Conflict & Resolution in the Early Prophets

Conflict & Resolution in the Early Prophets is a bold and scholarly exploration of one of the most complex and often overlooked challenges in biblical studies: the apparent violations of Torah law by key figures in the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel, and how the rabbinic tradition has addressed and resolved these troubling narratives.

Why does Joshua bow to an angel, seemingly in violation of the commandment against idolatry? Why does King David remarry Michal despite the Torah's restriction on returning to a former wife who has married another? How is Saul permitted to spare the Amalekite king, and why do Israelite leaders delay building the Temple even after achieving peace in the Land of Israel?

In this meticulously researched work, Rabbi Allen Schwartz, senior rabbi of Congregation Ohab Zedek in Manhattan and professor at Yeshiva University, catalogs and categorizes more than 40 instances where biblical behavior appears to contradict Torah law—without comment or rebuke from the biblical narrator. Rabbi Schwartz collects the responses of the Talmud, Midrash, and later commentators, offering an organized taxonomy of rabbinic resolutions including:

• Violation Denied – No actual transgression occurred.

• Violation Explained Away – The act was misunderstood or the law interpreted differently.

• Hora’at Sha’ah – The action was a legitimate emergency exception or divine command.

• Violation Acknowledged but Excused – The act was wrong but morally or spiritually justifiable.

• Violation Ignored – The Rabbis are silent, and post-rabbinic sources speculate.

Spanning topics such as idolatry, kingship, judicial procedure, sacrificial law, Nazirite vows, conquest ethics, prophecy, and divine punishment, each chapter includes the Torah command, the biblical narrative, and a wide range of rabbinic interpretations. Also featured is an appendix analyzing parallels in I Kings, offering added depth and broader context.

Ideal for:

• Tanakh students exploring how Chazal viewed and interpreted biblical history

• Rabbis, educators, and seminary instructors preparing shiurim and lectures

• Readers of halakhic literature, Jewish ethics, or biblical theology

Endorsed by leading scholars like Dr. David Berger, Professor Sid Z. Leiman, and Dr. Moshe Sokolow, this book is both a theological roadmap and a methodological toolkit for reconciling apparent contradictions in the Hebrew Bible. Readers will encounter a fascinating world in which legal, moral, and narrative complexity is not avoided but embraced—and where the wisdom of the Sages seeks harmony between divine law and human action.