PASTORAL EPISTLES. By Rev. A. Plummer, D.D. HEBREWS. By Rev. Principal T. C. Edwards, D.D. ST. JAMES and ST. JUDE. By Rev. A. Plummer, D.D. ST. PETER. By Rev. Prof. J. Rawson Lumby, D.D. EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. By Rt. Rev. W. Alexander, Lord Bishop of Derry. REVELATION. By Prof. W. Milligan, D.D. INDEX VOLUME TO ENTIRE SERIES. _New York_: HODDER & STOUGHTON, _Publishers_ THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS BY F. W. Farrar, D.D., F.R.S. LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; ARCHDEACON OF WESTMINSTER HODDER & STOUGHTON NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE AHAZIAH BEN-AHAB OF ISRAEL (B.C. 855-854) 3 A weak, shadowy, and faithless king--1. Relations between Judah and Israel--2. Alliance with Jehoshaphat--3. Revolt of Moab--Mesha and the Moabite Stone--4. The fall from the lattice--Baal-Zebub--Elijah calling down fire from heaven--How are we to judge respecting the Elijah-spirit?--Variations of moral standard. CHAPTER II THE ASCENSION OF ELIJAH 19 Uncertain date--The journey to Gilgal; to Bethel; to Jericho; to the Jordan--The double portion--Chariot and horses of fire--Elisha recrosses the Jordan--The young prophets and their search--Grandeur of Elijah. CHAPTER III ELISHA 25 Cycle of supernatural stories--Elisha and Elijah--The cure of the unwholesome fountain--"Go up, thou bald-head"--The children and the bears. CHAPTER IV THE INVASION OF MOAB 29 Death of Ahaziah--Jehoram Ben-Ahab of Israel--Good beginnings--Attempts to recover Moab--Alliance with Judah and Edom--The invasion--An army perishing of thirst--Elisha--Music--Trenches in the wâdy--Error of the Moabites--Their disastrous rout--Devastation of the country--Mesha propitiates Chemosh--"Great wrath against Israel"--The invading army retreats. CHAPTER V ELISHA'S MIRACLES 40 Their chronological vagueness--Difference between Elisha and Elijah--Contrasts and resemblances--Social life in Israel--1. The widow and the oil--2. The lady of Shunem--Her hospitality--Her reward--3. The boy's death--Her distress--The resuscitation--4. Death in the pot--5. The multiplied first-fruits. CHAPTER VI