The Book of Judges (Old Testament Readings)

Rating:
Summary: Old and new critical methods wed
Review: Brettler's book employs older methods of biblical criticism (source, form, redaction, and tradition history) while appreciating the insights and perspectives of more recent critical and theoretical approaches (i.e. socio-political and literary, e.g.). The result is a well-balanced, readable book that takes both the history and final form of the text seriously. Brettler doesn't force the text to cohere via a "literary, wholistic" reading; rather, he hears the dissonances created by the various, juxtaposed stories in the final form of the text and uses this as a means to understand the history and composition of both the stories and the Book as a whole. Despite the narrative tensions in the Book, Brettler finds a loose, thematic unity surrounding the legitimation of Davidic kingship (noting, e.g., a polemic against the Saulides).
B.N. This "political view" does not lend any credence to an early date for the Book, as Brettler correctly, in my opinion, points out.