The Books of the Kingdoms, Books of Kingdoms, or Books of Reigns () are the names that four books of the Hebrew Bible are given in the Septuagint. 1 and 2 Kingdoms are equivalent to 1 and 2 Samuel, and 3 and 4 Kingdoms are equivalent to 1 and 2 Kings in most modern English versions.
These books are known in the Vulgate version as the four Books of the Kingdoms ( or ), or the Book of Kings () as Jerome disagreed with the expression Books of the Kingdoms () of the LXX. Jerome says:
Those books are known as the Books of Reigns in the New English Translation of the Septuagint.
Names and numbering
+ Names of the four Books of the Kingdoms across textual traditions Septuagint book"Reigns" is the rendering used in the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS); the Septuagint grouped Samuel and Kings as four "Books of the Kingdoms" (). See . Greek Hebrew BibleSamuel and Kings were each originally a single book in the Hebrew canon; the division into two appears in Hebrew manuscripts only from the fifteenth century and was popularized through Daniel Bomberg's Rabbinic Bibles of 1516–17 and 1524–25. See . Latin VulgateThe four-book division using "Kings" (Regum) naming was canonized by the Council of Trent in 1546 ("quatuor Regum") and carried forward in the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate of 1592; the Nova Vulgata (1979) returned to the Hebrew naming, splitting Samuelis from Regum. See . Douay–Rheims Bible (1610) Modern English Bibles (Protestant and Catholic) 1 Kingdoms (1 Reigns) 1 Samuel () 1 Regum (Clementine); 1 Samuelis (Nova Vulgata) 1 Kings 1 Samuel 2 Kingdoms (2 Reigns) 2 Samuel () 2 Regum (Clementine); 2 Samuelis (Nova Vulgata) 2 Kings 2 Samuel 3 Kingdoms (3 Reigns) 1 Kings () 3 Regum (Clementine); 1 Regum (Nova Vulgata) 3 Kings 1 Kings 4 Kingdoms (4 Reigns) 2 Kings () 4 Regum (Clementine); 2 Regum (Nova Vulgata) 4 Kings 2 Kings
References
External links Full text of the Books of the Kingdoms in modern Greek