'King' in the Bible

But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

The messengers returned to the king, who asked them, “Why have you come back?”

They replied, “A man came to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and declare to him: This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you will not get up from your sickbed—you will certainly die.’”

The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke those words to you?”

So King Ahaziah sent a captain of 50 with his 50 men to Elijah. When the captain went up to him, he was sitting on top of the hill. He announced, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”

So the king sent another captain of 50 with his 50 men to Elijah. He took in the situation and announced, “Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down immediately!’”

Then the king sent a third captain of 50 with his 50 men. The third captain of 50 went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God, please let my life and the lives of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your sight.

The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king.

Then Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel for you to inquire of His will?—you will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.’”

Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Since he had no son, Joram became king in his place. This happened in the second year of Judah’s King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat.

Joram son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria during the eighteenth year of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat and reigned 12 years.

King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He used to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams,

but when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

So King Joram marched out from Samaria at that time and mobilized all Israel.

Then he sent a message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”Jehoshaphat said, “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out. After they had traveled their indirect route for seven days, they had no water for the army or their animals.

Then the king of Israel said, “Oh no, the Lord has summoned three kings, only to hand them over to Moab.”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? Let’s inquire of Yahweh through him.”One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat, who used to pour water on Elijah’s hands, is here.”

Jehoshaphat affirmed, “The Lord’s words are with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went to him.

However, Elisha said to King Joram of Israel, “We have nothing in common. Go to the prophets of your father and your mother!”But the king of Israel replied, “No, because it is the Lord who has summoned these three kings to hand them over to Moab.”

Elisha responded, “As the Lord of Hosts lives, I stand before Him. If I did not have respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would not look at you; I wouldn’t take notice of you.

When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took 700 swordsmen with him to try to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not do it.

So he took his firstborn son, who was to become king in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the city wall. Great wrath was on the Israelites, and they withdrew from him and returned to their land.

Then he said to Gehazi, “Say to her, ‘Look, you’ve gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’”She answered, “I am living among my own people.”

Naaman, commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a brave warrior, but he had a skin disease.

Therefore, the king of Aram said, “Go and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.”So he went and took with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 changes of clothes.

He brought the letter to the king of Israel, and it read:When this letter comes to you, note that I have sent you my servant Naaman for you to cure him of his skin disease.

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Think it over and you will see that he is only picking a fight with me.”

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel tore his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”

However, in a particular matter may the Lord pardon your servant: When my master, the king of Aram, goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship and I, as his right-hand man, bow in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.”

When the king of Aram was waging war against Israel, he conferred with his servants, “My camp will be at such and such a place.”

But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.”

Consequently, the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had told him about. The man of God repeatedly warned the king, so the king would be on his guard.

The king of Aram was enraged because of this matter, and he called his servants and demanded of them, “Tell me, which one of us is for the king of Israel?”

One of his servants said, “No one, my lord the king. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in your bedroom.”

So the king said, “Go and see where he is, so I can send men to capture him.”When he was told, “Elisha is in Dothan,”

When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? I will kill them.”

Some time later, King Ben-hadad of Aram brought all his military units together and marched up to besiege Samaria.

As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “My lord the king, help!”

Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?”She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’

When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes. Then, as he was passing by on the wall, the people saw that there was sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.

Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger got to him, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

for the Lord had caused the Aramean camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army. The Arameans had said to each other, “The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us.”

So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and go into the city.’”

The messengers took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.”

So they followed them as far as the Jordan. They saw that the whole way was littered with clothes and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king.

The king had appointed the captain, his right-hand man, to be in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway. He died, just as the man of God had predicted when the king came to him.

When the man of God had said to the king, “About this time tomorrow 12 quarts of barley will sell for a shekel and six quarts of fine meal will sell for a shekel at the gate of Samaria,”

When the woman returned from the land of the Philistines at the end of seven years, she went to appeal to the king for her house and field.

The king had been speaking to Gehazi, the attendant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things Elisha has done.”

While he was telling the king how Elisha restored the dead son to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life came to appeal to the king for her house and field. So Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is the son Elisha restored to life.”

When the king asked the woman, she told him the story. So the king appointed a court official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, along with all the income from the field from the day she left the country until now.”

Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”

So the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go meet the man of God. Inquire of the Lord through him, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift: 40 camel-loads of all kinds of goods from Damascus. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son, Ben-hadad king of Aram, has sent me to ask you, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog, do this monstrous thing?”Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

In the fifth year of Israel’s King Joram son of Ahab, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah, replacing his father.

He was 32 years old when he became king and reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

During Jehoram’s reign, Edom rebelled against Judah’s control and appointed their own king.

Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.

In the twelfth year of Israel’s King Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.

Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king and reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, granddaughter of Israel’s King Omri.

Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to fight against Hazael king of Aram in Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram.

So King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him in Ramoth-gilead when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah son of Jehoram went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab since Joram was ill.

Then, take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I anoint you king over Israel.”’ Open the door and escape. Don’t wait.”

So Jehu got up and went into the house. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel.

But they replied, “That’s a lie! Tell us!”So Jehu said, “He talked to me about this and that and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”

Each man quickly took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. They blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”

Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. Joram and all Israel had been at Ramoth-gilead on guard against Hazael king of Aram.

But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king, then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”

Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel since Joram was laid up there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to visit Joram.

So a horseman went to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’”Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them but hasn’t started back.”

So he sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’”Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”

“Harness!” Joram shouted, and they harnessed his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu at the plot of land of Naboth the Jezreelite.

When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what was happening, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot him in his chariot at Gur Pass near Ibleam, but he fled to Megiddo and died there.

It was in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab that Ahaziah had become king over Judah.

So the overseer of the palace, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever you think is right.”

When the messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” the king said, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”

Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”They answered, “We’re Ahaziah’s relatives. We’ve come down to greet the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons.”

Jehu rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz became king in his place.

Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s sister, secretly rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king’s sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. So he was hidden from Athaliah and was not killed.

You must completely surround the king with weapons in hand. Anyone who approaches the ranks is to be put to death. You must be with the king in all his daily tasks.”

The priest gave to the commanders of hundreds King David’s spears and shields that were in the Lord’s temple.

Then the guards stood with their weapons in hand surrounding the king—from the right side of the temple to the left side, by the altar and by the temple.

He brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the testimony, and made him king. They anointed him and clapped their hands and cried, “Long live the king!”

As she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar according to the custom. The commanders and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed “Treason! Treason!”

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people and another covenant between the king and the people.

He took the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king from the Lord’s temple. They entered the king’s palace by way of the guards’ gate. Then Joash sat on the throne of the kings.

Joash was seven years old when he became king. >

In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king and reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, who was from Beer-sheba.

But by the twenty-third year of the reign of King Joash, the priests had not repaired the damage to the temple.

So King Joash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said, “Why haven’t you repaired the temple’s damage? Since you haven’t, don’t take any money from your assessors; instead, hand it over for the repair of the temple.”

At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he planned to attack Jerusalem.

So King Joash of Judah took all the consecrated items that his ancestors—Judah’s kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah—had consecrated, along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and in the king’s palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.

His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. Then they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Amaziah became king in his place.

In the twenty-third year of Judah’s King Joash son of Ahaziah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned 17 years.

So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He surrendered them to the power of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad during their reigns.

Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord heard him, for He saw the oppression the king of Aram inflicted on Israel.

Jehoahaz did not have an army left, except for 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them, making them like dust at threshing.

Jehoahaz rested with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash became king in his place.