Lester L. Grabbe provides a concise and up-to-date introduction to the books of Kings, covering all the historical and interpretative issues. Grabbe pays particular attention to how the history of ancient Israel can be reconstructed (or not as the case may be) through the text, and introduces students to the key ways of reading the books of Kings as religious and political history.
Grabbe takes a chronological approach (according to the text) and provides overviews of the key periods of Israel's history. The nature of the 'Deuteronomistic History' and how well this theory of authorship stands up in the modern day is considered, as well as issues of form and source criticism more broadly. Grabbe concludes by offering a reflection on the books of Kings in theological and hermeneutical perspective, which enables students to view not only the historical and textual issues, but also broader issues of meaning and significance.

Lester L. Grabbe is Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism at the University of Hull. He is founder and convenor of the European Seminar in Historical Methodology. A recent book is Ancient Israel:What Do We Know and How Do We Know it?

Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. The Books of Kings and 'The Deuteronomistic History': Form and Source Criticism
3. The Books of Kings and History: Solomon to Omri
4. The Books of Kings and History: The Omride Dynasty and Rulers to the Fall of Samaria
5. The Books of Kings and History: From the Fall of Samaria to the Fall of Jerusalem
6. Conclusions: The Books of Kings in Theological and Hermeneutical Perspective
Indexes