This cogently argued book is in many ways the right book at the right time, taking up a timely subject using an equally timely approach. It arises from the author's personal experience on 9/11, when she was on a plane that didn't take off. Leveen explains, “In light of that morning I vowed to face my tradition's sacred writings on violence. As an interpreter of religious texts that continue to shape public discourse and our attitudes toward other peoples, I felt a responsibility to look at, and write about, the darker sides of those texts. I wanted to know the extent of such violence, what were its consequences, and if counter-voices existed within biblical narratives” (20). In the time since Leveen first took up this study, the concerns that inspired it have only grown more urgent, as the matter of “strangers at the gate” has become both more prominent and more polarizing.
The book focuses on biblical studies, as indicated by its title and the title of the series in which it appears. The accessibility of its presentation and the social significance of its topic make it a volume with appeal for nonspecialists who want to understand the biblical texts as part of their own religious heritage and/or as an influence on culture. The book also makes a substantial contribution to ethics. Although that is not Leveen's primary focus or the field from which she draws dialogue partners, her analysis of the biblical texts and her dialogical approach to the fraught question of strangers make her work relevant for those engaging topics from migration to political polarization to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The study draws together stories from Exodus and Joshua through 2 Kings, tracing the Israelites’ journey from the wilderness to life in the land to the exile. This approach “allows [Leveen] to detect recurring assumptions and perceptions as well as alternative points of view and disagreements” (4). Each chapter focuses on a particular biblical text and group (or groups) of strangers. The emphasis on intertextual relationships occasionally leads to discussions of biblical texts beyond the primary scope of the study, while the focus on particular groups of strangers occasionally leads to glaring omissions. (For example, Uriah plays an important role in relation to both David and Solomon, but is not discussed in relation to either figure because, as a Hittite, he does not fit the interpretive schema.) Leveen's readings are consistently insightful, reflecting her rigorous conception of the act of reading and of the way that stories shape identity, as well as her sensitivity to the literary techniques and interpretive considerations specific to the Hebrew Bible.
Leveen notes the absence of a “generic [biblical] term for outsiders who live beyond the borders of the Israelites’ land” (5). After evaluating the usage and limitations of ger, nokhri, and zar, she settles on the terms “strangers” and “neighbors” to characterize those within the purview of her study. Examining the relationship between these outsiders and Israelites, Leveen highlights the “extraordinarily rich biblical dialogue” (192) that takes place not only between different texts, but also between redactional layers within the “final form” of biblical books. Her analysis illuminates two contrasting tendencies toward strangers: one that emphasizes peaceful coexistence and one that regards such coexistence as problematic. Rather than placing these tendencies in simple binary opposition, Leveen emphasizes the interaction between them, embracing nuance and rhetorical complexity. As she explains, “An editor may … end up, intentionally or inadvertently, blurring the boundaries between competing narratives. They juxtapose or patch together different perspectives on the same ethnic group in side-by-side stories that feature a range of characters and plots in an entwined final form” (191–2).
The study focuses on the significance of the coexistence of different tendencies within the biblical texts, rather than on reconciling those tendencies or adjudicating between them. That emphasis yields insight into debates in which both sides are convinced of the moral inevitability of their point of view, and may even facilitate conversations on topics where strongly held convictions typically result in the wholesale dismissal of those holding alternative points of view. In seeking to make sense of 9/11, Leveen has produced an analysis that can help her readers better understand their own ideological Others.
Beyond explaining her reasons for taking up the topic of strangers in the Bible, Leveen avoids explicit discussion of contemporary issues. In the context of her study, that silence in many ways proves advantageous as a way of inviting readers to make their own connections. Nevertheless, taking up the topic of strangers warrants more consideration of the world that has shaped Leveen's (and her readers’) assumptions about identity and difference. For example, Leveen refers to “the darker sides” of biblical texts as a way of invoking those with violent trajectories (20). What does it mean that the same imagery of darkness also applies to people, frequently as a way of designating dangerous strangers? This study would have benefitted greatly from examining the phenomenon of strangeness from the point of view of the estranged. The book devotes careful attention to the relationship between gender and strangeness, but it does not engage scholarship that foregrounds the perspectives and experiences of those currently classified as dark strangers to illuminate further dimensions of strangeness in the biblical texts.
Biblical Narratives of Israelites and Their Neighbors understands what is at stake in reading the biblical texts, especially in this present moment. In addition to illuminating the texts under discussion and biblical Israel's trajectory from wilderness to exile, it has the potential both to deepen conversations about strangers and to make them more inclusive and fruitful.
