Endnote 10 – Reversal of Fortune

This article, in a slightly different version, will constitute one of the chapters in a book I am writing, provisionally entitled The Faith of the Outsider. Each of the chapters treats a story in which a non-Israelite either becomes an Israelite (religiously speaking) or behaves in an Israelite manner. These stories demonstrate the complex and highly nuanced understanding of Israel’s divine election in the Hebrew Bible. The six stories are: Esau (Genesis 25–36); Tamar and Judah (Genesis 38); Rahab and Achan (Joshua 2; 7); Naaman (2 Kings 5); Jonah (Jonah); and Ruth (Ruth).