Customer Reviews

Battles of the Bible

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a top notch book about military science and history. It shows how the Israelites penetrated into the Middle Eastern landbridge, displaced the Caananites from the highlands, expanded their power into the vallies (where the chariot was king), and extended their power over satellite states (and periodically lost control over them). -- A wealth of tactical maps and diagrams (38), drawings (45), and photographs (53) make all the difference! A chronological table is another helpful aid. What this book does NOT have are regional and theater level maps. [I used Rogerson's Atlas of the Bible, a miserable Time-Life book saved only by excellent maps to see the larger picture. Any good historical map with a 1 mile = 1 inch or similar scale would work, too!]. --- Readers should be aware that 238 of the 271 pages of text (88%) are the work of Mordechai Gichon; 33 pages (12%) are attributed to Chaim Herzog. --- Extensive crossreferences to the English language Christian Bible (e.g. Judg. 7:4-7) allow one to read more extensively about certain epochs. I used the New International Version, and had little difficulties following the politics, tactical maneuvering, and logistical issues of different campaigns. -- This volume is also well written: clear; concise; without ideological or religious jargon; and neither pretenious nor 'academic'. A good book. For those who like military history, and enjoy a lot of detail, this is a great read!

For any serious scholar of the Bible, Middle East, or military history, this book is a must-have! It hits the trifecta of excellent research, modern relevence, and an exciting read. While the authors tend to be a bit skeptical of divine influence, they still illustrate how the Bible remains a truthful historical account.

The authors take the reader on a detailed look of the history of the ancient Israelites from the days following the Exodus to the gripping accounts of the war of the Maccabees. They regularly use not only the Bible, but extra historical accounts to make their case in detail. It becomes all the more interesting when they demonstrate how other armies used similar tactics in the same area, be they Israelites, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, or the British.

Again, I highly recommend this book for wishing to learn a more complete picture of the wonderful book, the Bible.

Even though I am still reading through this book, I really have appreciated its worth. One of the things I respect about this book is its perspective. Instead of assuming that the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and the extra-biblical accounts aren't correct the authors take the texts as they are and analyze them from a modern military view. This adds a nice way of seeing the genius in the Biblical combatants. The idea that more than military power a knowledge of the land of Israel helped in the defeat of at times armies of greater numbers. There are a number of topographical maps that shows the regions of combat mentioned in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and how a good understanding of the locals helps in winning the wars or loosing the wars. It also has pictures of weapons used and also the landscape. Because this is a book written from a military view, there may be some people who will have a hard time reading it all the way through. Yet, if you are interesting in taking the Biblical accounts and understanding the wars this is a good book to read.

This is a rare find. By focusing on the geo-political realities of Israel, this allows the authors to bring a new light in the accounts of the Old Testament. It relates an exciting story of the struggles and establishment of Israel in the heartland of the Palestinian Land Bridge from 1000BC to 100BC - an often neglected historical period in military history. It unravels the brilliant uses of political and military intrigues by a people who struggled to establish and maintain a kingdom amongst conflict after conflict. A real tour de force!

It is common knowledge that Israelis, in general, are fanatical about their unique archeology. It is also not surprising that IDF veteran and scholar Mordechai Gachon and President Chaim Herzog would know volumes about Israel's military history. What surprised me most was their ability to take the strategies and tactics from millenia in the past and compare them with campaigns fought in the exact same regions thousands of years later and show how little has changed.

In spite of the agnostic points-of-view of the authors, this book made the Old Testament (OT) histories come alive. I consider myself well-informed concerning the OT, but I never appreciated the accuracy and insights about military strategy that can be gained from careful study of the Bible. I knew great insights were contained concerning political structure and leadership, but I never thought of the Bible as a primer on military strategy. It is.

The authors set the stage for each epoch with a thorough review of the technology of the time and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the peoples involved. They also develop the political structures of the local tribes. Then they illustrate how the Israelites, and later the peoples of Israel and Judah, used their strengths, and the weaknesses of their opponents, to achieve victories (and defeats) against armies that have them outmanned and out-armed. Then they confirm it all with recent archeological findings.

By the time I finished reading about the Maccabean era, there was no doubt that the OT contained precise details of the trials faced by the Jewish people from the time of Moses to the dawn of the Roman Era. Once again, the Bible has proven to be accurate and authoritative.

The book is written in a fairly terse style, packed with detail and no unnecessary verbage. For the serious student of the Biblical World or the Old Testament, it is a must-read. My time was very well spent.

This is the best hardbound I ever bought for < $8.00! If you like ancient history, archeology, and the Bible, then you'll love this book! This brings the Hebrew Scriptures alive in a way that never happened for me before. Whatever one's religion, this book will only enlighten, not offend, the reader. I encourage you to buy this book - now!

my interest in this book was as a military historian. it satisfied that interest very well. details of battles and campaigns is readily understandable and extremely professional. the authors amplify discussions of tactics and strategy with authoratative discussions of social, economic, and political factors affecting the military events. herein is the enormous bonus of this book: as a practising but not particularly academic christian i was provided with a profound grasp of the historical time-line of the bible; fleshed out anthropologicly as never before. a rabbi friend borrowed my first copy and won't give it back!

If you get a kick out of "biblical arcana," this book will be one you'll want. Herzog and Gichon do not accept all of the OT as reliable history, but what they do accept is significant: "The tactical description of the battles of the Bible in their intricate topographical setting and the subsequent detailed and logical interactions between movement, maneuvers, and ground features, shaping the course of the battles, cannot be explained by mere inventiveness." [22] In short, the military details are so precise and show such evidence of military genius that one would either have to conclude that the Bible battle accounts were written late by military geniuses, or that they represent genuine traditions. Herzog and Gichon do suggest that maybe leadership was attributed to the wrong persons by mistake or intent, but they remain in favor of a genuine historical core.

The book surveys battles from Genesis to the time of the Maccabbees. It does tend to meander towards the end, but is an excellent resource for serious students.

This is a great book for an objective, historical perspective of the battles in the Bible. I recommend it to anyone looking for a view from a purely historical angle. If you are looking for any kind of spiritual angle, don't bother.

This book takes a little getting used to, both in the way it is written and in the content. The writing style is at times laborious while at other times tedious. The authors use modern examples at random throughout this book to show how Biblical battles were fought to similar results. I was not always convinced the examples cited were the best match for the argument being made in the book, but maybe that's just me.

The other thing that was tricky to deal with, was the way certain Biblical personalities were portrayed. For example, Joshua is considered one of history's first military geniouses, something that people familiar with the Bible may already know, but the emphasis here is what Joshua did himself, not what God may or may not have granted him power to do. Likewise, King Ahab is also considered a strong military leader who was astute, intelligent, and able. Bible readers recall Ahab as doing evil in the sight of the Lord and was punished. Ahab's great Biblical nemesis, Elijah, is not mentioned nor are any of the evils Ahab is said to have committed. In fact, this emphasis on human capability will take some readers by suprise. God receives very little attention in this book. For some this will be tragic, while for others they may not really care.

At times I did not like this book, but at others I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the chapters on the Maccabees were especially enlightening, while chapters on Judah's downfall dragged on for too many pages. I fully appreciate the maps intersperesed throughout the book, but some of the drawings were more comic book calibre. But all in all this is a good book that looks at the battles fought throughout the Bible in a fresh perspective.