King Josiah of Judah: The Lost Messiah of Israel (review)

Hebrew Studies 43 (2002) 262 Reviews eventual destruction as catastrophe grounded in covenant ideas still in force for the ancient people ofGod. From this sample, it is clear that to specify order, balance, symmetry and repetition (often in the form of chiasmus) is to work toward conveying a sense of effective, presumably intentional theological meaning expressed through unified historical narrative. That, primarily, is what Cohn wants his own readers to take from his efforts. Granting these premises, he succeeds admirably. While graciously acknowledging his indebtedness to other writers on narrative poetics, Cohn effortlessly weaves their observations into his own distinctive reading of 2 Kings. He dissects and reassembles elements of literary craft, and highlights theological perspectives built into the resulting narrative. Cohn models the non-sectarian character of the series Berit Olam. He well serves general readers and professionals engaged with the Bible whO will be able to make their own contemporary applications. Burke O. Long Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME 04011 blong@bowdoin.edu KING JOSIAH OF JUDAH: THE LOST MESSIAH OF ISRAEL. By Marvin A. Sweeney. Pp. xvi + 350. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Cloth, $60.00. King Josiah has always played an important role in the critical studies of the Old Testament. Sweeney's book is one important contribution in this chain of the studies. The author deals with texts in the Deuteronomistic His­ tory and the prophetic literature and attempts to clarify (1) how they are re­ lated to Josiah's religious and political program and (2) how they reflect disappointment of that program. The author begins his textual analyses by presenting how the texts should be interpreted in their present forms. Never­ theless, he also deals with the redactional questions, that is, how the present form of the text contains some indications that it has been reworked. He attempts to define or describe the content of these older cores. There are some fundamental hypotheses concerning the Deuteronomistic History which lay the ground for Sweeney's interpretati<;m. First, he assumes that there was an earlier version of the Deuteronomistic History which was written during the reign of Josiah. In this version Josiah was described as an ideal king whose aim was to reunite and restore the ...