2 Kings

By Mary Jane Chaignot

2 Kings is a continuation of the history of Israel, a history that is more than half told. This is the part of the story where all the pieces should come together, but instead, and quite literally, it's where everything falls apart. By the end of this book, both kingdoms will have been conquered and destroyed. A brief summary of I Kings will help in understanding the significance of the events in 2 Kings.

In 1 Kings, Solomon ascended the throne upon the demise of David. His main contribution was the building of a glorious Temple in Jerusalem. Upon his death, however, the kingdom was torn apart. His son, Rehoboam, followed him as king over Judah and Benjamin (the southern territory), but the northern ten tribes formed their own kingdom led by Jeroboam (who just happened to be the leader who led the revolt). This division highlighted differences that had always existed between the two communities. Once divided, these communities were staunch rivals, due in part to the dominance of the north. (They had better land and access to the international trade routes.) Eventually the kingdoms became allies when they were mutually threatened by a stronger power - namely, Assyria.

The author(s) of 2 Kings move between the two kingdoms, generally describing the Israelite (northern) king and then his (southern) counterpart in Judah. This brings a sense of disjointedness to the texts. The author(s) were also highly selective in their presentation of the various kings. A good king was one who furthered the people's relationship with Yahweh, not the neighboring states. A good king was one who spent money repairing the temple, not warring after more territory. By default, that made most of the northern kings suspect, or just plain sinners in the eyes of the author(s) because the northern tribes no longer worshipped at the temple in Jerusalem (located in the southern territory). One of the first things Jeroboam did was to establish a center of worship at Shechem, in part to compete with the pull of the temple in Jerusalem. And just as the temple in Jerusalem had the Ark of the Covenant as a symbol of God's presence, Jeroboam erected two bulls to provide a throne for the presence of God in the north. Unfortunately, this "political" alternative to Jerusalem was resoundingly condemned by the author(s) of Kings and was denounced as a "great sin." From that point forward, Jeroboam's sin became a reference point for all his successors.

It is no surprise, then, that the dynasties of the north were judged at the outset as "doing evil in the eyes of the Lord." When the north was destroyed in 722 BCE by the Assyrian emperor, they ceased to exist as a nation. Their territory was subsumed into the Assyrian Empire. The Judeans were righteously convinced that Yahweh had destroyed them precisely because they had built places of worship beyond the confines of the temple in Jerusalem. These ideas were furthered by subsequent events whereby Assyria began its decline at about the same time Josiah began to institute his reforms (and increase his territory). It conformed nicely to the Deuteronomic thought that obedience resulted in blessings, while disobedience resulted in judgment. The southern kingdom had been obedient and was flourishing. The northern kingdom had been disobedient and was destroyed.

Such thinking, however, was short-lived as the Babylonians arrived to take up where the Assyrians left off. Eventually the southern kingdom was conquered by Babylon in 587 BCE, resulting in exile for the priests, officials, artisans, and all but a few peasants. While the priests were sitting in exile, they tried to make sense out of their situation. By selecting certain kings and highlighting certain deeds, the author(s) of 1 & 2 Kings wrote, amazingly, not a story of defeat, but one of hope. They saw both the Assyrians and the Babylonians as the very instruments Yahweh used to enforce his will and teach his lessons. Through the telling of their history, they accepted responsibility for their failures and the ensuing consequences, thereby vindicating God. These documents, then, were written for all time - they were to be used as a teaching tool for future generations who would be able to learn from the mistakes made by God's people and who would choose to live in obedience to God's law. 1 & 2 Kings are essentially a call for repentance borne out of the belief that if the people would only turn to God, God would forgive them and restore them.

There are two primary sections in 2 Kings: 2 Kings 1-17 - the divided kingdom; 2 Kings 18-25 - the fall of Judah.

1:1-17:41 - the divided kingdom

22:52-1:18
- Ahaziah (son of Ahab) begins to rule over Israel
- He gets hurt, sends messengers to enquire of the god of Ekron
- Messengers meet Elijah on the way
- Elijah tells them Ahaziah will die because he doesn't believe there is a God in all of Israel (has to inquire of some other god)
- Ahaziah dies
2:1-25
- Elisha inherits Elijah's mantle
- It's time for Elijah to leave Elisha
- Elisha is not anxious for him to go, does not want to leave him
- Elijah parts the water of the Jordan with his mantle
- Elisha asks for a "double portion" of spirit
- Proper inheritance for eldest son
- Elijah tells him if he sees him being taken, it will be so
- Chariots of fire come; Elijah is taken up in a whirlwind
- Elisha mourns the loss of Elijah, takes his mantle
- Elisha parts the waters of the Jordan with Elijah's mantle
- Prophets of God search for Elijah
- Elisha knows from the beginning it would be a pointless search
- Elisha makes the water in the city fresh
- Curses boys who tease him
3:1-27
- Battle with Moab
- Moab refuses to pay taxes to Northern Kingdom
- Ahab's son, Jeroham, enlists aid of Southern Kingdom
- Together, with the king of Edom, they call for a prophet
- Elisha tells them they will prevail
- They go against Moab in battle, are doing well
- King of Moab offers his son in sacrifice
- Tide of battle turns, Israel goes home
- Edomites would say their god prevailed
- Author(s) does not really offer an explanation of these events
4:1-5:19
- Various Miracles involving Elisha
  - 4:1-7
    - Widow's oil
    - Widow's sons are to be taken in payment for debts
    - She has oil in the house
    - Elisha has her fill pots with oil, and she pays her debts
  - 4:8-37
    - The Shunammite's son
    - Elisha frequently stays with a family in Shunem
    - Wife is barren, wants a child; Elisha says it will happen
    - Wife has a son; one day son gets sick and dies
    - Woman loses her son but not her faith, she finds Elisha
    - Elisha tells servant (Gehazi) to lay his staff on child
    - Nothing happens
    - Elisha's prayer, presence bring the boy back to life
  - 4:38-41
    - Death in the pot
    - Sons of prophets begin to eat from stew that is poisoned
    - Elisha neutralizes poison; they all eat
  - 4:42-44
    - Elisha feeds the multitude
    - A limited amount of food is multiplied for many - with leftovers!
  - 5:1-19
    - Healing of Naaman, a Syrian Leper
    - Naaman is commander of the army, and a leper Wife's maiden is from Israel, talks about the Prophet from Israel
    - Naaman takes many gifts, goes to see king of Israel
    - King of Israel mourns, cannot cure anyone of leprosy
    - Elisha finds out king is upset, invites Naaman to visit him
    - Tells Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan
    - Naaman is outraged, humiliated
    - Servants tell him to obey, Naaman does, and leprosy is gone
    - After his healing, Naaman is very grateful, tries to repay Elisha
    - Elisha refuses all gifts; Naaman says he will worship the true God
5:20-27
- Gehazi's greed
- Gehazi runs after Naaman, asks for a "few gifts"
- Elisha is very disappointed; Gehazi's family will have leprosy
6:1-7:20
- Invasions from Syria
  - 6:1-7
    - 6:8-23
      - Spiritual lessons continue - Arameans (Syrians)
      - Elisha is able to foretell where Syrians will camp
      - Is very upsetting to Syrian king, wants to capture Elisha
      - Syrian king sends chariots to Dothan where Elisha is
      - The chariots circle the city causing fear in Elisha's servant
      - Elisha prays; army is struck blind
      - lisha leads them to Samaria; king of Samaria is told to feed them
      - Army returns to Aram; war is over
    - 6:24-7:20
      - The Siege of Samaria
      - Some time later, Syrian king comes back, besieges Samaria
      - People resort to eating human flesh
      - Jehoram mourns, wants to take it out on Elisha
      - Decides to kill Elisha
      - Elisha foretells visit from army, tells them siege will be over next day
      - That evening 4 lepers go to army camp, hoping to get food
      - Camp is deserted: they think 4 lepers are huge army
      - Lepers help themselves, then tell king
      - King sends out "suicide mission" to see if it's a trap
      - Report comes back that Syrians have really abandoned their camp
      - All Israel eats well that night
      - Elisha's words are fulfilled
8:1-6
- Shunammite regains her land
- Elisha warns Shunammite about coming famine
- She and her family go to the land of the Philistines for 7 years
- When they return, she goes to the king to ask for return of her land
- Gehazi happens to be there, talking about Elisha
- He sees the woman, tells the king all that Elisha has done for her
- King restores woman's land
8:7-15
- Elisha and Hazael
- King of Syria is ill, asks Hazael (origin unknown) to inquire of man of God
- Elisha's answer is that king will recover, but he will surely die
- Elisha weeps because Hazael will become king
- Hazael will do many atrocities against Israel
- Hazael kills king, becomes king as Elisha prophesied
8:16-29
- History of kings, most "did evil in the sight of the Lord"
9:1-37
- The End of the House of Ahab
- Elisha tells a son of the prophet to go anoint
- Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat Jehu is conferring with commanders, is quite surprised
- Accepts anointing (This was also part of Elijah's commission)
- Jehu goes out to confront King of Israel (King of Judah is visiting)
- Messengers are sent to inquire whether his visit is of peace
- Messengers fall in behind Jehu
- Jehu reaches Jezreel. Kings go out to ask re: peace
- Jehu kills them both - Ahaziah of Judah; Joram of Israel.
- Jezebel is also killed; prophesies re: their deaths are fulfilled
10:1-31
- Jehu wipes out Ahab's remaining family
- Jehu also kills relatives of king of Judah's family
- Jehu calls for a huge celebration, says he wants to sacrifice to Baal
- When all Baal worshippers are gathered, he has them all killed In that way, Jehu's ruse gets rid of Baal throughout the land
- But Jehu does not rid the land of the golden calves in Dan and Bethel
- His father had established these
- Still, the author(s) say that Jehu "did right in the eyes of the Lord"
10:32-36
- King Hazael is beginning to attack parts of Israel
- Some of the territory of Israel is falling to Syria (not a good sign)
11:1-21
- Meanwhile back in the southern kingdom -- Athalia takes over Judah
- With her son, Ahaziah, dead, Athalia kills the royal family and rules Judah
- (One son, Joash, is hidden for 6 years)
- Jehoiada, the high priest, installs Joash as king when he is seven
- Athalia never did have any right to govern; she is killed
- Joash "did right in the eyes of the Lord" -- as long as Jehoiada was there
- Covenant is renewed between people and God
12:1-16
- Joash as king
- He institutes temple repairs
- Turns process over to the priests; they drop the ball
- Then he turns it over to the people
- Repairs are done, but no one seems too interested in them
- House of the Lord is 127 years old; needs upkeep
- Lack of enthusiasm is considered disobedience against God
12:17-21
- Joash as a military figure H
- azael sets his face to attack Jerusalem
- Joash empties temple and palace treasuries, sends gifts
- Hazael goes back home
13:1-14:29
- Kings of Judah and Israel
- Short histories of several kings, both Judah and Israel
- There is considerable fighting with Syria, though Israel prevails
- Elisha dies, predicts Israel will only defeat Syria three times
- Eventually kings of Judah and Israel face off
- Israel prevails
15:1-16:20
- The end of Israel comes closer
- Several more Kings in Israel "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord."
- King of Assyria came against them; Israel pays tribute
- War is averted
- Kings of Syria and Israel combine to wage war against Judah
- They are worried about the king of Assyria and want to force Judah to join forces with them in warding off Assyria
- King of Judah asks for help from king of Assyria
- Pays heavy tribute for his aid
- It works; Assyria brings protection to the south
- These chapters (13-16) are rife with war, civil strife, revolution, and incompetence. The author(s) claim God is resolutely in charge.
- God only wishes good for them; God is bound to them through his covenant. Yet their relentless sin requires justice.
17:1-41
- The end of the Northern Kingdom (Israel)
- Israel's last king is Hoshea - means deliverer (very ironic)
- Assyria (Shalmaneser) comes against Israel
- First Hoshea pays more tribute, but then he stops
- Shalmaneser besieges Samaria for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the Assyrians capture Samaria (722BCE)
- Israel falls due to the accumulation of divine displeasure - for centuries!
- Ends with a whole litany of sins and lack of trust and disobedience
- Not that Judah is perfect, but at least Judah keeps the customs

18:1-25:30 - The History of Judah and its fall

18:1-12
- Introduction of Hezekiah
- Hezekiah begins his reign in the third year of Hoshea
- He "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord"
- He institutes many reforms, watches Israel fall and be exiled
- He is referred to as the "second David"
- Despite the deliberate contrast of Hezekiah with the northern kings, he, too, is threatened by Assyria
18:14-16
- Hezekiah offers to pay tribute to king of Assyria
- Temple treasuries are stripped one more time
18:17-37
- New king of Assyria (Sennacherib) decides tribute is not enough
- Commander goes to Judah to convince them to avoid siege by surrendering, regales them with tales of horrors and sufferings
- This could all be avoided - just surrender
- If they surrender, they will live -- in exile C
- ommander brags that no god has been able to withstand Assyria
- That will also be true for Judah's God
19:1-7
- Commander's words overreach their claims
- Hezekiah consults Isaiah; Commander has mocked God by claiming God is powerless and impotent to save Judah
- Isaiah tells him "be not afraid"
- Isaiah says, the Lord will confuse Sennacherib, send him home to die
19:8-13
- Instead of going home, Sennacherib sends another threatening communication to Hezekiah
19:14-19
- This time Hezekiah prays on his own
19:20-34
- Isaiah returns with a second prophecy
- This is God's response to Hezekiah's prayer - much more specific
- Assyria is under God's control
- Assyria will withdraw; recovery in Judah would be slow but steady
- Sennacherib will withdraw without war
19:35-37
- Sennacherib's army suffers enormous casualties by God's hand
- Sennacherib returns home, is killed by one of his sons
- Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled
20:1-21
- Deliverance and Exile
  - 20:1-11
    - Hezekiah is ill, calls for Isaiah
    - Isaiah prophesies he will not recover
    - Hezekiah prays; God hears his prayer
    - God tells Isaiah new report; Isaiah returns to Hezekiah
    - God gives two signs to Hezekiah re: his recovery
  - 20:12-21
    - Visitors from Babylon
    - Hezekiah shows visitors from Babylon all his wealth
    - Isaiah says the day will come when all that wealth will be in Babylon
    - This will not happen in Hezekiah's lifetime
    - Hints of the end are accumulating
21:1-18
- Hezekiah's son, Manasseh, becomes king
- Manasseh undoes all the good that his father accomplished
- All the high places are reinstated, idol worship, leads them astray
- Destruction of Jerusalem is foretold
21:19-26
- Manasseh's son, Amon, becomes king
- Did "evil in the sight of the Lord"
22:1-23:30
- King Josiah, son of Amon, a righteous king
  - 22:1-13
    - In the eighteenth year of his reign, he begins work on the temple
    - One of the workers finds "The Book of the Law" (Book of Deuteronomy)
    - Upon reading the book, he realizes how far off the mark Judah is
    - He mourns, sends envoys to consult with the prophetess, Huldah
  - 22:14-20
    - Huldah's message
    - Disaster will come, but because Josiah humbled himself, he will not see it
  - 23:1-3
    - Josiah calls the people together
    - Reads the words of the book to the assembly, renews the covenant
  - 23:4-25
    - Lengthy report of Josiah's reforms
    - Does away with all the high places, Baals, Asherahs, even altar at Bethel
    - "Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did - with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses." (23:25)
  - 23:26-30
    - Judah's fate has already been decided
    - Josiah's reforms are too little too late
    - Josiah dies in battle - tough ending for good king (sign of the times)
23:36-25:30
- The End of Judah
  - 23:31-37
    - Josiah's successors "did evil in the sight of the Lord"
    - Egypt interferes in Judaean politics installing their favorite
    - Egypt imposes a high tariff, takes former king to Egypt
  - 24:1-7
    - Current king is Jehoiakim, Josiah's son
    - During his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, invades
    - For three years, Jehoiakim pays tribute, then he rebels
  - 24:8-17
    - Price of rebellion is Nebuchadnezzar besieging Jerusalem
    - Eventually Jehoiakim surrenders, is carried off to Babylon
    - He also takes all the treasury, army, artisans - only the poor are left
  - 24:18-20
    - Zedekiah (Jehoiakim's uncle) is installed as king (by Babylonians) and reigns in Jerusalem
  - 25:1-7
    - Zedekiah also rebels against Babylon
    - In the ninth year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem again
    - After three-year siege, life is desperate
    - Short war, Jerusalem is captured; Zedekiah is tortured, exiled
  - 25:8-21
    - Weeks later, city of Jerusalem is torched; temple is destroyed
  - 25:22-26
    - Gedaliah, grandson of Josiah's secretary, is appointed to govern
    - Babylonians watch him carefully
    - Gedaliah preaches compliance with the Babylonians, but is shortly killed
    - Out of fear, remaining people flee to Egypt
    - Book ends with epilogue:
  - 25:27-30
    - After 37 years, king of Babylon releases Jehoiakim Treated him well

The authors could have left the ending barren, devoid of hope. But just the fact that Jehoiakim is alive and living well is a reminder of God's promise to David. At least there is the possibility of David's line continuing forever. The final words of Kings, then, are not hopeless; God's last words might not be rejection of his people, the temple, and the city. As it is, God's options are wide open. So are the children's of Israel. The next book, 1 & 2 Chronicles is an attempt to reinterpret their history, to tweak it, to give it a positive spin - to provide hope for the future. If the message of Kings was to show how disobedience and sin lead to defeat, the message of the Chronicler is that out of the ashes of defeat arise faith and victory.

Bibliography

Alter, Robert and Frank Kermode. The Literary Guide to the Bible. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. 1987.

Brueggeman, Walter. "1 & 2 Kings." Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys. 2000.

Provan, Iain. "1 and 2 Kings." New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995.

Mills, Watson and Richard Wilson. Mercer Commentary on the Bible. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1995

Auld, A.Graeme. "I & II Kings." The Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1986.

Nelson, Richard. "I & II Kings." Interpretation. Atlanta: John Knox Press. 1987.

Rice, Gene. "1 Kings, Nations Under God." The International Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B Eerdmans, 1990.

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