Philip D. Stern

This is a fairly comprehensive and meticulous treatment of the practice and idea of the herem (ban) as presented in the Hebrew Bible. Stern has a clear thesis which is that (a) the Ban was a real practice bot of Israel and of other Canaanite nations in the 1st millennium. (b) that in its main form it had a religious dimension associated with creation, in that it is linked with the overcoming of the forces of chaos in order to establish a peaceful society in communion with one's god. (c) that it was something of which Israel had been at the receiving end in the late monarchical period - at the hands of Moab according to the Mesha Inscription. (d) that, despite this, the biblical texts, which probably reached their current form not long after the MI, limit the herem as applied to outsiders exclusively to the 7 ancient nations, none of which were relevant at the time, thereby excluding herem as a way of dealing with conflicts with other nations, including Moab. (e) that herem in its biblical usage therefore has primarily symbolic significance, as attested by the prophetic use of the term.

The book is thorough and generally persuasive, though at times having procrustean tendencies. None the less it is essential reading for anyone who wishes to grapple with this difficult subject.

For a more recent treatment of similar themes but in a somewhat broader context I would point the reader to two very recent volumes by D S Earl: "Reading Joshua as Christian Scripture" and "The Joshua Delusion: Rethinking Genocide in the Bible"… (mais)