The Book of Judges

The Book of Judgeshas 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 skillfully 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. This is important new work for those who are interested in the Old Testament.