Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? [Paperback]

William G. Dever (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2006

74 maps and illustrations Addresses one of the most timely and urgent topics in archaeology and biblical studies - the origins of early Israel. Explores the continuing controversies regarding the true nature of ancient Israel and presents the archaeological evidence for assessing the accuracy of the well-known Bible stories.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (March 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802844162
• ISBN-13: 978-0802844163
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

144 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Early Israelites, July 8, 2003

By 

L C Sheppard (Atlanta, Gerorgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? (Hardcover)

If one must rely on a single source relating to the historicity of the Old Testament Professor William Dever's latest book is the one. "Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?" effectively makes use of his concept of "convergences between artifacts and texts." He brings to bear archaeology, history, mythology, scripture and tradition on the people he calls the proto-Israelites, the forebears of the nation in ancient Canaan we have come to know as Israel of the Iron Age through Roman times.

Notably much of what he writes is based upon his enormous experience in archaeology and more importantly his own fieldwork. His incredible breadth and depth of knowledge and insight pour forth onto the pages of this book.

Revisionists and minimalists who allege the Old Testament contains no history of Israel and say it was not composed until the Persian or Greek periods will not like this book. Likewise conservatives and fundamentalists who interpret the scriptures literally will gain no encouragement here.

Doctor Dever's scholarly account of the stated positions of all the participants in the debate is of enormous help in sorting out the real issues and putting in perspective the biases and spin being inflicted upon us. Further by explaining how the entire mass of scientific, scriptural and other inquiries illuminates the origins of the Israelites he gives the definitive elucidation. His authoritative conclusions are astute, well thought-out, broadminded and evenhanded.

Future discoveries may yield additional knowledge about this important era and exciting subject. However it is unlikely that any results will alter drastically what Professor Dever has written in this excellent, eminently informative and readable tour de force.

Dedication of this book to Sean William Dever is especially poignant. It was the loss of the son that prompted the father to focus on a "journey" as the means for dealing with sorrow. I feel that the spirit of the son was in large measure the driving force in the achievement of a superb outcome, "the destination."

Louis C. Sheppard, Ph.D., D.I.C.

60 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hodegpodge, March 27, 2007

By 

Alnitak - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? (Hardcover)

Read at least one other book close to this subject first--The Bible Unearthed by Silberman and Finkelstein is a good choice--since this could be subtitled "A reply to Finkelstein." After Dever's movie review (he says Yul Brynner was better than Charlton Heston) there comes a host of detail, mixed confusingly with reviews of the literature from other archeologists, many of whom are cited at length but with little context to make it clear why any of it matters. Dever finally warms up to a complicated theory about the origins of the Israelites that may be true but doesn't have much support, and is a little hard to distinguish from Finkelstein. There are also a few divergences into, for example, possible origins of Moses the man, or natural explanations for the plagues in Egypt, and several other biblical references.

There are lots of maps, drawings, pictures and tables, but not much explanation of them; he seems to assume they are self-explanatory. As he says, "Virtually everyone is familiar with the basic outlines of the biblical story" so he doesn't bother to tell it. Dever admits to dashing off this text, and it shows. This is one of those books that desperately needs editing.

Finkelstein insists that the scientific results must hold sway over the biblical text, while Dever claims to give them equal weight; in fact the two scientists end up rather close together. Dever is responding to Finkelstein's glibness, saying "Hey! Not so fast!" and does offer some balance to the facile Silberman and Finkelstein treatment.

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A reasonable approach to a difficult subject, September 30, 2004

By 

David Oldacre (Sutton, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? (Hardcover)

The Introduction and Chapter I - "The Current Crisis in Understanding the Origins of Early Israel" contain some very important statements about the purpose of this book. Professor Dever addresses the question of the historical basis of Israel's origin in Egypt and Canaan:- that is the Exodus and the Conquest. He defines his methodology as using archaeological evidence as a control (not proof) in rereading biblical texts, and argues that there are at least 5 basic approaches for doing so, ranging from
a) Assume the biblical text is literally true, and ignore all external evidence as irrelevant
b) Hold that the biblical text is probably true, but seek external corroboration
c) Approach the text and external data with no preconceptions, single out the convergences, but remain sceptical about the rest
d) Contend that nothing in the biblical text is true unless proven by external data
e) Reject the text and any other data because the Bible cannot be true
He holds to the middle ground because he thinks that truth is most likely to be found there.

This is an absorbing book, and one which seems to use "The Systems Approach" for describing his position - i.e. What is the problem and its significance, what are the facts, what are the alternatives, and what is the most appropriate solution. Having clearly stated the problem, Professor Dever reviews the account of the Exodus, the Conquest of Transjordan, and Conquest of the land west of the Jordan, identifying the problems with these accounts, and the inconsistencies with the archaeological evidence. This is followed by a thorough review of the current state of archaeological facts, and a summary of the material culture of Iron Age I.

From there he proceeds to review the various attempts at a synthesis of textual and archaeological data over the past 40 years, which includes a review of the work and position of scholars from the Older Israeli Biblical Scholarship, the German School, the American School Biblicists, Histories of Israel, The Biblical Revisionists, and the Israeli and American Archaeologists. He devotes a separate chapter to the works and views of Israel Finkelstein

His closing chapters on the Ethnicity and Archaeological record of the early Israelites, and Salvaging the Biblical Tradition are masterworks of analysis in arriving at a balanced conclusion on the origins of the Ancient Israelites

This is a very thorough and well reasoned book, and one that should be read by anyone who is interested in the subject of Israel, past or present. Whatever category you place yourself in the five approaches above, it is worth it. What category am I in? Probably somewhere between (b) and (c) and I definitely need to read it again before I read another book about Israel!