2 Kings: The Fall of Two Kingdoms

2 Kings at a Glance

Second Kings finishes the story that 1 Kings began. In the Hebrew Bible the two were one book. Together they tell how a people God had blessed with a land, a temple, and a king from David's house chose idols instead, and how He kept His word when they would not listen.

• Author. The book does not name him. Jewish tradition points to Jeremiah, and the closing verses of 2 Kings nearly match Jeremiah 52:31–34. We hold that a prophet wrote it under inspiration, using royal records the book itself names, such as the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah (2 Kings 24:5).
• Date. The events run from about 852 BC to 561 BC. The last scene is Jehoiachin's release in 561 BC (2 Kings 25:27), so the book was finished after that, probably in the exile.
• Written To. The exiles of Judah in Babylon, who needed to understand why Jerusalem fell and whether God had finished with David's house.
• Setting. Two kingdoms side by side: Israel in the north, with Samaria as its capital, and Judah in the south, with Jerusalem. First Assyria and then Babylon rise over them.
• Key Verse. Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, the prophets cried (2 Kings 17:13).
• Key Word or Theme. Judgment after long warning. The LORD does what He said He would do, and yet a lamp stays lit for David.