Sefer Melakhim Bet

As we open Melakhim Bet we meet the kingdoms of Israel and Judah as they are struggle against the powerful kingdom of Aram, and then the aggressive empires of Assyria and then Babylonia. These forces threaten the very existence of the Israelite state, as we read the tragic fall of Samaria and the northern kingdom, and some 135 years later, the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple's destruction. In this book we meet the powerful personalities of the prophets Eliyahu. Elisha and later, Yishayahu; kings such as Yehu, Uzziah, Hizkiyahu, Menashe and Yoshiyahu.