The dust jacket of this compact volume identifies the intent of the Berit Olam (Everlasting Covenant) commentary series: to bring to all interested in the Bible, be they lay people, professional biblical scholars, students, or religious educators, the latest developments in the literary analysis of these ancient texts. Conse quently, the readings of the books of the Hebrew Bible offered here all focus on the final form of the texts, approaching them as literary works, recognizing that the craft of poetry and storytelling that the ancient Hebrew world provided can be found in them and that their truth can be better appreciated with a fuller understanding of that art. This is an admirable, needed, and difficult objective. The fellowship of pro fessional biblical scholars has not always communicated effectively, or at all, with the Bibles many other audiences, who, not surprisingly, often suspect us of much mischief (e.g., the derision that the Jesus Seminar elicits when featured in mainstream news magazines). Cohns reading of 2 Kings suits the series and largely meets its objectives; it is a worthy companion to Jerome T. Walshs excellent reading of 1 Kings (1996) in the same series (for a review of the latter work, see http://bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=2281&CodePage=2281,1685,3982,1419,1298). [Full Review]