Day 108 – January 19, 2024: II Kings 11-15 and Proverbs 7

There is so much back and forth between who is reigning in Judah, the south where Jerusalem is, and who is reigning in the Israel, the north where Samaria is. This back and forth continues to show a continuity. Did you notice that in the south not only is the king identified but also the mother of the king. I thought that was fascinating and I wished I had a reason for why that is. The only similarity that I can find is I know is that whether a person can actually self-define as Jewish or not depends on the mother and not on the father. If the mother is Jewish then the son or daughter can define as Jewish, but not vice-versa. Again, I don’t know the historical or religious reasons behind that, but it seems to carry out in our reading as well.

We see a mention of Jonah as well as Elisha in these verses which describe the many convoluted passing downs of the reign from one king to another. So much blood and violence is involved in all of these stories it is no wonder that people are confused as to the nature of God. We also see Joash and Joahash mentione both in the north and the south so there is a period of time where the two seem interchangeable and yet they are clearly two separate people even while they are reigning at the same time.