Long views 1-2 Kings as a substantially unified written work of historiography, produced during the Babylonian exile. Hence he begins his detailed form-critical commentary on 2 Kings where he left off in his volume on 1 Kings. Following the series format, Long discusses the text of 2 Kings unit by unit and integrates his form-critical work with a discussion of the book's literary art (e.g., style, metaphor, imagery) to expose "the narrative genius which awakens imaginative response in the reader."