Words with Teeth presents a dual argument, of which the first part is composed of establishing metaphor as the primary reading strategy for approaching Biblical Hebrew poetry, and the second part of applying the said strategy to a heterogeneous group of psalms known, in rather Victorian English, as the Psalms of Imprecation.

This volume first introduces the reader to the phenomenon of metaphor and how it interfaces with the Hebrew poetic text. It then offers an historical/exegetical review of the reception of the Psalms of Imprecation, ranging from their exclusion on...