Jesse's Lineage explores the interconnections between David, Jesus, and Jesse James. All three of these figures evoked complicated and conflicted reactions from their contemporaries - considered criminals by some, saviors by others. David lives the life of a bandit while on the run from Saul; Jesus dies the death of a bandit alongside other bandits; Jesse James is the paragon of the bandit in the American West and yet his life and death is also understood in biblical terms. Iron Age Judah, Roman Galilee, and Reconstruction era Missouri alike invoke the context of colonial "territories" and areas of resistance. Such contexts give birth to bandits, the heroes of the subaltern. After their deaths, David, Jesus, and Jesse James live on thorough equally complicated and conflicted textual, ritual, and cultural memories. Their stories intertwine through reference and allusion as Jesus' mission is understood in terms of David's promise, and Jesse's death is understood in terms of Jesus' betrayal. The biography of each figure is further complicated by the processes of folk memory and oral transmission.

Jesse's Lineage (The Library of New Testament Studies)

Literature & Fiction

Seesengood, Robert

Koosed, Jennifer L.

History & Criticism

Bloomsbury T&T Clark

Jesse's Lineage: The Legendary Lives of David, Jesus, and Jesse James (The Library of New Testament Studies)

T&T Clark

Review\n“There are many ancient Jewish stories that feature women, but in the book of Judith the woman fully dominates. This volume achieves every goal of the Wisdom Commentary series. This beautifully written introduction to Judith is a treat; great reading for students, scholars, religious professionals, and a general audience, as well. In keeping with the series, the authors bring a feminist and an intersectional approach, but manage also to include literary and comparative studies and art history. This book is as engaging as its subject matter!” 
Lawrence M. Wills, author of Judith in Hermeneia series\n“Koosed and Seesengood offer the best of what feminist criticism has to offer in this eminently readable commentary on the book of Judith. Masculinity studies, gender theory, and queer theory are all skillfully deployed to illuminate the shifting performances of gender at the center of this book. The result is a nuanced, provocative, and fascinating analysis of the book of Judith. Readers will especially benefit from the authors’ suspicion of easy resolutions for this complex narrative featuring a wealthy, pious, seductive, and slave-owning heroine.” 
Colleen M. Conway, Seton Hall University\n"This sophisticated commentary illuminates the textual issues and clarifies the historical from the literary. Not your grandmother's commentary, and suitable for readers who want their worlds widened." 
WATER\nThe striking scene of Judith cutting off Holofernes’s head with his own sword in his own bed has inspired the imaginations of readers for millennia. But there is more to her story than just this climactic act and more to her character than just beauty and violence. This volume offers a comprehensive examination of gender ideologies in the book of Judith, from the hyper-masculine machinations of war and empire to the dynamics of class in Judith’s relationship with her enslaved handmaid. Overall, this commentary investigates the book of Judith through a feminist lens, informed by critical masculinity studies, queer theory, and reception criticism.

Judith (Volume 16) (Wisdom Commentary Series)

Seesengood, Robert Paul

Liturgical Press

Reading with Feeling: Affect Theory and the Bible (Semeia Studies)

The psychological approach known as affect theory focuses on bodily feelings--depression, happiness, disgust, love--and can illuminate both texts and their interpretations. In this collection of essays scholars break new ground in biblical interpretation by deploying a range of affect-theoretical approaches in their interpretations of texts. Contributors direct their attention to the political, social, and cultural formation of emotion and other precognitive forces as a corrective to more traditional historical-critical methods and postmodern approaches, and response essays push the conversations into profitable directions for future research.

Religion & Spirituality

Black, Fiona C.

Christian Books & Bibles

SBL Press

The biblical story of Ruth celebrates the power to begin life anew, to gather what has been scattered, to glean what one needs. In this original approach to understanding an ancient love story, Jennifer L. Koosed crafts a multifaceted portrait of the Old Testament character of Ruth and of the demanding agricultural world in which her story unfolds. Highlighting the most complex aspects of the book―the relationships Ruth has with her mother-in-law, Naomi; sister-in-law, Orpah; future husband, Boaz; and infant son, Obed―Koosed explores the use of pairings to define Ruth's aspirational fortitude. Koosed also touches on the narrative's questions of sexuality, kinship, and law as well as the metaphoric activities of harvest that serve to advance the plot and illuminate the social and geographic context of Ruth's tale. From the private world of women to the public world of men, Koosed guides readers through the book of Ruth's revealing glimpses into the sociology of the ancient Hebrew world. The study concludes with a discussion of the post biblical fascination with Ruth and her later representations in a variety of literary and visual mediums.

Gleaning Ruth: A Biblical Heroine and Her Afterlives (Studies on Personalities of the Old Testament)

University of South Carolina Press

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Books by Koosed, Jennifer L.