A fresh literary analysis of political polemic in the Bible The Book of Judges ends with a bizarre narrative of sex and violence that starts with a domestic tiff and ends with the decimation of a tribe that is restored by means of abduction and rape. Cynthia Edenburg applies a fresh literary analysis, recent understandings of historical linguistics, and historical geography in her exploration of the origin of the anti-Benjamin polemic found in Judges 19–21, the growth and provenance of the book of Judges, and the shape of the Deuteronomistic History. Her study exposes how Judges 19–21 function as political polemic reflecting not the pre-monarchic period but instead the historical realities of the settlement of Benjamin during the Babylonian and Persian period. Features: Methodological discussions that open each chapter Charts and tables Engagement with current research produced by scholars from around the world

Certain to appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich, Jennifer Crusie, and Katie MacAlister, Elise Sax’s hilarious series debut introduces matchmaker-in-training Gladie Burger, who stumbles into a dangerous quagmire of murder and red-hot romance. Three months has been Gladie Burger’s limit when it comes to staying in one place. That’s why Gladie is more than a little skeptical when her eccentric Grandma Zelda recruits her to the family’s matchmaking business in the quaint small town of Cannes, California. What’s more, Gladie is also highly unqualified, having a terrible track record with romance. Still, Zelda is convinced that her granddaughter has “the gift.” But when the going gets tough, Gladie wonders if this gift has a return policy. When Zelda’s neighbor drops dead in his kitchen, Gladie is swept into his bizarre family’s drama. Despite warnings from the (distractingly gorgeous) chief of police to steer clear of his investigation, Gladie is out to prove that her neighbor’s death was murder. It’s not too long before she’s in way over her head—with the hunky police chief, a dysfunctional family full of possible killers, and yet another mysterious and handsome man, whose attentions she’s unable to ignore. Gladie is clearly being pursued—either by true love or by a murderer. Who will catch her first? Praise for An Affair to Dismember “Elise Sax’s new Matchmaker series is off to a rousing start! . . . Sax gives the comic mystery genre a new spin. . . . A fun read sure to entertain.”—RT Book Reviews “Fans of laugh-out-loud romantic suspense will enjoy this new author as she joins the ranks of Janet Evanovich, Katie MacAllister, and Jennifer Crusie.”—Booklist “Elise Sax will win your heart.”—New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis “In the tradition of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, Elise Sax’s new novel is a funny, sexy ride.”—Valerie Frankel, author of Four of a Kind “What a fun book! It will leave readers begging for more.”—Kim Gruenenfelder, author of There’s Cake in My Future From the Paperback edition.

“Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” This well-known indictment rumbles across the epilogue of Judges, denouncing God’s people as wayward. Yet understanding the source of Israel’s degenerative and downward spiral comes from an oft-overlooked declaration: Yahweh is testing Israel’s fidelity to the commandments he gave “by the hand of Moses.” By employing covert allusions rather than explicit quotations Judges contrasts the obvious sins of Israel with veiled reminders of the law that they have abandoned. In this volume, Jillian Ross employs current insights from literary theory, establishing a robust methodology for identifying allusions in the text. Once applied, the allusions to the Law, especially as presented in Deuteronomy, display three clear peaks: the prologue, Gideon narrative, and epilogue. The results suggest that Judges teaches a Deuteronomistic concept that the Israelites failed to obey the Torah, particularly its call for covenant fidelity in worship and warfare, as given to them “by the hand of Moses.”

Grieving, Brooding, and Transforming explores troubling biblical and historical texts in regards to their portrayal of women and calls for readers to identify the Spirit’s work of grieving over brokenness, brooding over chaos, and transforming the creation.

This is a major survey of how towns were governed in late Stuart and early Hanoverian England. A new kind of politics emerged out of England's Civil War: partisan politics. This happened first in the corporations governing the towns, and not at Parliament as is usually argued. Based on an examination of the records of scores of corporations, this book explains how war unleashed a cycle of purge and counter-purge which continued for decades. It also explains how a society that feared a system of politics based on division found the means to absorb it peacefully. As conflict sharpened in communities everywhere, local competitors turned to the court of King's Bench to resolve their differences. In doing so, they prompted the court to develop a new body of law that protected local governments from the divisive impulses within them.

An innovative collection of inner-biblical, intertextual, and intercontextual dialogues Essays from a diverse group of scholars offer new approaches to biblical intertextuality that examine the relationship between the Hebrew Bible, art, literature, sociology, and postcolonialism. Eight essays in part 1 cover inner-biblical intertextuality, including studies of Genesis, Judges, and Qoheleth, among others. The eight postbiblical intertextuality essays in part 2 explore Bakhtinian and dialogical approaches, intertextuality in the Dead Sea Scrolls, canonical critisicm, reception history, and #BlackLivesMatter. These essays on various genres and portions of the Hebrew Bible showcase how, why, and what intertextuality has been and presents possible potential directions for future research and application. Features: Diverse methods and cases of intertextuality Rich examples of hermeneutical theory and interpretive applications Readings of biblical texts as mutual dialogues, among the authors, traditions, themes, contexts, and lived worlds

The summer he turned seven, Dave Abbott survived a gruesome mountainside car accident that left the rest of his family savaged and dead. Now, after living twenty-three years with the twisted backwoodsman who pulled him from the wreckage, Dave is carrying out a plan to replace each of his lost loved ones with members of nearby, unsuspecting families. He has prepared, he's stalked, and now his chance has come to get his family safely out of the mountains once and for all. Whether they like it or not. What they're saying about DISMEMBER: "DISMEMBER's a fast-paced grindhouse-movie of a book with plenty of unexpected twists and turns and a fresh new crazy for a villain. The late Richard Laymon would have been grinning ear to ear." --Jack Ketchum "With DISMEMBER, Daniel Pyle joins the select group of authors who can provide real chills and genuine surprises. Taut, weird, and intriguing." --Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE DRAGON FACTORY and THE WOLFMAN "The tourniquet-tight plot and constant suspense keeps the pages flying. A solid, suspenseful thriller that enables readers to envision the movie it could become." --Publishers Weekly