even more true of non-normative situations described in Judges, parts of Samuel and Kings, but especially in the book of Esther. The problem is actually twofold. In the first place, the very idea of an Israelite theocracy is offensive to many Christians today. Can we take seriously the idea that God delivered millions of Israelites from Egyptian bondage and settled them in Canaan when doing so involved the death of vast numbers of Egyptians and Canaanites? Is this not contradictory to “the Christian