Keith Bodner is Professor of Religious Studies at Crandall University, USA.Benjamin J.M. Johnson is Tutor in Religious Interpretation at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, UK.

These essays highlight the multi-layered feature of the narratives in Kings. This leads to a greater appreciation of the literary skills of the biblical authors in depicting their characters as complex and interesting.

• List of ContributorsPrefaceList of Abbreviations1. Characterization and Ethics - John Barton2. Ahaz and Jeroboam A. - Graeme Auld3. Bathsheba Between the Lines and Beneath the Surface - Sara Koenig4. The Portrait of Solomon in the Book of Kings - Amos Frisch5. Rehabilitating Rehoboam - Rachelle Gilmour6. Deceiving the Man of God from Judah: A Question of Motive - Paul Hedley Jones7. Dancing with Death; Dancing with Life: Ahab between Jezebel and Elijah - Lissa M. Wray Beal8. Jezebel Now: Gazing through Multiple Windows - Athalya Brenner-Idan9. An Ambivalent Hero: Elijah in Narrative-Critical Perspective - Iain Provan10. The Character of Elisha and His Bones - Stuart Lasine11. He’s Driving Like Jehu—Like a Madman: Humor and Violence in 2 Kings 9-10 - Mark Roncace12. Athaliah: the Queen Who was Not - Patricia Dutcher-Walls13. Artifacts of Scenery or Agents of Change? A Subaltern Character in II Kings 4:1-7 - Gina Hens-Piazza14. The Trust of Hezekiah: In YHWH…and Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon (2 Kings 18-20) - David T. Lamb15. Manasseh the Boring: Lack of Character in 2 Kings 21 - Alison L. Joseph16. To Reform or Not to Reform: Characterization and Ethical Reading of Josiah in Kings - S. Min Chun AfterwordBibliographyIndex

Keith Bodner is Professor of Religious Studies at Crandall University, USA.Benjamin J.M. Johnson is Tutor in Religious Interpretation at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, UK.

These essays highlight the multi-layered feature of the narratives in Kings. This leads to a greater appreciation of the literary skills of the biblical authors in depicting their characters as complex and interesting.

• List of ContributorsPrefaceList of Abbreviations1. Characterization and Ethics - John Barton2. Ahaz and Jeroboam A. - Graeme Auld3. Bathsheba Between the Lines and Beneath the Surface - Sara Koenig4. The Portrait of Solomon in the Book of Kings - Amos Frisch5. Rehabilitating Rehoboam - Rachelle Gilmour6. Deceiving the Man of God from Judah: A Question of Motive - Paul Hedley Jones7. Dancing with Death; Dancing with Life: Ahab between Jezebel and Elijah - Lissa M. Wray Beal8. Jezebel Now: Gazing through Multiple Windows - Athalya Brenner-Idan9. An Ambivalent Hero: Elijah in Narrative-Critical Perspective - Iain Provan10. The Character of Elisha and His Bones - Stuart Lasine11. He’s Driving Like Jehu—Like a Madman: Humor and Violence in 2 Kings 9-10 - Mark Roncace12. Athaliah: the Queen Who was Not - Patricia Dutcher-Walls13. Artifacts of Scenery or Agents of Change? A Subaltern Character in II Kings 4:1-7 - Gina Hens-Piazza14. The Trust of Hezekiah: In YHWH…and Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon (2 Kings 18-20) - David T. Lamb15. Manasseh the Boring: Lack of Character in 2 Kings 21 - Alison L. Joseph16. To Reform or Not to Reform: Characterization and Ethical Reading of Josiah in Kings - S. Min Chun AfterwordBibliographyIndex