Books Of Kings
The Book(s) of Kings (Hebrew: Sepher M'lakhim, ספר מלכים - the two books were originally one) presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years (c.960-560 BCE). It concludes a series of historical books running from Joshua through Judges and Samuel, the overall purpose which is to provide a theological explanation for the destruction of the Jewish kingdom by Babylon in 586 BCE and a foundation for a return from exile.
Kings begins with the death of David, to whom Yahweh, the god of Israel, has promised an eternal dynasty, and the succession of his son Solomon. Solomon is praised for his wisdom and wealth, but he offends Yahweh by allowing other gods to be worshiped in Jerusalem. God therefore breaks the kingdom in two, with David's line reigning in the southern kingdom of Judah with a separate kingdom of Israel in the north. The kings of Israel are uniformly evil, allowing gods other than Yahweh to be worshiped, and eventually God brings about the destruction of the kingdom. A few of the kings of Judah are good, but most are evil, and eventually God destroys this kingdom also.
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“Critics generally come to be critics not by reason of their fitness for this, but of their unfitness for anything else. Books should be tried by a judge and jury as though they were a crime, and counsel should be heard on both sides.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Kings 3:12.