II Kings

Cogan’s 1 Kings and Cogan and Tadmor’s 2 Kings form an outstanding specialist commentary set and are indispensable for serious work on the historical world of Kings. Their particular strength is the integration of Hebrew philology, textual criticism, archaeology, Assyriology and the documentary evidence of Israel’s ancient Near Eastern neighbours. Cogan repeatedly illuminates obscure expressions and institutions through comparative Semitic material, while the treatment of the Assyrian period in 2 Kings is especially valuable. The commentary is also careful about the limits of archaeological evidence rather than simply using archaeology apologetically or sceptically. Its principal weakness for Christian interpreters is that canonical and theological exposition is not its primary concern, and some of its redaction-critical reconstruction remains debatable. Nevertheless, for historical and philological questions I found no commentary in the collection more consistently informative. An essential reference work rather than the ideal stand-alone theological commentary.

These commentaries are strong because of Cogan’s and Tadmor’s familiarity with Syrian/Mesopotamian/Egyptian historical contexts. Both authors are familiar with the relevant (mostly Akkadian) texts. These two commentaries are exegetically superb and relatively conservative for the Anchor series. [Full Review]

Cogan and Tadmor have expertise in Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern History. These commentaries are the standard reference works on both the Hebrew text of 1–2 Kings and the history that stands behind it. [Full Review]

Cogan and Tadmore together wrote the volume on 2 Kings; a decade later Cogan alone produced the volume on 1 Kings. Mathison both commends them and warns of their weakness: “These commentaries are written from a somewhat critical perspective and should be used with care, but the author’s knowledge of the ancient Near Eastern context makes these works very helpful for those interested in more technical commentaries.” [Full Review]

Cogan and Tadmor co-wrote the volume on 2 Kings in 1988. Years later, in 2001, the commentary on 1 Kings was published. The volume on 1 Kings was written by Cogan alone. These commentaries are written from a somewhat critical perspective and should be used with care, but the author's knowledge of the ancient Near Eastern context makes these works very helpful for those interested in more technical commentaries. [Full Review]

Essential discussion of the Assyrian context of Judah during the latter period of the Monarchy and especially the time of Hezekiah. [Full Review]