Week 18 1-2 Kings
All the kings of Israel are mentioned in the two books of the kings. But with fifteen of them the accounts are very short.
(I wondered if the length-of-the-story corresponded to the length-of-the-reign. But I don’t think so. Jeroboam the Second – for instance – had a long reign (41-years) but his story is told in just seven verses.)
I decided to list the king’s names on a sheet of paper and then add the number of verses allocated to them:
Nadab 7 verses. Baasha 14. Elah 7. Zimri 6. Omri 6. Ahaziah 12. Jehoahaz 9. Jehoash 4. Jeroboam II 7. Zechariah 5. Shallum 3. Menahem 7. Pekahiah 4. Pekah 7. Hoshea 4.
That’s an average of about 7-verses per king. I get the feeling that with these 15 I’m getting something like an obituary column. For example:
Nadab son of Jeroboam began to rule over Israel in the second year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Israel two years. But he did what was evil in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of his father, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.
That’s pretty much what I get with all fifteen – give or take:
1. Name
2. Family Line
3. Length of Reign
4. Religious Performance
The stories of the other four kings of Israel are different. With Jeroboam I Ahab Jehoram & Jehu I’m getting multiple chapters tracking their stories. I wonder what’s going on with the Big Four.
So I think I’ll have to look at them a bit more carefully.
Note: quote from 1 Kings 15:25-26 (NLT)