Hollow Men, Strange Women: Riddles, Codes and Otherness in the Book of Judges (Biblical Interpretation Series, 143)

In Hollow Men, Strange Women, Robin Baker provides a masterly reappraisal of Israel's experience during its Settlement of Canaan as narrated in the Book of Judges. Written under Assyrian suzerainty in the reign of Manasseh, Judges is both a theological commentary on the Settlement and an esoteric work of prophecy. Its apparent historicity subtly encrypts a grim forewarning of Judah's future, and, in its extensive treatment of otherness, Judges explores the meaning of God's covenant with Israel. Robin Baker's scholarly and perceptive reading draws on a deep understanding of ancient Hebrew and Mesopotamian symbolic codes to interpret the riddles in this many-layered text. The Book of Judges reveals complex literary configurations from which past, present, and future are simultaneously presented. (Publisher) 1 Introduction: ‘A Spoil of Divers Colours on Both Sides’ 2 ‘O Mirror of Our Fickle State’: Riddles, Words and Other Instruments of Illusion 3 Not Quite at Home: Geography and Otherness 4 ‘Let Me Feel the Pillars on Which the House Stands’: The Role and Symbolism of the Book’s Rhetorical Architecture 5 The Tangled Roots of Deborah’s Tree: Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Soul of Judges 6 ‘This Broken Jaw of Our Lost Kingdoms’: Death and Cosmic Warfare 7 Past as Parable, History as Honey: Judges as Historiography 8 Epilogue: Judges and the Deuteronomist In Hollow Men, Robin Baker Provides A Reappraisal Of The Book Of Judges Account Of Israel's Settlement Of Canaan. Written Under Assyrian Suzerainty In Manasseh's Reign, Judges Is A Theological Commentary On The Settlement And An Esoteric Work Of Prophecy.