Reconciling Violence and Kingship: A Study of Judges and 1 Samuel
"In this bracing study of the Deuteronomistic History, Marty A. Michelson combines a careful literary reading of key texts with Rene Girard's theory of mimetic violence, sacrifice, and the scapegoat mechanism to offer a fresh explanation of the emergence of kingship in Israel. Michelson's innovative study not only unsettles common historical assumptions but challenges readers to think in new ways, including positive ways, about violence and kingship, and the relation between the two. Girardian theory is here put to constructive historical use."-Ben C. OllenburgerProfessor of Biblical TheologyAssociated Mennonite Biblical Seminary --Wipf and Stock Publishers