Judges A Critical Rhetorical Commentary

The book of Judges is part of the world's literary and cultural canon, and as such it provides insights about political leadership, gender relationships, power disparities, personal strengths and weakness, as well as social and political ethics. In addition, for many Jewish and Christian scholars, Judges is a canonical, scriptural text. This new commentary on Judges considers all these issues, adopting two key approaches: rhetorical criticism and historical criticism. As a rhetorical commentary, the volume pays attention to the factors in the text that are being marshalled to influence the reader. Attention is paid to what the text does, and how it works when it is read closely. This element of the commentary encompasses lexical and grammatical issues, organizing arrangements and patterns, the intentions of various literary genres, along with narrative plot and structure. As a critical commentary, the volume deals with the history of the text's formation and transmission. It establishes the earliest recoverable text of Judges as a way of getting as close as possible to the producers of the text and its early audiences. It provides a well-argued description of how Judges was brought together as a coherent document from earlier oral and written sources and how it was later modified and supplemented. Together these aspects enable Nelson to provide a bold new commentary on Judges that is broad in scope and pays close attention to every detail of the text.

The book of Judges is part of the world's literary and cultural canon, and as such it provides insights about political leadership, gender relationships, power disparities, personal strengths and weakness, as well as social and political ethics. In addition, for many Jewish and Christian scholars, Judges is a canonical, scriptural text. This new commentary on Judges considers all these issues, adopting two key approaches: rhetorical criticism and historical criticism. As a rhetorical commentary, the volume pays attention to the factors in the text that are being marshalled to influence the reader. Attention is paid to what the text does, and how it works when it is read closely. This element of the commentary encompasses lexical and grammatical issues, organizing arrangements and patterns, the intentions of various literary genres, along with narrative plot and structure. As a critical commentary, the volume deals with the history of the text's formation and transmission. It establishes the earliest recoverable text of Judges as a way of getting as close as possible to the producers of the text and its early audiences. It provides a well-argued description of how Judges was brought together as a coherent document from earlier oral and written sources and how it was later modified and supplemented.

Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition (http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/) and in print by Wipf and Stock. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. Themelios began in 1975 and was operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The editorial team draws participants from across the globe as editors, essayists, and reviewers. General Editor: D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Managing Editor: Brian Tabb, Bethlehem College and Seminary Consulting Editor: Michael J. Ovey, Oak Hill Theological College Administrator: Andrew David Naselli, Bethlehem College and Seminary Book Review Editors: Jerry Hwang, Singapore Bible College; Alan Thompson, Sydney Missionary & Bible College; Nathan A. Finn, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Hans Madueme, Covenant College; Dane Ortlund, Crossway; Jason Sexton, Golden Gate Baptist Seminary Editorial Board: Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School Lee Gatiss, Wales Evangelical School of Theology Paul Helseth, University of Northwestern, St. Paul Paul House, Beeson Divinity School Ken Magnuson, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Jonathan Pennington, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary James Robson, Wycliffe Hall Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College Paul Williamson, Moore Theological College Stephen Witmer, Pepperell Christian Fellowship Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Seminary

Judges: A Theological Commentary for Preachers engages hermeneutics for preaching, employing theological exegesis that enables the preacher to utilize all the units of the letter to craft effective sermons. This commentary unpacks the crucial link between Scripture and application: the theology of each preaching text (i.e., what the author is doing with what he is saying). Judges is divided into fourteen preaching units and the theological focus of each is delineated. The overall theological trajectory or theme of the book deals with the failure of leadership in the community of God's people. Since God's people are all called to be leaders in some arena, to some degree, in some fashion, the lessons of Judges are applicable to all Christians. The specific theological thrust of each unit is captured in this commentary, making possible a sequential homiletical movement through each pericope of Judges. While the primary goal of the commentary is to take the preacher from text to theology, it also provides two sermon outlines for each of the twelve preaching units of Judges. The unique approach of this work results in a theology-for-preaching commentary that promises to be useful for anyone teaching through Judges with an emphasis on application.

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 1 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.

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