What Scripture says
Biblical writers name many of the sources they used:
- “The Book of the Wars of the LORD”, quoted for a fragment of poetry about Israel’s journey (Numbers 21:14–15, ESV).
- “The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel” and “of Judah”, cited again and again in 1–2 Kings for further details about each king (for example 1 Kings 14:19, 1 Kings 14:29, 1 Kings 15:7).
- “The Book of the Acts of Solomon” (1 Kings 11:41).
- “The Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and… the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and… the Chronicles of Gad the seer” (1 Chronicles 29:29).
- The records of Ahijah, Iddo, Shemaiah and Jehu son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 9:29, 2 Chronicles 12:15, 2 Chronicles 20:34).
Luke does something similar in the New Testament: he says he “followed all things closely” and used accounts handed down by eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1–3).
What the evidence says
History
Royal records in the ancient world
Ancient kingdoms kept royal records. Archaeologists have found annals and chronicles from Assyria, Babylon and Egypt that record reigns, wars and building projects, sometimes year by year. The Babylonian Chronicles, for example, record events including Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC, which matches 2 Kings 24:10–17. Israel and Judah would have kept similar archives.
How the biblical writers used them
The writers of Kings and Chronicles drew on these records and sent readers to them for more detail: “Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel” (1 Kings 14:19). That is what careful historians do: they cite their sources and select what serves their purpose. Kings, for example, focuses on each king’s faithfulness to God and leaves military and political details to the royal records.
Some sources were connected with prophets, like Nathan and Gad, which shows prophets also recorded history. But the biblical books never present these sources as part of Scripture.
The Book of the Wars of the LORD
This seems to have been a collection of poems about Israel’s battles under God’s leadership, similar to the Book of Jashar (see 3B.14). Only one short, difficult fragment survives, in Numbers 21:14–15.
Where they meet
Citing a source shows a writer’s care, not a missing book of the Bible. If anything, these references strengthen the case that biblical history was built on real records, and the archaeological discovery of similar records from neighbouring kingdoms supports that picture.
What’s still open
What the lost records contained, and how closely the biblical writers followed them.
Bottom line
These are sources the biblical authors cite (Numbers 21:14, 1 Chronicles 29:29), like a historian citing archives. Using a source doesn’t make it Scripture, so this is rated Settled.