Names of the Book
English: | 2 Kings |
Hebrew: | מלכים בּ |
Transliterated: | Melakhim Bet |
Other names: | Book of the Kings of Israel (2 Chronicles 20:34) [1 and 2 Kings were originally one book] |
Who
Wrote the book: | unknown (possibly Jeremiah?) |
Are the key people: | Elijah, Elishah, Shunammite woman, Naaman, Jezebel, Jehu, Joash, Hezekiah, Sennacherib, Isaiah, Manasseh, Josiah, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar |
Is it written to: | The people of Israel |
What
The divided kingdom and the exile of Israel (2 Kings 1:1-17:41) |
The surviving kingdom and the rule of Judah's kings (2 Kings 18:1-25:30) |
When
Was it written: | c 550 BCE |
Did the events occur: | c 960-560 BCE |
Was it canonized: | c 499-100 BCE |
(see the Timeline of the Tanakh) |
Where
Was it written: | unknown |
Did the events occur: | The land of Israel: Jericho, desert of Edom, Shunem, Gilgal, Dothan, Samaria, Ramoth Gilead, and Jerusalem; Damascus |
Why
2 Kings was written to inform us that: |
G-d is merciful. |
Idolatry only fosters further sin. |
G-d is patient and corrects those He loves. |
G-d's patience is not unending and judgment eventually comes. |
Introduction
Second Kings is a historical narrative that, together with First Kings, was originally a single book called "The Book of the Kings of Israel". Second Kings begins where First Kings ended, with the continuing saga of Israel's disobedience against G-d. Despite repeated warnings from the prophet Elijah and his successor, Elisha, Israel continues in her unfaithfulness which ultimately results in Israel's defeat and dispersion by Assyria. The southern kingdom of Judah had several kings who were faithful to G-d and attempted to turn their people back to Him. But after decades of warnings through Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other prophets who called Judah to repent and return to the Lord, Judah's sins resulted in their defeat by the nation of Babylon. Even though the people were exiled to Babylon for seventy years, G-d remained faithful to His covenant and His people.
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