Who Wrote the Books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings?

The books of Kings give no indication of the author’s identity. However the style and word choice, recurring themes, and literary patterns in the book support the historic position of a single author. Rabbinic tradition ascribed authorship to Ezra or Ezekiel. The Babylonian Talmud says it was written by Jeremiah, since 2Kg 24:18–25:30 is exactly the same as the last chapter of Jeremiah (Jr 52). The actual writer is uncertain; however some facts about the author can be learned from the text.

It is clear that the author of Kings was familiar with the biblical text and other Jewish writings and referred to them in the composition of Kings. He referred to the “book of the acts of Solomon” (1Kg 11:41). He also referred to the “Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel” (cf. 1Kg 14:19; 15:31; 16:5, 14, 20, 27; 22:39; 2Kg 1:18; 10:34; 13:8, 12; 14:15; 15:6, 11, 15, 21, 26, 31) and the “Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah” (cf. 1Kg 14:29; 15:7, 23; 22:45; 2Kg 8:23; 12:19; 14:18, 28; 15:36; 16:19; 20:20; 21:17, 25; 23:28; 24:5). These Chronicles are not the OT books of 1 and 2 Chronicles but were official court records on the monarchy, no longer extant. Therefore the unidentified human author drew on a variety of secular records to record inspired history from God’s perspective.

Some critical scholars have suggested Kings had multiple author/editors from various time periods in Israel’s history who recorded events over this 400-year span from Solomon to Jehoiachin. Then a later editor added his own historical details and smoothed out rough transitions in the ultimate production of 1 and 2 Kings. The primary problem with multiple-author theories is that they do not provide sufficient evidence to explain the books’ consistency in presenting a unified theological perspective or linguistic structure. Nor do they explain how these various editors were able to pass information along for a final composition, especially with so many supposed editors involved over several hundred years.

Therefore, the viewpoint of this commentary is that a single author wrote during the time of the exile, compiling what is known today as 1 and 2 Kings. This unidentified author drew on a variety of secular sources to record Israel’s history. The people of Israel needed to understand theologically why they went into exile. Furthermore, all the failed kings of Israel and Judah reminded them to keep looking for the Davidic King, the Messiah, who was yet to come.