1 and 2 Kings (New International Biblical Commentary series)

Written by Iain W. Provan Reviewed By Peggy Roberts

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.

Provan refreshingly takes the canonical text of 1 and 2 Kings as his starting point. Nevertheless, he accepts that the books of the OT grew over time into their present form ‘in dialogue with each other, each shaping the developing tradition and being shaped by it’ (p. 4). Only this explains ‘the high level of intertextuality’ in the OT. In other words, where others might see various sources of different origin and ideology put together by scribes too naive to realise the resultant unevenness, Provan perceives artistry. Repetitions are not a sign of scribal incompetence, but rather a device to bring to mind other passages in the OT. Ambiguities do not indicate contradiction, but show the complexity of the OT authors’ understanding of God and of his relationship with his people.

Provan takes 1 and 2 Kings as a single book, to be read in the context of the whole canon of the OT, and, for Christians, the NT as well. He treats Kings primarily as a coherent piece of narrative literature which tells a story, in chronological order, linked together by certain themes.

This story has two aims. Firstly, it is historiographical. It is a book about Israel’s past, and what It has to say must be taken seriously. Provan takes ‘the portrait as painted’ as his object of study.

Secondly, it is didactic. Four themes in the book are presented for the reader’s instruction: 1) God is God, there is no other, 2) the only God demands exclusive worship, 3) God is the judge, and 4) underlying everything is God’s promise.

The author(s) of Kings achieve(s) this didactic purpose mainly by patterning. Events and characters in later chapters recall those of earlier chapters. Sometimes the Hebrew vocabulary itself recalls other relevant parts of the OT. Readers are required to compare and contrast, to detect their own life in the book’s pages and to understand themselves in its context.

The commentary, so Provan, is to be ‘read, not raided’. That is, it is to be read through, just like the book on which it is designed to comment, since only engagement with the whole book of Kings will allow it to communicate its distinctive message.

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.

Provan succeeds in tracing the four themes throughout Kings. He also notes the authors’ absolute conviction that God is in control at all times, and the further theme of God working through the humble.

Provan’s method is very attractive, helping the reader to see not only the unity of Kings, but also of the OT and even of the Bible as a whole. It works well for those familiar with the Bible, its characters and its overall story. Perhaps those not so familiar with the text will be encouraged to find out more for themselves.

A reading of Provan’s book, taking time to explore all the references to other passages in Kings, the OT and the NT, would be very satisfying indeed.


Peggy Roberts

Roehampton Institute, London.