Overview

Can the Old Testament help us in keeping the excesses of capitalism in check? How can a book that goes on about ""justice and righteousness,"" but says ""there will always be poor people in the land"" and accepts slavery have anything to say to us about social justice? Did kings of Israel draft their subjects--and which subjects--for forced labor? What does it mean when the Psalms say God is coming to judge the world? Is charity justice?--or is justice more than charity? Does Genesis give us the right to use the earth and its creatures as we like? These are some of the questions that Walter Houston asks, and tries to answer, in this book of essays from his work over the last twenty-five years.

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9781532646003

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Reviews

While the Old Testament's concern for justice is well-known, Houston brilliantly transcends general statements on the issue, deeply contextualizing the statements of the various Old Testament texts within their historical and literary settings. His thorough analysis undoubtedly provides the basis and model for generations of further study into the historical contexts of the biblical texts and pathways to application of their insights to modern settings. --Peter Altmann, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, University of Zurich This book is something rich and rare. Walter Houston's collected essays are rich with attention to detail, and such detail is set in the context of the most significant relevant works of biblical scholarship, all critically and sympathetically cross-examined. In profound ways rarely encountered in biblical scholarship, the detail is not left to stand on its own but is encouraged to speak to ethical and political issues old and new. Here is much challenging insight. --George J. Brooke, Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis Emeritus, University of Manchester Every time I read something by Walter Houston, it makes me think. He lets no one get away with sloppy arguments, he respects no sacred cows, and his arguments are always rigorous and critical. Never does he forget the reason he is studying the Old Testament. He keeps in focus the question of what it has to say about justice and righteousness and his commitment to helping the reader see what it says. --John Goldingay, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary

While the Old Testament's concern for justice is well-known, Houston brilliantly transcends general statements on the issue, deeply contextualizing the statements of the various Old Testament texts within their historical and literary settings. His thorough analysis undoubtedly provides the basis and model for generations of further study into the historical contexts of the biblical texts and pathways to application of their insights to modern settings. --Peter Altmann, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, University of Zurich This book is something rich and rare. Walter Houston's collected essays are rich with attention to detail, and such detail is set in the context of the most significant relevant works of biblical scholarship, all critically and sympathetically cross-examined. In profound ways rarely encountered in biblical scholarship, the detail is not left to stand on its own but is encouraged to speak to ethical and political issues old and new. Here is much challenging insight. --George J. Brooke, Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis Emeritus, University of Manchester Every time I read something by Walter Houston, it makes me think. He lets no one get away with sloppy arguments, he respects no sacred cows, and his arguments are always rigorous and critical. Never does he forget the reason he is studying the Old Testament. He keeps in focus the question of what it has to say about justice and righteousness and his commitment to helping the reader see what it says. --John Goldingay, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary Walter Houston here combines his considerable expertise in both biblical theology and biblical law with critical applications to modern issues. This volume of his collected essays (with one new chapter on 'The Psalms of YHWH's Kingship') is highly recommended. --Bernard Jackson, Professor Emeritus, University of Manchester

Author Information

Walter J. Houston is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Center for Biblical Studies at the University of Manchester, England, and an Emeritus Fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford. He is the author of Contending for Justice (2008).

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