The rhetoric of the book of Judges
By: by Robert H. O'Connell.
Series: Supplements to Vetus Testamentum,; v. 63
Publisher: E.J. Brill
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Leiden; New York
Language: eng; heb
Number of pages: 541
Subjects: Bible. O.T. Judges -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.; Rhetoric in the Bible.
Description: This volume describes how the rhetorical devices used in Judges inspire its readers to support a divinely appointed Judahite king who endorses the deuteronomic agenda to rid the land of foreigners, to maintain inter-tribal loyalty to YHWH's cult, and to uphold social justice.

Matters of rhetorical concern interpreted here include the superimposed cycle-motif and tribal-political schemata, concerns reflected in the plot-layers of each hero story, the force of narrative analogy for characterization, the strategy of entrapment which foreshadows portrayals of Saul and David in I Samuel, and the relation between Judges' implied situation of composition and its compiler's intention.

In addition to offering new insights into the rhetorical strategy of the Judges compiler, this book illustrates a new method for understanding how plot-layered stories work.
Notes: English and Hebrew.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [486]-504) and indexes.