KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF, in the Bible, the last two books of the "Earlier (or Former) Prophets." They were originally reckoned as a single book (Josephus, Tal mud, etc.), though modern Bibles follow the Septuagint, where they are called the third and fourth books of "kingdoms," the first and second being our books of Samuel. All four are closely connected. (See SAMUEL, BOOKS or.) General Character.—The most noticeable feature in Kings is the recurring interest in the centralization of worship in the Temple at Jerusalem as prescribed in Deuteronomy and enforced by Josiah. To this 2 Sam. vii. and xxiv. are introductory. Amidst the great variety in style and manner which marks the several parts of the history, features which reflect the teaching of Deu teronomy recur regularly in similar stereotyped forms. They point to a specific redaction, and it would seem that the "Deuter onomic" editor who treated the foundation of the Temple, the central event of Solomon's life, as a religious epoch of the first importance, regarded this as the beginning of a new era—the history of Israel under the one sanctuary. Another characteristic feature is the chronological scheme; the events of each king's reign are thrown into a framework on this type : "In the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, and reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years." . . . "In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah twenty-four years." The history moves between Judah and Israel according to the date of each accession ; as soon as a new king has been introduced, everything that happened in his reign is discussed, and wound up by another formula as to the death and burial of the sovereign ; and to this mechanical arrange ment the natural connection of events is often sacrificed. The elaborate synchronisms give an aspect of precision; but in reality the data for Judah and Israel do not agree, and remarkable devia tions are sometimes found. (See BIBLE : Old Testament, "Chro nology.") Another characteristic is the retrospective application to the history of a standard belonging to the later developments of Hebrew religion. Thus the redactor regards the sins of Jeroboam as the cause of the downfall of Israel (2 Ki. xvii. 21 seq.), and passes an unfavourable judgment upon all its rulers, not merely to the effect that they did evil in the sight of Yahweh but that they followed in the way of Jeroboam. But his opinion was mani festly not shared by Elijah or Elisha, nor by the original narrator of the lives of these prophets. Moreover, the redactor in i Ki. iii. 2 seq. regards worship at the high places as sinful after the building of the Temple, although even the best kings before Heze kiah made no attempt to suppress these shrines. This feature in the redaction displays itself especially in the speeches placed in the mouths of actors in the history.
For his sources the compiler refers chiefly to two distinct works, the "words" or "chronicles" of the kings of Israel and those of the kings of Judah. How much is copied from these works and how much is expressed in the compiler's own language is, of course, uncertain. The history consists usually of an epitome of each reign. It states the king's age at succession (Judah only), length of reign, death and burial, with allusions to his buildings, wars, and other political events. In the case of Judah, also, the name of the royal or queen-mother is mentioned. The use which the compiler makes of his sources shows that his aim was not the history of the past but its religious significance.
garde) and Josephus, begin the book at ii. 12, thus separating the annalistic accounts of the two. Since the contents of r Ki. iii.–xi. do not form a continuous narrative, the compiler's authority ("Acts of S." xi. 41) can hardly have been an ordinary chronicle. The chapters comprise (a) sundry notices of the king's prosperous and peaceful career, severed by (b) a description of the Temple and other buildings; and they conclude with (c) some account of the external troubles. After an introduction (iii.), (a) contains generalizing statements of Solomon's might, wealth and wisdom (iv. 20 seq., 25, 29-34; x. 23-25, 27) and stories of a late and popular character (iii. 16-28, x. r–ro, 13). The Septuagint has many deviations from the Hebrew text, and this, together with the present form of the parallel passages in Chronicles, show that the text was not fixed even at a late period (4th-2nd century B.c.). The account of the end of Solomon's reign deals with his re ligious laxity (xi. 1-13, now in a Deuteronomic form), as the punishment for which the separation of the two kingdoms is announced; and the rise of the adversaries who, according to xi. 25, had troubled the whole of his reign, and are, therefore, not the penalty for the sins of his old age. Both, however, form an introduction to subsequent events, and the life of Solomon con cludes with a brief annalistic notice of his death, length of reign, successor, and place of burial. (See SoLomoN.) Ephraim and Judah.—In the history of the two kingdoms the redactor follows a scheme determined by the order of suc cession. The fluctuation of tradition concerning the schism is evident from a comparison with the Septuagint; and all that is related of Ahijah falls under suspicion of being foreign to the oldest history. The story of the man of God from Judah (xiii.) is shown to be late by its conceptions of prophetism and revela tion, and by the term "cities of Samaria" (v. 32, for Samaria as a province, cf. 2 Ki. xvii. 24, 26; for the building of this city by Omri see r Ki. xvi. 24). It is a late Judaean narrative inserted after the Deuteronomic redaction, and breaks the connection be tween xii. 31 and xiii. 33 seq. The latter describe the idolatrous worship instituted by the first king of the schismatic north, and the religious attitude occurs regularly throughout the compiler's epitome, however brief the reigns of the kings. The brief reign of Elah preserves an important extract in xvi. 9, but the date in v.
oa (LXX. omits) presupposes the late finished chronological scheme. Zimri's seven days receive the inevitable condemnation, but the older material embedded in xvi. 15b-18 is closely con nected with v. 9 and is continued in the non-editorial portions of Omri's reign (xvi. 21 seq., length of reign in v. 23, and v. As regards Judah, the vivid account of the accession of Reho boam in xii. 1-16 is reminiscent of the full narratives in 2 Sam. ix.–xx. and i Ki. ii. (cf. especially v. 16 with 2 Sam. xx.
Ch. xii. 151) refers to the prophecy of Ahijah (see above) and "unto this day," v. 19, cannot be by a contemporary author; v. 17 (LXX. omits) finds a parallel in 2 Chron. xi. 16 seq. and may represent an Ephraimite standpoint. The Judaean standpoint is prominent in vv. 21-24, where (a) the inclusion of Benjamin and (b) the cessation of war (at the command of Shemaiah) conflict with (a) xi. 32, 36, xii. 20 and (b) xiv. 3o respectively. Reho boam's history, resumed by the redactor in xiv. 2r-24, continues with a brief account of the spoiling of the Temple and palace by Sheshonk (Shishak). (The incident appears in 2 Chron. xii. in a rather different context, before the details which now precede v. 21 seq.) The reign of Abijam is entirely due to the editor, whose brief statement of the war in xv. 7b is supplemented by a lengthy story in 2 Chron. xiii. (where the name is Abijah). The account of Asa's reign contains a valuable summary of his war with Baasha xv. 26-22; the isolated v. 15 is possibly related to v. 18 (cf. also vii. 51). Jehoshaphat is dealt with in xxii. 41-50 after the death of Ahab ; but the Septuagint, which follows a different chronological scheme (placing his accession in the reign of Omri), gives the summary (with some variations) after xvi. 28.