Reconsidering Israel And Judah

For centuries the Hebrew Bible has been the fountainhead of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Today, however, the entire biblical tradition, including its historical veracity, is being challenged. Leading this assault is a group of scholars described as the "minimalist" or "revisionist" school of biblical studies, which charges that the Hebrew Bible is largely pious fiction, that its writers and editors invented "ancient Israel" as a piece of late Jewish propaganda in the Hellenistic era. In this fascinating book noted Syro-Palestinian archaeologist William G. Dever attacks the minimalist position head-on, showing how modern archaeology brilliantly illuminates both life in ancient Palestine and the sacred scriptures as we have them today. Assembling a wealth of archaeological evidence, Dever builds the clearest, most complete picture yet of the real Israel that existed during the Iron Age of ancient Palestine (1200 600 B.C.). Dever's exceptional reconstruction of this key period points up the minimalists' abuse of archaeology and reveals the weakness of their revisionist histories. Dever shows that ancient Israel, far from being an "invention," is a reality to be discovered. Equally important, his recovery of a reliable core history of ancient Israel provides a firm foundation from which to appreciate the aesthetic value and lofty moral aspirations of the Hebrew Bible.

Peterson engages the identities and provenances of the authors of the various “editions” of the Deteronomistic History. Peterson asks where we might locate a figure with both motive and opportunity to draw up a proto-narrative including elements of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and the first part of 1 Kings. Peterson identifies a particular candidate in the time of David qualified to write the first edition. He then identifies the particular circle of custodians of the Deuteronomistic narrative and supplies successive redactions down to the time of Jeremiah.

In this work, Deirdre N. Fulton examines the differences in the MT and LXX texts of Nehemiah 11-12. She portrays the rebuilding of Judah by focusing on the people who settled in Jerusalem, a catalog of settlements in Judah, a list of temple personnel, and a narrative of the dedication and procession around the walls of Jerusalem. In this systematic study the author analyzes the textual divergences and changes these chapters underwent over time. While both traditions cast Nehemiah 11-12 in Persian period Judah, the textual divergences between the MT and LXX reveal intentional changes that occurred during the Hellenistic period.

The rationale of the order of Psalms is a puzzle at least as old as Augustine in the fourth century, and Grant (Biblical studies, Highland Theological College, Scotland) does not aspire to solve the whole thing here and now. Rather he bites off only one aspect, a particular paradigm that may have influenced the shape of the Psalms in certain ways.

A significant achievement, this book moves our understanding of the history of Israel forward as dramatically as John Bright's A History of Israel, Martin Noth's History of Israel, and William F. Albright's From the Stone Age ot Cristianity did at an earlier period.

A new paradigm for how the biblical concept of Israel impacted early Jewish apocalyptic hopes for restoration.

Philip E. Satterthwaite and J. Gordon McConville introduce the content and the context of the historical books--their setting in ancient history and history writing, their literary artistry, their role within the Scriptures of Israel, and their lasting value as theological and ethical resources.