Since 1 and 2 Kings were originally one book and were artificially divided, the author in the 1 Kings and 2 King are same.
The author is unknown, though the Jews credit its writing to Jeremiah. As Ryrie points out:
Whoever the author or compiler of these books was, he used historical sources (11:41; 14:19, 29). He likely was one of the exiles who lived in Babylon, perhaps an unknown one, or Ezra or Ezekiel or Jeremiah (though someone other than Jeremiah would have had to write the last chapter of 2 Kings, since Jeremiah apparently died in Egypt, not Babylon; Jer. 43:6-7
About 550 B.C. Again, since 1 and 2 Kings were originally one book, see the discussion on the date in 1 Kings.
About 550 B.C. The release of Jehoiachin from prison is the last event recorded in 2 Kings. This took place in the 37th year of his imprisonment (560 B.C.). Therefore 1 and 2 Kings could not have been writ-ten before that event. It seems unlikely that the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity in 538 B.C. had taken place when 1 and 2 Kings were written; had it occurred, the author would probably have referred to it. Probably 1 and 2 Kings were completed in their final form between 560 and 538 B.C
First and Second Kings, originally one book (like 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Chronicles) and simply called “Kings” in the Hebrew tradition ( Melechim), are appropriately titled since they trace the history of the kings of Israel and Judah from the time of Solomon to the Babylonian captivity. First Kings abruptly ends with the beginning of the reign of Ahaziah in 853 B.C
Second Kings continues the history of Elijah and his successor, Elisha, but it also continues what might be termed, the “Tale of the Two Kingdoms.” As such, it continues to trace the history of the North-ern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah until they are finally conquered and taken into captivity. Israel fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. and Judah fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. In both kingdoms the prophets continued to warn the people that God would punish them unless they repented. Second Kings teaches that willful sin in a nation has a woeful end. In 1 and 2 Samuel, the nation is born, in 1 Kings it is divided, and in 2 Kings it is dispersed. After years of pleading with His people through the prophets, God’s patience finally turns to discipline just as He promised. Because both books were origi-nally one, 1 and 2 Kings share the same theme and goal. They teach us how unfaithfulness (disobe-dience to God’s law and rebellion) must lead to God’s discipline and the overthrow of the monarchy. The two kingdoms collapsed because of the failure of the kings to rule righteously and give heed to God’s truth.
Two key words are the word, “king,” occurring over 400 times (NASB), and the word “prophet,” which occurs some 34 times (NASB). But the key term that describes the content would be dispersion or captivi-ties since this book describes the historical demise that lead to the loss of the monarchies and the disper-sion of the two kingdoms.
❝ 17:18-23 So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah. 19 Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. 20 And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight. 21 When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD, and made them commit a great sin. 22 And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel from His sight, as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assy-ria until this day.
❝ 23:27 And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”
A number of chapters fall into this category: chapter 2, Elijah taken to heaven; chapter 4, Elisha’s miracle for the widow; chapter 5, the healing of Naaman and Gehazi’s greed; chapter 6, Elisha’s prayer for his servant and the capture of Syria; chapter 17, Israel’s fall and the Assyrian Captivity (722 B.C.); chapters 18-19, Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah and Hezekiah’s prayer; chapters 22-23, Josiah’s re-vival, reforms, and renewal; chapters 24-25, the fall of Judah to Babylon (586 B.C.)
Elijah, Elisha, Josiah, Naaman, Hezekiah.
Elijah naturally anticipates the forerunner of Christ in John the Baptist (Matt. 11:14; 17:10-12; Luke 1:17) and Elisha in many ways reminds us of Jesus Christ in His ministry. Jensen compares and summarizes their ministry:
Elijah is noted for great public acts, while Elisha is distinguished by the large number of miracles he performed, many of them for individual needs. Elijah’s ministry emphasized God’s law, judgment, and severity. Elisha supplemented this by demonstrating God’s grace, love and tenderness. Elijah was like John the Baptist, thundering the message of repentance for sin. Elisha followed this up by going about, as Christ did, doing deeds of kindness, and by doing miracles attesting that the words of the prophets were from God.12
Second Kings also naturally falls into two section. The first section, The Divided Kingdom (1:1-17:41), selectively traces the reign of the kings of both nations until the dispersion of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The second section, The Surviving Kingdom of Judah (18:1-25:30), then traces the reign of the surviving kings of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.