1 Kings

1 and 2 Kings together form a continuous story, which is a sequel to 1 and 2 Samuel. In Bibles the story is spread over two books, probably because of the size of the narrative. In these books we read stories about the kings who reigned after David.

The title refers to the kings who were ruling over Israel and Judah over a period of four centuries, from the tenth to the sixth century BC.

1 Kings deals with:

1 and 2 Kings are not concerned with presenting a dispassionate account of history. The stories are written to give an assessment of certain events and of the various kings.
The criterion for this assessment is whether a king acts in accordance with the will of the Lord, or against it. Serving other gods is the chief mark of disobedience. It risks the existence of the people of Israel, both from a religious and a political aspect. According to this criterion, the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel do badly, and the assessment of the kings of Judah is only partly favourable.
The history of Judah as described in 1 and 2 Kings is reformulated in 2 Chronicles.

On the grounds of their historical content, 1 and 2 Kings are seen as historical books, like Judges, Joshua, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.
In the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, the books are grouped with the Early Prophets. In these books the people are constantly reminded of the Law of Moses and warned against breaking the commandments.
These books are written from the perspective of the exile. So they offer a view of how history led to the crisis of the exile.