Books by Julia M. O'Brien

The prophets of the Old Testament use a wide variety of metaphors to describe God and to portray people in relation to God. Some of these metaphors are familiar and soothing; others are unfamiliar and confusing. Still others portray God in ways that are difficult and uncomfortable--God as abusive husband, for instance, or as neglectful father...

At the 2006 annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Prophetic Texts in their Ancient Contexts section devoted a session to the theme 'The Aesthetics of Violence'. Participants were invited to explore multiple dimensions of prophetic texts and their violent rhetoric. This volume collects those essays.