1 Kings

Composition

The biblical Book of First Kings, typically abbreviated as the “Book of 1 Kings” or simply “1 Kings,” is traditionally dated to about 560–540 BCE. Its companion work, the Book of Second Kings (“2 Kings”), was originally unified with 1 Kings as a single text. The Books of Kings were divided into two when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the second century BCE, a process that yielded the Septuagint, a work that became influential in early Christianity.

Judeo-Christian tradition identifies the prophet Jeremiah as the author of the Books of Kings and several other books of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Religious authorities in both the Judaic and Christian traditions continue to recognize Jeremiah as the author of the Books of Kings today, but many modern, revisionist, and secular scholars of Judeo-Christian scriptural history adhere to alternative viewpoints. Many specific theories have been advanced in response to questions regarding traditional conceptions of Judeo-Christian scriptural authorship. Most such theories adhere at least in part to a model known as the Deuteronomic history, which was developed by the biblical historian Martin Noth (1902–1968).

The core tenets of the Deuteronomic history theory focus on internal stylistic consistencies across multiple scriptural works that were supposedly written by a succession of authors over a period of centuries. Adherents of the theory argue that these stylistic consistencies would not be present unless the works in question were written, or at least compiled and edited, by a single individual capable of functioning as an omniscient narrator familiar with the contents of all the books covered by the theory. In essence, it rejects the historically held notion that the works included in the Deuteronomic history theory were written by major characters that appear within them. Scholars who adhere to the Deuteronomic history theory believe that the Books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings were written or compiled and edited by a single author around 600 BCE as the First Temple period of Judaic history ended.

Christian ecclesiastical authorities have resolved biblical authorship questions by developing a doctrine that positions the Holy Spirit as the author of scripture. According to the doctrine, all scripture is a heavenly product of the Holy Spirit given textual form by divinely inspired human authors. From this viewpoint, the precise identities of scripture’s human authors have no bearing on its authenticity or contents.

Summary

The narrative of 1 Kings covers the end of King David’s reign, the rise of his son Solomon to the Israelite throne, and the aftermath of King Solomon’s rule. It also focuses on the work of the prophet Elijah, whose ministry played an important role in this transitional period of ancient Israelite history. The book consists of 816 verses arranged into twenty-two chapters, which can be divided into three main sections covering chapters 1–11, 12–16, and 17–22, respectively.

Chapters 1–11 begin with King David anointing his son Solomon as successor to his throne before he dies. The narrative then covers the glorious early stages of the reign of King Solomon, during which ancient Israel reaches what is commonly characterized as its “golden age.” This prosperous era of Israelite history begins with the construction of Solomon’s Temple on Jerusalem’s Mount Moriah, where an angel had previously appeared to Solomon’s father David as described in the Book of Second Chronicles (“2 Chronicles”). These chapters also document the famous visit of the Queen of Sheba, who presented herself to King Solomon accompanied by a caravan of gold, jewels, animals, and spices. After testing King Solomon with a series of questions, King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba exchanged gifts and then parted ways.

As 1 Kings’ first narrative section draws to a close, Israel is becoming afflicted by internal divisions. King Solomon’s foreign wives take to worshipping pagan deities, tempting the king to join them. Meanwhile, the scheming Jeroboam plots to become king of Israel’s ten northern tribes, who are unsatisfied with King Solomon’s rule.

King Solomon’s death is described in 1 Kings 11:41–43, which specifies the length of his reign as forty years and then explains the succession of his son Rehoboam to his vacant throne. Solomon’s death marks the beginning of a fractious period of ancient Israelite history, in which the ten northern tribes rebel against King Rehoboam and unify under Jeroboam, who assumes the monarchy of Israel’s secessionist Northern Kingdom. King Rehoboam maintains control of Israel’s two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and remains ruler of its Southern Kingdom (also known as Judah).

Under the respective rule of Rehoboam and Jeroboam, both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms recede into pagan customs and idol worship. This continued drift away from God, described in 1 Kings 16–22, foreshadows the ministry of the prophet Elijah, a figure who dominates the book’s final narrative section. In 1 Kings 17–22, Elijah reacts to the idol worship of the northern and southern Israelite tribes by causing a devastating drought. Imbued by God with the power to perform miracles, Elijah rises as a potent spiritual leader among God-fearing Israelites, exposing false prophets in an iconic exchange set at Mount Carmel and documented in 1 Kings 18. Meanwhile, King Ahab has assumed rulership of the Northern Kingdom and is presented as an immoral idol-worshipper threatened by Elijah’s holiness. His wife, Jezebel, attempts and fails to kill Elijah, after which Elijah prophesizes the impending deaths of both Jezebel and Ahab. The prophecy comes true for Ahab, who is succeeded by his son, King Ahaziah. Under King Ahaziah, the Northern Kingdom continues to wallow in immorality, sin, and the worship of pagan deities.

Themes

The major theme of 1 Kings focuses on the destructive consequences of idolatry. In Judeo-Christian spirituality, idolatry describes the act of elevating any object, pursuit, or deity other than God to the level of the divine. It covers the worship of other gods but also includes the reverence of earthly pursuits such as lust, wealth, and power. Commentators note that like many other biblical books, 1 Kings serves the dual function of both recording history and framing the lessons of history within a God-focused spiritual framework.

King Solomon was initially reverent, erecting Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem to stand as a symbol of the Israelites’ devotion to God and touching off ancient Israel’s golden age in the process. Prior to his decline and downfall, King Solomon was widely regarded as the wisest leader of his era, amassing great success and earning respect across all strata of Israelite society. However, in his later years, King Solomon defied a key commandment of God: “The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself” (Deuteronomy 17:17). While King Solomon also amassed significant material wealth, it was the polygamy he later engaged in that ultimately caused him to drift away from God: “When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods” (1 Kings 11:4). King Solomon’s idol worship therefore perfectly adheres with the warning specified in the Book of Deuteronomy, which is set many generations before King Solomon’s reign.

Rather than honoring God as the source of his success and standing, King Solomon instead leverages the earthly power obtained through wealth, military strength, and politicking to advance his own self-interested objectives. The Book of First Kings establishes a cause-and-effect relationship between these actions and the divisive turmoil that later splits Israel into its Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Idol worship goes on to flourish throughout both kingdoms of Israel under the succession of immoral rulers who follow King Solomon.

Elijah, a harbinger of God’s wrath and a symbol of God’s strength and moral purity, arrives to confront the moral downfall of the Israelites. Biblical analysts note how Elijah attempts to force the Israelites and their leaders to admit and acknowledge their sin, but they were unwilling to do so. Elijah’s ministry in 1 Kings reflects another theme prevalent throughout the Old Testament, which examines the human tendency to deny its own sin and the ways in which everyday life often functions to distract people from their relationship with God. Commentators also note the symbolic significance of Solomon’s Temple, which stands as a physical symbol of God’s holiness and power, and as a manifestation of the realization of the sacred covenants between God and the Israelites that established Canaan as the Israelites’ promised land in earlier scriptural books.

Bibliography

Gilad, Elon. “Who Really Wrote the Biblical Books of Kings and the Prophets?” Haaretz, 25 June 2015, www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-who-wrote-bible-s-kings-and-prophets-1.5374070. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.

Hee Yoon, Man. The Fate of the Man of God from Judah: A Literary and Theological Reading of 1 Kings 13. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020.

Lemaire, Andre, Baruch Halpern, and Matthew Joel Adams. The Books of Kings: Sources, Compilation, Historiography, and Reception. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2010.

Lovell, Nathan. The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity: 1 and 2 Kings as a Work of Political Historiography. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.

Malamat, Abraham. History of Biblical Israel: Major Problems and Minor Issues. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2021.

Zavada, Jack. “Introduction to the Book of 1 Kings.” Learn Religions, 9 Jan. 2020, www.learnreligions.com/book-of-1-kings-701120. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.