Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: First and Second Kings

By Roger Tomes

This extract from the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible provides Tomes’ introduction to and concise commentary on First and Second Kings. The Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible presents, in nontechnical language, the best of modern scholarship on each book of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. Reader-friendly commentary complements succinct summaries of each section of the text and will be valuable to scholars, students, and general readers.
 
Rather than attempt a verse-by-verse analysis, these volumes work from larger sense units, highlighting the place of each passage within the overarching biblical story. Commentators focus on the genre of each text—parable, prophetic oracle, legal code, and so on—interpreting within the historical and literary context.
 
The volumes also address major issues within each biblical book—including the range of possible interpretations—and refer readers to the best resources for further discussions.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Release date: Jun 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781467453547

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1 and 2 Kings

Roger Tomes

INTRODUCTION

1 and 2 Kings and the Former Prophets. Although in the Septuagint (LXX) 1 and 2 Kings formed two books (under the titles 3 and 4 Kingdoms), in the Hebrew Bible (HB) they originally formed a single book, the fourth of the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings). It was composed according to a common plan, an account of the reigns of each of the kings of Israel and Judah. It may not originally have been intended as a continuation of the other Former Prophets, but it has at least been edited and read as such. There are frequent references back to the reign of David, including the promises made to him (2 Sam 7:1–17; cf. 1 Kgs 8:14–26) and the matter of Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11; cf. 1 Kgs 15:5). The fulfillment of the sentence on the house of Eli is noted (1 Sam 2:27–36; 3:11–14; cf. 1 Kgs 2:27); and the circumstances of the rebuilding of Jericho are treated as a fulfillment of a prediction by Joshua (Josh 6:26; cf. 1 Kgs 16:34). In the Lucianic recension of the LXX, 3 Kingdoms (= 1 Kings) begins at what we know as 2:12: this is probably not evidence that any Hebrew mss. divided Samuel from Kings at this point, but a recognition by readers that 1 Kgs 1:1–2:11 is as much a conclusion to the story told in Samuel as a beginning to the story told in Kings.

The Text: Hebrew and Greek. The text translated in the English versions is the Masoretic Hebrew text. The LXX has some significant departures from the MT. After 1 Kgs 2:35 and 46 scattered pieces of information are brought together to illustrate the theme of Solomon’s wisdom; the account of Solomon’s building projects in 1 Kgs 6:1–7:51 is rearranged so that the account of the building of the temple is not interrupted by the description of other buildings; the account of the division of the kingdom in 1 Kgs 11:26–12:24 is followed by an alternative version; and 1 Kings 20 and 21 are transposed. These variations are probably in the main editorial; it is unlikely that they represent a superior Hebrew original. (There are few fragments from Qumran, and none that supports the LXX against the MT.)

A Deuteronomistic Compilation. The story of how 1 and 2 Kings were compiled is a matter of conjecture, but certain reasonable deductions can be made from the text itself. The fundamental structure is a summary account of the reign of each king: when he began to reign; sometimes how old he was at his accession; how long he reigned; in the case of the kings of Judah who his mother was; a verdict on his reign; where further information could be found; how he met his death and where he was buried; and who succeeded him. The verdict on each reign is always confined to the king’s religious policy. If he encouraged the worship of foreign gods or even tolerated any cultic activities outside Jerusalem, he is judged to have done evil in the sight of Yahweh. Only if he carried out religious reforms is he judged to have done what was right in the sight of Yahweh. This focus on religious practice, and in particular on the unacceptability of worship outside Jerusalem, suggests the standpoint of Deuteronomy’s law of one sanctuary (Deut 12:1–14), and hence the compilation of 1 and 2 Kings is attributed to a member or members of the Deuteronomistic school. This supposition is supported by the prominence given to the discovery of the book of the law in Josiah’s reign and the congruity of his reforms with the injunctions of Deuteronomy (2 Kgs 22:1–23:25); by the Deuteronomistic language of some programmatic passages (1 Kgs 9:1–9; 2 Kgs 17:7–18); and by some more or less direct quotations from Deuteronomy (1 Kgs 11:2; 2 Kgs