A History of Ancient Israel and Judah [Hardcover]

J. Maxwell Miller (Author), John Haralson Hayes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1986

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With a sense of the importance of geographical detail, thorough knowledge of archaeological research, and a feel for history as "people," the authors bring enormous assets to their present task: recounting Old Testament history to the close of the Persian Period. But how effectively do they accomplish this task? In their view a critically acceptable historiography would pare away myth, miracle story, folk tradition, and theological overlay, relying instead on cause and effect. Further, since little of the relevant biblical material found before the 11th century B.C. is credible, the result can only be "our best guess." Unless the reader shares this view, he or she will likely find John Bright's History of Israel (Westminster, 1981. 3rd ed.) more satisfactory. Vernon Ritter, formerly with Religious Studies Dept., Westmont Coll., Santa Barbara, Cal. Home Economics 2 please note: The Christian Teubner book reviewed in the LJ 8/86 cookery column is Desserts , published by Barron'snot HP's Best of Cooking for All Occasions , as indicated in the bibliographic information.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Miller and Hayes has long been my number one recommended textbook for classes on the history of ancient Israel and Judah. While I may not agree with every word, I know of nothing like it for the systematic way in which it sets out the whole range of evidence, discusses it critically, and bases its historical reconstruction on the results. The field has been moving so rapidly, however, with new discoveries and radically different interpretations of familiar material, that it was reaching the point where this book would need to be replaced. This new edition represents such a significant revision, with account taken of all the most recent main discussions, that it will again immediately resume its premier position in the field." H. G. M. WILLIAMSON, REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 524 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr; 1st edition (May 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 066421262X
• ISBN-13: 978-0664212629
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #627,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Introduction to Ancient Israel, June 26, 2000

By 

deafguy "deafguy" (OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (Hardcover)

J. Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes' A History of Ancient Israel and Judah provides a solid introduction to the methods and problems of studying the development of the kingdoms that came to be known as Israel and Judah. The book deals with events from the time of Israel's origins (the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages) to the work of Ezra and Nehemiah (the fifth and fourth centuries BCE). On the whole, A History is more cautious with the biblical texts than other histories of ancient Israel, such as John Bright's A History of Israel. Miller and Hayes spend less time offering guesses about the more speculative aspects of Israel's history, such as the patriarchs and exodus, and concentrate their efforts on the later period (tenth to fifth centuries BCE) for which conclusions are more certain. From its beginning, this study is very much set within the geographical, political, economic, and religious context of the ancient Near East and Egypt as a whole. Perhaps the most attractive feature of this work is the inclusion of both photographs and fairly complete translations of extra-biblical documents pertinent to various stages of Israel's history. A History is divided into chronological segments, and the authors proceed by summarizing the biblical texts germane to the time period, critically examining these accounts along with extra-biblical and archaeological evidence, and then drawing conclusions. If the book has a major weakness, it is the absence of either footnotes or endnotes, but the authors provide a sizable topical bibliography at the conclusion of the book, and overall, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah is sound, readable scholarship.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Standard Book, December 19, 2006

By 

George Eager (Lawrenceville, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History of Ancient Israel and Judah Pb (Paperback)

It's true that the OT is often the only source for the early history of Israel and Judah, but Miller and Hayes tactfully duck the question of the historicity of the many legendary early events, and begin where they can start to tie the OT account to external and archaeological sources. I found this book to be a good introduction to the topic and a useful reference to have on the shelf.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not about content but about format, November 1, 2010

By 

monalogue (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (Paperback)

For those curious about the difference between this book and the one twice the price also listed as a 2006 paperback, there appears to be no difference between the two besides one was published by a US publishing house, and this one is printed by SCM, a UK publisher, in the US. Book length, physical size, and content as far as I can tell are the exact same for the 2006 2nd Edition. Correction to the Product Description: Paperback page length is 562 pages and publisher is scm press.