How can we best understand the different ways in which ethical issues are addressed in the Hebrew Bible? And how might that understanding usefully inform ethical decision-making in our own day? This ground-breaking study enables students of the Bible, Ethics and other theological disciplines to firmly grasp the main issues at stake in current scholarly debate about the ethical legacy of the Old Testament. At the same time, the reader will gain a thorough appreciation of Professor Barton's own important research in this field, and how it has advanced our understanding of the ways in which the prophets, sages and story-tellers of Ancient Israel expressed their visions of God's justice and goodness - both for their own time and for generations to come.