Much of the drama, theological paradox, and interpretive interest in the Book of Samuel derives from instances of God's violence in the story. The beginnings of Israel's monarchy are interwoven with God's violent rejection of the houses of Eli and of Saul, deaths connected to the Ark of the Covenant, and the outworking of divine retribution after David's violent appropriation of Bathsheba as his wife. Whilst divine violence may act as a deterrent for violent transgression, it can also be used as a model or justification for human violence, whether in the early monarchic rule of Ancient Israel, or in crises of our contemporary age. In Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel, Rachelle Gilmour explores these narratives of divine violence from ethical, literary, and political perspectives, in dialogue with the thought of Immanuel Kant, Martha Nussbaum and Walter Benjamin. She addresses such questions as: Is the God of Samuel a capricious God with a troubling dark side? Is punishment for sin the only justifiable violence in these narratives? Why does God continue to punish those already declared forgiven? What is the role of God's emotions in acts of divine violence? In what political contexts might narratives of divine violence against God's own kings, and God's own people have arisen? The result is a fresh commentary on the dynamics of transgression, punishment, and their upheavals in the book of Samuel. Gilmour offers a sensitive portrayal of God's literary characterization, with a focus on divine emotion and its effects. By identifying possible political contexts in which the narratives arose, God's violence is further illumined through its relation to human violence, northern and southern monarchic ideology, and Judah's experience of the Babylonian exile.

About the Author
Rachelle Gilmour is a Bromby Senior Lecturer in Old Testament at Trinity College, University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia. She is also the author of Juxtaposition and the Elisha Cycle and Representing the Past: A Literary Analysis of Narrative Historiography in the Book of Samuel.

Reviews
The greatest strength of Gilmour's monograph lies in its compelling account of the coherence of God's actions in 1--2 Samuel. Gilmour makes innovative contributions to longstanding debates about the portrayal of God by masterfully integrating detailed literary analysis, plausible historical contexts, and sophisticated theoretical frameworks. * Diana Abernethy, Huntingdon College, The Society of Biblical Literature *
G. discusses three significant and perplexing issues concerning divine violence in Samuel. * George Nicol, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament *
G. discusses three significant and perplexing issues concerning divine violence in Samuel. * George Nicol, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament *
Gilmour's Divine Violence is a thorough investigation of the dynamics of transgression, punishment, and their upheavals in the Book of Samuel...I highly recommend it, especially for those who seek a nuanced theological understanding of divine violence in biblical texts. * Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190938079
Author Rachelle Gilmour
Format Hardback
Page Count 240
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 157mm * 218mm * 25mm