In The Land and Its Kings biblical scholar Johanna van Wijk-Bos accompanies the reader across a large sweep of the story of Israel, from the end of King David’s reign through the fall of Jerusalem approximately 400 years later. She views these memories of Israel’s past, as they are woven together in Kings, from the perspective of the traumatic context of postexilic Judah. Van Wijk-Bos writes as a scholar of the Bible with deep commitments to feminism and issues of gender within patriarchal structures and ideologies. The voices and presence of women in the accounts receive special attention. As in the previous volumes of A People and a Land, van Wijk-Bos offers a close reading of the Hebrew text in translation to reacquaint readers with the path taken by Israel as the people embraced a form of monarchy, subsequently compromised their allegiance to God,, and were ultimately exiled from the land. She presents the multiplicity of voices which the collectors of this material let stand as an essential part of the complex history of their community. Van Wijk-Bos invites readers to enter into the text with questions and to find a way forward to draw closer to the presence of the Most Holy.

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year The Seleucid Empire (311–64 BCE) was unlike anything the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds had seen. Stretching from present-day Bulgaria to Tajikistan—the bulk of Alexander the Great’s Asian conquests—the kingdom encompassed a territory of remarkable ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity; yet it did not include Macedonia, the ancestral homeland of the dynasty. The Land of the Elephant Kings investigates how the Seleucid kings, ruling over lands to which they had no historic claim, attempted to transform this territory into a coherent and meaningful space. “This engaging book appeals to the specialist and non-specialist alike. Kosmin has successfully brought together a number of disparate fields in a new and creative way that will cause a reevaluation of how the Seleucids have traditionally been studied.” —Jeffrey D. Lerner, American Historical Review “It is a useful and bright introduction to Seleucid ideology, history, and position in the ancient world.” —Jan P. Stronk, American Journal of Archaeology

Hana was a Syrian kingdom located in the Middle Euphrates region north of Mari, which included the ancient city of Terqa. Hana is known only from a few dozen texts, but those texts are dated to the reigns of between nineteen and twenty-one kings. There is no king-list that includes the kings of Hana and the kingdom almost never is mentioned in documents from other cities and kingdoms. Nevertheless, Hana seems to have been one of the few kingdoms that thrived in the sixteenth century B.C.E., an era that is poorly understood. In this volume Dr. Prodany demonstrates how the kings of Hana can be placed in sequence and assigned approximate dates, based on typologies of the main features of a group of texts that make up the majority of the corpus - contracts for the purchase, bequest, and inheritance of real estate.

Ancient stories invoking contemporary questions and providing insight for an uncertain future The Road to Kingship is the second volume in the A People and a Land trilogy and presents a chapter-by-chapter interpretation of 1–2 Samuel, based on the author’s translation. Johanna van Wijk-Bos reacquaints readers with familiar stories like David and Goliath while also introducing them to lesser-known biblical personalities like Doeg the Edomite and the wily servant Ziba. She offers guidance along the path taken by the Israelites during the rise of the united monarchy. The books of Samuel unfold before us with multiple voices. One voice endorses a spontaneous charismatic form of leadership, alongside another that argues for hereditary kingship. In listening to the different voices, we will prefer some rather than others; we may turn our backs on texts that sing a melody we are no longer able to join. As readers, we enter into the text with our questions and in our very questioning tentatively find a way forward and draw closer to the presence of the Most Holy.

1081. William's bloody conquest is over and Britain is under Norman rule. But one bastion of resistance remains: Wales. A divided land where brother fights brother and kings battle for power. The English use this to further their own ends, and while one king is tempted by an offer he cannot resist, the others wage war over long-forgotten feuds. Gruffydd ap Cynan, true heir to the kingdom of Gwynedd, is in exile across the sea. When he hears of the betrayal of the Welsh people by the imposter in his throne, Gruffydd unites with Tewdwr, a monarch deposed by the traitors, and they forge an army from the ashes of their kingdoms. But Tewdwr's wife and daughter--the source of much of the allies' strength--are a weakness their enemies will exploit. Betrayal, treachery and war await, but both men know they must fight to the bitter end, when the sundered lands of Wales are drenched...in the blood of kings.

“An excellent account” of Britain’s tradition of parceling out land for the public to grow food on, and the colorful history behind it (The Independent). This lively book tells the story of the private garden plots known as allotments—from their origin in the seventeenth century, when new enclosures that deprived the peasantry of access to common lands were fiercely protested, to the victory gardens of the world wars, and into the present day, when they serve less as a means of survival than as a respite from the modern world. While delving into the effects of the Napoleonic Wars, the Corn Laws, and the utopian dissenters known as the Diggers, the author reveals the multiple roles of allotments—and champions their history in the hope of protecting them for the future. “Foley’s book reminds us that the right to share the earth has always been an asymmetric struggle.” —The Guardian “Fascinating and handsomely illustrated.” —Daily Mail “Well-told . . . . [a] gallop through the history of useful rather than ornamental crops.” —Spectator Australia

This new study of the Old Testament from trusted scholar Dr. John MacArthur provides thorough insights into a sometimes little-studied portion of the Bible. A widow watches as her dead son is brought back to life. A man is cured of leprosy by simply dipping himself in a river--while another man is struck by leprosy when he accepts an unwarranted gift. The nation of Judah witnessed great miracles and great failures, as her kings vacillated between serving the Lord and following pagan practices. This was a time of decision for God's people--would they serve the Lord with a whole heart, or divide their loyalty between God and pagan deities? Losing the Promised Land: Elisha and the Kings of Judah takes an in-depth look at this historical period beginning with the first kings of Judah, continuing through the ministry of Elisha, and concluding with the nation's exile. Studies include close-ups of Elisha, Naaman, Elisha's servant Gehazi, and others, as well as careful considerations of doctrinal themes, such as "Renewing God's Word" and "Being Wholehearted for God."