Warfare, Ritual, and Symbol in Biblical and Modern Contexts

New perspectives on Israelite warfare for biblical studies, military studies, and social theory

Contributors investigate what constituted a symbol in war, what rituals were performed and their purpose, how symbols and rituals functioned in and between wars and battles, what effects symbols and rituals had on insiders and outsiders, what ways symbols and rituals functioned as instruments of war, and what roles rituals and symbols played in the production and use of texts.

Features:

• Thirteen essays examine war in textual, historical, and social contexts
• Texts from the Hebrew Bible are read in light of ancient Near Eastern texts and archaeology
• Interdisciplinary studies make use of contemporary ritual and social theory

Brad E. Kelle is Professor of Old Testament and Director of the M.A. in Religion Program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He is the author of Ancient Israel at War 853-586 B.C. (Osprey).

Frank Ritchel Ames is Professor and Chair of Medical Informatics at Rocky Vista University in Denver. He is a contributor to and co-editor of Writing and Reading War: Rhetoric, Gender, and Ethics in Biblical and Modern Contexts (Society of Biblical Literature).

Jacob L. Wright is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory University in Atlanta. He is the author of the Templeton award-winning Rebuilding Identity: The Nehemiah Memoir and Its Earliest Readers (de Gruyter).