David W. Cotter

Jerome T. Walsh

Chris Franke

Dianne Bergant

This commentary views the Song of Songs as a collection of love poems that pays tribute to mutual love, and it carefully examines features of Hebrew poetry in order to uncover the delicacy of their expression. It is unique in the attention that it gives to the obvious feminine perspective of the poems and to their ecosensitive character. Whether it is the woman in awe of the strength and splendor of her lover or the man praising her physical charms, the descriptions all call on elements from the natural world to characterize the feature being described.

The Song of Songs

Robert L. Cohn

Opening with the prophet Elijah?s ascent into heaven and closing with the people of Judah?s descent to Babylonia, 2 Kings charts the story of the two Israelite kingdoms until their destruction. This commentary unfolds the literary dimensions of 2 Kings, analyzes the strategies through which its words create a world of meaning, and examines the book?s tales of prophets, political intrigue, royal apostasy, and religious reform as components of larger patterns. 2 Kings pays attention to the writers? methods of representing human character and of twisting chronological time for literary purposes. It also shows how the contests between kings and prophets are mirrored in the competing structures of regnal synchronization and prophecy-fulfillment. Much more than a common chronicle of royal achievements and disasters, 2 Kings emerges as a powerful history that creates memories and forges identities for its Jewish readers. 2 Kings is divided into four parts including Part One ?The Story of Elisha: 2 Kings 1:1-8:6?; Part Two ?Revolutions in Aram, Israel, and Judah: 2 Kings 8:7-13:25?; Part Three ?Turmoil and Tragedy for Israel: 2 Kings 14-17?; and Part Four ?Renewal and Catastrophe for Judah: 2 Kings 18-25.??It introduces its readers into the literary richness of a text that too often has been reduced to merely a historical source.? Journal of Hebrew Scriptures?Robert Cohn is one of the most perceptive literary interpreters of biblical narrative at work today. He combines an unrivaled sense of literary artistry with a profound empathy for the religious dimension of the text. Professor Cohn?s commentary on 2 Kings is a delight to read and a source of instruction and spiritual enrichment for anyone lucky enough to dip into it. I commend it with enthusiasm. There is nothing else like it.? Jon D. Levenson Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies Harvard University?Robert Cohn has written a refreshingly different commentary on 2 Kings.... Graced by a clear, accessible style, Cohn?s 2 Kings is an exemplary demonstration of what close interpretation of a text is all about.? Peter Machinist Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Harvard University?Cohn?s probing eyes surface narrative worlds, each focused yet open to unexpected horizons.? Wolfgang Roth Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary?In 2 Kings, Robert Cohn, the Philip and Muriel Berman professor of Jewish Studies at Lafayette College, offers an admirably clear, jargon-free commentary on what he calls ?the literary dimension of history writing.? . . . He well serves general readers and professionals engaged with the Bible who will be able to make their own contemporary applications.? Hebrew Studies

2 Kings

A Study of Job 4-5 in the Light of Contemporary Literary Theory

The central thesis underlying this study of Genesis is that the God who is revealed as a character in Genesis is always a savior. In Genesis, David Cotter, OSB, helps readers discern a structure in the book whereby the least and the weakest are the object of God's saving help. Genesis begins with an introduction to the methodology that is used throughout the book. The introductory essay deals with the theory of Hebrew narrative and the challenges posed to biblical exegesis by contemporary literary theory. The theme of the commentary itself is that the God who is revealed as a character in Genesis is always a savior. This is true in the Stories About Beginnings (Genesis 1-11) and the Stories About the Troubled Family Chosen for Blessing (Genesis 12-50). The Egyptian slave Hagar, not Abraham, is read as the central figure of the family's first generation and Tamar, the cast-off daughter-in-law as the moral center of the fourth generation. God is savior above al for those whose need is greatest. Chapters in Part One - Stories About Beginnings: Genesis 1-11 are The Story of the Creation of al That Is: Genesis1:1-2:3," *The Story of the Creation of Man and Woman, the Paradise in Which They Lived and Which They Chose to Lose. And the Sin That Ensued: Genesis 2-3:4, - *The Story of the Great Flood and the Covenant that Ensued: Genesis 6-9, - and *The Story about Babel: Genesis 11:1-9. - Chapters in Part Two - Stories About the Troubled Family Chosen for Blessing: Genesis 12-50 are *In the Time of the First Generation: Genesis 12-25, - *In the Time of the Second Generation: Genesis 25-28, - *In the Time of the Third Generation: Genesis 28-36, - and *In the Time of the Fourth Generation: Genesis 37-50. - David W. Cotter, OSB, STD, is general editor of the Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry series, published by The Liturgical Press. "

David W. Cotter

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