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About this book: 2 Kings

Second Kings continues the story of the two kingdoms and follows them to their ends. It opens as Elijah is taken up and his successor Elisha begins a ministry of miracles that reach the poor, the sick and even foreign commanders. Meanwhile the kings of Israel and Judah mostly drift from the Lord. The northern kingdom falls to Assyria, and the writer explains plainly that the people had ignored warning after warning from the prophets. Judah lasts longer, helped by reforming kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah, but it too falls, as Babylon destroys Jerusalem and the temple and carries the people into exile. The book ends with a small, unexpected kindness to David's descendant in captivity, a quiet sign that the story is not finished. It is a hard book about consequences, written to explain the exile, yet it leaves room for mercy.

Author
Unknown; Jewish tradition names Jeremiah, and many scholars see a compiler working from royal records and prophetic accounts.
Date
The events run from roughly the 850s to 560 BC; the final form comes from the exile or soon after.
Audience
Israelites in exile, needing to understand why Jerusalem fell and whether God's promises to David still held.

Themes

Prophetic warningReform and relapseJudgment and exileA lingering hope for David's line

Outline

  1. 1:1–2:25Elijah departs, Elisha begins
  2. 3:1–8:29The ministry of Elisha
  3. 9:1–16:20Jehu and the two kingdoms
  4. 17:1–17:41The fall of the northern kingdom
  5. 18:1–20:21Hezekiah's faith
  6. 21:1–23:30Manasseh and Josiah's reform
  7. 23:31–25:30The fall of Jerusalem and exile

Key verses

About this chapterAfter King Ahaziah of Israel is injured in a fall, he sends messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, rather than the God of Israel. Elijah intercepts them and announces that Ahaziah will die. Twice the king sends a captain with fifty men to seize Elijah, and each group is consumed by fire from heaven. The third captain begs for mercy and is spared, and Elijah goes to the king and repeats the message. Ahaziah dies and, having no son, is succeeded by his brother Joram. The chapter shows the folly of seeking help from false gods while ignoring the true God, and the seriousness of opposing his messenger.

After King Ahaziah of Israel is injured in a fall, he sends messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, rather than the God of Israel. Elijah intercepts them and announces that Ahaziah will die. Twice the king sends a captain with fifty men to seize Elijah, and each group is consumed by fire from heaven. The third captain begs for mercy and is spared, and Elijah goes to the king and repeats the message. Ahaziah dies and, having no son, is succeeded by his brother Joram. The chapter shows the folly of seeking help from false gods while ignoring the true God, and the seriousness of opposing his messenger.

Themes

  • Turning to false gods
  • Humility versus arrogance
  • God's word fulfilled

Key verses

Audio Bible · 2 Kings 1

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2 Kings 1

Berean Standard Bible18 verses · 3 min read

1After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.” 3But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” So Elijah departed. 5When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 6They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” 7The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” 8“He was a hairy man, ” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king. 9Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’” 10Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men. 11So the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. And the captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down at once!’” 12Again Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men. 13So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. And the third captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, “Man of God, may my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours please be precious in your sight. 14Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty, with all their men. But now may my life be precious in your sight.” 15Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king. 16And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.” 17So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoram succeeded him in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah. 18As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
Verses in 2 Kings 1

Chapters of 2 Kings

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