2 Kings Figures

Elisha

Elisha is more than just the Robin to Elijah's Batman. He's a main character (though a little...

God

God does a lot in 2 Kings, but he tends to personally keep it on the down-low, working through...

Josiah

Josiah starts off as a child king, and later becomes a teen king—sounds like a sitcom,...

Hezekiah

Along with Josiah, Hezekiah is the most righteous king out of all the kings in 2 Kings....

Elijah

Elijah only appears in the first two chapters of 2 Kings, before Elisha takes over as the new...

Joash of Judah

Joash is yet another Biblical example of a heroic figure saved from a massacre while a baby....

Jehu

Jehu is a killing machine. Of course, he's God's killing machine—if that helps. (His name...

Huldah

Huldah is a prophetess, married to the keeper of the royal wardrobe, Shallum. After Josiah...

Jezebel

Jezebel—Ahab's widow—doesn't have that big of a role to play in 2 Kings. But given...

Hazael

Hazael is a King of Aram, one who (before becoming king) actually makes Elisha cry. When the sick...

Isaiah

Isaiah doesn't have as much to say in this book as he does in his own, poetic, amazing, and...

Manasseh

Manasseh is a notorious King of Judah who definitely gets filed in the narrator's "bad king"...

Sennacherib and Rabshakeh

Sennacherib and his mouthpiece, the Rabshakeh, are both classic, big-mouthed bad guys....

Ahaziah of Israel

Being the son of Ahab, this guy is in for nothing but bad luck. After he becomes King of Israel,...

Jehoshaphat

Jehoshaphat (whose name means "The Lord has Judged") is another one of the "good kings," a...

Jehoiakim (a.k.a. Eliakim)

Jehoiakim was originally named Eliakim, but he landed his fancy new name after Pharaoh Neco...

Jehoiachin

The son of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin rules in Judah for a measly three months—just long enough...

Nebuchadnezzar

King Nebuchadnezzar is the Babylonian ruler who invades Judah, conquers it, and finally sends the...

Hilkiah

Hilkiah is a high priest who discovers the "Book of the Law" (probably a version of Deuteronomy)...

King Mesha of Moab

This guy leads a revolt against Israel and Judah, re-establishing his dominance over Moab, which...

The Shunnamite Woman (and Her Son)

This devoted woman receives help from Elisha in many ways. In return for building him a room, he...

Jehoash of Israel

Although the narrator doesn't technically consider Jehoash of Israel a "good" king, Jehoash...

Shalmaneser

There isn't too much information about Shalmaneser's personality in 2 Kings, but he does...

Nebuzaradan

The captain of Nebuchadnezzar's bodyguard, Nebuzaradan presides over the sacking of Jerusalem,...

The Company of Prophets

These guys show up in order to lend support to some of the major prophets, like Elisha and...

Naaman

Naaman is a virtuous Aramean military commander who suffers from leprosy. He's converted to the...

Gehazi

Gehazi is Elisha's sometimes-faithful servant. He's usually a positive figure. In the stories he...

King Ben-Hadad (II)

King Ben-Hadad II is a ruler of Aram who fights against the Assyrians. He asks Elisha if he'll...

King Joram of Israel

A son of Ahab, this guy is yet another wicked ruler of Israel. He teams up with Jehoshaphat to...

Ahaziah of Judah

Not to be confused with the earlier Ahaziah of Israel, Ahaziah of Judah is also a wicked king....

Athaliah

A daughter of Ahab, Athaliah uses the death of her son Ahaziah as an excuse to take power for...

Jehonadab

Jehonadab is an ally of Jehu who helps him take down Ahab's house. He isn't overwhelmingly...

Jehosheba

The daughter of King Jehoram of Judah and granddaughter of Jehoshaphat, she nobly saves Joash of...

Jehoram of Judah

The son of the good king, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram goes wrong when he marries Ahab's wicked daughter,...

Jehoiada

Jehoiada is a righteous priest who helps protect the infant Joash of Judah from his grandmother...

Jehoahaz of Israel

The son of Jehu, Jehoahaz keeps leading the people of Israel in the wrong direction, letting them...

Amaziah

Amaziah is a righteous king of Judah—he kills the conspirators who murdered his father, but...

Jeroboam II

The son of Jehoash of Israel, Jeroboam II keeps following the sins of the first Jeroboam...

Uzziah / Azariah

The son of Amaziah, Uzziah (also called Azariah) is another righteous king of Judah—though...

Zechariah

The son of Jeroboam II, Zechariah becomes king of Israel during the time when Uzziah is reigning...

Shallum

After killing King Zechariah, Shallum becomes King of Israel—for a total of one month. A...

Menahem

After killing Shallum, Menahem son of Gadi becomes the new king of Israel for ten years,...

Pul

Again, there's not much to say here. Pul is an Assyrian king who threatens to invade Israel, but...

Pekahiah

The son of Menahem, Pekahiah succeeds his dad and rules as king for two years. He's yet another...

Pekah

After killing Pekahiah, Pekah rules in Israel for twenty years. Yet once more (not to repeat it...

Tiglath-Pileser

This Assyrian king invades Israel and carries off a good number of the people to Assyria. He also...

Jotham

Jotham, the son of Uzziah, succeeds him as King of Judah—after having basically been the...

Ahaz

Ahaz, the son of Jotham, breaks Judah's string of pretty good kings. He engages in all sorts of...

Uriah

Uriah is a priest Ahaz commissions with making certain alterations to the Temple—and that's...

Hoshea

After killing Pekah, Hoshea becomes the new king of the northern kingdom of Israel—and the...

Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah

These guys aren't super-important. They're just the emissaries sent by Hezekiah to talk to...

King Merodoch-Baladan

King Merodoch-Baladan is a ruler of Babylon who sends envoys to Hezekiah's court. Isaiah tells...

Amon

King Amon is the wicked son of a wicked dad, King Manasseh, and rules Judah just as evilly....

Shaphan

A pretty minor character, Shaphan is the secretary of Josiah. He runs messages to Hilkiah for...

Pharaoh Neco

Pharaoh Neco is the ruler of Egypt who kills Josiah in battle. He later imprisons Josiah's son,...

Jehoahaz of Judah

The son of Josiah, King Jehoahaz of Judah returns to evil religious practices, but he only reigns...

Bidkar

Bidkar is Jehu's captain. He's just mentioned one time, when he's instructed to throw Joram of...

Zedekiah

Zedekiah is the puppet king who Nebuchadnezzar appoints to rule in Judah after he takes...

Gedaliah

After Nebuchadnezzar puts Zedekiah's eyes out and imprisons him in Babylon, Gedaliah becomes the...

Ishmael

Not to be confused with Abraham's son from Genesis, this is a different Ishmael. He rebels...

Evil-merodach

This Babylonian King isn't a very important character, so we'll keep this short. Basically, he...