Description
Following the great periods of national leadership by Moses and Joshua, the book of Judges depicts the stewardship of various judges that rose to power to solve local religious and military challenges in the premonarchic period. This volume provides a close reading of the entire book of Judges, taking seriously the distinct elements of the book and how they are interconnected.
Elie Assis explores the ways in which the ideology and theology of Judges unfold through a careful literary analysis. Moving beyond the cycle of sin, punishment, and salvation, Assis demonstrates how differences in the descriptive language applied to each judge, as well as the evaluations in the opening and concluding chapters, provide clues as to the organization and message of the text. Most works on Judges focus on the historical background of the period or the historical process of the book's composition and seek to dissolve its stories into component parts. In contrast, Before There Were Kings points to the deep underlying unity of Judges and the function of the individual stories within the whole.
New and carefully drawn insights related to the purpose of each section and the themes that shape the book as a whole make this a groundbreaking, programmatic contribution to research on the book of Judges. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible.
Author: Elie Assis
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
Published: 11/07/2023
Pages: 446
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.82lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.13d
ISBN13: 9781646022274
ISBN10: 1646022270
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Biblical Commentary | Old Testament | General
- Religion | Biblical Criticism & Interpretation | Old Testament
- Literary Criticism | Subjects & Themes | Religion
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