Berit Olam: 2 Kings

Opening with the prophet Elijah's ascent into heaven and closing with the people of Judah's descent to Babylonia, 2 Kings charts the story of the two Israelite kingdoms until their destruction. This commentary unfolds the literary dimensions of 2 Kings, analyzes the strategies through which its words create a world of meaning, and examines the book's tales of prophets, political intrigue, royal apostasy, and religious reform as components of larger patterns. 2 Kings pays attention to the writers' methods of representing human character and of twisting chronological time for literary purposes. It also shows how the contests between kings and prophets are mirrored in the competing structures of regnal synchronization and prophecy-fulfillment. Much more than a common chronicle of royal achievements and disasters, 2 Kings emerges as a powerful history that creates memories and forges identities for its Jewish readers. 2 Kings is divided into four parts including Part One The Story of Elisha: 2 Kings 1:1-8:6"; Part Two "Revolutions in Aram, Israel, and Judah: 2 Kings 8:7-13:25"; Part Three "Turmoil and Tragedy for Israel: 2 Kings 14-17"; and Part Four "Renewal and Catastrophe for Judah: 2 Kings 18-25." Robert L. Cohn is professor of religion and holds the Philip and Muriel Berman Chair in Jewish studies at Lafayette College. Under the auspices of the American Jewish Committee, he lectured on Jewish interpretations of the Bible as the first American Jewish-scholar-in-residence at four Roman Catholic seminaries in Poland. Berit Olam: 2 Kings Contents Introduction PART ONE—The Story of Elisha: 2 Kings 1:1–8:6 Chapter 1: Elijah and the Dying Monarch: 2 Kings 1:2-18 Chapter 2: From Elijah to Elisha: 2 Kings 2:1-18 Chapter 3: Miraculous Water in the Battle with Moab: 2 Kings 3:1-27 Chapter 4: Multiplication of Oil: 2 Kings 4:1-7 Chapter 5: Revival of a Dead Boy: 2 Kings 4:8-37 Chapter 6: Feeding the Hungry: 2 Kings 4:38-44 Chapter 7: Healing a Foreign Leper: 2 Kings 5:1-27 Chapter 8: Divining a Borrowed Tool: 2 Kings 6:1-7 Chapter 9: Diverting the Aramean Army: 2 Kings 6:8-23 Chapter 10: Ending the Siege of Samaria: 2 Kings 6:24–7:20 Chapter 11: Recalling the Great Deeds of Elisha: 2 Kings 8:1-6 PART TWO—Revolutions in Aram, Israel, and Judah: 2 Kings 8:7–13:25 Chapter 12: Elisha Triggers a Coup in Aram: Hazael Takes Power: 2 Kings 8:7-15 Chapter 13: The Reigns of Joram and Ahaziah of Judah: 2 Kings 8:16-29 Chapter 14: The Revolution of Jehu in Israel: 2 Kings 9:1–10:36 Chapter 15: Jehoiada Engineers the Overthrow of Athaliah and the Accession of Jehoash in Judah: 2 Kings 11:1-20 Chapter 16: The Achievement and Failure of King Jehoash: 2 Kings 12:1-22 Chapter 17: YHWH Delivers Jehoahaz of Israel from Aram: 2 Kings 13:1-9 Chapter 18: Dying Elisha Promises Joash of Israel Victory over Aram: 2 Kings 13:10-25 EXCURSUS: The Relationship of the Elisha Tales to the Elijah Tales PART THREE—Turmoil and Tragedy for Israel: 2 Kings 14–17 Chapter 19: Amaziah of Judah and Joash of Israel: 2 Kings 14:1-22 Chapter 20: Jeroboam Restores Israel’s Territory: 2 Kings 14:23-29 Chapter 21: Coups in Israel but Stability in Judah: 2 Kings 15:1-38 Chapter 22: Ahaz of Judah Submits to Assyria: 2 Kings 16:1-19 Chapter 23: The Fall of Israel and Its Interpretation: 2 Kings 17:1-23 PART FOUR—Renewal and Catastrophe for Judah: 2 Kings 18–25 Chapter 24: Hezekiah’s Reform, Rebellion, and Recanting: 2 Kings 18:1-16 Chapter 25: The First Assyrian Mission to Hezekiah and Isaiah’s Oracles: 2 Kings 18:17–19:9a Chapter 26: The Second Assyrian Mission to Hezekiah and Isaiah’s Oracles: 2 Kings 19:9b-37 Chapter 27: Hezekiah’s Illness and Its Consequences: 2 Kings 20:1-21 Chapter 28: Two Dreadful Kings: 2 Kings 21:1-26 Chapter 29: Josiah Finds a Scroll and Orders a Reformation: 2 Kings 22:1–23:30 Chapter 30: The Last Four Kings of Judah: 2 Kings 23:31–25:7 Chapter 31: The Aftermath in Jerusalem, Judah, and Babylon: 2 Kings 25:8-30 Suggestions for Further Reading General Index Index of Scriptural References "Opening with the prophet Elijah's ascent into heaven and closing with the people of Judah's descent to Babylonia, 2 Kings charts the story of the two Israelite kingdoms until their destruction. This commentary unfolds the literary dimensions of 2 Kings, analyzes the strategies through which its words create a world of meaning, and examines the book's tales of prophets, political intrigue, royal apostasy, and religious reform as components of larger patterns." "2 Kings is divided into four parts including Part One "The Story of Elisha: 2 Kings 1:1-8:6"; Part Two "Revolutions in Aram, Israel, and Judah: 2 Kings 8:7-13:25": Part Three "Turmoil and Tragedy for Israel: 2 Kings 14-17"; and Part Four "Renewal and Catastrophe for Judah: 2 King 18-25.""--Jacket This commentary views the Song of Songs as a collection of love poems that pays tribute to mutual love, and it carefully examines features of Hebrew poetry in order to uncover the delicacy of their expression. It is unique in the attention that it gives to the obvious feminine perspective of the poems and to their ecosensitive character. Whether it is the woman in awe of the strength and splendor of her lover or the man praising her physical charms, the descriptions all call on elements from the natural world to characterize the feature being described. Robert L. Cohn ; David W. Cotter, Editor ; Jerome T. Walsh, Chris Franke, Associate Editors. A Michael Glazier Book. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 174-175) And Indexes. The book of 2 Kings opens with the penultimate episode featuring the prophet Elijah, whose tales occupy the last part of 1 Kings.