LAUSR

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.