“This is a wise, penetrating, and compassionate look at Christian blessing through the lens of a careful reading of the Priestly Blessing in Numbers 6:24–26. Stephen Chapman shows how this Old Testament passage has been understood over time and how a better understanding of blessings might not only restore the integrity of American churches in an increasingly partisan era of divisiveness but also renew a robust sense of the clerical vocation. This is a valuable contribution to the Touchstone Texts series and well worth reading.”
Kate Bowler, associate professor of American religious history, Duke Divinity School
“This beautifully written book will shed considerable light on one of the most important texts of the Bible—the priestly blessing found in the book of Numbers. Chapman pauses over each phrase in order to give ear to all the tones sounded in this famous prayer.”
Gary A. Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Thought, University of Notre Dame
Stephen B. Chapman (PhD, Yale University) is associate professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He is the editor in chief of the Journal of Theological Interpretation and the author of The Law and the Prophets: A Study in Old Testament Canon Formation and 1 Samuel as Christian Scripture: A Theological Commentary. He is also an ordained American Baptist minister.