In this book Walter Brueggemann raises a variety of contemporary and intriguing questions on the relation of society and text in the Old Testament, among them—the hidden agendas that underlie the making and reading of Scripture the conflictual tension in ancient Israel the cry to God of the oppressed and God's response the political dimension of mercy theodicy, violence, horses, and chariots Brueggemann opens to a variety of readers a compelling picture of subversive paradigm and social possibility in the Hebrew Bible.