Ethics in the Hebrew Bible and beyond

"Offering close exegesis of specific passages from the Hebrew Bible and a discussion of the interpretation and appropriation of these ancient texts by post-biblical Jewish writers and by other creative contributors from outside the Jewish tradition, this study explores topics in religious ethics, social justice, political ethics, reproductive ethics, economic ethics, issues in ecology, gender and sexuality, killing and dying, and reproductive ethics. Certain goals inform all the chapters: the interest in tracing recurring themes concerning the definition of the good, and the various ways in which Jewish thinkers rely on the more ancient material and appropriate it; the links between areas in ethics explored e.g. between gender and reproductive ethics, or war-views and attitudes to political ethics and environmental ethics. Each essay, however, is a self-contained study as well. The author has carved out particular biblical texts or themes in order to explore them in depth with special interest in the meanings and messages that pertain to ancient Israelite writers' varied presentation of matters in ethics"-- Provided by publisher.