1 Kings
INTRODUCTION
First and 2 Kings composed one book in the Hebrew Bible. Together they relate the history of the Jewish kingdom from about 970 B.C. until 586 B.C. Half of 1 Kings is devoted to the prosperous reign of Solomon. The rest of the book tells of the division of that kingdom into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) nations, and traces the history of each to about 852 B.C. The kings of each kingdom are evaluated according to whether they did right or wrong “in the eyes of the Lord.” The impact of each rule for good or evil is explained. Events emphasized in 1 Kings include the building and dedication of Solomon’s temple (chaps. 5–9), the division of the kingdom (chaps. 12–14), the conflict between Elijah and Ahab (chaps. 17–19), and the rule of Ahab and Jezebel (chaps. 20–22).
| I. | The Reign of Solomon | 1 Kings 1–11 |
| A. Solomon’s ascension | 1 Kings 1–4 | |
| B. Solomon’s temple | 1 Kings 5–8 | |
| C. An evaluation of Solomon | 1 Kings 9–11 | |
| II. | The Divided Kingdom | 1 Kings 12–22 |
| A.The division | 1 Kings 12–14 | |
| B. Various kings | 1 Kings 15–16 | |
| C. Elijah and Ahab | 1 Kings 17–19 | |
| D. Ahab’s rule | 1 Kings 20–22 |
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