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Introduction
to 1 Kings
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS
This,
and the following book, properly are but one book, divided into two parts, and
went with the Jews under the common name of Kings. This, in the Syriac version,
is called the Book of Kings; and in the Arabic version, the Book of Solomon,
the Son of David the Prophet, because it begins with his reign upon the death
of his father; and, in the Vulgate Latin version, the Third Book of Kings, the
two preceding books of Samuel being sometimes called the First and Second Books
of Kings, they containing the reigns of Saul and David; and in the Septuagint
version both this and the following book are called Kingdoms, because they
treat of the kingdom of Israel and Judah, after the division in the times of
Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and of the several kings of them; as of Solomon
before the division, so afterwards of the kings of Judah; Rehoboam, Abijam,
Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Jehoash, Amaziah, Uzziah or Azariah,
Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim,
Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah; and of the kings of Israel, Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha,
Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam the son of
Joash, Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea; so that these
books may, with great propriety, be called the books or histories of the kings
in the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel: who they were written by, is not easy
to say; some think they were written by piecemeal by the prophets that lived in
the several reigns successively, as Nathan, Ahijah the Shilonite, Iddo, Isaiah,
and Jeremiah, and afterwards put together by an inspired writer. The Jews
commonly sayF1T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1. , that Jeremiah wrote
the book of the Kings, by which they mean this, and the following book; though
very probably they were written by Ezra, since the history in them is carried
down to the liberty granted to Jehoiachin in Babylon; but that Ezra was the
writer of all the preceding historical books, and even of the Pentateuch,
cannot be admitted, which is the conceit of SpinosaF2Tractat.
Theolog. Politic. c. 8. & 9. p. 150, &c. ; part of whose tract is just
now republished by somebody, word for word, under a title as in the marginF3Tractatus
de Primis 12. Vet. Test. Lib. &c. Londini 1763. ; but that Ezra was not the
writer of the Pentateuch is clear, since he refers to it as written by Moses,
and as the rule of religion and worship in his times, Ezra 3:2; and it is
certain these writings were in being in the times of Josiah, Amaziah, Joash,
yea, of David, and even of Joshua, 2 Chronicles 34:14;
and as for the book of Joshua, that also was written long before Ezra's time;
it must be written long before the times of David, before the Jebusites were
expelled from Jerusalem, since the writer of it says, that they dwelt there in
his days, Joshua 15:63; the
book of Judges must be written before the times of Samuel and David, since the
former refers to the annals of it, 1 Samuel 12:9; and
the latter alludes to some passages in it, Psalm 68:7; see Judges 5:4; and a
speech of Joab's, 2 Samuel 11:21,
shows it to be an history then extant: to which may be added, that in it
Jerusalem is called Jebus, Judges 19:10; which
it never was, after it was taken by David out of the hands of the Jebusites, 2 Samuel 5:6; the
book of Ruth very probably was written by Samuel; had it been of a later date,
or written by Ezra, the genealogy with which it concludes, would doubtless have
been carried further than to David: the Book of Samuel, and particularly the
song of Hannah in it, were written in all probability before the penning of the
hundred thirteenth psalm, Psalm 113:1, in
which some expressions seem to be taken from it wherefore, though the two books
of Kings may be allowed to be written or compiled by Ezra, the ten preceding
ones cannot be assigned to him: however, there is no room to doubt of the
divine authority of these two books, when the honour our Lord has done them is observed,
by quoting or referring to several histories in them; as to the account of the
queen of Sheba coming to hear the wisdom of Solomon; of the famine in the times
of Elijah; and of that prophet being sent to the widow of Sarepta, and of the
cleansing of Naaman the Syrian in the times of Elisha, Matthew 12:42 from 1 Kings 17:1 2 Kings 5:10; to
which may be added, the quotations and references made by the apostles to
passages in them, as by the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:2 from 1 Kings 19:14 where
this book is expressly called the Scripture; and by the Apostle James, James 5:17; who
manifestly refers to 1 Kings 17:1; and
there are various things in this part of Scripture, which are confirmed by the
testimonies of Heathen writers, as will be observed in the exposition of it.
The use of these books is to carry on the history of the Jewish nation, to show
the state of the church of God in those times, and his providential care of it
amidst all the changes and vicissitudes in the state; and, above all, to
transmit to us the true genealogy of the Messiah, which serves to confirm the
Evangelist Matthew's account of it.
Commentator
John Gill (November 23, 1697-October 14,
1771) was an English Baptist, a biblical scholar, and a staunch Calvinist.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism is a matter of academic debate.
He was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
In his youth, he attended Kettering Grammar School, mastering the Latin
classics and learning Greek by age eleven. The young scholar continued
self-study in everything from logic to Hebrew. His love for Hebrew would follow
Gill throughout his life.
At the age of about twelve, Gill heard a
sermon from his pastor, William Wallis, on the text, "And the Lord called
unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). The message
stayed with Gill and eventually led to his conversion. It was not until seven
years later that young John made a public profession when he was almost
nineteen years of age.
His first pastoral work was as an intern
assisting John Davis at Higham Ferrers in 1718 at age twenty one. He was
subsequently called to pastor the Strict Baptist church at Goat Yard Chapel,
Horsleydown, Southwark in 1719. In 1757, his congregation needed larger
premises and moved to a Carter Lane, St. Olave's Street, Southwark. His
pastorate lasted 51 years. This Baptist Church was once pastored by Benjamin
Keach and would later become the New Park Street Chapel and then the
Metropolitan Tabernacle pastored by Charles Spurgeon.
During Gill's ministry the church strongly
supported the preaching of George Whitefield at nearby Kennington Common.
In 1748, Gill was awarded the honorary degree
of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Aberdeen. He was a profound scholar
and a prolific author. His most important works are:
John Gill is the first major writing Baptist
theologian. His work retains its influence into the twenty-first century.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism in English Baptist life is a matter of
debate. Peter Toon has argued that Gill was himself a hyper-Calvinist, which
would make Gill the father of Baptist hyper-Calvinism. Tom Nettles has argued
that Gill was not a hyper-Calvinist himself, which would make him merely a
precursor and hero to Baptist hyper-Calvinists.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James Version Bible, NKJV
The
NKJV was commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
One-hundred-and-thirty respected Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay
Christians worked for seven years with the goal of updating the vocabulary and
grammar of the King James Version, while preserving the classic style of the of
the 1611 version.
The
task of updating the English of the KJV involved many changes in word order,
grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. One of the most significant features of the
NKJV was its removal of the second person pronouns "thou",
"thee", "ye," "thy," and "thine." Verb
forms were also modernized in the NKJV (for example, "speaks" rather
than "speaketh").
Young’s
Literal Translation was completed in 1898 by Robert Young, who also compiled
Young’s Analytical Concordance. It is an extremely literal translation that
attempts to preserve the tense and word usage as found in the original Greek
and Hebrew writings. The online text is from a reprint of the 1898 edition as
published by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Obvious errors in
spelling or inconsistent spellings of the same word were corrected in the
online edition of the text. This text is Public Domain in the United States.