"A modest and little known book. Spina takes on the standard notion that the Bible portrays the Hebrews as an exclusivist sect, “the chosen people,” who held themselves as insiders and held others at arms’ length. His dissection of several key biblical tales established that the “outsider” was in fact often welcomed, embraced, and incorporated, thus providing a very different and productive slant on the subject."

Recommended by Erich S. Gruen, Professor of History and Classics and author of Rethinking the Other in Antiquity.