Acknowledgements
Looking back through the history of proposals and plans, dramatic shifts and changes, and edits and comments in my files, I see how clearly I needed and received significant support in developing this book’s shape and content. I’m deeply grateful for and to all those who guided me, listened, read, and/or suggested along the way:
My committee members at Brite Divinity School, including my director, Dr. Wil Gafney, and readers Dr. Timothy Sandoval and Dr. Russell W. Dalton;
Anna Bowden (without whom this work would have died in utero);
Members and participants of the SBL Children in the Biblical World section, especially Julie Faith Parker, Kristine Henriksen Garroway, Sharon Betsworth, and David Schones;
Brite Associate Dean Jeff Williams;
Don Jones (whose coaching came at a crucial time); and
Staff of the Stitt Library at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, especially former public services librarian Lila Parrish and Ollie Jarvis.
Writing a dissertation and completing a PhD program has, without a doubt, taken a village. Claudia Camp and David Gunn hold a unique standing in this village and in the process of this book’s creation. Their intellectual energy and scholarly DNA influence every page. They stepped into the void when Brite’s Hebrew Bible faculty retired at the end of my first year of coursework, and I count myself fortunate for the unforeseen gift. Their questioning and prodding, encouragement, generosity, and friendship have been invaluable. Of course, all errors, oversights, and misinterpretations that remain in this work are of my own making.
Many others in the village also supported my efforts, less in the actual production of the text that this book represents and more in sustaining me when energy flagged, when frustrations manifested, when laughter was needed. For this sustenance, I am deeply grateful to Jim, James, and Emma, who always helped me to order my priorities and to avoid taking my work too seriously; to my parents—to whom this book is dedicated—and to my ever-supportive siblings, Melanie Williamson, Mark Murray (with many thanks for providing my home away from home during coursework), and Matt Murray; to my college roommates (my “other life partners”) Debbie Shepherd, Jennifer Hanna, and Carolyn Wheat; to my running buddies, especially Shannon Stokes, Kelly Gier, and Tory Wicken; to my newest writing buddy, Sarah de la Fuente; to my cheerleaders at church, Jana Loucks and Susan McMillan; and to my friends and colleagues at Brite, especially fellow Austinite and interfaith superhero Susan Lippe and the New Testament women—Anna Bowden, Annelies Moeser, Maziel Dani, Zhenya Gurina-Rodriguez, Kendi Mohn, Jill Nelson Engelhardt, and Christina Bryant—who welcomed me into their midst when the Hebrew Bible program at Brite was in transition. The entire village of course is much larger and has a longer history; I offer sincere thanks to all those who remain unnamed but who inspired these thoughts and gave meaning to this work.
Finally, many thanks to my reviewer; to series editor Jennifer Koosed; and to editors at Brill, including Emma de Looij, for their support, encouragement, and kindness.