History · Old Testament
2 Kings
c. 850–586 BC
- Section
- History · Old Testament
- Events span
- c. 850–586 BC
- Written
- c. 560 BC
- Author
- Compiled by an anonymous author (traditionally Jeremiah)
2 Kings follows the prophet Elisha and the decline of both kingdoms into idolatry, ending in judgment: Assyria destroys the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, and Babylon destroys Judah and Jerusalem, carrying the people into exile, in 586 BC.
Historical setting: The divided kingdom in decline: Israel falls to Assyria (722 BC) and Judah to Babylon, whose armies destroy the First Temple and begin the exile (586 BC).
Key themes
- Prophets and miracles
- The fall of Israel (722 BC)
- The fall of Judah (586 BC)
- Idolatry and judgment
- Exile
Key events
The Ministry of Elisha (2 Kings 1–8)
- Elijah is taken up in a whirlwind, and Elisha receives a double portion of his spirit
- Elisha's miracles: the widow's oil, the Shunammite's son raised, and Naaman healed of leprosy
- Elisha's servant sees the hills full of God's chariots as the Aramean siege is broken
The Fall of Israel (2 Kings 9–17)
- Jehu destroys the house of Ahab, killing Jezebel and the worshippers of Baal
- The boy Joash is hidden and crowned, and the temple is repaired
- Prophets warn, but Israel's kings persist in the sins of Jeroboam
- Assyria conquers Samaria and exiles the northern kingdom of Israel for its idolatry
The Fall of Judah (2 Kings 18–25)
- Hezekiah trusts God, and Jerusalem is spared as an angel strikes the Assyrian army
- Hezekiah is granted fifteen more years, and the sun's shadow goes backward as a sign
- Manasseh's long, wicked reign fills Judah with idolatry and innocent blood
- Josiah finds the Book of the Law and leads a great reform
- Babylon captures Jerusalem, destroys the temple, and exiles Judah
Key lessons
- God is patient but not indifferent: after centuries of prophetic warnings, persistent idolatry finally brings on both kingdoms the exile he had long promised. 2 Kings 17:13–18
- Sin’s consequences can outrun repentance at the national level; even good King Josiah’s sweeping reforms cannot finally turn back the judgment earlier generations had earned. 2 Kings 23:26–27
- Yet God still honors the faith of individuals in a faithless age: Hezekiah trusts him and Jerusalem is spared, proving mercy is never out of reach for those who turn to him. 2 Kings 19:19
“and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”
Critical scholarship view
Where mainstream critical scholarship dates or attributes this book differently from the traditional view above.
- Written
- Part of the Deuteronomistic History, c. 6th century BC
- Author
- The Deuteronomistic historians