I. Name

In the Hebrew the First and Second Book of Kings originally formed one book, called in Hebrew Sepher Melakim, "The Book of Kings," or more briefly Melakim, "Kings." They complete the series of historic records covering the period from the entrance into the land of Canaan to the Babylonian Captivity.

II. Contents

The two books are naturally divided into three sections.

1. The reign of Solomon. Chs. 1-11.

Solomon chosen as the successor to King David, and the successful inauguration of his work. Chs. 1-3.

The magnificence of his reign and his public buildings, including the temple. Chs. 4-10.

His gradual decline in morals, and his death. Ch. 11.

2. The divided kingdom, 1 Kings Ch. 12 to 2 Kings Ch. 17.

The disruption and antagonism between the two kingdoms. Chs. 12-16.

Elijah and his work. Chs. 17-19.

The period of intermarriage between the royal families of the two kingdoms, 1 Kings Ch. 20 to 2 Kings Ch. 11.

The period ending with the overthrow of Israel. Chs. 12-17.

3. The kingdom of Judah. Chs. 18-25.

Hezekiah's reforms. Chs. 18-20.

The reaction. Ch. 21.

Josiah and the Book of the Law. Chs. 22, 23.

The final plunge into idolatry and the overthrow. Chs. 24 and 25.

III. Characteristics

1. The books are in no proper sense a history of the period of which they treat, much less a collection of biographical sketches of their kings. They attempt to explain the relation of the kingdom to God, and to show how plainly obedience to God brought prosperity and disobedience ruin.

2. A special feature of the record is the prominence given to the prophet. The book covers the main period of the prophetic activity, and continual reference is made to what they said and did. During Solomon's reign Nathan, I Kings 1:22, and Ahijah, 1 Kings 11:29, exert great influence over both king and people. Later we have the record of Elijah, during the reign of Ahab, followed by that of Elisha. Still later we find Isaiah speaking for God in a way which gave him a tremendous power in the national life. Incidental reference is made to many others like Micaiah, 1 Kings 22:5-9, Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14, and an unnamed prophet, I Kings 13:1-32. The prophet becomes the eye of God to detect their breach of faith to their covenant with Jehovah, and the voice of God to pronounce judgment on the rebellious and assure mercy to those who are faithful.

3. A strong theocratic tone pervades the book. Frequent reference is made to the Mosaic law, 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 17:36, 37, and these grow more frequent as the history advances. Mention is made of special divine interference, I Kings 11:31; God is recognized in the appointment of their kings, 1 Kings 15:4. Large space is given to the building of God's Temple, I Kings Ch. 5-8, and it is specially noted that at its dedication the divine glory filled it, 1 Kings 8:10, 11. When the writer sums up the record of each king, he estimates his success or failure not by the magnificence of his reign, but by his relation to God, 2 Kings 15:18; 2 Kings 12:2.

IV. Sources

The book covers about 450 years and the writer had to depend on historical documents as the foundation of his narrative, but he has so woven his material together as to give a unity to his work and show his ability to understand the relative value of the facts with which he had to deal.

For the first time we find authorities regularly quoted and the reader is referred to documents where additional information may be obtained in regard to the subject under consideration, I Kings 14:29. Three such documents are regularly mentioned:

(1) "The Book of the Acts of Solomon," 1 Kings 11:41, is the authority in regard to matters relating to the reign of Solomon.

(2) For the kings of Judah he refers to "The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah," 1 Kings 14:29.

(3) For the kings of Israel he quotes from "The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel," 1 Kings 15:31. These seem to have been contemporary records, official and historical, of the several kings. From David's time onward a special officer was appointed for this purpose. 2 Sam. 20:25. From the Book of Chronicles we learn of several other historical documents, 2 Chron. 12:15, to which he doubtless had access. For the latter part of his history there were numerous prophetical writings containing much historical material. The fidelity with which he refers to these documents and the entire tone of his narrative impress us with confidence as to his accuracy.

The method of treatment of the different kings is also worthy of notice. When treating of the kings of Judah, he first mentions the name of the king of Israel, then gives the king's name, the length of his reign, and his mother's name. He then tells us what the king did, and completes the record by referring us to his authorities and making a statement regarding his death, burial, and the name of his successor, 1 Kings 15:9-24; 2 Kings 8:16-24. The record of the kings of Israel is more brief but equally methodical, 1 Kings 15:33; 16:5,6. Immediately after the opening formula he shows the theocratic impulse which underlies his work by telling us what was the king's relation to God, and then presenting the facts on which he bases his judgment, 1 Kings 16:15-20.

V. Chronology

The general accuracy of these books is beyond question, but certain difficulties are encountered when we attempt to locate special events. These difficulties may be traced to two causes, the lack of any exact point from which to compute the time, and the presence of certain facts which do not seem to harmonize with other known facts. Thus, in dating the accession of the kings of Judah, instead of giving the exact year on which his reign began, he tells us how long the contemporary king of Israel had been on the throne, and conversely for the kings of Israel. When we add these reigns together we find that for the period from the death of Solomon to the destruction of Samaria, 260 years are allotted to the kings of Judah, while the kings of Israel have 241 years, 7 months, and 7 days. (Kautzsch, Lit. of the O. T., p. 73.) Here is a difference of nearly twenty years. This may doubtless be explained, in part at least, by the habit of reckoning the part of a year during which a king reigned as a whole year, and in part by the fact that in some cases the successor of a king was appointed before the death of his predecessor, as in the case of Azariah and Jotham, 2 Kings 15:5, where the old king may have been regarded as reigning until his death, while his successor may have dated his reign from the time when he became coadjutor to the old king. Or there may have been an interregnum which was omitted in the record.

On the other hand specific dates, which seem incorrect, may have been inserted by a later hand, as i Kings 6:1, which many reject.. The dates in regard to the reign of Jehoram are greatly confused, as are those of Menahem. But these defects do not properly invalidate the history whose extreme brevity prevents the introduction of facts which might easily remove our confusion.

When we compare the Book of Kings with the Assyrian inscriptions many difficulties are explained and the two independent records are found to agree in their general outlines. It is there seen that the statements made in the Scriptures in regard to the relation of the Jews to the surrounding nations agree with the record made by those nations, with differences so trifling as to occasion no serious difficulty. The Moabite Stone confirms the facts mentioned in 2 Kings 3:4-27. (Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, III., p. 404.)

VI. Authorship

The silence of the book as to its origin opens the way for many conjectures. The record properly closes with the overthrow of Judah, and such advanced critics as Wellhausen claim for it substantially a preexilic date, with occasional statements inserted later. If 2 Kings 25:27 is a part of the original record, the history is continued to the thirty-seventh year of the captivity, 560 B. C. The character of the Hebrew would indicate that it was written about that time. The old Jewish tradition, found in the Talmud, ascribes the work to the prophet Jeremiah. With this the general tone and literary style agree. Some modern critics refer it to Ezra. Keil thinks it was written by some unknown Jew living in the Babylonian exile.

LITERATURE

Commentaries: Rawlinson in Speaker's Commentary, Keil, Lange. Introductions of Driver, Keil and Bleek. Smith, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church; Stanley, History of the Jewish Church.