UNROLL
Deep twilight on a weathered stone ledge high above the Jordan plain: a rough dark brown goat-hair cloak lies folded on the flat stone, and beside it a small clay oil lamp burns with a steady flame; far below, the river winds through dark thickets under a deep-blue sky with early stars.

The Book of

2 Kings Intro

From Elijah’s chariot of fire to a king set free in Babylon, and a lamp that is never put out.

Before chapter 1≈ 2 min25 chapters

Images are artistic interpretations.

In 30 seconds

Elijah goes up; Elisha takes his cloak.

The prophets speak, and kings will not listen.

Israel falls to Assyria.

Hezekiah trusts; Josiah turns to the Book.

Jerusalem falls, but David’s line lives on.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Who wrote it

The writer

Unnamed; a prophet-historian writing in the exile

  • 1 and 2 Kings were one book in the Hebrew Bible.Jewish tradition
  • It names its sources: the chronicles of the kings.2 Kings 1:18
  • Its last event is Jehoiachin freed in Babylon, about 561 BC.2 Kings 25:27
  • So it was finished in the exile, about 560 BC or a little after.Most scholars

How it’s built

Two kingdoms to exile

Elijah andElisha1–8 · the prophets’wordJehu9–10 · Ahab’s housefallsDavid’s linekept11–12 · the boy kingJoashIsrael’s lastkings13–17 · Samaria falls,722 BCHezekiah18–20 · trust in theLORDJosiah21–23 · the Book foundExile24–25 · Jerusalemfalls, 586 BC

Whiteboard

Two kingdoms run side by side until Israel falls. Judah lasts about 135 years more, with two kings who turned to the LORD, and then Jerusalem falls too.

Big themes

Four threads to follow

Where it happens

EgyptSamariaJerusalemDamascusNinevehBabylon

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

From Samaria to Babylon

Israel’s kings ruled from Samaria and Judah’s from Jerusalem. Aram, from Damascus, fought Israel for decades. Assyria, from Nineveh, took Samaria in 722 BC and carried Israel away; Babylon took Jerusalem in 586 BC and carried Judah away. Egypt to the south promised help that never came.

Meet the cast

Five people to know

Watch for

Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes

2 Kings 17:13

Start reading

Question

Quick question

In His first sermon at Nazareth, Jesus reached back to the days of Elijah and Elisha.

Which foreigner from 2 Kings did Jesus name in that sermon?

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