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1 Kings

1 Kings

Summary of the Book of First Kings

By H. A. (Buster) Dobbs
  1. Introduction
    1. Writers and compiler(s) of the book unknown
      1. They were prophets
      2. The word "prophet" means one who speaks for another
        1. Prophets sometime foretell
        2. Not all prophets revealed future events
        3. Prophets received a message and reported it to others
    2. The book shows the rise and fall of Jewish kingdoms
    3. The book ends with the reign of Ahaziah of Israel, ca 880 B.C.
  2. David and Solomon
    1. The last days of David (1:1 to 2:11)
      1. Sickness of David (1:1-4)
      2. Adonijah, David’s fourth but oldest living son, attempts to take over the throne (1:5-10)
        1. Adonijah prepares his entourage (1:5)
        2. David does not rebuke him (1:6)
        3. Joab and Abiathar help Adonijah (1:7)
        4. Zadok, Benaiah, Shimei, Rei, and Nathan opposed Adonijah (1:8)
        5. Adonijah gives a feast (1:9)
        6. Nathan, Benaiah, and Solomon were not invited to the feast (1:10)
      3. Bathsheba and Nathan conspire to inform David (1:11-15)
      4. Bathsheba reminds David of promise to make Solomon king (1:16-21)
      5. Nathan confirms to David the actions of Adonijah (1:22-27)
      6. David appoints Solomon to be king after him (1:28-40)
      7. Adonijah informed of Solomon’s appointment as king (1:41-49)
      8. Solomon grants amnesty to Adonijah (1:50-53)
      9. David’s charge to Solomon (2:1-9)
      10. Death and burial of David (2:10-11)
    2. Reign of Solomon (2:12 to 11:43)
      1. Solomon’s ascension (2:12 to 4:34)
        1. Adonijah is put to death (2:12-25)
        2. Abiathar, the high-priest, banished to Anathoth (2:26-27)
        3. Execution of Joab (2:28-34)
        4. Benaiah made captain of the army; Zadok made high-priest (2:35)
        5. Shemei put to death after 3 years (2:36-46)
      2. Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter (3:1)
      3. Sacrifice of Solomon at Gibeon (3:2-4)
        1. Solomon’s request for wisdom (3:5-15)
        2. Solomon’s judgment between two harlots (3:16-28)
      4. Solomon’s success and prosperity (4:1-34)
        1. Solomon’s princes and officers (4:1-21)
        2. Solomon’s provisions for one day (4:22-25)
        3. Solomon’s stables (4:26-28)
        4. Solomon’s wisdom (4:29-34)
      5. Construction in Jerusalem (5:1 to 7:51)
        1. Alliance with King Hiram of Tyre (5:1-6)
        2. Hiram furnished material for building the Temple (5:7-12)
        3. Solomon’s workmen (5:13-18)
        4. The building of Solomon’s Temple (6:1-38)
        5. The building of Solomon’s palaces (7:1-12)
        6. The vessels of the temple (7:13-51)
      6. Dedication of the temple (8:1-66)
      7. Wisdom, reputation, and success (9:1 to 10:49)
        1. Jehovah makes covenant with Solomon (9:1-9)
        2. Presents exchanged between Solomon and Hiram (0:10-14)
        3. A builder of cities (9:15-24)
        4. Worship of Solomon (9:25)
        5. Solomon’s navy (9:26-28)
        6. Queen of Sheba visits Solomon (10:1-13)
        7. Great wealth of Solomon (10:14-29)
      8. Solomon’s apostasy (11:1
        1. Solomon’s many wives and concubines (11:1-3)
        2. Solomon’s idolatry (11:4-9)
        3. Jehovah is angry (11:10-13)
        4. The enemies of Solomon (11:14-25)
        5. Jeroboam among the enemies of Solomon (11:26-27)
        6. Jeroboam put over the house of Joseph (11:28-29)
        7. Jeroboam to become king over ten tribes of Israel (11:30-39)
        8. Jeroboam’s flight into Egypt (11:40)
        9. Death and burial of Solomon (11:41-43)
  3. The Divided Kingdom
    1. Reign of Rehoboam, son of Solomon (12:1-24; 14:21-31)
      1. Rehoboam goes to Shechem to be made king (12:1)
      2. Jeroboam recalled from Egypt to head delegation asking for relief (12:3-5)
      3. Rehoboam answers Jeroboam and the people roughly (12:6-15)
      4. The kingdom divided when 10 tribes rebelled (121:16-20)
      5. Rehoboam forbidden to war with Israel (12:21-24)
      6. Rehoboam did evil in the sight of God (14:21-30)
      7. Rehoboam is succeed by his son, Abijam (14:31)
    2. Reign of Jeroboam over 10 tribes of Israel (12:25 to 14:20)
      1. Jeroboam made king over Israel (12:20)
      2. Shechem rebuilt and became the capital city of Israel (12:25)
      3. Jeroboam makes false religion (12:26-33)
      4. Jeroboam hand withered at the altar and restored (13:1-10)
      5. The old prophet and the young prophet (13:11-32)
      6. Jeroboam persists in his evil way (13:33)
      7. Jeroboam’s dynasty to end violently (14:1-18)
      8. Death of Jeroboam (14:19-20)
      9. Jeroboam succeeded by his son, Nadab (14:20)
    3. Abijam reigns in Judah (15:1-8)
      1. Abijam was a wicked king (15:1-7)
      2. Abijam is succeeded by his son, Asa (15:8)
    4. Asa reigns in Judah (15:9-24)
      1. Asa was a good king (15:9-15)
      2. Asa warred with Baasha, king of Israel (15:16-23)
      3. Asa is succeeded by his son, Jehoshaphat (15:24)
    5. Nadab reigns in Israel (15:25-31)
      1. Nadab was an evil king (15:25-26)
      2. Nadab is assassinated and his family killed by Baasha (15:27-30)
      3. Baasha succeeds to the throne of Israel (15:31-32)
      4. Baasha of Israel wars with Asa of Judah (15:33-34)
    6. Baasha reigns in Israel (16:1-7)
      1. Baasha was an evil king and his dynasty would not last (16:1-5)
      2. Baasha dies and is succeeded by his son, Elah (16:7)
      3. Jehu foretells the destruction of the house of Baasha (16:7)
    7. Elah reigns in Israel (16:8-14)
      1. Elah is wicked (16:8)
      2. Elah is assassinated by Zimri (16:9-10)
      3. Zimri kills all the house of Baasha (16:11-14)
    8. Zimri reigns in Isarel (16:15-20)
      1. Zimri reigned seven days (16:15-16)
      2. People made Omri king (16:16)
      3. Zimri died in a fire (16:17-20)
    9. Omri reigns in Israel (16:21-28)
      1. Omri puts down a rebellion (16:21-22)
      2. Omri was a wicked king (16:23-26)
      3. Omri dies and is succeeded by his son, Ahab (27-28)
    10. Ahab reigns in Israel (16:29 to 22:30)
      1. Ahab excessively wicked (16:29-30)
      2. Ahab marries Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidonians and priest of Baal (16:31-34)
      3. Elijah prophesied against Ahab and is sent to Cherith (17:1-7)
      4. Elijah is sent to a widow in Zarephath of Zidon (17:8-16)
      5. Elijah raises the widow’s son (17:17-24)
      6. Elijah meets Obadiah (18:1-16)
      7. Elijah rebukes Ahab; proposes a contest at mount Carmel (18:17-40)
      8. Famine lifted with abundance of rain (18:41-46)
      9. Jezebel threatens Elijah and he runs away to Beersheba (19:1-3)
      10. Elijah in a cave at Horeb (19:4-18)
      11. The call of Elisha to succeed Elijah (19:19-21)
      12. Ben-hadad of Syria wars with Ahab of Israel (20:1-12)
      13. Ahab prevails in the war with Ben-hadad (20:13-21)
      14. Ban-hadad told that the God of Israel was a God of the hills (20:22-27)
      15. Ahab wins the second battle (20:28-30)
      16. Ahab releases Ben-hadad (20:31-34)
      17. A wounded prophet foretells Ahab’s destruction (20:35-43)
      18. Naboth’s vineyard (21:1-17)
      19. Elijah meets Ahab in Naboth’s vineyard and foretells Ahab and Jezebel’s deaths (21:18-24)
      20. Exceeding wickedness of Ahab (21:25-26)
      21. Repentance of Ahab (21:27-29)
      22. Alliance between Jehosaphat of Judah and Ahab of Israel to recover Ramoth-gilead (22:1-14)
      23. Prophecy of Michaiah (22:15-28)
      24. Ahab killed in the battle for Ramoth-gilead (22:29-39)
      25. Ahab succeeded by his son, Ahaziah (22:40)
    11. Jehoshaphat reigns in Judah (22:41-50)
      1. Jehoshaphat was a good king (22:41-43)
      2. Jehoshaphat makes peace with Israel (22:44)
      3. Jehoshaphat refuses to cooperate with the king of Israel (22:45-49)
      4. Jehoshaphat dies and is succeeded by his son, Jehoram (22:50)
    12. Jehoram reigns in Judah (2 Kings 8:16-18)
      1. A wicked king (v. 16)
      2. Married the daughter of Ahab (v. 18)
      3. Worshipped Baal (v. 18)
    13. Ahaziah reigns in Israel (22:51-53)
      1. Ahaziah a wicked king (22:52)
      2. Ahaziah worships Baal (22:53)
1 Kings

Kings, two books of the Old Testament, that immediately follow the two books of Samuel. Originally, these four books existed as two books; their division into four books was begun by the translators of the Septuagint. The books of Kings recount the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah from the death of the Hebrew king David to the Babylonian Captivity—roughly the period extending from the early part of the 10th century BC to the latter half of the 6th century BC. Specifically, the two books concern the enthronement and reign of Solomon and the building of the first Temple, the division and history of the two kingdoms through the reigns of the Israelite king Ahab and the Judean king Jehoshaphat, the history of the divided kingdoms until the fall of Samaria and the dispersion of Israel in 721 BC (2 Kings 1-17), and the history of Judah from the end of the kingdom of Israel to the fall of Judah in 586 BC and the subsequent release from prison of the Judean king Jehoiachin (reigned 598-597 BC) in the 37th year of his exile (2 Kings 18-25). Modern biblical scholars attribute the books to two or more anonymous authors or editors of the Deuteronomic school who drew material from a number of earlier sources. Most scholars date the works from about 609 BC to about 550 BC.