Judges And Method

Many scholars in Bible are interpreting the biblical text from newer interdisciplinary approaches. These disciplines, such as modern literary theory, sociology, and anthropology, have their own technical vocabulary, presuppositions, questions, and methodologies, which a biblical scholar must learn in order to appropriate these approaches for study of the biblical text. This book will introduce the student and the interested teacher to these new approaches, providing bibliography for further study in the method. Moreover, this book will actually apply the method to a particular text in the Book of Judges, so that the reader may see the method "in action."

This volume describes how the rhetorical devices used in Judges inspire its readers to support a divinely appointed Judahite king who endorses the deuteronomic agenda to rid the land of foreigners, to maintain inter-tribal loyalty to YHWH's cult, and to uphold social justice. Matters of rhetorical concern interpreted here include the superimposed cycle-motif and tribal-political schemata, concerns reflected in the plot-layers of each hero story, the force of narrative analogy for characterization, the strategy of entrapment which foreshadows portrayals of Saul and David in 1 Samuel, and the relation between Judges' implied situation of composition and its compiler's intention. In addition to offering new insights into the rhetorical strategy of the Judges compiler, this book illustrates a new method for understanding how plot-layered stories work.

The Book of Judges in the Old Testament is a deeply-disturbing anthology of short stories about ambushes, assassinations, murders, dismemberments, spying, deception, underdog trickiness, lawlessness, sexual behavior, gang rapes, and the need for community reform and national leadership. Actually, Judges holds an infinity of meaning and is a great puzzle that has waited for centuries to be solved. Although widely studied by scholars, Judges has never been subjected to professional literary criticism and therefore has never been fully analyzed, understood, or appreciated. Intricacy, Design, and Cunning in the Book of Judges teaches one how penetrate the secrets of this ancient work, decipher its profound messages, and appreciate it as a masterpiece of world literature. Davidson's book is the result of years of thinking and has been written in a thoughtful, easily-understood, but intelligent style that should give pleasure to any reader-layperson and biblical scholar.

Eminently readable, exegetically thorough, and written in an emotionally warm style that flows from his keen sensitivity to the text, Barry Webb’s commentary on Judges is just what is needed to properly engage a dynamic, narrative work like the book of Judges. It discusses not only unique features of the stories themselves but also such issues as the violent nature of Judges, how women are portrayed in it, and how it relates to the Christian gospel of the New Testament. Webb concentrates throughout on what the biblical text itself throws into prominence, giving space to background issues only when they cast significant light on the foreground. For those who want more, the footnotes and bibliography provide helpful guidance. The end result is a welcome resource for interpreting one of the most challenging books in the Old Testament.

"Reading these apparently unpromising texts with Beldman, you will be instructed and challenged. In short, this is a most worthwhile study of a valuable part of the Bible.."--Cover.