“In this book the author attempt to argue that, in the Hebrew Bible, the so-called lex talionis in its various forms announces good news to the community whenever it is wounded and fractured due to human insubstantiality. In other words, lex talionis in the biblical pages is in no way a weapon to destroy the garland of Israelite society, but is the gem and unique flower to enhance the beauty and fragrance of that garland. I can claim to have achieved my goal by placing the legal materials and the narratives in their proper literary contexts.” “In the present work… Professor Beck dissects this much-misunderstood text to examine its constituent components with great competence using the exegetical methods of textual criticism, redaction criticism and historical criticism. Interwoven in his exegesis are theological themes and Biblical motifs of covenant and fidelity, laws and restitution, sin and forgiveness, crime and punishment, land and mountain, and so on. This is an exegetical work of great thoroughness and competence.”