Sex, Wives, and Warriors―Reading Biblical Narrative With Its Ancient Audience

'Sex, Wives and Warriors' is a fascinating historical and literary review of Old Testament narratives including those of Saul and David with detailed attention to their interaction with sex and war. Philip Francis Esler applies an intercultural reading to reveal previously undiscovered levels of meaning in the Old Testament. Esler draws on a wide range of philosophical approaches to formulate an eloquent view of Old Testament narrative and is careful to combine both social science with literary elements in the reading. The author contextualizes the biblical passages and explores their significance for Ancient Israelites. Esler uses scholarship on myth structure and Jungian archetypes to further clarify this original and thought provoking reading. A book suitable for any individual who wishes for a closer engagement with biblical texts, particularly as part of a re-examination of personal and collective faith. Esler makes the narratives resonate with us today with pivotal stories from the Christian and Jewish tradition and improves our capacity for intercultural understanding, and inspires us with their imaginative and literary power. Philip F. Esler is Professor of Biblical Interpretation and Principal of St Mary's University College, London. He is the author of 'Conflict and Identity in Romans' (2003), and 'New Testament Theology' (2005), and the editor of 'Ancient Israel' (2006). 'Philip Esler has done much to make biblical scholars aware of social-scientific approaches. In this book he brings this perspective to a reading of Old Testament narrative texts, showing just how much social science can illuminate the Bible. The stories of wives, warriors, kings, and madmen are here read against the backdrop of the real society in which they were first told, and so become three-dimensional to the modern reader.' John Barton, Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of the Holy Scripture, Oxford University.

Philip F. Esler is Principal and Professor of Biblical Interpretation at St Mary's University College, Twickenham, London. He is the author of Conflict and Identity in Romans (2003), and New Testament Theology (2005), and the editor of Ancient Israel (2006).