Unknown; Jeremiah according to Jewish tradition. Written: Completed during the exile, after 560 BC (last event reported in 25:27)

History · Old Testament · 25 chapters

The book of 2 Kings

From two kingdoms to exile

Author: Unknown; Jeremiah according to Jewish tradition
Written: Completed during the exile, after 560 BC (last event reported in 25:27)
Time covered: About 300 years, from the reign of Ahaziah in Israel (around 853 BC) to the release of Jehoiachin in Babylon (around 560 BC)
Key word: Exile

Elijah is taken up to heaven, and Elisha, wearing his cloak, multiplies miracles: the widow’s oil, the Shunammite’s son brought back to life, Naaman healed of leprosy. Jehu exterminates the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal; in Judah, little Joash escapes Athaliah’s massacre. Israel sinks deeper into the sin of Jeroboam, and Samaria falls to Assyria. In Judah, Hezekiah prays and Jerusalem is delivered from Sennacherib. After Manasseh’s wickedness, Josiah rediscovers the book of the law and reforms the land. But judgment comes: Nebuchadnezzar burns the temple and deports Judah to Babylon.

Main theme

Despite Elisha’s miracles, the prophets’ warnings and the reforms of a few faithful kings, Israel and then Judah persist in idolatry: God hands them over to Assyria and Babylon, while keeping David’s line alive.

Outline

2 Kings 1-8 — Elisha’s ministry
Elijah’s departure and Elisha’s miracles in Israel.
2 Kings 9-17 — Israel until its fall
Jehu, Athaliah and Joash, the decline of Israel and the capture of Samaria by Assyria.
2 Kings 18-23 — Judah alone: revivals and relapses
Hezekiah delivered from Sennacherib, Manasseh’s wickedness and Josiah’s reform.
2 Kings 24-25 — The fall of Jerusalem
The last kings of Judah, the destruction of the temple and the exile to Babylon.

Key points

Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind; Elisha receives his cloak and continues his ministry (2:11-14).
Naaman the Syrian is healed of his leprosy by obeying a simple word: immerse himself seven times in the Jordan (5:14-15).
Jehu exterminates the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal, but keeps the golden calves of Jeroboam (10:28-29).
Joash, the only survivor of the royal family, is hidden six years in the temple: David’s line is preserved (11:2-3).
Samaria falls to Assyria, and Israel is deported for having rejected the prophets’ warnings (17:6, 13-14).
Hezekiah prays, and God delivers Jerusalem from Sennacherib: the angel of the LORD strikes the Assyrian camp in a single night (19:19, 35).
Josiah rediscovers the book of the law and leads the deepest reform in the history of Judah (22:8; 23:25).
Nebuchadnezzar burns the temple and Jerusalem, and takes the people into captivity in Babylon (25:9-11).

And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

2 Kings 2:9 — Elisha’s request: a double portion of Elijah’s spirit to carry on his work.

And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.

2 Kings 5:15 — The confession of Naaman, a healed foreigner who acknowledges the one true God.

Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.

2 Kings 17:13–14 — The reason for Israel’s fall: God had warned them through his prophets, but the people hardened their necks.

Jesus in 2 Kings

Elisha’s miracles foreshadow those of Jesus: twenty loaves feed a hundred men, “and they did eat, and left thereof” (4:42-44), a dead child is given back alive to his mother, and Jesus himself cites Naaman to show that God’s grace reaches the nations (Luke 4:27). The book ends with the release of Jehoiachin (25:27-29): David’s line survives the exile, and from it the Christ will be born (Matt 1:11-12).

Did you know?

Hezekiah’s tunnel (20:20), about 530 meters long, still exists in Jerusalem; an inscription discovered in 1880 tells how the two teams of diggers met.
Sennacherib’s annals, engraved on a clay prism, boast of having shut Hezekiah up in Jerusalem “like a bird in a cage,” but say not a word about taking the city.
Even after his death, Elisha performs a miracle: a man thrown into his tomb comes back to life on touching his bones (13:21).

Quiz on 2 Kings

How does Elijah leave the earth?

In which river must Naaman immerse himself to be healed?

Which empire takes Samaria and deports the people of Israel?

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start your free trial.