1 Kings

About 1 Kings

First Kings traces Israel from its golden age under Solomon—wisdom, wealth, and a glorious temple—to a kingdom torn in two by pride and idolatry. It follows the kings of Israel and Judah, measuring each one by faithfulness to God, and introduces the prophet Elijah, who confronts a nation drifting toward Baal. The book was written to explain how God's people lost so much, and to insist that the LORD alone is God.

Written by

The book is anonymous; Jewish tradition names Jeremiah, and the writer clearly drew on older royal records that the book itself cites.

When

It covers roughly 970 to 850 BC, from Solomon's rise through the ministry of Elijah; Kings as a whole reached its final form during or after the Babylonian exile, sometime after 560 BC.

Themes

• Wisdom and its limits
• The temple and God's presence
• A kingdom divided
• Idolatry and its cost
• Prophets who speak for God

Key verses

• 1 Kings 3:9Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
• 1 Kings 8:27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
• 1 Kings 18:39And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.