Kings

Kings, county, N.Y.: see Brooklyn, borough.

Kings, river, 125 mi (201 km) long, rising in three forks in the Sierra Nevada, E Calif., and flowing SW to Tulare Lake in the San Joaquin valley. Its middle and southern forks flow through the great gorges of Kings Canyon National Park. Part of the Central Valley project, the Kings River has been linked with the San Joaquin River; Pine Flat Dam (completed 1954) impounds a huge reservoir used for flood control, irrigation, and river regulation.

Kings, books of the Bible, originally a single work in the Hebrew canon. They are called First and Second Kings in modern Bibles, and Third and Fourth Kingdoms in the Greek versions, where the books of Samuel are called First and Second Kingdoms. First and Second Kings cover the period c.1000 B.C.-c.586 B.C. and continue the historical narrative of First and Second Samuel, from the death of David to the destruction of Judah. The books are generally considered to belong to the Deuteronomic history (Joshua-2 Kings), in which existing sources were edited to describe and explain Israel's historical fate. The major divisions of First and Second Kings are as follows: first, the reign of Solomon, including the end of David's reign and a lengthy account of the Temple; second, a synchronizing parallel account of the two Hebrew kingdoms, beginning with the division between Rehoboam and Jeroboam and including the rise and fall of the house of Ahab of Israel, into which is woven the careers of the prophets Elijah and Elisha; and third, the end of the southern kingdom. First and Second Kings show Israel's kings leading the nation in its violation of the covenant between God and his people, thus bringing upon the nation the curses anticipated in chapters 27 and 28 of Deuteronomy. The events of Kings are told from a different point of view in Chronicles, which is an apologia for the Davidic monarchy.

Religio-political concept that views a ruler as an incarnation, manifestation, mediator, or agent of the sacred. In some nonliterate societies, members view their rulers or chiefs as inheritors of the community's own magical power. The ruler may exercise this power either malevolently or benevolently, but he is usually responsible for influencing the weather and the land's fertility to ensure the harvest necessary for survival. In other societies, particularly those of ancient China, the Middle East, and South America, the ruler was identified with a particular god or as a god himself; in Japan, Peru (among the Inca), Mesopotamia, and the Greco-Roman world, the ruler was regarded as the son of a god. In either case—whether the ruler embodies his own magical power or that of the community—the ruler protects the community from enemies and generally feeds and cares for his people. A third form of divine kingship, one practiced in Europe, is that of the ruler as mediator or executive agent of a god. In this form it is the institution of kingship, more than an individual ruler, that bears the mark of the sacred.

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National park, Sierra Nevadas, south-central California, U.S. Occupying an area of 722 sq mi (1,870 sq km), it is administered along with the adjacent Sequoia National Park. Established in 1940, it contains giant sequoia trees. Its most spectacular feature is Kings Canyon on the Kings River, which was carved by glacial action.

Learn more about Kings Canyon National Park with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Kings may refer to:

• Kings (drinking game), a popular drinking game also known as King's Cup.
• Kings (electoral district), a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Kings (handball), also known as "Chinese handball".
• Kings Family Restaurants, a chain of restaurants located in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
• Kings International College, a secondary school in Camberley, Surrey.
• Kings (film), a 2007 Irish language film by Tom Collins.
• Kings (song), a song by Rock group Steely Dan on the album Can't Buy a Thrill.
• Kings (supermarket), a chain supermarket in northern New Jersey.
• The Kings, a Canadian rock band.
• Kings (U.S. TV series), an upcoming TV series on U.S. network NBC.

Geography

• Kings Bay, the name of several bays.
• Kings County (disambiguation).
• Kings County, New York, more commonly known as Brooklyn.
• Kings, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Ogle County.Sports
• Barangay Ginebra Kings, a Philippine basketball team.
• Chennai Super Kings, an Indian Premier League team based in Chennai, India.
• Cincinnati Kings, a USL Premier Development League soccer team based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Kings XI Punjab, an Indian Premier League team based in Mohali, India.
• Kings of Wrestling (TNA) or Kings of Professional Wrestling.
• Los Angeles Kings, an NHL team based in Los Angeles, California.
• Sacramento Kings, an NBA team based in Sacramento, California.
• Sydney Kings, an NBL team based in Sydney, New South Wales.

King's

King's may also refer to:

• King's College (disambiguation)
• King's College, Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, England
• King's College Hospital, an acute teaching hospital in Denmark Hill, London
• King's College London, the largest college of the University of London
• King's Favourites, a brand of cigarettes
• King's Discount Stores, a chain of stores in the USA
• The King's School, Grantham

See also

• King (disambiguation)
• Books of Kings, part of the Hebrew Bible
• The Kinks, an English rock group
• Kings of Leon, an American rock group