Two books of the Old Testament, originally one, but divided in the Septuagint into two, containing the history of the Jewish kingdom under the kings from its establishment under David to its fall, and covering a period from 1015 B.C. to 560 B.C., during which time the kingdom fell into two, that of Israel and that of Judah, the captivity of the former, occurring 130 years before that of the latter; the author, who is unknown, wrote the history at the time of the captivity, and his object is didactic of the effect on the history of a nation of its apostasy from faith in its God, not, however, without a promise of restoration in the case of repentance.