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Kings, Books of

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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—Biblical Data:

Fourth book of the second canonical division of the Hebrew Bible, the Prophets (). It contains a history of the kings of Judah and of Israel from the last days of David till the capture of Zedekiah by Nebuchadnezzar. This work is divided into two books, 1 Kings () and 2 Kings (); the former consisting of twenty-two, the latter of twenty-five, chapters.

The following is a synopsis of their contents:

First Book of Kings:

Solomon.

Kings and Prophets.

Elijah and Elisha.

Second Book of Kings:

Elisha's Career.

Jehu's Iniquities.

The Later Kings.

S.
M. Sel.

—Critical View:

A superficial examination of the Books of Kings makes clear the fact that they are a compilation and not an original composition. The compiler, or editor, constantly cites certain of his sources. In the case of Solomon it is "the book of the acts of Solomon" (1 Kings 11:41); for the Northern Kingdom it is "the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel," which is cited seventeen times, e., for all the kings except Jehoram and Hoshea (see, e.g., ib. 15:31); and for the kings of Judah it is "the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah," which is cited fifteen times, e., for all the kings except Ahaziah, Athaliah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah (see, e.g., ib. 15:7). Whether the editor had access to these "chronicles," as they were deposited in the state archives, or simply to a history based upon them, can not with certainty be determined. It is generally assumed that the latter was the case (comp. Kuenen, "Historisch-Kritische Einleitung in die Bücher des Alten Testaments," p. 68, and Cornill, "Einleitung in das Alte Testament," p. 123).

Object and Method of Work.

It was not the purpose of the compiler to give a complete history of the period covered by his work; for he constantly refers to these sources for additional details. He mentions as a rule a few important events which are sufficient to illustrate the attitude of the king toward the Deuteronomic law, or some feature of it, such as the central sanctuary and the "high places," and then proceeds to pronounce judgment upon him accordingly. Each reign is introduced with a regular formula; then follows a short excerpt from one of his sources; after which an estimate of the character of the monarch is given in stereotyped phraseology; and the whole concludes with a statement of the king's death and burial, according to a regular formula (comp., e.g., 1 Kings 15:1-9 for the formula used for the kings of Judah, and ib. 15:25-32 for that used for the kings of Israel).

The standpoint of the judgments passed upon the various kings as well as the vocabulary of the compiler (comp. Driver, "Introduction," 1891, p. 190, for a list of his words) indicates that he lived after the reforms of Josiah (621 B.C.) had brought the Deuteronomic law into prominence. How much later than this the book in its present form was composed, may be inferred from the fact that it concludes with a notice of Jehoiachin's release from prison by Evil-merodach (Amil-Marduk) after the death of Nebuchadnezzar in 562. The book must have taken its present form, therefore, during the Exile, and probably in Babylonia. As no mention is made of the hopes of return which are set forth in Isa. -, the work was probably concluded before 550. Besides the concluding chapters there are allusions in the body of the work which imply an exilic date (see, e.g., 1 Kings 8:34, 11:39; 2 Kings 17:19,20; 23:26,27). To these may be added the expression "beyond the river" (1 Kings 5:4), used to designate the country west of the Euphrates, which implies that Babylonia was the home of the writer.

Time of Redaction.

On the other hand, there are indications which imply that the first redaction of Kings must have occurred before the downfall of the Judean monarchy. The phrase "unto this day" occurs in 1 Kings 8:8, 9:21, 12:19; 2 Kings 8:22, 16:6, where it seems to have been added by an editor who was condensing material from older annals, but described conditions still existing when he was writing. Again, in 1 Kings 11:36, 15:4, and 2 Kings 8:19, which come from the hand of a Deuteronomic editor, David has, and is to have, a lamp burning in Jerusalem; e., the Davidic dynasty is still reigning. Finally, 1 Kings 8:29,30,31,33,35,38,42,44,48; 9:3; and 11:36 imply that the Temple is still standing. There was accordingly a pre-exilic Book of Kings. The work in this earlier form must have been composed between 621 and 586. As the glamour of Josiah's reforms was strong upon the compiler, perhaps he wrote before 600. To this original work 2 Kings 24:10-25:30 was added in the Exile, and, perhaps, 23:31-24:9. In addition to the supplement which the exilic editor appended, a comparison of the Masoretic text with the Septuagint as represented in codices B and L shows that the Hebrew text was retouched by another hand after the exemplars which underlie the Alexandrine text had been made. Thus in B and L, 1 Kings 5:7 follows on 4:19; 6:12-14 is omitted; 9:26 follows on 9:14, so that the account of Solomon's dealings with Hiram is continuous, most of the omitted portion being inserted after 10:22. 2 Kings 21, the history of Naboth, precedes ch. , so that and , which are excerpts from the same source, come together. Such discrepancies prove sufficient late editorial work to justify the assumption of two recensions.

Sources.

In brief outline the sources of the books appear to have been these: 1 Kings 1 and are extracted bodily from an early court history of David's private life, which is largely used in 2 Samuel 9- The editor (Rd) has added notes at 2:2-4 and 10-12. For the reign of Solomon the source is professedly"the book of the acts of Solomon" (11:41); but other sources were employed, and much was added by Rd. Ch. is a prophetic narrative of relatively early origin, worked over by Rd, who added verses 2, 3, and 14, 15. Ch. 4:1-19 is presumably derived from the Chronicle of Solomon. Ch. 4:20-5:14 contains a small kernel of prophetic narrative which has been retouched by many hands, some of them later than the Septuagint. The basis of 5:15-7:51 was apparently a document from the Temple archives; but this was freely expanded by Rd (comp. Stade in his "Zeitschrift," 1883, pp. 129 et seq.), and 6:11-14 also by a later annotator. Ch. 8:1-13, the account of the dedication of the Temple, is from an old narrative, slightly expanded by later hands under the influence of P. Ch. 8:14-66 is in its present form the work of Rd slightly retouched in the Exile. Ch. 9:1-9 is the work of Rd, but whether before the Exile or during it is disputed. Ch. 9:10-10:29 consists of extracts from an old source, presumably "the book of the acts of Solomon," pieced together and expanded by later editors. The order in the Masoretic text differs from that in the Septuagint. For details see Kittel, "Die Königsbücher," in Nowack's "Handkommentar." Ch. 11:1-13 is the work of Rd; 11:14-22 is a confused account, perhaps based on two older narratives (comp. Winckler, "Alttestamentliche Forschungen," pp. 1-6); and 11:26-31 and 39, 40 probably formed a part of a history of Jeroboam from which 12:1-20 and 14:1-18 were also taken. The extracts in ch. have been set and retouched by later editors (comp. Kittel on 1 Kings 11:23-43).

Narratives and Epitomes.

From ch. of the First Book onward these books are characterized by an alternation of short notices which give epitomes of historical events, with longer narratives extracted from various sources. The following sections are short epitomes: 1 Kings 14:21-16:34; 22:41-53; 2 Kings 8:16-29; 10:32-36; 12:18-13:13; and 13:22-17:6. In some cases short extracts are even here made in full, as in 14:8-14 and 16:10-16.

The longer narratives, which are frequently retouched and expanded by Rd, are as follows: 1 Kings 12:1-20, 14:1-18, from an older narrative of Jeroboam, to which 12:21-32 and 14:19,20 are additions; 12:33-13:34, a comparatively late story of a prophet; - and , an early prophetic narrative written in the Northern Kingdom (comp. 19:3); and 22:1-40, an early north-Israelitish history of the Syrian war in which Ahab lost his life; 2 Kings 1-8:15 and 9:1-10:31, north-Israelitish narratives, not all from one hand, which are retouched here and there, as in 3:1-3, by Rd; 11:1-12:17, a Judean narrative of the overthrow of Athaliah and the accession of Joash; 13:14-21 and 14:8-14, two excerpts from material written in the Northern Kingdom (comp. 14:11); 17:7-23 is Rd's commentary on the historical notice with which the chapter opens; 17:24-41 is composite (comp. verses 32, 34, and 41), probably written in the Exile and retouched after the time of Nehemiah; - is compiled by Rd from three sources (comp. Stade, c. 6:174), Rd himself prefixing, inserting, and adding some material; is, throughout, the work of Rd; -23:25 is an extract from the Temple archives with slight editing; and 23:29-25:30, the appendix of the exilic editor, is based on Jer. 7-43:6. From Jeremiah, too, the exilic editor drew his information, which he presented in briefer form.

Bibliography:
  • Kuenen, Historisch-Kritische Einleitung in die Bücher des Alten Testaments, pp. 62-99, Leipsic, 1890;
  • Cornill, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 1891, pp. 120-132;
  • Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 1891, pp. 175-193;
  • Kittel, Die Königsbücher, 1900, in Nowack's Handkommentar;
  • Benzinger, Die Bücher der Könige, 1899, in K. H. C.;
  • Silberstein, in Stade's Zeitschrift, 13:1-76.
E. G. H.
G. A. B.
Bibliography Information
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Kings, Books of'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​tje/​k/kings-books-of.html. 1901.
 
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