Like with the Book of Samuel,

Like most books of the Bible, the author of Kings is unknown. Most believe that the book is a compilation of records, with some scholars believing priestly writers to be responsible and others attributing it to prophets.

The complaint of a priestly writer being responsible is where in the northern kingdom, which had turned away from God, was there a suitable priest to keep track of the history?[1]

I understand the unlikelihood of a God-fearing priest present in the northern kingdom, however I don't think this rules out the possibility of a priestly author. Even in the midst of Sodom and Gomorrah, God found Lot and in the midst of the whole earth, God found Noah; this is evidence that even in dismal situations there's always at least one person shining for God. Perhaps there was at least one priest in the north that had not lost his way. Further, we've seen countless examples of God using non-believers to fulfill his purpose. It is quite possible that the person was in sin but God blessed them to keep accurate records simply because He wanted us to have those records. We can't say for sure one way or the other whether this was the case in the authorship of Kings.

Scholars conclude that if the compilation is priestly, Ezra was the final editor, but if the compilation was written by prophets, either Jeremiah or Ezekiel would have been the final editor.[1] Some lean heavier toward Jeremiah due to the similarities between 2 Kings 24-25 and Jeremiah 52.[2]

1 Kings begins with the death of David in 970 BC and 2 Kings ends with the release of King Jehoiachin from prison in 560 BC. The book is a compilation of records detailing the history of Israel during this time. While it is impossible to identify when each record was written, we know that final compilation could not have been completed before the release of Jehoaichin in 560 BC, since that event is covered in the text. However, 2 Kings does not discuss the return of the Jews to their land, which occurred in 536 BC. This is too major of an event to exclude had the book been compiled after the fact. Thus, it is assumed that the text must have been completed before the return in 536 BC. This gives us an estimated date of completion between 560 and 536 BC.

The Book of Kings focuses on the kings of Israel (hence the name of the book) and the prophets the serve during each king's reign. In this set of books, we learn the role of each of office, as well as, a bit about revival.

Through the Davidic covenant, kings were seen as the moral representative of the nation. Blessings and punishments flowed based on the kings action. This pattern continued through the king Azariah (or Uzziah).

Prophets were not all the same. Some were miracle workers like Elisha, but others were simply delivering information like Gad or Micah. Kings establishes them before we dive into their writings found later in the Bible.

Revivals of the kings happened on an individual level and occasionally had a few effects on society as a whole, but the effects never lasted. The nation always returned to idolatry.

The book of kings takes us from the appointing of Saul as king, to the division of Israel, through the fall of both kingdoms. A major focus is the Israelites' constant struggle with idolatry. Idolatry has always been mankind's weakness and plays heavily in the events of the end days. The reason idolatry is so prominent, I believe, is that we are easily able to convince ourselves that things like stealing, murder, and lying are wrong, regardless of where we stand with God. However, pagan festivities (like Halloween) appear harmless and “fun,” which means it requires a deeper relationship with God to reject such things. However, the more we indulge in such activities, the weaker our relationship with God becomes (making it harder and harder to reject idolatry).

Keeping the kings of Israel straight is difficult, especially when several of them share a name. Below, I'm provide a table with information on each kings rule for reference. Estimates of the years in which each king reigned were taken are cited below and are based on E.R. Thiele's calculations.[3]