KINGS - Week 5&6
I love a bit of Biblical overlap!
If you’ve been at Resound for a little while, you might remember that we did a fairly in-depth exploration of the book of Isaiah and the Assyrian Crisis that brought about Isaiah’s prophetic writings.
I didn’t realise until getting here that the back end of 2 Kings brings back the story of our friends Isaiah and Hezekiah. I felt so engrossed in Isaiah at the time, and it left such an impact on me, that reading this made me feel on very safe ground!
You’ll (probably) be glad to hear that I’m not here to say that one account contradicts the other or that we have to do some work to align these different accounts.
If, however, you were to read these stories side by side, you might notice that they are very close to one another. Almost word for word;
1. Sennacherib’s invasion and Rabshakeh’s speech
2 Kings 18:13–37, Isaiah 36
The language and structure are virtually identical. Rabshakeh’s mocking speech (v. 19-35 in both) is repeated word for word.
2. Hezekiah consults Isaiah, and God promises deliverance
2 Kings 19:1–37, Isaiah 37
Hezekiah’s prayer, Isaiah’s oracle, and the destruction of the Assyrian army are paralleled almost exactly.
3. Hezekiah’s illness and healing
2 Kings 20:1–11, Isaiah 38:1–8
This story is mostly identical, though Isaiah 38 adds a personal psalm or prayer of Hezekiah (v. 9–20) not found in Kings.
4. Visit of the Babylonian envoys
2 Kings 20:12–19, Isaiah 39
The narrative is nearly word for word, including Hezekiah showing his treasures and Isaiah’s prophecy of exile.
Every school student knows that if you’re going to copy from a friend and get away with it, you have to tweak it! Clearly, these ancient writers or editors didn’t get the message…
What the evidence here tells us is that one book is using material from the other.
Most scholars agree that 2 Kings (especially 18–20) preserves the core of the historical material and predates its use in Isaiah. Isaiah 36–39 likely draws on Kings (or its source) for theological and literary purposes. A minority of scholars suggest both books used a now-lost royal or temple record written shortly after 701 BCE - but Isaiah almost certainly shaped its version later.
No wonder it all felt so familiar! Irrespective of that, these chapters in 2 Kings mark the end of this stage of the journey we’ve been on, reading from Joshua, through the Judges and then through Samuel and Kings! We’ve covered the whole of the so-called ‘Deuteronomistic History’ (I wrote a bit about this at the start of our Samuel series, here) apart from reading Deuteronomy itself – there may or may not be plans in motion to get stuck into that in the new year!
The story continues in the works of the ‘Major’ Prophets, like Isaiah, but the book of the Kings serves as the transition piece from the era of the Kings into the era of the Prophets. This is a huge theological shift that is reflected in, and impacts, the entire nation and tradition.
This brings us to ask a question; What is the purpose or lesson of 1 & 2 Kings?
In order to begin to answer that question, we can reflect on the key themes that stood out from these texts. In my first blog on Kings, I identified four key themes to get us started;
Covenant loyalty is more important than success
Worship must be centralised and pure
Prophets speak for God when kings won’t
Judgement and hope go hand in hand
I’ll look in more detail at the idea of centralised worship next week in a final reflection on King Josiah and his reforms, but the other themes each speak to a period of time in which promise is lost through persistent disobedience to God. It highlights the accountability of the leaders, the kings, and the justice of God.
I think that first theme might be the most significant for these stories – Covenant faithfulness as the most important thing for God’s people.
Why might that theme be particularly pertinent in this period of history?
Given that the books of Kings are believed to have been written during the time of exile, it is suggested that their purpose is to explain why the exile happened.
The answer provided in these stories is that disobedience and lack of covenant faithfulness.
Before we leave this part of the Bible, I want to bring our attention to another area of overlap – The Kings and The Chronicles.
They cover much of the same historical material, especially the period from David through to the fall of Jerusalem. Their goals, tone, and theological emphases, however, differ significantly.
I won’t spend too much time on this here- if you want to go deeper into this, maybe you could spend some of your summer reading time going through Chronicles?!
To ask a similar question, we need similar information.
When was it written? Well, the indications are that Chronicles was written in the ‘Post-Exilic’ period, around the 4th Century BCE.
One piece of evidence that leads us to this conclusion is that the genealogies in Chronicles list names into that time period (see 1 Chronicles 3 – Zerubbabel can be dated to the late 6th century, and seven generations are listed after him, which would span about 150-200 years from that time.)
So, if Chronicles is being written, or edited/compiled at least, in the time period after the return from Exile, we can begin to understand the ‘theological location’. Other texts like Ezra-Nehemiah are from a similar period and can offer further insight into the theological tone of that time and place.
There is a central message of a rebuilding of identity. Whilst some stories are centred on a physical rebuilding, at the heart of this period is a group of people trying to remember and restore their community in a new context. Things will never been the same after the exile, so what does it mean to be the people of Israel at this point in history?
Well, even that identifying name shifts over this time. During and after the exile, we see a fading out of the description of ‘People of Israel’ or ‘Israelites’, and the increasing use of ‘Jew’ or ‘The Jews’. Even in this weeks readings, we see one of the earliest uses of this new language;
At that time King Rezin of Aram recovered Elath for Edom and drove the Judeans from Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they live to this day. (2 Kings 16:6, NRSVue)
The word ‘yehudim’ can be translated as "Judeans" (inhabitants of the kingdom or territory of Judah) or "Jews", depending on context and historical period.
One example of the rebuilding of identity is in 2 Chronicles 7;
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or command the locust to devour the land or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time.” (2 Chron 7:13-16)
This passage reflects the Chronicler’s core aim - to rebuild a sense of national and spiritual identity rooted in covenant, temple worship, and divine grace. It speaks directly to a community seeking to re-establish itself after exile, offering both theological reassurance and a call to renewed commitment.
So, whilst Kings appears to be a warning and explanation of why the people ended up in exile, Chronicles turns it’s attention to the hope that exists out on the other side of exile.
Two similar stories, recounting events through different lenses and with different purposes.
Isn’t the bible fun?!