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THE BOOKS OF KINGS
The two Books of Kings are regarded by many as the last part of a work commonly known as the
Deuteronomistic History. The latter tells the story of Israel from its settlement in the land (Joshua and Judges)
through the transition from judgeship to monarchy under Samuel, Saul, and David (1 and 2 Samuel) to the
reign of Solomon, the disintegration of the united kingdom into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and the
eventual downfall of both kingdoms (1 and 2 Kings). The Deuteronomistic History along with the Pentateuch
forms a single historical narrative stretching from creation to exile.
The Books of Kings can be approached in several ways. They contain history and are an important source
of information about the Israelite kingdoms. They are also narrative that calls for careful reading; historical
accuracy is sometimes sacrificed to the demands of compelling characterization and dramatic tension. Most
importantly, both historical presentation and narrative creativity are shaped by a particular religious worldview.
The multifaceted character of the work means that it has a variety of focal points. The historical events
themselves, of course, are important, but the patterns according to which the author organizes those events
give a unity to the author's historical reconstruction. The northern kings are condemned without exception,
and the royal line degenerates from the divine election of Jeroboam I through a succession of short-lived
dynasties to the bloodbath of Jehu's coup d'etat, and finally dies out in a series of assassinations.
(It must be admitted that the author at times skews the story to preserve the pattern: the relatively prosperous forty-one-year reign of Jeroboam Ⅱ is dismissed in seven verses!) Judah's kings, on the other hand,
follow a cyclic pattern of infidelity followed by reform, with each reformer king (Asa, Joash, Hezekiah, Josiah)
greater than the last Unfortunately the apostate kings also progress in wickedness, until the evil of Manasseh
is so great that even Josiah's fidelity cannot turn away the Lord's wrath (2 Kgs 23:26).
As a literary work, the Books of Kings are admirable. Some of the brilliance is accessible only in Hebrew:
wordplays, the sounds and rhythms of poetic passages, verbal allusions to other passages of the Hebrew Bible. Scenes are drawn with a vibrancy and immediacy that English cannot reproduce without sounding overdone.
But other literary techniques survive translation: symmetrical structures for narrative units (and the disruptions of symmetry at significant points), rich ambiguities (see 1 Kgs 3:26), foreshadowings (such as the way the
prophet of Bethel and the man of God of Judah in 1 Kgs 13 portend the destinies of their respective kingdoms). Characterization is rich and complex (Solomon, Jeroboam, Elijah, Ahab, Elisha, Jehu, etc.),
revealing deep insight into human nature.
In offering a theological interpretation of history, 1-2 Kings upholds a double principle: the justification
of the political disintegration of the Davidic empire, and the necessity of the religious unity of the Lord's people. This double principle is, practically speaking, unrealistic; see Jeroboam I's reasonable assessment
in 1 Kgs 12:26-27. But for the Deuteronomistic historian, that is irrelevant. Just as the separation of the
kingdoms is the Lord's will (1 Kgs 12:22-24), so too is the centralization of worship at the Temple in Jerusalem
(1 Kgs 9:3; see Dt 12). 1-2 Kings reflects that double principle in its organization. The story of each king is told
integrally, whether the king is of Israel or Judah: both lines of kings are legitimate.
But the stories of the two lines are recounted in the order in which each king came to the throne, irrespective of which kingdom he ruled: there is only one people of God, though they are under two different royal jurisdictions. Moreover, each king is evaluated on theological grounds, with no allowance made for political or economic
successes or failures. All Israelite kings are condemned because they did not reverse Jeroboam I's sin of
setting up sanctuaries outside Jerusalem. Judahite kings are condemned for apostasy or praised for reform,
as the case may be; but a continuing source of irritation to the Deuteronomistic historian is the failure of even
the praiseworthy kings to do anything about local shrines outside Jerusalem (the "high places").
The Books of Kings may be divided as follows:
Ⅰ. The Reign of Solomon (1 Kgs 1:1-11:43)
Ⅱ. The Reign of Jeroboam (1 Kgs 12:1-14:20)
Ⅲ. Kings of Judah and Israel (1 Kgs 14:21-16:34)
Ⅳ. The Story of Elijah (1Kgs 17:1-19:21)
Ⅴ. The Story of Ahob (1 Kgs 20:1-2 Kgs 1:18)
Ⅵ. Elisha Succeeds Elijah (2 Kgs 2:1-25)
Ⅶ. Stories of Elisha and Joram (2 Kgs 3:1-9:13)
Ⅷ. The End of the Omrid Dynasty (2 Kgs 9:14-11:20)
Ⅸ. Kings of Judah and Israel (2 Kgs 12:1-17:5)
Ⅹ. The End of Israel (2 Kgs 17:6-41)
ⅩⅠ. The End of Judah (2 Kgs 18:1-25:30)
THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS
Ⅰ. The Reign of Solomon
1
David's Old Age.
1. When King David was old and advanced in years,
though they covered him with blankets he could not get warm.
2. His servants therefore said to him,
"Let a young virgin be sought to attend my lord the king, and to nurse him.
If she sleeps with you, my lord the king will be warm."
3. So they sought for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel,
and found Abishag the Shunamite. So they brought her to the king.
4. The girl was very beautiful indeed, and she nursed the king and took care of him.
But the king did not have relations with her.
Adonijah's Ambition.
5. Adonijah, son of Haggith, boasted, "I shall be king!"
and he provided himself with chariots, horses, and a retinue of fifty to go before him.
6. Yet his father would never antagonize him by asking, "Why are you doing this?"
Adonijah was also very handsome, and next in age to Absalom by the same mother.
7. He consulted with Joab, son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest,
and they became Adonijah's supporters.
8. However, Zadok the priest, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet,
Shimei and Rei, and David's warriors did not support Adonijah.
9. Adonijah slaughtered sheep, oxen, and fatlings at the stone Zoheleth near En-rogel
and invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah;
10. but he did not invite Nathan the prophet, or Benaiah, or the warriors, or Solomon his brother.
Solomon Proclaimed King.
11. Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother:
"Have you not heard that Adonijah, son of Haggith, has become king,
and our lord David does not know?
12. Come now, let me advise you
so that you may save your life and the life of your son Solomon.
13. Go, visit King David, and say to him,
'Did you not, my lord king, swear to your handmaid: Your son Solomon shall be king after me;
it is he who shall sit upon my throne? Why, then, has Adonijah become king?'
14. And while you are still there speaking to the king,
I will come in after you and confirm your words."
15. So Bathsheba visited the king in his room.
The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunamite was caring for the king.
16. Bathsheba bowed in homage to the king. The king said to her, "What do you wish?"
17. She answered him: "My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD, your God,
'Solomon your son will be king after me; it is he who shall sit upon my throne.'
18. But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord king, do not know it.
19. He has sacrificed bulls, fatlings, and sheep in great numbers;
he has invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab,
the commander of the army, but not your servant Solomon.
20. Now, my lord king, all Israel is looking to you to declare to them
who is to sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him.
21. If this is not done, when my lord the king rests with his ancestors,
I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals."
22. While she was still speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet came in.
23. They told the king, "Nathan the prophet is here."
He entered the king's presence and did him homage, bowing to the floor.
24. Then Nathan said: "My lord king, did you say,
'Adonijah shall be king after me and shall sit upon my throne'?
25. For today he went down and sacrificed bulls, fatlings, and sheep in great numbers;
he invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest,
and even now they are eating and drinking in his company and saying,
'Long live King Adonijah!'
26. But me, your servant, he did not invite; nor Zadok the priest,
nor Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.
27. If this was done by order of my lord the king, you did not tell me,
your servant, who is to sit upon the throne of my lord the king after him."
28. King David answered, "Call Bathsheba here."
When she entered the king's presence and stood before him,
29. the king swore, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,
30. this very day I will fulfill the oath I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel,
'Your son Solomen shall be king after me and shall sit upon my throne in my place.'"
31. Bowing to the floor in homage to the king,
Bathsheba said, "May my lord, King David, live forever!"
32. Then King David said, "Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet,
and Benaiah, son of Jehoiada." When they had entered the king's presence,
33. he said to them: "Take with you the royal officials.
Mount my son Solomon upon my own mule and escort him down to Gihon.
34. There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet shall anoint him king over Israel,
and you shall blow the ram's horn and cry, 'Long live King Solomon!'
35. When you come back up with him, he is to go in and sit upon my throne.
It is he that shall be king in my place: him I designate ruler of Israel and of Judah."
36. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, answered the king:
"So be it! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so decree!
37. As the LORD has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon,
and make his throne even greater than that of my lord, King David!"
38. So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada,
and the Cherethites and Pelethites went down,
and mounting Solomon on King David's mule, escorted him to Gihon.
39. Then Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon.
They blew the ram's horn and all the people shouted, "Long live King Solomon!"
40. Then all the people went up after him,
playing flutes and rejoicing so much the earth split with their shouting.
Adonijah Submits to Solomon.
41. Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it,
just as they ended their banquet.
When Joab heard the sound of the ram's horn, he asked, "Why this uproar in the city?"
42. As he was speaking, Jonathan, son on Abiathar the priest, arrived.
Adonijah said, "Come, you are a man of worth and must bring good news."
43. Jonathan answered Adonijah, "Hardly! Our lord, King David, has made Solomon king.
44. The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet,
Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and Pelethites,
and they mounted him upon the king's own mule.
45. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king at Gihon,
and they went up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar.
That is the noise you hear.
46. Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne,
47. and moreover the king's servants have come to
pay their respects to our lord, King David, saying,
'May your God make Solomon's name more famous than your name,
his throne greater than your throne!' And the king in his bed did homage.
48. This is what the king said: 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who has this day provided one to sit upon my throne, so that I see it with my own eyes.'"
49. All the guests of Adonijah got up trembling, and went each their way,
50. but Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to grasp the horns of the altar.
51. It was reported to Solomon: "Adonijah, in fear of King Solomon,
is clinging to the horns of the altar and saying,
'Let King Solomon first swear that he will not kill me, his servant, with the sword.'"
52. Solomon answered, "If he proves worthy, not a hair of his shall fall to the ground.
But if evil is found in him, he shall die."
53. King Solomon sent to have him brought down from the altar,
and he came and paid homage to King Solomon.
Solomon then said to him, "Go to your house."