BIBLE STUDY --- BOOKS OF THE TANAKH {NEVI’IM}

BOOKS OF 1 AND 2 KINGS --- PART 1

Books continuing the history of the Covenant people as recorded in Joshua, Judges, and the books of Samuel. The record in Kings begins with the events at the end of David’s reign {1 Kings 1–2}. It continues through the reign of Solomon {chapters 3 -- 11}; the histories of the divided kingdoms {1 Kings 12 -- 2 Kings 17}; and the history of the surviving kingdom in the south, through its fall in 586 BC and the subsequent kindness shown Jehoiachin by evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, around 561 BC {2 Kings 18–25}.

AUTHORSHIP AND DATE

Kings was originally regarded as one book in the Hebrew canon; the division into two books of approximately equal length appeared first in the Septuagint and finally entered the Hebrew Bible in the 15th century AD. The book itself is anonymous, and information about its author can only be deduced by examining the concerns and perspectives of the work. The Babylonian Talmud {Baba Bathra 15a} attributes Kings to Jeremiah. Although this identification could have arisen from the tendency of later Jewish tradition to assign biblical books to prophetic authors, the theory of origin in prophetic circles fits the evidence quite well. Substantial portions are given to the lives of the prophets; 16 of 47 chapters are devoted to the lives of Elijah and Elisha {1 Kings 17–2 Kings 10}, and there is considerable interest in other prophetic figures such as Ahijah {1 Kings 11:29-39; 14:1-16}, an unnamed man of YHVH {13:1-10}, and Micaiah {22:13-28}. Possible dependence on Isaiah {2 Kings 18–20; cf. Isaiah 36–39} and Jeremiah {2 Kings 24–25; cf. Jeremiah 52} also suggest prophetic origin. The author-compiler also shows intense concern with the efficacy of the prophetic word, frequently calling attention to the fulfilment of words spoken earlier by the prophets. One might initially think that such a history would be unlikely for a prophet, but the evidence is to the contrary. The prophets were the guardians of the Covenant relationship and are known to have produced accounts used as sources by other biblical historians. The following are among such sources: the acts of Samuel the seer, the acts of Nathan the prophet, the acts of Gad the seer {1 Chronicles 29:29}; the acts of Nathan the prophet, the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, the visions of Iddo the seer {2 Chronicles 9:29}; the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer {12:15}; the annotations of the prophet Iddo {13:22}; and the acts of Uzziah by Isaiah the prophet {26:22}. Add to this the fact that Kings is positioned in the Hebrew canon in the Former Prophets {Joshua to 2 Kings}, and a consistent picture of prophetic origin emerges. The date of the final part of the book must be after the last events recorded. Evil-Merodach’s kindness toward Jehoiachin {c. 561 BC} is the terminus of the book and therefore fixes the earliest date. Since the work shows no knowledge of the restoration period, a date before 539 BC is probable. The author’s selection of his data to answer the burning theological questions of the exilic community also suggests a date between 561 and 539 BC.

SOURCES

The compiler of Kings specifically names three of the sources that he used in his work, and biblical scholars have suggested the presence of a number of other sources that may have been cited. Of course, the sources not mentioned specifically by the compiler are only the speculations of those who have studied his work and can have only varying degrees of probability. The sources both specified and alleged are as follows.

THE BOOK OF THE ACTS OF SOLOMON

As 1 Kings 11:41 says, “The rest of the events in Solomon’s reign, including his wisdom, are recorded in The Book of the Acts of Solomon”. Presumably additional materials of a biographical nature were included, specifically accounts similar to the judgment between the two mothers {3:16-28} or the visit of the queen of Sheba {10:1-10}. There has been debate as to whether these materials were official court records or nonofficial documents. Some scholars have attempted to isolate further materials within this section by identifying descriptions of the buildings as from temple archives {chapters 6–7} and lists of administrators as from administrative documents {chapters 4–5}, but this must remain speculative.

THE BOOK OF THE HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL

This source is mentioned 17 times in Kings, usually in the closing formulas at the end of the account of the reign of a northern king. Some idea of the nature of these chronicles can be derived from looking at the type of information to which the compiler refers his readers {see 1 Kings 14:19; 16:27; 22:39; 2 Kings 13:12; 14:28}. These passages suggest that this source was the official annals covering the reigns of the kings.

THE BOOK OF THE HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH

This source is mentioned in 15 passages, and as with the kings of Israel, is found in the concluding formulas to the accounts of the reigns. This source was to be consulted for additional details on individuals’ reigns {for example, see 1 Kings 15:23; 22:45; 2 Kings 20:20; 21:17}. These sources for the histories of the two kingdoms were probably similar to the annals known from the surrounding cultures, particularly from the reigns of Assyrian kings. They were likely official court histories kept in Samaria and Jerusalem. In addition to these explicitly mentioned sources, scholars have suggested the compiler drew on other sources that he does not name.

DAVIDIC COURT HISTORY

2 Samuel 9–20 is often identified as a unit of material in the composition of the books of Samuel; it is variously called “the court history” or “the succession narrative.” Because of similar vocabulary and outlook, 1 Kings 1–2 are often associated with this material from Samuel. The statement of 1 Kings 2:46, “so the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon’s grip,” is taken to be the end of this record.

SOURCES FOR THE HOUSE OF AHAB

The reigns of individual kings are ordinarily given only brief notices; for example, the father of Ahab, Omri, is given eight verses, even though when judged by political and economic significance, he was among the greatest of the northern kings {1 Kings 16:21-28}. However, beginning with the reign of Ahab, the record becomes quite expansive, and extensive coverage is given the dynasty of Ahab through the coup by Jehu {1 Kings 16—2 Kings 12}. The use of the stereotyped formulas for the reigns is suspended in this material, and the existence of other literature used by the compiler is probable. This material is commonly subdivided into further sources for the lives of Elijah and Elisha and the reign of Ahab. The Elijah section covers material in the following chapters: 1 Kings 17–19, including the feeding by the ravens, the incidents with the widow of Zarephath, the drought, the fire on Carmel, and the revelation of YHVH at Sinai; 1 Kings 21, the affair of Naboth’s vineyard; and 2 Kings 1, the death of Ahaziah’s messengers. The reign of Ahab, which gets so much attention in Kings, is primarily a backdrop for the accounts concerning Elijah. The Elisha material found in 2 Kings 2–13 may have had an independent literary development from that of the Elijah accounts. It includes the following: chapter 2 {Elisha’s succession to the prophetic office, the purification of a spring, the death of mocking children}; chapter 3 {on the campaign against Moab}; chapter 4 {the widow’s oil, the Shunammite woman}; chapter 5 {Naaman’s leprosy}; chapter 6 {the Aramean attempt to capture Elisha}; chapter 7 {the famine in Samaria}; chapter 8 {the Shunammite’s property, the coup of Hazael}; chapter 9 {the anointing of Jehu}; and chapter 13 {the death of Elisha}. No other portion of the Old Testament takes the sheer delight in the miraculous that is seen in the Elisha narratives. In 1 Kings 16 to 2 Kings 13 there are additional incidents not directly related to the biographies of Elijah and Elisha; accounts such as the military campaigns of 1 Kings 20:1-34 and further details of Jehu’s coup {2 Kings 9:11–10:36} are often attributed to a third source containing accounts of the dynasty of Ahab and his successors. In all three of these possible sources the orientation is toward affairs in the northern kingdom.

ISAIAH SOURCE

The account of the reign of Hezekiah contains a section {2 Kings 18:13–20:19} that is nearly a verbatim citation of material also found in Isaiah {Isaiah 36:1–39:8}. The section records the invasion of Sennacherib, the mission of the Rabshakeh, Hezekiah’s prayer, Isaiah’s prophecy, Hezekiah’s illness, the regression of the sun, and the envoys from Merodach-baladan. The material must be regarded as based on the book of Isaiah or some other source used in both Isaiah and Kings.

A PROPHETIC SOURCE

Because Kings shows great interest in the prophets and their ministries, various scholars have suggested that yet another source was used by the compiler; this would be an independent literary unit containing accounts of the prophets. This source would have contained the records for the material on Ahijah {1 Kings 11:29-39; 14:1-16}, unnamed prophets {chapter 12; 20:35-43}, Micaiah {22:13-28}, and other references. Apart from the sources explicitly mentioned and inferences about their character, the remainder of the sources suggested have only varying degrees of probability. Considerable scholarly effort has gone into identifying and characterizing such sources, but it remains speculative. When considering the sources the compiler may have used, one important caution must be kept in mind. Even if such sources did exist, one cannot have confidence in a reconstruction of the compositional history. Which sources had already been integrated into a larger composition before they were used by the compiler of Kings? We cannot be certain that the life situation out of which these other sources grew has been correctly identified, nor can we know that even the compiler himself was aware of the past history of his sources. Biblical scholarship has expended considerable energy in trying to delineate the past history of the book of Kings, but it has often been at the neglect of the unity of perspective that is the product of the final compiler{s} in whose hands the book received its canonical form. What is important to understanding the book is not the perspective of its various sources {of which the compiler himself may have been unaware}, but the perspective of the book as a whole on the history of the kingdoms. It is the outline that the compiler has imposed on the sources that establishes the teaching of the book; his sources are used in accord with his own purposes, a fact that makes the purposes for which the sources had been prepared largely irrelevant to the teaching of the book in its present form. Exploring possible sources, worthwhile in itself, must not eclipse the message of the book as a whole. This is not to imply that the books of Kings are simply a compilation of unaltered sources. The writer{s} undoubtedly exercised a measure of selectivity and literary skill in composing the historical narrative. One compositional technique of the compiler is quite prominent in the histories of the divided kingdoms: this is the use of formulaic introductions and conclusions to the various reigns. The formulas for both kingdoms are quite similar, differing only in minor details.

For the kings of Judah, the full introductory formula is as follows:

1 -- year of accession synchronized with the regnal year of the northern king;
2 -- age of the king at his accession;
3 -- length of his reign;
4 -- name of his mother;
5 -- judgment on the character of the reign.

The account of a Judean king’s reign is concluded as follows:

A -- a reference to the chronicles of the kings of Judah for further information;
B -- a statement regarding the death of the king, including the place of burial;
C -- successor: “And his son reigned in his stead”.

The full formula for a Judean king can be seen, for example, in the reign of Rehoboam {1 Kings 14:21-22, 29-31}.

The formulas differ slightly for the kings of Israel; the introduction is as follows:

1 -- year of succession synchronized with the regnal year of the southern king;
2 -- length of his reign;
3 -- location of the royal residence;
4 -- condemnation for idolatry;
5 -- name of the king’s father.

The account of an Israelite king’s reign ends as follows:

A -- a reference to the chronicles of the kings of Israel for further information;
B -- a statement regarding his death;
C -- a statement of the succession of his son, unless a usurper follows.

The full formula for an Israelite king can be seen, for example, in the reign of Baasha {1 Kings 15:33-34; 16:5-6}. There is some variation in the use of these patterns, but on the whole, they are consistently followed and provide the basic framework for the history of the divided kingdom. The synchronisms of the reigns provide data for constructing the chronology of the period. The variations in the formulas may reflect the characteristics of the sources the compiler was using or may reflect his own interests. The name of the mother of a Judean king is recorded, but not of an Israelite king, perhaps reflecting concern with a more exact and fuller record of the Davidic succession. The royal residence is presumed to be Jerusalem for the southern kings {though it may be mentioned} but is recorded for the northern kings since it moved several times, from Shechem to Penuel to Tirzah to Samaria. The mention of the king’s father for a northern ruler also reflects the frequent change in dynasties there, as opposed to the dynastic stability of Judah, which is reinforced by mentioning the burial of almost all its kings in the city of David.