Book of History; the twelfth book of the Old Testament; the twelfth book of the Bible.
Author: The book itself does not name its author and remains anonymous. Jewish tradition states that it was written by the prophet Jeremiah. However, at least some of the book was likely written by someone else. Jeremiah did not travel to Babylon, and the events of the final section (2 Kings 25:27–30) occurred in Babylon in 561 BC.
Audience: First and Second Kings were originally completed as one text, written for the Jewish people who were most likely living in exile when it was first completed. This Scripture emphasizes the history of the kings of Judah and Israel. Second Kings specifically continues the accounts of the kings of the divided kingdom and concludes with the deportations of Israel and Judah. Those living under the judgment of exile could learn much from the judgments upon evil kings and God’s blessing upon the kings who served in the tradition of David, called a man after God’s own heart.
Date: Unknown. It was clearly written after the final events of 2 Kings and was probably written in Babylon during the exile between approximately 561 and 538 BC.