The Invention of Monotheist Ethics

Exploring the First Book of Samuel

By (author) Hillel I. Millgram

Publication date:

04 December 2009

Length of book:

260 pages

Publisher

University Press of America

Dimensions:

256x182mm
7x10"

ISBN-13: 9780761849223

The Invention of Monotheist Ethics, Volume II presents a comprehensive analysis of the Biblical Book of Samuel. Usually taken to be a socio-political history of ancient Israel during a turbulent century of change, The Invention of Monotheist Ethics contends that beneath this surface level the true focus of Samuel is a profound appraisal of power, its seductive appeal and its drastic limitations. Thus Samuel emerges as a radical critique of our power-based world, and the way we, its inhabitants, order our lives. Taken together with the contention that the Book of Samuel was written by a woman, the Biblical book emerges as a woman's critique of a man's world. This assessment concludes by proposing an alternative to the world we know: a world based on care and concern. Relying on recent sociological studies, this work explores the ramifications of an ethic based on care rather than justice.

Chapter 1 List of Maps
Chapter 2 Foreword and Acknowledgements
Chapter 3 THE ROAD TO SAMUEL
Chapter 4 PROLOGUE: Breakthrough: A Woman Re-evaluates a Man's World
Chapter 5 ACT ONE: THE PROPHET
Chapter 6 1. The Fall of the House of Eli
Chapter 7 2. In the Still of the Night
Chapter 8 3. Catastrophe - Excursus I: Israel in Canaan: How Did They Get There?
Chapter 9 4. Odyssey: The Wanderings of the Lost Ark - Excursus II: How They Lived in Those Days
Chapter 10 5. The Road Not Taken - Excursus III: The Problem of the Historian: How Did She Know?
Chapter 11 ACT TWO: THE PROPHET AND THE KING
Chapter 12 6. The Coming of the King: The Anointing
Chapter 13 7. The Coming of the King: The Proving - Excursus IV: In What Sort of Houses Did Samuel and Saul Live?
Chapter 14 8. The Coming of the King: The Second War of Independence
Chapter 15 9. The Prophet Armed
Chapter 16 ACT THREE: THE KING AND THE UPSTART
Chapter 17 10. The Boy from Bethlehem
Chapter 18 11. The Minefield
Chapter 19 12. The Fugitive
Chapter 20 13. The Wilderness Years: The Outlaw
Chapter 21 14. The Wilderness Years: Search and Destroy - Excursus V: David in the Wilderness
Chapter 22 15. The Wilderness Years: Abigail - Excursus VI: Why is There So Much Drinking Going On in the Bible?
Chapter 23 16. The Wilderness Years: The Dramatist
Chapter 24 17. Bitter Bread: In the Service of the Enemy
Chapter 25 18. On a Darkling Plain

[Millgram]?wonderfully integrates an explanation of the relevant historical background of the book and includes an analysis of the concepts necessary for a deep understanding of the text. The author also deliberates?the literary, historical and religioussignificance of Samuel?giv[ing] no little attention to the linguistic and textual problems in order to explain words, expressions and difficult concepts whose significance requires elucidation, comparing the text we have with those that exist in ancienttranslations of the Bible (the Septuagint, the Vulgate) or by examining the medieval Jewish commentaries and modern non-Jewish expositors. A unique work that every reader?will enjoy reading immensely, and?will learn much from it about this literary creation in particular, and about the Bible in general.