Author

Unknown

Written

550 BC however, the stories were written or put together in Babylon, during the Great Exile

Main Themes

Contains the story of Elijah being taken alive up to heaven.

Elijah is swept up to heaven.

Elisha raises a boy from the dead.

Naaman is cured of leprosy by washing in dirty water.

Jerusalem is plundered by the Babylonians, and the Great Exile begins.

Key Verses

2 Kings 2:3  And the sons of the prophets that [were] at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, Did you know that the LORD [Yahweh] will take your master away from you today? And he said, Yes, I know, let it go.

2 Kings 1:10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I [am] a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty.

Important Points

2 Kings begins where 1 Kings leaves off.

Chapters 2 through 7 cover the ministry of the prophet Elisha after Elijah is taken up to heaven.

Chapter 13 covers the death of Elisha.

The book covers the reigns of many kings of Israel and Judah, telling short stories about some of the most notable, good and evil. It ends with Chapter 25 and the Babylonian invasion of Judah, when Solomon's temple was destroyed.