Around the year 1000 B.C. David captured the city of Jerusalem then after the death of his son and heir, Solomon in 932 B.C. the kingdom was divided. The northern part called the Kingdom of Israel, would cease to exist as a nation two centuries later; the southern part, the Kingdom of Judah, would last until the year 587 B.C. The year in which the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed followed by the Exile to Babylon.

The 400 year period covered by the Book of Kings are considered as the most important in sacred history since God raised up for himself many prophets from among his people. In fact the greater part of the old testament and not just the Book of Kings was written during these four centuries.

In the beginning, 1 and 2 Kings formed but one volume and was the fruit of the prophets's reflections which were then edited during the exile in Babylon. It is primarily a religious discourse and as such many events which historians may have considered important have been deliberately omitted such as the reigns of Omri and Jeroboam II in Samaria. Its judgement on the Kings of Israel (in Samaria) is most often negative blaming them for the division of the Kingdom of David. Only a few kings of Judah are praised for their loyalty to Yahweh. We note three essential elements, namely;

• the grandeur of Solomon's reign and of the Temple in Jerusalem
• the history of the two kingdoms after their division and finally
• the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel and the history of Judah until the destruction of Jerusalem's itself in 587 B.C.