| How Are the Mighty Fallen? Contributor(s): Green, Barbara (Author), Mein, Andrew (Editor), Camp, Claudia V. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0826462219 ISBN-13: 9780826462213 Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press OUR PRICE: $257.40 Product Type: Paperback Published: June 2003 Annotation: This book marries the several elements: a given text (1 Samuel), a focal character (King Saul), a spacious and creative theorist (Mikhail Bakhtin), a historical context (the collapse of monarchic Israel and the moment for return. The dilemma for the exile community is to return with royal leadership or without it); a reading challenge is: can a character be a cipher for a corporate experience (can Saul represent the whole monarchic experience)? The author argues that the narrative of 1 Samuel may be read as a riddle propounding the complex story of Israel/Judah's experience with kings as an instruction for those pondering leadership choices in the sixth century. The work is an extended reflection on what went wrong with kings and why new leadership must be attempted. The extended fiddle of Saul works to show how the life of the king is fundamentally destructive, not because any is malicious but because of many factors of weakness and inadequacy that will be familiar to readers. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Christian Rituals & Practice - General - Religion | Biblical Studies - Old Testament - General |
| Dewey: 222.430 |
| LCCN: 2003430604 |
| Series: Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies |
| Physical Information: 1.33" H x 5.98" W x 9.54" (2.01 lbs) 432 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book marries the several elements: a given text (1 Samuel), a focal character (King Saul), a spacious and creative theorist (Mikhail Bakhtin), a historical context (the collapse of monarchic Israel and the moment for return. The dilemma for the exile community is to return with royal leadership or without it); a reading challenge is: can a character be a cipher for a corporate experience (Saul represent the whole monarchic experience)? The author argues that the narrative of 1 Samuel may be read as a riddle propounding the complex story of Israel/Judah's experience with kings as an instruction for those pondering leadership choices in the sixth century. The work is an extended reflection on what went wrong with kings and why new leadership must be attempted. The extended riddle of Saul works to show how the life of the king is fundamentally destructive, not because any is malicious but because of many factors of weakness and inadequacy that will be familiar to readers. |
Contributor Bio(s): Mein, Andrew: - Andrew Mein is Tutor in Old Testament, Westcott House, Cambridge. Camp, Claudia V.: - Claudia V. Camp is Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University, USA and was on the steering committee of the Seminar. She is currently co-general editor of the LHBOTS series, as well as the author or editor of 4 books and numerous articles. |