Ephron's father Zohar chooses him to lead their family. He not only has vital skills to ensure the security and growth of their tribe but he is still unmarried. Zohar plans to unite the Hittite tribes using Ephron and his sister as peace children in arranged marriages. Marauding enemies and rising waters threaten the homelands of fellow Hittites but no one wants to sacrifice autonomy just for safety, food, clothing, and shelter. Family patriarch Heth's arrival might settle the unrest, but when he does not appear, his representatives find rising tensions and a need for desperate action to show strength, unity, and prosperity. Ephron can't force Shelometh, his intended bride, to marry him. Will she make his tireless work pay off, or destroy his future and her own?

Meet the man who met Abraham. Ephron wants to honor his father and unite his people but his intended bride has other ideas.Ephron's father Zohar chooses him to lead their family. He not only has vital skills to ensure the security and growth of their tribe but he is still unmarried. Zohar plans to unite the Hittite tribes using Ephron and his sister as peace children in arranged marriages.Marauding enemies and rising waters threaten the homelands of fellow Hittites but no one wants to sacrifice autonomy just for safety, food, clothing, and shelter. Family patriarch Heth's arrival might settle the unrest, but when he does not appear, his representatives find rising tensions and a need for desperate action to show strength, unity, and prosperity.Ephron can't force Shelometh, his intended bride, to marry him. She has a choice: make his tireless work pay off, or destroy his future and her own.

Zita, prince of Hebron, has grown up far from Hattusha, the sprawling capital of the Hittite Empire. The heritage of the Hittites of Hebron under his father Ephron is one of friendship with Abraham the Hebrew and Adonai their Elohim. When they take Zita's sister Basemath to Hattusha to arrange a marriage, Zita shoulders "the Pawley problem" and endures the taunts of women who may hold the key to keeping the peace amid international intrigues. Zita meets another Basemath and learns he can be more than just "a little tagalong." From overseeing the building of Hebron to defending the city of Hattusha to playing his own part in preserving the Hittites, Zita learns that an engineer, a warrior, a seeker of justice, and a survivor of devastating injury and tragedy can become a peacemaker. He just has to be willing to choose Adonai's way when he thinks he has no choice.

Heth worries that the Hittite Empire will be attacked from without. His chariots are more than just new and showy war machines. They might make the difference between life and death as Sargon turns his eye toward Hattus. Zohar is more worried about corruption within. Tawananna and Elon's new life together puts them in the crosshairs of everyone who wants to destroy the fledgling empire. How many laws do they need? How many houses and walls? Winter puts off the danger of invasion for a time, but what will happen when the greatest warrior begins to feel the effects of Lamech's Curse?

women in ancient times,Abraham and Sarah,family relationships, childbirth,abuse

Hittite Empire, Abraham, Ancient technology, arranged marriage, family conflict, anatolian, cuneiform

"Though 'biblical theology' has long been considered a strictly Christian enterprise, Marvin A. Sweeney here proposes a Jewish theology of the Hebrew Bible, based on the importance of Tanak as the foundation of Judaism and organized around the major components: Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets), and Kethuvim (Writings). Sweeney finds the structuring themes of Jewish life: the constitution of the nation Israel in relation to God; the disruption of that ideal, documented by the Prophets; and the reconstitution of the nation around the Second Temple in the Writings. Throughout he is attentive to tensions within and among the texts and the dialogical character of Israel's sacred heritage" -- Publisher description.