Kings

The four books of the Kings of the Orthodox canon in the Hebrew Code of Holy Books ( Tanah ) comprise only two books.

1. One of them, which includes the first and second books of Kings, is called the “ Book of Samuel ” (or “ Shmuel ”), because here the focus of the story is the prophet Samuel , through whom the change of government in the people of God was made and which anointed the kingdom of two the first kings - Saul and David .
2. Another book, which includes the Third and Fourth books, is called the “ Book of Kings ” (or “ Melachim ” - Kings) ^[1] .

The division into four books appeared primarily among the Alexandrian translators; however, the Orthodox Church in canonical numeration of books kept the ancient Jewish division into two books.

In the Greek Bible ( Septuagint ), all four books are collectively called Βασιλέιωι, that is, the “Book of Kings,” because the first and second books depict the events of the directly divine ( theocratic ) kingdom, which was characteristic of the people of God, and the kingdom of man, which Israel desired according to the example of pagan peoples, and the third and fourth portray the fate of the kingdoms of Judea and Israel .

The authors of the books of Kings are considered to be the prophets who successively recorded the events of their time. So, for example, according to the testimony of Jewish tradition and the first book of Chronicles , the authors of the First and Second Books of Kings were the prophets Samuel (24 chapters), Nathan and Gad , and the Third and Fourth - Ahiya Silomlyanin ^[2] , Adda and Isaiah ^[3] . Probably, the 3rd and 4th books of the Kings are brought into the present form and composition by the writer of the times of the Babylonian captivity , as it is believed - by Ezra , who used the History of Solomon ^[4] , the Chronicle of the Kings of Judah and the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel ^[5] . These chronicles should not be confused with state acts and official records that were kept by court officials in the kingdom of Judea ^[6] , but hardly existed in Israel .

Government officials could not be so critical and formidable in their denunciation of the activities of the kings, as the compilers of the "chronicles" do, which served as the basis for the Third and Fourth Books of Kings. There is an opinion based on Jewish tradition, according to which the Third and Fourth Books of Kings are compiled by the prophet Jeremiah , but this opinion cannot be accepted: the third and fourth books of Kings are compiled in the second period of the Babylonian captivity ^[7] and in the land of captivity, while the prophet Jeremiah years of his life he spent not in Babylon , but in Egypt . The books of Kings cover about 600 years of the life of the Jewish people, from the birth of the prophet Samuel to the liberation of Jehonia from prison in the 37th year after his relocation to Babylon (c. 1170 - 567 BC ).

The first book, starting the history of the Jewish people from the birth of Samuel , brings it to the death of King Saul - 110 years; The second book of Kings describes the reign of David - 40 years: the third sets out the story from Solomon to Jehoshaphat - 120 years, the fourth - from the death of Ahab to the captivity of Babylon - about 335 years.

The general purpose of writing all the books of the Kings can be assumed to be an image of the political state (prosperous or unhappy) of the Jewish people in connection with their religious and moral life or the state of faith under the kings. In particular, the authors of the First and Second books of Kings in a detailed account of events from the life of Samuel and David wanted to display the possibly accurate image of the Jewish prophet - in the person of Samuel, and the king in the person of David. The purpose of the compilers of the Third and Fourth Books of Kings is to provide a picture of the gradual decline of the kingdoms of Judea and Israel in connection with the causes of this phenomenon - contempt for the word prophetic and especially idolatry .

1. Bishop Michael. Historical books of the Old Testament. - Tula, 1899.
2. Afanasyev D. Guide on the subject of Holy. The scriptures. Historical books of the Old Testament. 4th ed. - Stavropol, 1896.

• Bible, Old Testament
• Kingdoms of the book // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.