“This book is part of a commentary series which aims to steer a course between a precritical approach to the Bible and the ‘desert of criticism’ (x) to which so much of modern scholarship seems to have led. The series’ approach has been labelled ‘believing criticism’, aimed at speaking to church and academy. . . . Each chapter of the commentary has three parts: a summary, setting the context; detailed discussion in small sections, noting distinctive vocabulary, OT inter-textual allusions and NT links; and additional notes on textual difficulties, shortcomings in the NIV (the text used in the series) and scholarly concerns. Excurses on Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Hezekiah and Josiah ‘in canonical context’ show their typological function for the NT, and give an expository complement to the detailed commentary. The book concludes with a select bibliography (on Kings as narrative, historiography and didactic literature), a subject index and an extensive Scripture index.” – Peggy Roberts