1st and 2nd Kings

1st Kings
 1 Adonijah not king; Solomon  9 God appears; King Hiram 17 Drought; Widow of Zarep.
 2 David dies; S. kills Adjonijah & oth 10 Queen of Sheba; wealth 18 Elijah on Mt. Carmel
 3 Prayer for wisdom; two women 11 Solomon's fall; Jeroboam 19 Escape fr. Jez.; Elisha follows
 4 Solomon's reign 12 Revolt; kingdom splits; pagan in N. 20 Ahab defeats Syrians
 5 Prayer to build temple 13 Message & death of man of God 21 Naboth murdered for vineyard
 6 Temple built 14 Jeroboam wick.;Rehoboam Israel 22 True prophet reject.; Ahab dies
 7 Other buildings and equipment 15 Kings Abijam, Asa, & Baasha    
 8 Temple established by Solomon 16 Kings Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab    
2nd Kings
 1 Ahaziah's fall & Elijah's fire 10 Ahab's family & Baal priests killed 19 Jerusa.; Hezek prayer; Senn will fall
 2 Elijah ascends; Elisha 11 Athaliah kills family; Joash 20 Hezekiah healed; shows all to envoy
 3 King Joram, Moab  12 Joash repairs temple 21 Manasseh k. Judah; then Amon
 4 Widow's oil; son raised 13 Jehozhaz then Jehoash ks Israel 22 Book of law found and read
 5 Naaman healed 14 Amaziah Judah; Jerob-II, Israel 23 Josiah renews coven.; Jehoiakim k. J
 6 Axhead floats; army heaven 15 Wicked kings Isr.& 2 good Judah 24 Jerusalem taken; Captives taken
 7 Starvation; Syrians flee 16 Abominations of Ahab 25 Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadnezzar
 8 Athaliah 17 Hoshea, final king of Israel; Assyria    
 9 Jehu anointed; Jez. killed 18 Hezekiah in Judah; Sennacherib    
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Next books, 1st and 2nd Chronicles
A quick survey of the twelve tribes of Israel and the kings

Someone asked: "In 2 Chronicles 18, there is a King of Israel, Ahab, who spoke to Jehoshaphat King of Judah. I thought that Israel consists of 12 tribes which each had a King and Judah was one of these Israelite tribes. What is the tribe of Israel? I thought that Israel was the father of all the other tribes. What did I miss and where are the proper references to this?"


This question pointed out the need for a quick sketch of the drama of the tribes and kings in the Old Testament. This way, we can see how the pieces fit into the puzzle. Here is my answer.


    Israel (whose original name was Jacob and who was a grandson of Abraham) had 12 sons. The family moved to Egypt at a time of famine and discovered that one of the sons, Joseph, was still living and was prime minister. A long time later, Pharaoh was oppressing them and it was time to move out so they headed for Canaan. There were 12 tribes although Joseph's family was divided to his two sons and one of the other tribes, Levi, was dedicated to the priesthood leaving 12 which received territories in Canaan.
    In the time of Judge Samuel, the people wanted a king. Along the line of kings (1 Kings 12), the land split with one king in the north part of Israel taking ten tribes and one in the south with two. The two nations were called Israel and Judah or Ephriam and Judah. In the latter designation, the kingdoms were named for their most prominent tribes.
    Ahab was the wickedest king of the Northern Kingdom up to his time. His son was worse. In the Southern Kingdom, Judah had been relatively faithful. The Northern Kingdom was conquered by the cruel Assyrians and a number of years later, the southern Kingdom with Jerusalem failed to listen to the prophets, and was conquered by Babylon.
    As for references, we have Genesis through the books of Kings, except not Ruth. The books of Chronicles begin with chronologies then repeat the stories of 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings. To get a picture, you can go to my website and scan the titles I have given to chapters. You can click from book to book so you don't need to open a chapter until you want a reference. This will give you the overall picture.