2 Kings

Part One: Introduction to 2 Kings

The Book

2 Kings is the second half of the original single book of Kings, continuing directly from 1 Kings. The King James Version calls it "The Second Book of the Kings, commonly called the Fourth Book of the Kings." Jewish tradition credits Jeremiah as the author; the book was completed during the Babylonian exile, around 560 BC, since its last event is the release of King Jehoiachin from prison in the 37th year of his captivity (25:27-30).

Period Covered

2 Kings covers about 300 years, from the reign of Ahaziah of Israel (around 853 BC) to Jehoiachin's release in Babylon (around 560 BC). It records two national catastrophes:

• The fall of Israel (the northern kingdom) to Assyria in 722 BC (chapter 17).
• The fall of Judah (the southern kingdom) to Babylon, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586 BC (chapter 25).

Purpose and Theme

2 Kings explains why God's people lost the land He had given them. The answer is stated plainly: persistent idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness, despite repeated warnings from God's prophets.

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... Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks

2 Kings 17:13-14

The book shows God's patience (He sent prophet after prophet over centuries), His justice (the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 fell exactly as warned), His mercy to individuals who turned to Him (Naaman, the Shunammite, Hezekiah, Josiah), and His faithfulness to David (the royal line survived even in exile).

The World Around Israel

Prophets During 2 Kings

Kings in 2 Kings

Dates are approximate; some reigns overlapped as co-regencies.

Confirmation from Archaeology

2 Kings is one of the most externally confirmed books of the Old Testament:

• The Moabite Stone (Mesha Stele) records Mesha king of Moab's revolt against Israel (chapter 3) and names Omri.
• The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III shows "Jehu son of Omri" bowing before the Assyrian king, the only known picture of an Israelite king.
• Assyrian annals of Tiglath-pileser III name Menahem, Pekah, Hoshea and Ahaz paying tribute (15-16).
• Sargon II claimed the capture of Samaria and deportation of its people (17).
• Sennacherib's Prism describes his 701 BC campaign against Hezekiah, boasting he shut him up in Jerusalem "like a bird in a cage," but does not claim to have taken the city (18-19). The Lachish reliefs in his palace show the siege of Lachish (18:14).
• The Siloam Tunnel inscription records the digging of Hezekiah's water tunnel (20:20).
• The Babylonian Chronicle dates Nebuchadnezzar's capture of Jerusalem and Jehoiachin to March 597 BC (24:10-12).
• Babylonian ration tablets list food allowances for "Jehoiachin, king of Judah" and his sons (25:27-30).

Outline of 2 Kings

Part Two: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Section I: The Ministry of Elisha (Chapters 1-8)

Chapter 1 — Ahaziah and the Fire from Heaven

Ahaziah, Ahab's son, fell through a lattice in his upper room and was badly injured. He sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether he would recover (1:2). The angel of the LORD sent Elijah to meet them: "Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?... Thou shalt not come down from that bed... but shalt surely die" (1:3-4). The name Baal-zebub ("lord of the flies") later became "Beelzebub," the Pharisees' name for the prince of devils (Matthew 12:24). The king sent a captain with fifty men to arrest Elijah; twice Elijah called down fire from heaven and consumed them (1:9-12). The third captain humbled himself and begged for mercy, and Elijah went with him and delivered the same message (1:13-16). Ahaziah died, and his brother Jehoram became king (1:17). When James and John wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village "as Elias did," Jesus rebuked them: "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:54-56).

Chapter 2 — Elijah Taken Up; Elisha's Double Portion

As God prepared to take Elijah to heaven "by a whirlwind," Elijah walked from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan, each time telling Elisha to stay behind. Each time Elisha answered, "As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee" (2:2, 4, 6). Elijah struck the Jordan with his mantle, and they crossed on dry ground (2:8). Elijah asked, "Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee." Elisha answered:

I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

2 Kings 2:9

The "double portion" was the inheritance of the firstborn son (Deuteronomy 21:17); Elisha was asking to be Elijah's true successor. "Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so" (2:10). Then "there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (2:11). Elisha cried, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof" (2:12): Elijah had been Israel's true defence. Elijah, like Enoch (Genesis 5:24), went to heaven without dying.

Elisha took up the fallen mantle, struck the Jordan, and asked, "Where is the LORD God of Elijah?" The waters parted (2:13-14). The sons of the prophets recognised, "The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha" (2:15). At Jericho he healed the bad water with salt in a new bowl (2:19-22). At Bethel, the centre of calf worship, a crowd of young men (the Hebrew word can describe youths, not only small children) mocked him: "Go up, thou bald head" (2:23), ridiculing God's prophet and perhaps Elijah's ascension. Elisha cursed them in the LORD's name, and two she bears mauled 42 of them (2:24). God's prophet and God's work were not to be despised.

Elijah's ascension pictures Christ's: the master taken up, the disciple watching, and the Spirit given to continue his work (Acts 1:9-11; 2:33). Jesus told His disciples, "greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (John 14:12).

Chapter 3 — Victory over Moab

Mesha king of Moab, who had paid Israel a huge yearly tribute of sheep and wool, rebelled after Ahab's death (3:4-5). Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom marched against him through the wilderness and ran out of water (3:6-10). At Jehoshaphat's request they consulted Elisha, who said he would not even look at Jehoram "were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat" (3:13-14). While a minstrel played, the word came: "Make this valley full of ditches... that valley shall be filled with water... and he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand" (3:16-18). The next morning water filled the ditches. The rising sun made it look like blood, and the Moabites, thinking the kings had slaughtered each other, rushed in to plunder and were routed (3:20-25). In desperation Mesha sacrificed his eldest son as a burnt offering on the city wall, and the armies withdrew (3:26-27). The Moabite Stone records Mesha's side of this conflict.

Chapter 4 — Miracles of Life and Provision

The widow's oil (4:1-7). A prophet's widow was about to lose her two sons as slaves to a creditor. She had nothing but a pot of oil. Elisha told her to borrow empty vessels, "not a few," shut the door, and pour. The oil flowed until there were no more vessels (4:3-6). She sold the oil, paid the debt, and lived on the rest. God's supply was limited only by the vessels she brought.

The Shunammite woman (4:8-37). A "great woman" of Shunem showed hospitality to Elisha and, with her husband, built him a small room with a bed, table, stool and candlestick (4:8-10). Elisha promised her a son, and the childless woman bore one (4:16-17). Years later the boy died in her lap (4:18-20). She laid him on the prophet's bed and rode to Elisha, saying only, "It is well" (4:23, 26). Gehazi's attempt with Elisha's staff failed (4:31). Elisha shut the door, prayed, and stretched himself on the child; the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes (4:32-35). "Women received their dead raised to life again" (Hebrews 11:35).

Death in the pot (4:38-41). During a famine, someone added poisonous wild gourds to a stew. Elisha added meal, "and there was no harm in the pot."

Feeding a hundred (4:42-44). With twenty barley loaves, Elisha fed a hundred men: "They shall eat, and shall leave thereof," and they did. Jesus would later feed five thousand with five barley loaves, with twelve baskets left over (John 6:9-13).

Chapter 5 — Naaman the Leper

Naaman, commander of the Syrian army, was "a great man... and honourable... but he was a leper" (5:1). A little Israelite girl, taken captive in a raid, said to her mistress, "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy" (5:2-3). The king of Syria sent Naaman with a letter and great wealth to the king of Israel, who tore his clothes: "Am I God, to kill and to make alive?" (5:5-7). Elisha sent for Naaman, but did not even come out to meet him; he sent a message: "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean" (5:10).

Naaman was furious. He had expected the prophet to come out and wave his hand over him. "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" (5:11-12). His servants reasoned with him: "if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?" (5:13). He humbled himself, dipped seven times, "and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean" (5:14). Naaman returned and confessed, "now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel" (5:15). Elisha refused any payment (5:16). Naaman asked for two mules' load of Israelite earth to worship the LORD in Syria, and for pardon when duty required him to accompany his master into the temple of Rimmon; Elisha said, "Go in peace" (5:17-19).

But Elisha's servant Gehazi ran after Naaman, lied that visitors had come, and took silver and clothing, hiding them (5:20-24). Elisha confronted him: "Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments...?" Naaman's leprosy came on Gehazi, "and he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow" (5:26-27). Jesus cited Naaman: "many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:27). See Part Three for Naaman as a picture of salvation.

Chapter 6 — The Floating Axe Head, Opened Eyes, and the Siege of Samaria

When the sons of the prophets were building a larger meeting place, a borrowed axe head fell into the Jordan. Elisha cut a stick, threw it in, "and the iron did swim" (6:1-7). God cares about small losses, too.

The king of Syria kept planning ambushes, but Elisha kept warning the king of Israel (6:8-10). Learning that Elisha was the cause, the Syrian king sent a great army to surround Dothan by night (6:11-14). Elisha's servant woke to see the city surrounded: "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" (6:15).

And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

2 Kings 6:16-17

Faith sees unseen realities (2 Corinthians 4:18; Hebrews 1:14). Elisha then prayed that the Syrians be struck with blindness, led them into Samaria, and when the king of Israel wanted to kill them, said, "set bread and water before them" (6:18-22). They were fed and sent home, and the raids stopped for a time (6:23). "If thine enemy hunger, feed him" (Romans 12:20; Proverbs 25:21).

Later Ben-hadad besieged Samaria, and the famine became so severe that a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver (6:24-25). Two mothers agreed to eat their sons, a horror foretold in the covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28:53-57). The king, hearing it, tore his clothes, revealing sackcloth underneath, and vowed to kill Elisha, blaming God's prophet for God's judgment (6:26-33).

Chapter 7 — Four Lepers and a Day of Good Tidings

Elisha prophesied that by the next day, fine flour and barley would sell cheaply in Samaria's gate (7:1). A royal officer scoffed: "if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?" Elisha answered, "thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof" (7:2). Four lepers outside the gate reasoned, "Why sit we here until we die?" and went to surrender to the Syrians (7:3-4). They found the camp empty: "the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses," and they had fled, leaving everything (7:6-7). The lepers ate, drank and hid treasure, then stopped:

We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace... now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.

2 Kings 7:9

This is a strong picture of every believer's duty to share the gospel (Romans 10:14-15). The city was fed, the prices fell exactly as Elisha said, and the scoffing officer was trampled to death in the gate, having seen the food but not eaten it (7:16-20).

Chapter 8 — The Shunammite's Land; Hazael; Kings of Judah

Elisha had warned the Shunammite of a seven-year famine; she lived in Philistia, and on returning found her land taken (8:1-3). At the very moment she came to the king to appeal, Gehazi was telling him how Elisha had raised her son. The king restored her land and all its produce (8:4-6): providence perfectly timed.

In Damascus, the sick Ben-hadad sent Hazael with forty camels of gifts to ask Elisha if he would recover (8:7-9). Elisha said he would not die of the sickness, yet would die, and then stared at Hazael until Hazael was ashamed, and wept: "I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel" (8:11-12). Hazael said, "But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" Elisha replied, "The LORD hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria" (8:13). The next day Hazael smothered Ben-hadad and took the throne (8:15). Men rarely know the evil in their own hearts (Jeremiah 17:9).

In Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat married Ahab's daughter (Athaliah) and "walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab" (8:16-18). One political marriage brought Baal worship into Judah. "Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children" (8:19). Edom revolted and set up its own king (8:20-22), fulfilling Isaac's word that Esau would break Jacob's yoke (Genesis 27:40). Jehoram's son Ahaziah reigned one year and joined Jehoram of Israel against Hazael at Ramoth-gilead (8:25-29).

Section II: Israel and Judah to the Fall of Samaria (Chapters 9-17)

Chapter 9 — Jehu Anointed; Jezebel's End

Elisha sent one of the sons of the prophets to Ramoth-gilead to anoint Jehu, a commander, as king of Israel, with a mission: "thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets... at the hand of Jezebel" (9:1-7), as God had told Elijah (1 Kings 19:16). The officers proclaimed Jehu king (9:13). Jehu drove toward Jezreel, and the watchman recognised him: "the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously" (9:20). He shot King Jehoram through the heart and had his body thrown into the field of Naboth, fulfilling the word spoken to Ahab (9:24-26; 1 Kings 21:19-29). He also had Ahaziah of Judah, Ahab's grandson, killed (9:27).

Jezebel painted her eyes, adorned her head, and taunted Jehu from a window: "Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?" (9:30-31; 1 Kings 16:9-18). At Jehu's call, two or three eunuchs threw her down; she was trampled, and when they went to bury her, they found only her skull, feet and palms. Jehu said, "This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel" (9:33-37; 1 Kings 21:23).

Chapter 10 — Jehu Destroys Ahab's House and Baal Worship

Jehu demanded the heads of Ahab's seventy sons in Samaria, and the leaders sent them in baskets (10:1-10). He killed the rest of Ahab's family, officials and priests in Jezreel (10:11), and 42 relatives of Ahaziah of Judah (10:12-14). He took Jehonadab son of Rechab into his chariot: "Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?... Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD" (10:15-16). Jehonadab's descendants, the Rechabites, later became an example of faithfulness (Jeremiah 35). Jehu then pretended to be a greater Baal worshipper than Ahab, gathered all Baal's prophets and priests into Baal's temple, and had them all killed; the temple was destroyed and made a latrine (10:18-28). "Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel" (10:28).

But "from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves" (10:29). God rewarded his obedience with four generations on the throne (10:30; fulfilled in 15:12), but "Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart" (10:31). His zeal was partial and served his own power. A century later, Hosea announced judgment on Jehu's house "for the blood of Jezreel" (Hosea 1:4): God commanded the judgment, but He also saw Jehu's motives and excess. Zeal for God that does not lead to wholehearted obedience is not enough. "In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short," as Hazael took the land east of the Jordan (10:32-33). Jehu reigned 28 years (10:36). The Black Obelisk shows him paying tribute to Shalmaneser III.

Chapter 11 — Athaliah and the Hidden Prince

When Athaliah, Ahab and Jezebel's daughter and mother of Ahaziah of Judah, saw that her son was dead, she "arose and destroyed all the seed royal" (11:1) and seized the throne of Judah. It was the closest the line of David ever came to extinction, a satanic attempt to destroy the line of the promised Messiah (compare Revelation 12:4). But Jehosheba, Ahaziah's sister and wife of the high priest Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 22:11), hid the baby Joash, and he was hidden in the house of the LORD for six years (11:2-3). In the seventh year, Jehoiada organised the guards and Levites, brought out the boy, "put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king" (11:4-12). Athaliah cried, "Treason, Treason," and was executed outside the temple (11:13-16). Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD, the king and the people "that they should be the LORD'S people," and the people destroyed Baal's temple and killed Mattan, Baal's priest (11:17-18). The lamp of David survived through a hidden child.

Chapter 12 — Joash Repairs the Temple

Joash became king at seven and reigned forty years. "And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him" (12:2). He ordered the temple repaired, but after many years the priests had done nothing (12:4-7). So Jehoiada put a chest with a hole in its lid beside the altar, and the people's offerings were given directly to the workmen, who "dealt faithfully" (12:9-15). When Hazael of Syria threatened Jerusalem, Joash bought him off with the temple's treasures (12:17-18). His servants assassinated him (12:20-21). 2 Chronicles 24:17-22 adds that after Jehoiada died, Joash turned to idols and had Jehoiada's son Zechariah stoned in the temple court for rebuking him; Jesus referred to this murder (Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51). Joash's faith depended on his mentor; when Jehoiada died, Joash's godliness died with him.

Chapter 13 — Elisha's Last Days

Under Jehoahaz of Israel, Hazael oppressed Israel severely. "And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him... And the LORD gave Israel a saviour" (13:4-5), though Israel still did not turn from Jeroboam's sins (13:6). When Elisha was dying, King Jehoash of Israel wept over him: "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof" (13:14), the same words Elisha had spoken of Elijah. Elisha had the king shoot an arrow eastward, "The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance," and then strike the ground with arrows. The king struck only three times. Elisha was angry: "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice" (13:15-19). Half-hearted faith receives half-hearted results.

Elisha died and was buried. Later, a burial party, frightened by Moabite raiders, threw a dead man into Elisha's tomb; "when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet" (13:20-21). Even in death, God's prophet was associated with life, pointing to the One whose death gives life to all who are joined to Him (Romans 6:4-5). "And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them... because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (13:23). Jehoash defeated Syria three times, exactly as Elisha said (13:25).

Chapter 14 — Amaziah and Jeroboam II

Amaziah of Judah "did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father" (14:3). He executed his father's murderers, "But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses... The fathers shall not be put to death for the children" (14:6; Deuteronomy 24:16). After defeating Edom (14:7), he proudly challenged Jehoash of Israel, who answered with a fable: a thistle asked a cedar for its daughter as a wife for its son, and a wild beast trampled the thistle (14:8-10). Amaziah would not listen; Judah was defeated, Jerusalem's wall broken down, and the temple and palace plundered (14:11-14). Pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18). He was later assassinated at Lachish (14:19).

In Israel, Jeroboam II reigned 41 years, the longest of any northern king, and "restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher" (14:25). This confirms Jonah as a real historical prophet (compare Matthew 12:39-41). "For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter... And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam" (14:26-27). It was a time of prosperity, but also of luxury, injustice and empty religion, condemned by Amos and Hosea (Amos 6:1-7; Hosea 4:1-2).

Chapter 15 — Rapid Decline in Israel

Azariah (also called Uzziah) reigned 52 years in Judah and did right, but the LORD struck him with leprosy until his death (15:1-5); 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 explains he had proudly entered the temple to burn incense, a priest's role. Isaiah saw his vision of the LORD "In the year that king Uzziah died" (Isaiah 6:1). Jotham, his son, also did right (15:32-35).

In Israel, the dynasty of Jehu ended with Zechariah, assassinated after six months, fulfilling God's word that Jehu's sons would reign to the fourth generation (15:8-12). Then came a rapid series of murders: Shallum reigned one month; Menahem killed him and paid Pul (Tiglath-pileser III) of Assyria a thousand talents of silver to secure his throne (15:13-20); his son Pekahiah was killed by Pekah (15:23-26). In Pekah's days, Tiglath-pileser took Galilee and the land of Naphtali and deported its people (15:29), the first great deportation from Israel (about 733 BC). Isaiah foresaw that this same despised region, "Galilee of the nations," would see a great light (Isaiah 9:1-2), fulfilled when Jesus ministered there (Matthew 4:13-16). Hoshea killed Pekah and became Israel's last king (15:30). Rezin of Syria and Pekah began attacking Judah (15:37).

Chapter 16 — Ahaz's Apostasy

Ahaz of Judah "did not that which was right... but walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen" (16:2-3). When Rezin and Pekah besieged Jerusalem, Isaiah urged Ahaz to trust God and gave the sign of Immanuel (Isaiah 7:1-14). Instead, Ahaz sent the temple's silver and gold to Tiglath-pileser, saying, "I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me" (16:7). Assyria took Damascus and killed Rezin (16:9; compare Amos 1:5). Visiting Tiglath-pileser in Damascus, Ahaz admired a pagan altar, sent its design to Urijah the priest to copy, and replaced God's bronze altar with it in the temple, moving the bronze altar aside for his own divination (16:10-15). He removed temple furnishings and changed the temple "for the king of Assyria" (16:17-18). Compromise with the world led to the redesign of worship itself.

Chapter 17 — The Fall of Samaria and Its Causes

Hoshea became a vassal of Shalmaneser king of Assyria, then secretly sought help from So king of Egypt and stopped paying tribute (17:3-4). Shalmaneser imprisoned him and besieged Samaria for three years. "In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria," settling them in Halah, by the river Habor, and in the cities of the Medes (17:5-6). The year was 722 BC. The northern kingdom ended after about 210 years and nineteen kings, none of whom were good.

The writer then gives God's explanation (17:7-23):

• "The children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt" (17:7): ingratitude for redemption.
• They "walked in the statutes of the heathen" (17:8), built high places "in all their cities" (17:9), set up images and groves "on every high hill, and under every green tree" (17:10), and "served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing" (17:12).
• God warned them "by all the prophets, and by all the seers" (17:13), but "they would not hear, but hardened their necks" (17:14).
• "They followed vanity, and became vain" (17:15): people become like what they worship (Psalm 115:8).
• They made the calves, worshipped "all the host of heaven," served Baal, sacrificed their children, used divination and enchantments, "and sold themselves to do evil" (17:16-17).

Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God

2 Kings 17:18-19

The root was Jeroboam's sin: "Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin" (17:21-23).

The king of Assyria resettled the land with people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath and Sepharvaim (17:24). When lions attacked them, an Israelite priest was sent back to teach them "the manner of the God of the land" (17:25-28). The result was mixed religion: "They feared the LORD, and served their own gods" (17:33, 41). These people became the ancestors of the Samaritans. By Jesus' day, Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with one another (John 4:9), and Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). Yet Jesus reached out to Samaritans (John 4:39-42; Luke 10:33; 17:16), and the gospel went to Samaria (Acts 1:8; 8:5-25).

Section III: Judah Alone to the Fall of Jerusalem (Chapters 18-25)

Chapter 18 — Hezekiah's Trust and Sennacherib's Threat

Hezekiah began to reign at 25 and reigned 29 years (18:2).

He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him

2 Kings 18:5-6

He removed the high places, broke the images, cut down the groves, "and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan" (18:4), meaning "a piece of brass." Even a God-given symbol (Numbers 21:8-9) becomes an idol when worshipped. Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria and defeated the Philistines (18:7-8). The fall of Samaria is recounted (18:9-12).

In Hezekiah's fourteenth year (701 BC), Sennacherib king of Assyria took all the fortified cities of Judah (18:13). Hezekiah paid 300 talents of silver and 30 of gold, even stripping the gold from the temple doors (18:14-16), but Sennacherib sent his officials with an army to Jerusalem anyway. Rabshakeh stood by the conduit of the upper pool and mocked Judah's trust: Egypt was "this bruised reed" (18:21); Hezekiah had removed the LORD's altars (18:22, misunderstanding the reforms); and the LORD Himself had sent Assyria (18:25). When asked to speak in Aramaic, he shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall: "Let not Hezekiah deceive you... neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD" (18:26-30). "Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?... that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?" (18:33-35). The people held their peace as the king had commanded (18:36). Isaiah 36 records the same events.

Chapter 19 — Hezekiah's Prayer and God's Deliverance

Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, went into the house of the LORD, and sent to Isaiah the prophet (19:1-2). Isaiah answered, "Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard... Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land" (19:6-7). Sennacherib sent a threatening letter. Hezekiah "went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD" (19:14) and prayed:

O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth... Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.

2 Kings 19:15, 19

God answered through Isaiah with a poem of judgment on Sennacherib's pride: "Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed?... even against the Holy One of Israel" (19:22). Assyria's conquests were only what God had planned (19:25). "I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest" (19:28). A remnant of Judah would again take root downward and bear fruit upward; "the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this" (19:30-31). "He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there... For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake" (19:32-34).

And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand

2 Kings 19:35

Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, and while he worshipped in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and Esarhaddon reigned (19:36-37). Sennacherib's own records boast of shutting Hezekiah up "like a bird in a cage" but never claim to have taken Jerusalem; Assyrian records also confirm he was murdered by his sons (around 681 BC). Psalms 46 and 48 may celebrate this deliverance: "God is our refuge and strength" (Psalm 46:1).

Chapter 20 — Hezekiah's Illness, Healing and Pride

Hezekiah became deathly ill, and Isaiah told him, "Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live" (20:1). Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, prayed and wept bitterly (20:2-3). Before Isaiah had left the middle court, God sent him back: "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee... And I will add unto thy days fifteen years" (20:5-6). A poultice of figs was applied (20:7): God often works through means. As a sign, the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz went back ten degrees (20:8-11).

Then Berodach-baladan (Merodach-baladan) of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present, and Hezekiah proudly "shewed them all the house of his precious things... there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not" (20:12-13). 2 Chronicles 32:25, 31 explains that "his heart was lifted up" and "God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." Isaiah announced, "Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house... shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left... And of thy sons... shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon" (20:16-18). This was fulfilled over a century later (24:13; Daniel 1:3-7). Hezekiah's response was strangely complacent: "Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?" (20:19). During his extra fifteen years, his son Manasseh was born (21:1). His great water project, "how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city" (20:20), is Hezekiah's Tunnel in Jerusalem, whose inscription was discovered in 1880.

Chapter 21 — Manasseh and Amon: The Point of No Return

Manasseh became king at twelve and reigned 55 years, the longest reign in Judah's history and the most wicked. He rebuilt the high places his father destroyed, set up altars to Baal and a grove "as did Ahab," worshipped all the host of heaven, built pagan altars in the temple courts, made his son pass through the fire, practised witchcraft and consulted mediums, and set a carved image of the grove (Asherah) in the house of God itself (21:2-7). "Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel" (21:9). "Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another" (21:16). Jewish tradition holds that Isaiah was martyred in his reign (compare Hebrews 11:37).

God pronounced Jerusalem's doom: "I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria... and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies" (21:13-14). 2 Chronicles 33:11-17 adds a remarkable account of grace: the Assyrians took Manasseh to Babylon in chains, where "he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly," and God restored him to Jerusalem; "Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God." The worst king in Judah's history found mercy when he repented (1 Timothy 1:15). But the damage to the nation was done. His son Amon did evil for two years and was assassinated; the people made Josiah king (21:19-26).

Chapter 22 — Josiah and the Book of the Law

Josiah became king at eight and reigned 31 years, and "did that which was right in the sight of the LORD... and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left" (22:1-2). 2 Chronicles 34:3 says he began to seek God at sixteen. In his eighteenth year, while the temple was being repaired, Hilkiah the high priest said, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD" (22:8). God's Word had been lost in God's house. The scribe Shaphan read it to the king (22:10), and when Josiah heard the words, "he rent his clothes" (22:11). He sent to Huldah the prophetess, who confirmed that judgment would fall on Jerusalem for its idolatry, "Because they have forsaken me" (22:15-17). But to Josiah: "Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD... thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place" (22:19-20). Many believe the book found was Deuteronomy, or the whole Pentateuch, since its curses matched Josiah's response.

Chapter 23 — Josiah's Reformation

Josiah gathered all the people, read "all the words of the book of the covenant," and made a covenant "to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul" (23:1-3). Then came the most thorough reformation in Judah's history:

• He burned the vessels made for Baal, the grove and the host of heaven, and removed the idolatrous priests (23:4-5).
• He destroyed the houses of the cult prostitutes in the temple (23:7).
• He defiled Topheth in the valley of Hinnom, "that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech" (23:10).
• He removed the horses and chariots dedicated to the sun (23:11) and destroyed the altars Ahaz and Manasseh had built (23:12).
• He defiled the high places Solomon had built for Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Milcom on "the mount of corruption" (23:13).
• At Bethel he broke down Jeroboam's altar and burned on it bones taken from the tombs, "according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words" (23:15-16), fulfilling the prophecy given about 300 years earlier that named him (1 Kings 13:2). He spared the tomb of that man of God (23:17-18).
• He removed the high places throughout Samaria (23:19-20) and put away mediums and idols (23:24).

He also kept a great Passover: "Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges" (23:21-23).

And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

2 Kings 23:25

"Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath... because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal" (23:26). Josiah's reform delayed but did not cancel judgment; the people's hearts had not truly changed (Jeremiah 3:10). In 609 BC Josiah went out against Pharaoh-nechoh at Megiddo and was killed (23:29). 2 Chronicles 35:20-25 says he would not listen to Necho's warning, and Jeremiah lamented for him. The people made his son Jehoahaz king, but after three months Necho deposed him and took him to Egypt, made his brother Eliakim king, renamed him Jehoiakim, and imposed heavy tribute (23:30-35). Jehoiakim did evil (23:37).

Chapter 24 — Babylon Rises; the First Deportations

"In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him" (24:1). Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon in this period (605 BC; Daniel 1:1-6). God sent raiders against Judah "according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh... And also for the innocent blood that he shed... which the LORD would not pardon" (24:2-4). Egypt's power ended after Babylon's victory at Carchemish (24:7). Jehoiakim had burned Jeremiah's scroll (Jeremiah 36) and killed the prophet Urijah (Jeremiah 26:20-23).

Jehoiachin, his son, reigned three months. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin surrendered (597 BC) (24:8-12). Nebuchadnezzar carried off the treasures and cut in pieces the gold vessels Solomon had made, "as the LORD had said" (24:13; 20:17). He deported the king, his family, officials, 10,000 captives including all the craftsmen and smiths, "none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land" (24:14-16). The prophet Ezekiel was among them (Ezekiel 1:1-3). Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah king and renamed him Zedekiah (24:17). He reigned eleven years and did evil, and "through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon" (24:20).

Chapter 25 — The Fall of Jerusalem

In the ninth year of Zedekiah, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem (25:1); the Jews later remembered this day with a fast (Zechariah 8:19). After eighteen months, famine was severe, and the wall was broken (25:2-4). Zedekiah fled by night but was captured in the plains of Jericho and brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. "And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon" (25:6-7). This fulfilled two prophecies that seemed contradictory: Jeremiah said Zedekiah would see the king of Babylon "eye to eye" (Jeremiah 32:4; 34:3), and Ezekiel said he would be brought to Babylon "yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there" (Ezekiel 12:13).

On the seventh day of the fifth month, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, "burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem... And all the army of the Chaldees... brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about" (25:8-10). The year was 586 BC. The people were carried away, leaving only the poor as farmers (25:11-12). The great bronze pillars, the sea and the bases were broken up, and all the vessels taken to Babylon (25:13-17). The chief priest, officials and leaders were executed at Riblah (25:18-21). "So Judah was carried away out of their land" (25:21). Lamentations mourns this day, and Psalms 74, 79 and 137 grieve over it.

Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah governor at Mizpah. He urged the people, "Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you" (25:22-24), echoing Jeremiah's counsel (Jeremiah 40). But Ishmael, of the royal family, murdered him, and the remaining people fled to Egypt in fear of the Babylonians (25:25-26), taking Jeremiah with them (Jeremiah 41-43).

The book ends with a note of hope. In the 37th year of Jehoiachin's captivity, Evil-merodach, the new king of Babylon, "did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life" (25:27-29). Babylonian ration tablets have been found listing provisions for "Jehoiachin, king of Judah." The house of David, though in exile, still lived. God had not forgotten His promise (2 Samuel 7:16). Jehoiachin (Jechonias) appears in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:11-12).

Part Three: Christ in 2 Kings

Elisha as a Picture of Christ

Elisha's name means "God is salvation." Elijah's ministry was largely one of confrontation and judgment, like John the Baptist; Elisha's was largely one of grace and compassion, like the ministry of Jesus.

Naaman: A Picture of Salvation

Other Pictures of Christ

• Elijah's ascension (2:11). Christ "was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9).
• The preserved royal seed (11). The hidden Joash, sole survivor of David's line, crowned in God's house, pictures God's protection of the Messianic line against Satan's attacks (Revelation 12:4-5).
• The four lepers with good news (7:9). Those who have found salvation must not "hold our peace" (Acts 4:20).
• The deliverance of Jerusalem (19:34-35). God saves "for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake": salvation rests on God's grace and His covenant with David's Son.
• Jehoiachin lifted from prison (25:27-30). The captive king of David's line given new garments and a seat at the king's table pictures the hope of restoration through the Son of David, and the believer clothed in new garments and seated at the King's table (Isaiah 61:10; Revelation 19:9).

Part Four: Fulfilled Prophecies

Part Five: Key Passages in Depth

2 Kings 2 — The Double Portion

Elisha's request was not for wealth or position but for spiritual power to continue God's work. His persistence ("I will not leave thee") and his attention at the critical moment ("if thou see me") were the conditions. He then had to take up the mantle and act on it: "Where is the LORD God of Elijah?" (2:14). Believers today have received the Spirit through Christ's ascension, and the question is the same: will we take up the mantle and trust the same God?

2 Kings 5 — The Humbling of Naaman

Naaman's problem was not only leprosy but pride. He wanted a cure that matched his status. God's remedy required him to humble himself, obey a simple command, and dip in a muddy foreign river. This is the stumbling block of the gospel: it requires the proud to come as needy sinners (James 4:6).

2 Kings 6:17 — Open His Eyes

The servant saw only the enemy; Elisha saw the armies of God. Faith does not deny the visible danger; it sees the greater invisible reality. "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

2 Kings 17 — Why Israel Fell

The sermon in 17:7-23 is the theological heart of Kings: ingratitude for redemption, imitation of the nations, rejection of the prophets, and idolatry led to exile. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7). The chapter also shows that judgment came after centuries of patient warning (2 Peter 3:9).

2 Kings 18-19 — Trusting God in Crisis

Hezekiah faced the world's greatest army with no human help. He took the threat to God's house, spread it before the LORD, and prayed for God's glory among the nations. God answered with a single night's deliverance. "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God" (Psalm 20:7).

2 Kings 22-23 — The Rediscovered Word

Revival under Josiah began with finding and reading God's Word. The king's tender, humble response, the public reading, the covenant and the thorough removal of idols are the pattern of true revival. Yet the chapter also shows that outward reform without inward change in the people could not avert judgment.

Part Six: The Major Teachings of 2 Kings

1. Sin Has National Consequences

Both kingdoms fell because of persistent idolatry and injustice. God's warnings in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 were fulfilled to the letter.

2. God's Patience

God sent prophet after prophet over centuries: Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Huldah, Jeremiah. "The LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people" (2 Chronicles 36:15).

3. The Sovereignty of God over Nations

God used Assyria and Babylon as instruments of judgment (17:6; 24:2-3), turned back Sennacherib (19:28), and controlled the rise and fall of kings (8:13; 9:6).

4. The Reliability of God's Word

Prophecy after prophecy is fulfilled precisely, some after centuries (23:16). "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89).

5. Grace to Individuals

In the midst of national decline, God showed grace to a widow (4), a Shunammite (4; 8), a Syrian general (5), four lepers (7), Hezekiah (20) and even Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33).

6. Faith vs. Political Alliances

Ahaz trusted Assyria (16:7); Hoshea trusted Egypt (17:4); Hezekiah trusted the LORD (18:5). "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man... Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD" (Jeremiah 17:5, 7).

7. The Power of God's Word in Revival

Josiah's revival began with the Word read and believed (22-23). Spiritual renewal always comes through Scripture.

8. Half-Hearted Obedience

Jehu destroyed Baal but kept the calves (10:28-31); Joash served God only while Jehoiada lived (12:2); Amaziah obeyed "yet not like David" (14:3); Jehoash struck the ground only three times (13:18-19). God desires wholehearted devotion (23:25).

9. God's Faithfulness to David

Through Athaliah's massacre, Assyria's invasion and Babylon's destruction, God kept David's line alive "for David my servant's sake" (8:19; 19:34; 25:27-30), preserving the path to Christ.

10. Hope Beyond Judgment

The book ends not with total darkness but with a king of David's line released and honoured. Judgment is never God's last word for His people (Lamentations 3:31-32; Jeremiah 29:10-14).

Part Seven: Connections — How 2 Kings Links to the Rest of the Bible

2 Kings in the New Testament

2 Kings in the Old Testament

Themes That Run from 2 Kings Through Scripture

Part Eight: Practical Lessons

• Seek the true God, not the world's alternatives (1:3).
• Persist in seeking spiritual power for service (2:9).
• Bring God your empty vessels; His supply is not the limit (4:3-6).
• Show hospitality to God's servants (4:8-10).
• Humble yourself to receive God's grace (5:11-14).
• Never try to profit from God's gifts (5:20-27).
• Pray for spiritual sight (6:17).
• Overcome evil with good (6:22).
• Don't hold your peace when you have good news (7:9).
• Don't trust your own heart's estimate of itself (8:13).
• Zeal must be wholehearted, not selective (10:28-31).
• Make your faith your own, not your mentor's (12:2).
• Don't stop at three when God offers more (13:18-19).
• Pride leads to defeat (14:10).
• Don't copy the world's altars (16:10-16).
• People become like what they worship (17:15).
• Destroy even religious idols (18:4).
• Spread your troubles before the LORD (19:14).
• Beware of pride after blessing (20:12-13).
• No sinner is beyond God's mercy (2 Chronicles 33:12-13).
• Return to God's Word for revival (22:8-11).
• God keeps His promises even in judgment (25:27-30).

Part Nine: Key Verses to Memorize

Conclusion

2 Kings records the end of the kingdoms. Israel, the northern kingdom, never had a single good king, and despite the mighty ministry of Elisha and the warnings of Amos and Hosea, fell to Assyria in 722 BC. Judah lasted longer, refreshed by the faith of Hezekiah and the revival of Josiah, but the wickedness of Manasseh brought it past the point of no return, and Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 586 BC. Every warning of the law and the prophets came true. Yet through it all God showed grace: to a Syrian leper, a starving city, a dying king, and a repentant Manasseh. And He kept His promise to David: the book ends with David's heir alive, released from prison and seated at the king's table. The line would continue to Jesus Christ, the Son of David, who would bring a greater return from a greater exile.

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

2 Kings 17:13