As in book 1 of Kings, there is a big focus on prophets who are engaged in a cultural conflict, championing the God of Israel against the gods of Canaan, among which Baal is most prominent. The story of Elijah and Elisah bridges both books, while Nathan features in book 1 and Huldah in book 2. Despite this focus, both books of Kings contain just two brief references to the classical prophets (only Isaiah and Jonah are cited, while Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, Micah and others are ignored), and this silence is hard to explain.
Also of note is how it's not clear who authored the book of Kings, though it's very similar in style to Deutoronomy, and whoever wrote clearly had an axe to grind against King Omri – who constructed the city of Samaria and made it the capital of Israel – and his offspring, including son Ahab and grandson Ahaziah. We're told that Omri "did worse than all that were before him", but no specific charges are levelled against him or Ahab.
Book 2 of Kings opens with an account of Ahaziah, who "fell down through a lattice" and is now seriously injured. As a sign of his wickedness, he asks the pagan god Baal-zebub (which sounds very much like Beelzebub) whether or not he will recover. Ahaziah sends out a group of messengers, who on their way encounter a "hairy man" with "leather about his loins", who transpires to be Elijah. Ahaziah knows it's him immediately and sends out a "captain of fifty with his fifty", to try and call Elijah down from the mountain. Elijah says "there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word", which explains the growth in pagan worship, and as a way of showing his divine power, Elijah calls on God to burn to death two groups of fifty men, but spare the other group.
After this miraculous feat, Elijah performs an even more outlandish one, as he ascends to heaven in a whirlwind on a horse-drawn chariot of fire (2:11). His son Elisha literally and figuratively "takes on the mantle" of his father Elijah, but immediately shows himself to be petty and vindictive. Elisha's first act is to use his new powers to call on "she bears" to slaughter 42 children who mocked him for his "bald head" (2:24).
Meanwhile, Ahab's son Jehoram is now on the throne, and is said to be evil just like his Dad, although perhaps not quite as bad (he does banish Baal from Judah). Chapter 3 also details how Jehoram, and the kings of Israel and Edom, fearing capture by the king of Moab, seek out a prophet and are told to find Elisha, as "the word of the Lord is with him". Elisha says that the Moabites will be delivered to them, and they duly are. Chapters 4-8 document various miracules by Elisha, including the revival of a dead child, the healing of a leper, the blinding of an army and the prophecy of an end to famine. Such is the extent of the famine in Samaria, that we read of accounts of people wanting to boil their (presumably infant) sons in order to eat them (6:29).
In chapter 9 (verses 21-28), we're given a different account of the wonderful story of Naboth's vineyard, which is also told in book 1 of Kings (chapter 21). In this second version, various key characters (including Elijah and Jezebel) do not appear, there's no blasphemy trial and the murder of Naboth and his sons is only referred to obliquely. All in all, it's not quite as good.
Meanwhile, Jehu is anointed (literally) as king of Israel, and conspires against Jehoram and Ahaziah, killing both, while at the same time eunuchs defenestrate Jezebel, who ends up eaten by dogs. In chapter 10, Jehu calls on the elders of Jezreel and guardians of Ahab's 70 sons to kill them and deliver their heads to him in baskets. Jehu also orders the killing of Baal worshippers, as part of a great purging of the House of Omri, and God rewards Jehu by saying the children of his fourth generation will also later rule Israel (10:30).
In chapter 11, we're also told of how Athaliah, Ahaziah's Mum, briefly ruled Judah. She attempted to destroy the royal family but Jehosheba managed to save and hide Jehoash, who the army later proclaimed as king. Despite Athaliah's cries of treason (11:4), she is put to death and seven-year old Jehoash succeeds her. Chapter 12 recounts how Jehoash was a just ruler in Jerusalem, whose priests collected money to repair the temple, but nonetheless he ends up being killed by his servants.
Following this, Hazael king of Syria comes to oppress the nation of Israel, as punishment for their sin, and Elisha dies, though his bones are said to still perform miracles (13:20). After Elisha's death, the narrative moves on quickly to Israel's destruction by the Assyrians and the sacking of Judah by the Babylonians. Two major events stand out in the closing chapters of book 2 of Kings: Josiah's religious reforms and restoration of the temple, followed by the Babylonian invasion that entails the destruction of that temple and the deportation of the elders of Jerusalem, who are carried away into slavery in Babylon.
Throughout the closing chapters, there's a constant sense of things being on a knife edge, with God's covenant with Moses and his compassion for his people the only things preventing him from letting events "blot out the name of Israel from under heaven". Everything unravels quickly though, with the people of Israel carried away from Samaria and taken into captivity in Assyria; the king of Assyria then repopulates the cities of Samaria with men from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava and other cities (17:24). Meanwhile, King Hezekiah of Judah is taking rearguard action, and is aided in his defence of Jerusalem by an "angel of the Lord", who goes out to the Assyrian camp and kills 185,000 men (19:35). After having his life extended for 15 years by God (and the prophet Isaiah who prescribes him boiled figs), Hezekiah eventually dies, but not before Isaiah tells him that "thine house ... shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left" (20:17). Manasseh then rules in Jerusalem for 55 years, but he's a throwback to Ahab and his Baal worship, which cause God to ominously declare:
At first, there seems to be a little hope. Josiah is a good king, who rules for 31 years, and finds a sacred scroll in the temple of Jerusalem, which the prophetess Huldah calls the "book of the law", and which causes Josiah to rent his clothes upon hearing its words. Some scholars think it's the book of Deuteronomy, but it remains unclear. Josiah purges the city of idolatory and ends up dying peacefully, so as not to see the "evil" God will bring upon Israel (22:20).
In chapter 24, we're told that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar subjugates Josiah's successor, Jehoiakim, while also seeing off the threat from Egypt and laying siege to Jerusalem. He then takes all the treasures from the temple in the city of David, including the gold, and carries them and the elders of the city away to Babylon. The book of Kings closes with the sense that all the hard work of Moses during the Exodus has been undone, though the release from prison of the last Judaean king, Jehoiakim, does offer a glimmer of hope.
Also of note is how it's not clear who authored the book of Kings, though it's very similar in style to Deutoronomy, and whoever wrote clearly had an axe to grind against King Omri – who constructed the city of Samaria and made it the capital of Israel – and his offspring, including son Ahab and grandson Ahaziah. We're told that Omri "did worse than all that were before him", but no specific charges are levelled against him or Ahab.
Book 2 of Kings opens with an account of Ahaziah, who "fell down through a lattice" and is now seriously injured. As a sign of his wickedness, he asks the pagan god Baal-zebub (which sounds very much like Beelzebub) whether or not he will recover. Ahaziah sends out a group of messengers, who on their way encounter a "hairy man" with "leather about his loins", who transpires to be Elijah. Ahaziah knows it's him immediately and sends out a "captain of fifty with his fifty", to try and call Elijah down from the mountain. Elijah says "there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word", which explains the growth in pagan worship, and as a way of showing his divine power, Elijah calls on God to burn to death two groups of fifty men, but spare the other group.
After this miraculous feat, Elijah performs an even more outlandish one, as he ascends to heaven in a whirlwind on a horse-drawn chariot of fire (2:11). His son Elisha literally and figuratively "takes on the mantle" of his father Elijah, but immediately shows himself to be petty and vindictive. Elisha's first act is to use his new powers to call on "she bears" to slaughter 42 children who mocked him for his "bald head" (2:24).
Meanwhile, Ahab's son Jehoram is now on the throne, and is said to be evil just like his Dad, although perhaps not quite as bad (he does banish Baal from Judah). Chapter 3 also details how Jehoram, and the kings of Israel and Edom, fearing capture by the king of Moab, seek out a prophet and are told to find Elisha, as "the word of the Lord is with him". Elisha says that the Moabites will be delivered to them, and they duly are. Chapters 4-8 document various miracules by Elisha, including the revival of a dead child, the healing of a leper, the blinding of an army and the prophecy of an end to famine. Such is the extent of the famine in Samaria, that we read of accounts of people wanting to boil their (presumably infant) sons in order to eat them (6:29).
In chapter 9 (verses 21-28), we're given a different account of the wonderful story of Naboth's vineyard, which is also told in book 1 of Kings (chapter 21). In this second version, various key characters (including Elijah and Jezebel) do not appear, there's no blasphemy trial and the murder of Naboth and his sons is only referred to obliquely. All in all, it's not quite as good.
Meanwhile, Jehu is anointed (literally) as king of Israel, and conspires against Jehoram and Ahaziah, killing both, while at the same time eunuchs defenestrate Jezebel, who ends up eaten by dogs. In chapter 10, Jehu calls on the elders of Jezreel and guardians of Ahab's 70 sons to kill them and deliver their heads to him in baskets. Jehu also orders the killing of Baal worshippers, as part of a great purging of the House of Omri, and God rewards Jehu by saying the children of his fourth generation will also later rule Israel (10:30).
In chapter 11, we're also told of how Athaliah, Ahaziah's Mum, briefly ruled Judah. She attempted to destroy the royal family but Jehosheba managed to save and hide Jehoash, who the army later proclaimed as king. Despite Athaliah's cries of treason (11:4), she is put to death and seven-year old Jehoash succeeds her. Chapter 12 recounts how Jehoash was a just ruler in Jerusalem, whose priests collected money to repair the temple, but nonetheless he ends up being killed by his servants.
Following this, Hazael king of Syria comes to oppress the nation of Israel, as punishment for their sin, and Elisha dies, though his bones are said to still perform miracles (13:20). After Elisha's death, the narrative moves on quickly to Israel's destruction by the Assyrians and the sacking of Judah by the Babylonians. Two major events stand out in the closing chapters of book 2 of Kings: Josiah's religious reforms and restoration of the temple, followed by the Babylonian invasion that entails the destruction of that temple and the deportation of the elders of Jerusalem, who are carried away into slavery in Babylon.
Throughout the closing chapters, there's a constant sense of things being on a knife edge, with God's covenant with Moses and his compassion for his people the only things preventing him from letting events "blot out the name of Israel from under heaven". Everything unravels quickly though, with the people of Israel carried away from Samaria and taken into captivity in Assyria; the king of Assyria then repopulates the cities of Samaria with men from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava and other cities (17:24). Meanwhile, King Hezekiah of Judah is taking rearguard action, and is aided in his defence of Jerusalem by an "angel of the Lord", who goes out to the Assyrian camp and kills 185,000 men (19:35). After having his life extended for 15 years by God (and the prophet Isaiah who prescribes him boiled figs), Hezekiah eventually dies, but not before Isaiah tells him that "thine house ... shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left" (20:17). Manasseh then rules in Jerusalem for 55 years, but he's a throwback to Ahab and his Baal worship, which cause God to ominously declare:
Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah,
that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle (21:12)
At first, there seems to be a little hope. Josiah is a good king, who rules for 31 years, and finds a sacred scroll in the temple of Jerusalem, which the prophetess Huldah calls the "book of the law", and which causes Josiah to rent his clothes upon hearing its words. Some scholars think it's the book of Deuteronomy, but it remains unclear. Josiah purges the city of idolatory and ends up dying peacefully, so as not to see the "evil" God will bring upon Israel (22:20).
In chapter 24, we're told that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar subjugates Josiah's successor, Jehoiakim, while also seeing off the threat from Egypt and laying siege to Jerusalem. He then takes all the treasures from the temple in the city of David, including the gold, and carries them and the elders of the city away to Babylon. The book of Kings closes with the sense that all the hard work of Moses during the Exodus has been undone, though the release from prison of the last Judaean king, Jehoiakim, does offer a glimmer of hope.
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