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Who are the…
KINGS of the Bible times

also known as: sovereigns, emperors, pharaohs

Introduction

The word “king” is in Scripture very generally used to denote one invested with authority, whether extensive or limited. In the New Testament, the Roman emperor is spoken of as a king (1 Peter 2:13, 17), and Herod Antipas, who was only a tetrarch, is also called a king (Matthew 14:9; Mark 6:22).

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Sovereign God

Scripture applies the title of King to God and to Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 27:11).

I charge you…that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. —1 Timothy 6:13-16 NASB excerpt

He is a great King over all the Earth —Psalm 47:2 KJV

“I Am a Great King,” says the Lord of hosts —Malachi 1:14

…He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords… —1 Timothy 6:15 NKJV

These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings… —Revelation 17:14 NKJV

…He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
—Revelation 19:16 NKJV

Everlasting King / King Eternal (Jeremiah 10:10; 1 Timothy 1:16-17)

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The people of God are also called “kings” (Dan. 7:22, 27; Matthew 19:28; Rev. 1:6, etc.). Death is called the “king of terrors” (Job 18:14).

There were 31 wicked kings subdued by Joshua in Canaan at God’s command (Joshua 12:9, 24).

Old Testament King
Kings bear a greater responsibility before God to live, lead and govern righteously and wisely, with goodness, mercy and in the fear of God.

Also, in His Sovereignty, God can and has moved the hearts and minds of kings to fulfill His purposes.

Hebrew kings

Jehovah was the sole King of the Jewish nation (1 Samuel 8:7; Isaiah 33:22). But there came a time in the history of that people when a king was demanded, that they might be like other nations (1 Samuel 8:5). The prophet Samuel remonstrated with them, but the people cried out, “Nay, but we will have a king over us.” The misconduct of Samuel's sons was the immediate cause of this demand.

The Hebrew kings did not rule in their own right, nor in name of the people who had chosen them, but partly as servants and partly as representatives of Jehovah, the true King of Israel (1 Samuel 10:1).

The limits of the king's power were prescribed (1 Samuel 10:25).

Many of the records of these kings are recorded in The Book of Kings One and Two, and the Book of Chronicles One and Two. There also existed the chronicles of King David, but these have been lost.

The officers of a king’s court included:

  1. the recorder or remembrancer (2 Samuel 8:16; 1 Kings 4:3)
  2. the scribe (2 Samuel 8:17; 20:25
  3. the officer over the house, the chief steward (Isaiah 22:15
  4. the “king's friend,” a confidential companion (1 Kings 4:5)
  5. the keeper of the wardrobe (2 Kings 22:14)
  6. captain of the bodyguard (2 Samuel 20:23)
  7. officers over the king's treasures, etc. (1 Chronicles 27:25-31)
  8. commander-in-chief of the army (1 Chronicles 27:34)
  9. the royal counsellor (1 Chronicles 27:32; 2 Samuel 16:20-23).
  10. ambassador

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Chronological list of Hebrew kings

Kings of the 12 tribes of Israel, before they divided

  1. Saul
  2. David
  3. Solomon

Kings of the Kingdom of Judah

AFTER the division / in chronological order
  1. Rehoboam—Israel split during his reign and both Judah and Israel sank in increasing moral and spiritual decay
  2. Abijah
  3. Asa
  4. Jehoshaphat
  5. Jehoram
  6. Ahaziah
  7. Athaliah, a queen
  8. Joash (Jehoash)
  9. Amaziah
  10. Uzziah (Azariah)
  11. Jotham
  12. Ahaz—wicked
  13. Hezekiah
  14. Manasseh
  15. Amon
  16. Josiah
  17. Jehoahaz
  18. Jehoiakim
  19. Jehoiachin (Jechonias, Jeconiah)
  20. Zedekiah

Kings of the Kingdom of Israel

AFTER the division / in chronological order
  1. Jeroboam I—wicked
  2. Nadab—assassinated
  3. Baasha—wicked
  4. Elah—wicked (son of Baasha)
  5. Zimri—wicked
  6. Tibni
  7. Omri—wicked
  8. Ahab—wicked
  9. Ahaziah—wicked
  10. Jehoram (Joram)—wicked
  11. Jehu
  12. Jehoahaz—wicked
  13. Jehoash (Joash)
  14. Jeroboam II
  15. Zechariah
  16. Shallum
  17. Menahem—wicked
  18. Pekahiah—wicked, assassinated
  19. Pekah—wicked
  20. Hoshea—wicked

List of Davidic kings (The House of David)

in chronological order
  1. King David — son of Jesse
  2. King Solomon — son of David and Bathsheba
  3. King Rehoboam — son of Solomon and Naamah
  4. King Abijaham (Abijah) — son of Rehoboam and Micaiah (Maacah)
  5. King Asa — son of Abijam
  6. Jehoshaphat — son of Asa and Azubah
  7. King Jehoram — son of Jehoshaphat
  8. King Ahaziah — son of Jehoram and Athaliah, daughter of evil Queen Jezebel and King Ahab
  9. Queen Mother Athaliah — daughter of evil Queen Jezebel and King Ahab
  10. King Jehoash (Joash) — son of Ahaziah and Zibiah of Beersheba; grandson of Queen Mother Athaliah
  11. King Amaziah — son of Jehoash and Jehoaddan of Jerusalem
  12. King Uzziah — son of Amaziah and Jecoliah of Jerusalem
  13. Jotham (regent) — son of Uzziah and Jerusha (Jerushah) daughter of Zadok
  14. King Ahaz — son of Jotham
  15. King Hezekiah — son of Ahaz and Abijah daughter of Zechariah
  16. King Manasseh — son of Hezekiah and Hephzibah
  17. King Amon — son of Manasseh and Meshullemeth
  18. King Josiah — son of Amon and Jedidiah
  19. King Jehoahaz — son of Josiah and Hamutal
  20. King Jehoiakim (Eliakim) — son of Josiah and Zebidah
  21. King Jehoiachin (Coniah; Jechoniah) — son of Jehoiakim and Nehusta
  22. King Zedekiah — son of Josiah and his consort Hamutal (Hamital)
  23. Jesus Christ, King of kings

109 Kings of biblical times

in alphabetical order
  1. Abijam
  2. Abimelech
  3. Adonibezek—wicked / subdued 70 others (Judges 1:7)
  4. Achbor
  5. Achish
  6. Adoni-zedec
  7. Adonizedek
  8. Agag
  9. Agrippa I
  10. Ahab
  11. Ahasuerus
  12. Ahaz
  13. Ahaziah
  14. Alexander the Great
  15. Amaziah
  16. Amon
  17. Amraphel
  18. Aretas
  19. Arioch
  20. Artaxerxes
  21. Asa
  22. Asnapper
  23. Augustus
  24. Baal-hanan
  25. Baalis
  26. Baasha
  27. Bela
  28. Belshazzar
  29. Ben-hadad
  30. Berodach-baladan
  31. Birsha
  32. Chedorlaomer
  33. Chushan-rishathaim
  34. Cyrus
  35. Debir
  36. Eglon
  37. Elah
  38. Eliakim
  39. Eth-baal
  40. Evil-Merodach
  41. Darius, the Mede
  42. David
  43. Hadad
  44. Hadadezer
  45. Hadar (Gen. 36:38)
  46. Hadarezer
  47. Hanun
  48. Herod Agrippa I
  49. Herod the Great
  50. Hezekiah
  51. Hiram
  52. Hoham
  53. Hoshea
  54. Hur
  55. Husham (Gen. 36:34-35; 1 Chr. 1:45-46)
  56. Jabin
  57. Japhia
  58. Jechoniah (Jechonias)
  59. Jehoash
  60. Jehoiachin
  61. Jehoiakim
  62. Jehoram
  63. Jehu
  64. Jeroboam—wicked
  65. Joash
  66. Jobab
  67. Josiah
  68. Lemuel
  69. Melchizedek
  70. Menahem
  71. Mesha
  72. Nadab
  73. Nabonidus, father of Belshazzar
  74. Nahash
  75. Nebuchadnezzar
  76. Necho II
  77. Nero, the Caesar that probably martyred Paul
  78. Nimrod
  79. Og
  80. Omri
  81. Oshea
  82. Osnapper
  83. Piram
  84. Pul
  85. Rehoboam
  86. Rezin
  87. Rezon
  88. Samlah of Masrekah (Genesis 36:36-37; 1 Chronicles 1:47-48)
  89. Sargon
  90. Saul of Edom
  91. Saul, 1st king of Israel
  92. Sennacherib
  93. Shallum
  94. Shalman
  95. Shemeber
  96. Shinab
  97. Shishak I
  98. Sihon
  99. So
  100. Solomon
  101. Talmai
  102. Tiglath-Pileser III
  103. Tirhakah
  104. Toi
  105. Uzziah
  106. Xerxes
  107. Zachariah
  108. Zedekiah
  109. Zerah

Kingdoms of biblical times

  1. Alashiya
  2. Akkad
  3. Amorites
  4. Armenia
  5. Assyria
  6. Athens
  7. Bashan
  8. Canaanites
  9. Chaldea
  10. Babylon
  11. Canaan
  12. Crete
  13. Cyprus
  14. Darkness, Kingdom of
  15. Edom
  16. Egypt
  17. Elam
  18. Ethiopia
  19. Girgashites
  20. Greece
  21. Hittites
  22. Hivites
  23. Israel, Kingdom of
  24. Jebusites
  25. Judah, Kingdom of
  26. Kerma
  27. Lebanon
  28. Lydia
  29. Macedonia
  30. Media
  31. Messenia
  32. Minoa
  33. Mycenaea
  34. Nubia
  35. Parthia
  36. Perizzites
  37. Persia
  38. Philistia
  39. Punt
  40. Rome
  41. Sidon
  42. Sumeria (Sumer)
  43. Syria

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Article Version: April 16, 2024