In this work, Mark W. Hamilton shows how Israelite political thought sometimes supported the power structures but more often held them at arm's length, forming the basis of the centuries-long critique of politics that is part of Western thought.

The political rhetoric of ancient Israel took several literary, architectural, and graphic forms. Much of the relevant material concerns kingship, but other loci of authority and submission also drew significant attention. Mark W. Hamilton illustrates how these "texts" interacted with other political rhetorics, especially those of the great Mesopotamian empires. By paying close attention to the argumentation of the Israelite literature as well as their function as epideictic oratory building solidarity with hearers he reveals the complexity of Israelite intellectual activity both during and after the period of the monarchy. By doing this he shows that this body of thought lies at the heart of Western political thought even today.

Autorentext
Born 1964; 2000 PhD (Harvard University); since 2000 professor at Abilene Christian University, currently the Robert and Kay Onstead Professor of Old Testament.