The author is not named
Unlike some biblical books, 2 Kings never introduces a writer by name. It tells a long, painful story, from Elijah’s final days through the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah, but it leaves the author anonymous.
That does not make the book vague about its purpose. Again and again, it weighs kings by whether they followed the Lord or continued the idolatry that had harmed the nation. The writer is not merely recording palace events. He is helping God’s people understand why judgement came.
The writer used earlier records
2 Kings points to earlier written sources, including records of the kings of Judah and Israel. For example, after describing King Hezekiah’s reign, it directs readers to a fuller royal record for other details (2 Kings 20:20). A similar note appears after the account of Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:5).
So the author seems to have gathered trustworthy historical material and shaped it into a spiritual history. He selected events that showed the consequences of rejecting God, as well as God’s patience in sending prophets to call his people back (2 Kings 17:13-15).
Why Jeremiah is often suggested
Jewish tradition has often named Jeremiah as the author of 2 Kings. There are understandable reasons for that suggestion. Jeremiah lived through Judah’s final years, warned Jerusalem about coming judgement, and witnessed the kind of national unfaithfulness that 2 Kings describes.
Still, Scripture itself does not say that Jeremiah wrote 2 Kings. It is wiser to hold the suggestion lightly than to present it as a settled fact. The book’s final scene reports that Jehoiachin, the exiled king of Judah, received kindness in Babylon many years after Jerusalem fell (2 Kings 25:27-30). That detail shows the completed book reached at least into the exile.
And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil–merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
What matters most in 2 Kings
Knowing the human author can be helpful, but 2 Kings itself presses a deeper question: will God’s people listen to him? The northern kingdom of Israel fell after persistent rebellion and idolatry, despite repeated warnings (2 Kings 17:7-11). Judah eventually followed the same path.
Yet the ending is not only bleak. Jehoiachin’s release offers a small sign that God had not abandoned David’s family or forgotten his promises. Read 2 Kings as both honest history and a call to trust God’s word. Its unnamed author makes that message very clear.