Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

|tEsau : the face of God --|tTamar's resolve, Judah's family, Israel's future --|tRahab and Achan : role reversals --|tNaaman's cure, Gehazi's curse --|tJonah : prophet among, to, and against outsiders --|tRuth : the Moabite connection --|tThe woman at the well.

"This book offers a look at the "outsider" motif running through the Bible. The biblical story about God's covenant with "insiders"--With Israel as the chosen people - is scandalous in today's cultural climate of inclusivity. But, as Frank Anthony Spina shows, God's exclusive election actually has an inclusive purpose." "Spina highlights in bold relief seven stories that treat nonelect people positively and, even more, as strategically important participants in God's plan of salvation. The stories of Esau, Tamar, Rahab, Naaman, Jonah, Ruth, and the woman at the well come alive in new ways as Spina discusses and examines them from an outsider-insider point of view."-- Jacket.