Starting from David’s response to Nathan’s parable in 2 Sam 12, this book employs an original synthesis of literary, linguistic and psychoanalytic theory to explore the impact of the biblical text on its readers. It draws parallels between the relationships of speaker to utterance, texts to reader and father to son in arguing for an underlying anxiety of utterance as the source of textual power. Biblical scholars will find stimulating readings of many problematic narratives as well as a detailed investigation of the poetics of the biblical oath. The theoretical account of the role of characters in mediating the interaction between text and reader will be of interest to all students of literature. Its provocative insights into the relationship between God, language, masculinity and authority raise important questions for theology and gender studies.