2 kings 1 and 2

Read 2 Kings 1 and 2 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

1 Kin 22:51-2 Kin 1:2 {s} Ahaziah the son of Ahab king over Israel/ was injured + sent to inquire of Baalzebub
2 Kin 1:3-14 {s} Elijah and the word of the LORD to Ahaziah/ the king is not able to arrest him for his word
2 Kin 1:15-17a {p} Elijah went willingly + told Ahaziah he would die, and he eventually did/ Jehoram began to reign
2 Kin 1:17b {s} In the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because he had no son.
2 Kin 1:18 {p} The acts of Ahaziah written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel
2 Kings 2:1-18 {s} Elijah taken into heaven, is no more on this earth/ Elisha received the double portion of the Spirit
2 Kings 2:19-22 {p} Elisha healed the waters of Jericho
2 Kings 2:23-25 {p} Elisha cursed the youths who mocked him/ they are mauled by she bears

Now there was a puzzle today in discovering the strong themes. Notice that the first paragraph actually begins in 1 Kin 22. In the Hebrew Bible, 1 and 2 Kings is one book, Kings, and originally there were no chapter divisions within it, just the weak and strong paragraph divisions that we have been noting.

So the first paragraph is:

1 Kin 22:51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. 52 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; 53 for he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done. 2 Kin 1:1 Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. 2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” {s}

As this paragraph ends with a weak paragraph division, we know it is part of a larger strong theme. That larger theme contains these paragraphs:

1 Kin 22:41-50 {s} The reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, 25 years, who did good in the eyes of the LORD
1 Kin 22:51-2 Kin 1:2 {s} Ahaziah the son of Ahab king over Israel/ was injured + sent to inquire of Baalzebub
2 Kin 1:3-14 {s} Elijah and the word of the LORD to Ahaziah/ the king is not able to arrest him for his word
2 Kin 1:15-17a {p} Elijah went willingly + told Ahaziah he would die, and he eventually did/ Jehoram began to reign

The end of this theme contains a very important clue. We see it ends in the middle of a verse, in English Bibles. In my NKJV, verse 17 reads:

So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. Because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. 1 Kin 1:17

But in the Hebrew Bible in English, which contains the Hebrew paragraph divisions, the verse reads a bit differently:

17a So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram began to reign in his stead {p}
17b in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son. {s}

Why would the Spirit of God inspire the writer of Kings to end a strong theme in the middle of a sentence? It is significant, and He does these things for a reason. So in meditating upon the strong theme, the first thing I realized is that Jehoshaphat king of Judah reigned 25 years, with evil Ahaziah becoming king over Israel in Jehoshaphat’s 17th year. Ahaziah reigned two years, and then fell through his lattice and was injured. That would mean the injury took place in the 19th year of Jehoshaphat, but, his death occurred in the 2nd year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, for that is when Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel.

Now, if Ahaziah fell through his lattice in the 19th year of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years, then the reign of Jehoram his son began, who had already reigned 2 years when Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in his brother’s place, it would mean we have 8 missing years. Jehoshaphat reigned for 6 years more after Ahaziah was injured, and then his son reigned his first 2 years, and then Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel.

These are the kinds of things atheists and unbelievers like to point to to say the Scriptures are full of errors, and the kinds of things modern translators of the textual criticism school like to fiddle with to “correct” the original language of the Biblical text. But the puzzle is completely solved, keeping the integrity of the Scriptures intact, by considering why the paragraph divisions occur where they do. The Hebrew Bible in English:

17a So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram began to reign in his stead {p}

Ahaziah was injured, apparently in some debilitating way, and was unable to continue in his duties as king. So Jehoram his brother began to reign in his stead. He took up the responsibilities of governing while Ahaziah was disabled. Thus Ahaziah only reigned 2 years over Israel.

17b in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son. {s}

In the 2nd year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, which was 8 years later, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel, when Ahaziah finally died, because Ahaziah had no son. It means that Ahaziah lingered in his injury for 8 years, before he died from his injuries.

Now, someone will say, yes, but the text says he died, and then Jehoram began to reign in his stead. That is because we are reading the text as if we were native English speakers. If we were native Hebrew speakers, we would look at it like this:

1a) So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken.

1b) And Jehoram began to reign in his stead {p}

2a) In the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah;

2b) because he had no son. {s}

The Hebrew paragraph division in the middle of the sentence only makes this construction more clear. He died in the 2nd year of Jehoram, king of Judah, the son of Jehoshaphat; and Jehoram the son of Ahab, his brother began to reign in his stead, because Ahaziah had no son.

All that said, the strong themes of today’s chapters:

1 Kin 22:41-2 Kin 1:17a {sx3+p} Reign of good Jehoshaphat of Judah contrasted to reign of evil Ahaziah of Israel
2 Kin 1:17b-18 {s+p} Ahaziah disabled 8 years, until the 2nd year of Jehoram of Judah + he had no son/ his acts
2 Kings 2:1-22 {s+p} Elijah taken into heaven/ Elisha, double portion of the Spirit + healed waters of Jericho
2 Kings 2:23-25 {p} Elisha cursed the youths who mocked him/ they are mauled by she bears