Throughout the Old Testament, the stories, laws, and songs not only teach a way of life that requires individuals to be moral, but they demonstrate how. In biblical studies, character ethics has been one of the fastest-growing areas of interest. Whereas ethics usually studies rules of behavior, character ethics focuses on how people are formed to be moral agents in the world. This book presents the most up-to-date academic work in Old Testament character ethics, covering topics throughout the Torah, the (...) Prophets, and the Writings, in addition to the use of the Bible in the modern world. In addition to Carroll and Lapsley, contributors are Denise M. Ackermann, Cheryl B. Anderson, Samuel E. Balentine, William P. Brown, Walter Brueggemann, Thomas B. Dozeman, Bob Ekblad, Jose Rafael Escobar R., Theodore Hiebert, Kathleen O'Connor, Dennis T. Olson, J. David Pleins, Luis R. Rivera Rodriguez, J. J. M. Roberts, and Daniel L. Smith-Christopher. (shrink)

With considerable struggle, Balaam learns what it means to engage in faithful exegesis. It means shedding the human tendency to interpret in service to our own interests, and it means exegeting in the context of God's overarching purposes for Israel and for the world.

The friendship shared by Moses and God offers a more appropriate model of faithfulness than Israel's prescribed obedience. The intimacy of their relationship offers an alternative model for the church's relationship to God, a countercultural “covenantal friendship.”.