The First Book of the Kings

In the Hebrew text, 1 and 2 Kings are one book called Kings. The division of this book into two books was first done in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) and followed in most later versions of the Bible. These two books are a continuation of 1 and 2 Samuel (subtitles show they are “commonly called” the third and fourth book of Kings) and contain the history of Israel’s kings from the ministry of Samuel (approximately 1095 B.C.) to the Babylonian captivity (approximately 587 B.C.). Whoever wrote Kings compiled the history from records that are no longer available, such as “the book of the acts of Solomon” (1 Kings 11:41) and the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah (see 1 Kings 14:19, 29; see also Bible Dictionary, “kings, books of,” p. 721).

The first half of 1 Kings tells the story of Solomon, first as a leader of Israel at a time of unprecedented success and later as a spiritually fallen leader who led his people down the same path. By the end of Solomon’s reign, Israel experienced a temporal and spiritual decline that resulted in the division of his kingdom within a year of his death. As you read, identify and consider the reasons for Solomon’s and Israel’s tragic fall.

The second half of 1 Kings tells of Israel’s divided kingdom. It relates some political history, but it is more a history of how political leaders kept the covenants God made with Israel. The major focus is on those kings who were most notable in either keeping or not keeping the covenants and on the prophets who preached to them. We can learn lessons from both the good and bad examples in 1 Kings.

• 1 Kings 1–10

• 1 Kings 11–16

• 1 Kings 17–22