He established schools for the prophets, where men were trained in things pertaining to holy offices. The book of 2 kings, along with 1 kings, was likely written between 560 and 540 b. The book was divided into the two books of first kings and second kings in the historical books of the greek septuagint old testament, and continues as such in the latin vulgate and our christian old testament of the bible. Some prophets overlap, lived in different areas, or the chronology cannot be estimated with any accuracy. An introduction to the books of first and second kings. In fact, the division of the two is completely artificial. First, the lord judged israel and judah because of their disobedience to his law 2 kin 17. In the period we meet such great prophets as elijah, elisha, isaiah and. Scripture does not identify the two witnesses by name, and no wellknown person is associated with their coming. This was in fulfillment of the lords warnings going all the way back to. Two concluding paragraphs speak of events after the babylonian exile 2 kin. Ezra and nehemiah are one book, as are the twelve minor prophets. The fourth book of the former prophets i and ii kings in the septuagint continues the history of the nation israel from the death of david, the reign of solomon, and the divided monarchy through the collapse of both israel the northern kingdom and judah the southern kingdom.
The prophet elijah left this earth without dying 2. In addition, both enoch and elijah were prophets who pronounced gods judgment 1 kings 17. Could osma and his second in command be the two prophets. Labeling them as prophetic rather than historical suggests that these books are primarily theological in nature rather than annalistic. The story of the book which bears his name is probably one of the best known in the bible. Books of kings, two books of the hebrew bible or the protestant old testament that, together with deuteronomy, joshua, judges, and 1 and 2 samuel, belong to the group of historical books deuteronomic history written during the babylonian exile c. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled fortytwo of the young men. Elijah and elisha are by far the most prominent prophets in the books of kings and chronicles, and of the two, elisha is especially notable for the attention he pays to the work of ordinary israelites. The book of kings is the ninth book of the hebrew bible or the eleventh and twelfth books of the christian old testament.
It was first used in a hebrew print of the bible by daniel bomberg. Of the three, prophets came to play the overwhelmingly major role in ancient israels religionas is already evident in the book of kings. However, there are two other famous biblical men identified with the two prophets. You can start to study the times of the prophets and kings by clicking on these pictures. The books now divided into 1 kings and 2 kings were originally part of one work. Loren, little is known of the sons of the prophets.
How many prophets are in the 2 books of kings answers. The chapter is also very clear that the reason israel fell was because they refused to listen to the many prophets the lord sent them and turn from their evil ways to keep the lords commandments 2 kings 17. Book of second kings overview insight for living ministries. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of israel and judah by a deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century bce, with a supplement added in the sixth century bce. He was most likely a prophet, because many of the historical events were. The fourth book of the former prophets i and ii kings in the septuagint. The book was divided into the two books of first kings and second kings in the.
The tradition is that the prophet jeremiah was the author of both 1 and 2 kings. The portrayal of prophets in 2 kings 2 fellowship for biblical studies. The complete jewish bible is 24 books, with samuel 1 and 2 samuel, kings, and chronicles each being counted as one. For the most part their warnings and exhortations fell on deaf ears. Whereas first and second samuel document israels shift from corrupt judges to the righteous leadership of david, kings shows how israel divides and falls into the hands of her enemies these books of history pick up where second samuel left off. It begins with the reign of king solomon to the restoration of jerusalem. Second kings features many unique events and people.
Israel is united under the godly king david, who appoints his son solomon. Because there is no mention of them before samuel, it is supposed that he organized them to assist him in his duties and to offer religious. Ahaziah had fallen from the balcony of his upper room in samaria and he lay ill in bed when the moabites rebelled against israel. Kingsthe fall of the divided kingdoms of israel and judah e. If you are reading through the old testament, especially through the prophets and the kings of israel, this book will clarify a lot of the questions that come up as you read. This is book two in a series of five books, and it is a great devotional book. The king sent messengers to consult baalzebub, god of ekron and ask him for recovery from his illness.
The waters of the jordan river rolled back twice 2 kings 2. Watch our overview video on the books of 12 kings, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Of the twenty four, eight are specifically titled prophets joshua, judges, samuel, kings, isaiah, jeremiah, ezekiel, 12 minor prophets. Along with some of the main players of israel, there have been 39 kings who include king ahab, king rehoboam, king hoshea, king zedekiah and a large number of prophets who include jeremiah, malachi, zechariah.
These are, i guess you could say the two final prophets that the book expects to appear on the earth, like moses and elijah of ancient times in the bible. Elisha is called to stand against israels rebellious kings throughout a long career 2 kings 2. The tribes of judah, benjamin, and some of levi were serving a pagan king in a faraway country. Kings, or in greek, was originally a book of the former prophets in hebrew scripture. According to jewish tradition in the talmud the author was the prophet jeremiah.
The bible book of second kings takes up where the book of first kings leaves off. As demonstrated above, the title prophet refers to a role in israels society that was by no means uniformpersons. The second book of kings begins with a chapter featuring the prophet elijah, whose stories occupy the last part of the first book of kings 1 kings. Highlights from the book of second kings watchtower. To carry out the responsibility as a prophet to israel, elisha would need the same spirit that elijah had shown, that of courage and fearlessness. As the two prophets of god that never died, i have long thought and taught the the two prophets of the revelation could likely be enoch and elijah. The lord sent a long succession of such prophets to call king and people back to covenant loyalty 2ki 17. One might have expected that zerubbabel would have this role, since he was of the seed royal and was the grandson of jehoiachin 1chron 3. Elisha mocked 23 from there, elisha went up to bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, go up, you baldhead. It continues the story of the kings over the divided kingdom israel and judah. The two books of kings present a history of ancient israel and judah from the death of. Though these books deal with the history of israel, they were composed from a prophetic viewpoint and possibly even the.
Who are the two witnesses in the book of revelation. Prophecyprophets in ancient israel share features and characteristics with their. After a struggle of three years and a half, they gogs army will at length succeed in destroying these two prophets and then overrunning much of the city. The prophet elishas attention to ordinary work 2 kings 2. The book before this is called patriarchs and prophets, which is also an excellent resource. Gramps, who were the sons of the prophets mentioned in 2 kings. It is an account of 29 kings 12 from the northern kingdom of israel and 17 from the southern kingdom of judah. Some of prophets and kings discussed in this volume are jehoshaphat, elijah, elisha, hezekiah, daniel, jeremiah, zechariah and malachi. Many of these prophets are mentioned in the narratives of 1,2 kings see, e. According to the hollywood reporter, abc has cancelled the biblical drama after just two episodes. Introduction to the hebrew bible as a means to introduce a specific method of interpretation, such as feminist approaches to the biblical texts. The two books of kings are called the 3 rd and 4 th book of kings in the septuagint as well as the vulgate.
According to the bible god cannot lie, all men are. Books of kings, two books of the hebrew bible or the protestant old testament that. Ezra, ezekiel, and jeremiah have all been named as possible authors. Once, a man came from baalshahishah, bringing bread from the first fruits, twenty barley loaves and also he brought fresh grain that was still.
Listen to chuck swindolls overview of second kings in his audio message. However if you mean 2 chronicles chapters 1028, the prophets mentioned appear to be shemaiah. It concludes the deuteronomistic history, a history of israel also comprising the books of joshua and judges and the book of samuel, which biblical commentators believe was written to provide a theological explanation for the destruction of the kingdom of judah by babylon in. We note above that during the three and a half years of their prophesying the two prophets are described a fires issues from their mouths and devours their enemies. The prophets of israel viewed as a whole their designation the first division of the old testament was known as the law with the second being called the former prophets, but these included four books which have already been outlinedjoshua, judges, samuel, and kings. In the second book of chronicles chapter 10 does not have 28 verses. Of the two prophets mentioned in the book of zechariah, it is joshua that receives the crown of david as a caretaker king for christ. Enoch was the only other man in the bible to do so genesis 5. The second book of kings in the books of 1 and 2 kings, nineteen evil kings from nine different dynasties rule the northern kingdom of israel. The book of kings is the ninth book of the hebrew bible or the eleventh and twelfth books of the. Prophets and kings is the second book in the conflict of the ages series. Since the books of 1 and 2 kings possess an inner unity and ideology, it is appropriate to view them as a single work. Elijah, so that the two prophets may have been but one and the same person, or for whom elijahs stories were repeated in stories of his successor. Elijah is taken up in a chariot of fire into heaven.
Who are the prophets mentioned in 2 chronicles 1028 answers. The prophets in jerusalem at this time included nahum, jeremiah and zephaniah though the high priest turned to a woman prophet, huldah, to interpret the scroll for the king. Introduction to the prophets bible commentary theology. They will lead the people into idol worship and apostasy from yahwehs covenant.
Scriptures refer to the end times being like the time of noah before the flood. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to elisha, saying, your servant my husband is dead. The books of first and second kings are the story of israels decline. The prophets is grouped into former prophets joshua2 kings not including ruth and latter prophets isaiahmalachi without lamentations and daniel 2. The writings upon which the books of kings are based and to which they refer more than thirty times are. Mormons have distinctive beliefs on what a prophet is. As we noted in the previous chapter, 1 and 2 kings originally comprised one book of history. Scholars tend to equate this group with the company of the prophets featured in 2 samuel 19. In the hebrew bible 1st and 2nd samuel form one book, 1st and 2nd kings form a. List of major and minor prophets of the old testament. The jerusalem bible divides the two books of kings into eight sections. The books of kings were probably written during the time of judah s captivity in babylon which begins at the end of second kings. Josiah was followed by kings whose disastrous political decisions eventually brought the babylonian conqueror nebuchadnezzar ii against jerusalem 2 kgs.
427 1207 818 583 163 1212 247 332 33 1096 543 1473 611 1381 1453 349 465 463 1560 32 1451 1098 1564 1557 474 615 1083 781 367 416 375 1277 1401 1271 901 319 568 115 711 542 1367