The Cult of Beersheba

Israel is here likened to a young woman, the epitome of life, beauty and fruitfulness, struck down and forsaken. A horrible and arresting sight. She is abandoned and will not be raised up. Its cities sent out the flower of their young men to war, and only a tenth of them returned. Yet small number would survive the destruction. The places of refuge and sources of support that israel had formerly trusted in would all come to nothing or fail her in the hour of her need. They were given ample opportunity to arrest their course. Justice was supposed to be the defining feature of the life of the nation. However, the responsibility of enacting justice lay upon the entire nation