Children in Ancient Israel: The Hebrew Bible and Mesopotamia in Comparative Perspective

This book explores of children’s lives in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Mesopotamia, and engages the questions of their value in those cultures. The study finds that children hold a strong religious value in their households, and that value is used rhetorically by the biblical text when children experience violence. The common values of children in the ancient world are then key to understanding how the Hebrew Bible uses a child’s value to promote YHWHism to the domestic cult.