KINGS 2 מלכים ב

1 and 2 Kings (like 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Chronicles) are actually one literary work, called in Hebrew tradition simply “Kings.” The division of this work into two books was introduced by the translators of the Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT) and subsequently followed in the Latin Vulgate (c. a.d. 400) and most modern versions. In 1448 the division into two sections also appeared in a Hebrew manuscript and was perpetuated in later printed editions of the Hebrew text.

Both the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate further designated Samuel and Kings in a way that emphasized the relationship of these two works (Septuagint: First, Second, Third and Fourth Book of Kingdoms; Latin Vulgate: First, Second, Third and Fourth Kings). Together Samuel and Kings relate the whole history of the monarchy, from its rise under the ministry of Samuel to its fall at the hands of the Babylonians.

The division between 1 and 2 Kings has been made at a somewhat arbitrary and yet appropriate place, shortly after the deaths of Ahab of the northern kingdom (22:37) and Jehoshaphat of the southern kingdom (22:50). Placing the division at this point causes the account of the reign of Ahaziah of Israel to overlap the end of 1 Kings (22:51-53) and the beginning of 2 Kings (ch. 1).

The same is true of the narration of the ministry of Elijah, which for the most part appears in 1 Kings (chs. 17 – 19). However, his final act of judgment and the passing of his cloak to Elisha at the moment of his ascension to heaven in a whirlwind are contained in 2 Kings 1:1 — 2:17.

The Temple: There is too much written regarding the temple in 1 & 2 Kings not to take note of it. 1 Kings 5-9 provide details about its elaborate design and dedication. It is not too hard to imagine the joy and vibrancy of the people as they worshiped there.

The ensuing chapters make consistent reference to its plundering both by enemies of Israel (1 Kings 14:25-28) and even their own leaders (2 Kings 12:17-18). It seems that the state of the temple closely paralleled the people’s spiritual state.

The Prophets: There are two leadership roles in Kings: prophets and kings. Bad kings delivered bad leadership, taking the nation farther from God. It was the role of the prophet to deliver God’s word of warning and judgment.

On occasion, a good king, like Hezekiah, would seek the advice and intercession of a prophet, as he did with Isaiah (2 Kings 19). Prophets like Elijah and Elisha demonstrated the power, and thus the superiority, of God through miracles.

God and the Nations: God moves the hearts of individuals, but He also moves nations to accomplish His will. Most notably, he used Assyria (2 Kings 17) and Babylon (2 Kings 25) to bring judgment upon the peoples of Israel and Judah.

But we also see His sovereign hand in the division of Israel and Judah (1 Kings 12:15), the raising up of Solomon’s enemies (1 Kings 11:14-25), and the defeat of the Assyrians against Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:35).

The Cost of Compromise: Solomon strayed away from the word of God. In fact, he completely ignored God’s commands. He let his heart be influenced by his ungodly wives which led to his horrible downfall. It is likely that he reasoned that he was just being like all the other kings around him, or that God would approve of his behavior since He had appeared to him. But his compromise came at a high price, not just for himself and his subjects, but for future generations.

The Impact of Leadership: David’s leadership impacted the generations after him. God tore the kingdom apart, partially because He wanted one tribe to remain in David’s line (1 Kings 11:13). But the greater example here is that each of Judah’s and Israel’s kings were responsible before the Lord for the direction of their respective kingdoms. If any of them would seek the Lord with all their heart, He would be faithful to protect and bless them.

Of the southern kings, only two respected the Covenant, Hezekiah and Josiah, hence they received unqualified approval. By instituting cultic reforms that upheld the requirements of the Covenant as set down in Deuteronomy, they earned the historian’s high praise.

The book uses traditional materials freely to construct a unified presentation reflecting his personal views, interweaving materials from north and south to emphasize the unity of the people, elaborating prophetic oracles with his own words, and at times offering his own reflections on the course of events.

The books of Kings are thus very much the work of an individual. The book’s concern in part is to explain the fate of the Israelite people. Though their fall is directly related to their apostasy, the book is hopeful that his people will be restored to the glory of the days when David ruled over all the Israelite people.

Hezekiah reigned at a time when the Assyrian empire was consolidating its control of Palestine and Syria. Hezekiah, Hebrew Ḥizqiyya, Greek Ezekias, (flourished late 8th and early 7th centuries BC), son of Ahaz, and the 13th successor of David as king of Judah at Jerusalem. The dates of his reign are often given as about 715 to about 686 BC, but inconsistencies in biblical and Assyrian cuneiform records have yielded a wide range of possible dates.

His father had placed Judah under Assyrian suzerainty in 735 BC. Hezekiah may have taken part in a rebellion against King Sargon II of Assyria (reigned 721–705 BC), which the Assyrians apparently crushed in the year 710. At the accession of Sennacherib (705–681 BC), further rebellions broke out all over the Assyrian empire. Hezekiah may have been the leader of the rebellion in Palestine, which included the city-states of Ascalon, and Ekron and gained the support of Egypt. In preparing for the inevitable Assyrian campaign to retake Palestine, Hezekiah strengthened the defenses of his capital, Jerusalem, and dug out the famous Siloam tunnel (2 Kings 20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:30), which brought the water of the Gihon springs to a reservoir inside the city wall.

Sennacherib finally put down the rebellion in 701 BC, overrunning Judah, taking 46 of its walled cities, and placing much conquered Judaean territory under the control of neighboring states. While Sennacherib was besieging the city of Lachish, Hezekiah sought to spare Jerusalem itself from capture by paying a heavy tribute of gold and silver to the Assyrian king, who nevertheless demanded the city’s unconditional surrender. At this point, Jerusalem was saved by a miraculous plague that decimated the Assyrian army.

Josiah also spelled Josias, (born c. 648 BCE—died 609), king of Judah (c. 640–609 BCE), who set in motion a reformation that bears his name and that left an indelible mark on Israel’s religious traditions (2 Kings 22–23:30).

Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh, king of Judah, and ascended the throne at age eight after the assassination of his father, Amon, in 641. For a century, ever since Ahaz, Judah had been a vassal of the Assyrian empire. Imperial policy imposed alien cults on Judah that suppressed or obscured the Israelite religious identity. After the death of King Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian empire fell into chaos; it could no longer assert its authority in Jerusalem.

Egypt also was weak, and Judah thus obtained an unusual degree of independence from foreign powers. About 621 Josiah launched a program of national renewal, centered on the Temple in Jerusalem. A book believed to have contained provisions relating to covenantal traditions of premonarchic times deeply impressed him and gave a decisive turn to his reforms. The Temple was purged of all foreign cults and dedicated wholly to the worship of Yahweh, and all local sanctuaries were abolished, sacrifice being concentrated at Jerusalem.

In Assyria, the kingdom of northern Mesopotamia that became the centre of one of the great empires of the ancient Middle East, Babylonia, which had long been a restive province, led a coalition that sacked Nineveh. The empire was in desperate straits; the Babylonians seemed about to displace it. Hoping to keep Mesopotamia divided, Necho II, the Egyptian pharaoh, set out to aid the hard-pressed Assyrians.

Sennacherib finally put down the rebellion in 701 BC, overrunning Judah, taking 46 of its walled cities, and placing much conquered Judaean territory under the control of neighbouring states. While Sennacherib was besieging the city of Lachish, Hezekiah sought to spare Jerusalem itself from capture by paying a heavy tribute of gold and silver to the Assyrian king, who nevertheless demanded the city’s unconditional surrender.

At this point Jerusalem was saved by a miraculous plague that decimated the Assyrian army. This event gave rise to the belief in Judah that Jerusalem was inviolable, a belief that lasted until the city fell to the Babylonians a century later. Contradictory dates for Sennacherib’s invasion are given in the Book of Kings, and he may possibly have invaded Judah a second time near the close of Hezekiah’s reign.

In his religious reforms, Hezekiah asserted Judah’s inherited Hebrew traditions and practices against imported cults of the Assyrian gods. He thus tried to achieve both political and religious independence for Judah, but the catastrophe of 701 BC left among his people an unmistakable yearning for an ideal king who would restore the golden age of David.

Elisha, also spelled Elisaios, or Eliseus, in the Old Testament, Israelite prophet, the pupil of Elijah, and also his successor (c. 851 BC). He instigated and directed Jehu’s revolt against the house of Omri, which was marked by a bloodbath at Jezreel in which King Ahab of Israel and his family were slaughtered.

The popular traditions about Elisha (2 Kings 2–13) sketch a charismatic, quasi-ecstatic figure, very similar to Elijah. Like his mentor, Elisha was a passionate exponent of the ancient religious and cultural traditions of Israel, which both felt to be threatened by the ruling dynasty of Omri, which was in alliance with Phoenicia. (King Ahab’s wife, the Tyrian princess Jezebel, was then trying to introduce the worship of Baal into Israel.)

As a prophet, Elisha was a political activist and revolutionary. He led a “holy war” that extinguished the house of Omri in Jerusalem as well as in Samaria (2 Kings 9–10).

Though Elisha recruited Jehu to revolt against and succeed Ahab, it was Elijah who was instructed to anoint Jehu as Israel’s king (1 Kings 19:16). This is characteristic of the relationship between the two prophets; in popular estimation Elisha always remains partly in the shadow of his master. The story of the beginning of his apprenticeship (1 Kings 19:19–21) and the account in which he becomes Elijah’s heir and successor (2 Kings 2:8–18) both feature the prophetic “mantle.”

In the first, Elijah casts it upon his pupil; in the second, Elisha picks it up. The mantle, a cultic garment of the prophet, carries connotations of power and authority.