A Table in the Wilderness

""With close attention to the text's rhetorical features, Michelle Stinson's use of food as a lens for reading Psalm 78 provides a rich and nourishing banquet. Stinson opens up important dimensions of this psalm while also integrating it more fully into other parts of the Psalter. Taste and see, for this is good!"" --David G. Firth, Tutor in Old Testament, Trinity College Bristol ""Over the past two decades, there has been growing academic interest in meals within the Hebrew Bible. By and large, study has been largely archaeological and historical in nature. Michelle Stinson's work fills an important void by offering a literary and rhetorical analysis of the function of food within Psalm 78. This study is a welcome contribution to the field and hopefully paves the way for future studies on the function of meals within biblical texts. Highly recommended."" --Andrew Abernethy, Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College ""Michelle Stinson offers a methodologically sophisticated and literarily sensitive analysis of Psalm 78. Her focus on the multidimensional aspects of food language and its rhetorical potential results in a rich and compelling explanation of this complex poetic presentation of Israel's story, accounting for its structure, imagery, and connections with other psalms."" --Michael A. Lyons, Senior Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, St Mary's College, University of St Andrews ""Stinson argues that food language is the key to unlocking the 'enigmas' of the strangely under-examined poem that stands--not by coincidence--at the precise center of the Hebrew Psalter. Through lucid rhetorical, sociological, and agrarian analysis, she shows how a great poet, reflecting on the most basic human need, discloses the pattern of Israel's experience of God and place, through blessing and bane, across the long course of history. The topic is as urgent as the exegesis is exemplary."" --Ellen F. Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, Duke Divinity School ""Stinson's volume does much more than simply remind the reader of the significance of food in an agrarian culture; she explores 'the multi-dimensionality of food' and how those various dimensions are employed to great rhetorical effect in the biblical text. Stinson's methodological approach opens new vistas for reading Psalm 78, but even more, her work charts an exciting path for future research on the rhetoric associated with food in the Hebrew Bible. An insightful and engaging work!"" --W. Dennis Tucker Jr., Professor of Christian Scriptures, Truett Seminary, Baylor University