Book of Judges
The Book of Judges has typically been treated either as a historical account of the conquest of Israel and the rise of the monarch, or as an ancient Israelite work of literary fiction. In this new approach, Brettler contends that Judges is essentially a political tract, which argues for the legitimacy of Davidic kingship. He skilfully and accessibly shows the tension between the stories in their original forms, and how they were altered and reused to create a book with a very different meaning. Important reading for all those studying this part of the Bible.
Marc Zvi Brettler is Professor of Hebrew Bible in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University. His previous publications include The Creation of History in Ancient Israel, also published by Routledge.