suggested that the narratives about the Syrian wars (1 Kgs. 20, 22; 2 Kgs. 6:8–7:20; 8:7-15) have been incorrectly assigned to the reigns of Ahab and his son Jehoram. Some scholars have concluded that the narrative of Josiah’s reform (2 Kgs. 22–23) is so highly tendentious that it must be a literary creation and does not rest on any trustworthy source.

The compositional history of the Deuteronomistic history is hotly debated. Some suggest that a single exilic writer working after the death of Jehoiachin (2 Kgs. 25:27-30) authored the entire history as an explanation for the fall of the nation. Material that sounds preexilic was preserved because of this author’s respect for inherited sources. Others postulate an optimistic preexilic historian writing before (contrast 2 Kgs. 22:20 with 23:29) or just after (22:1) Josiah’s death, to support his reforming policies. In the Exile this was revised in a more pessimistic direction as a history of disobedience, blaming the nation’s fall on the sins of Manasseh (2 Kgs. 21:10-15; 23:26; 24:3-4). Still others propose an exilic work subsequently overlaid by two redactions oriented toward prophecy and law, respectively. Other proposals suggest that the history originally ended with the reign of Hezekiah (cf. 2 Kgs. 18:5) or that a preexilic prophetic history served as the original basis for the work.

Bibliography. G. H. Jones, 1 and 2 Kings, 2 vols. NCBC (Grand Rapids, 1984); B. O. Long, 1 Kings. FOTL 9 (Grand Rapids, 1984); 2 Kings. FOTL 10 (Grand Rapids, 1991); R. D. Nelson, First and Second Kings. Interpretation (Atlanta, 1987); M. Noth, The Deuteronomistic History. JSOTSup 15 (Sheffield, 1981); I. W. Provan, 1 and 2 Kings. New International Bible (Peabody, 1995).

Richard D. Nelson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

KINGS, BOOKS OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)