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Ancient Israel's History: An Introduction to Issues and Sources Paperback – November 6, 2018

by Bill T. Arnold (Editor), Richard S. Hess (Editor)

4.5 57 ratings

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The history of Israel is a much-debated topic in Old Testament studies. On one side are minimalists who find little of historical value in the Hebrew Bible. On the other side are those who assume the biblical text is a precise historical record. Many serious students of the Bible find themselves between these two positions and would benefit from a careful exploration of issues in Israelite history.

This substantive history of Israel textbook values the Bible's historical contribution without overlooking critical issues and challenges. Featuring the latest scholarship, the book introduces students to the current state of research on issues relevant to the study of ancient Israel. The editors and contributors, all top biblical scholars and historians, discuss historical evidence in a readable manner, using both canonical and chronological lenses to explore Israelite history.

Illustrative items, such as maps and images, visually support the book's content. Tables and sidebars are also included.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"An excellent resource for those interested in taking seriously all the evidence, both biblical and extrabiblical, bearing on the history of ancient Israel and in thinking carefully about how to weigh that evidence and integrate it into a coherent account."
--Iain Provan, Regent College, Vancouver

"An engaging examination of the current state of research, Ancient Israel's History finely balances the biblical text and extrabiblical sources while exploring critical interpretive issues and methodological questions. It is comprehensive and readable and will be a valuable addition to the library of students and researchers alike. This volume will be part of my students' curriculum."
--Lissa M. Wray Beal, Providence University College and Theological Seminary

"In this incredibly thorough volume, an international and esteemed team of contributors offer us exactly what was promised: a state-of-the-art review of research relating to the history of ancient Israel. This book picks its way between the Scylla of overwrought skepticism and the Charybdis of naïve fideism. The result is a copiously documented, user-friendly, and up-to-date treatment that will prove to be a most useful textbook for both introductory students and seasoned teachers alike."
--Brent A. Strawn, Emory University

"A superb collection orienting readers to historical data and debates relevant to ancient Israel--judiciously weighed, accessibly presented."
--Mark J. Boda, McMaster Divinity College and McMaster University

"Debates surrounding the history of ancient Israel are lively these days, making this volume most welcome. Substantive essays penned by leading authorities in their respective subject areas not only provide convenient summaries of available evidence but also offer mature reflections on what all this evidence means for the historian. The attractiveness of the volume is enhanced by the inclusion of numerous charts, maps, photos, and sidebars. To have so much learning and sensible analysis collected in one volume is a significant achievement. I shall be recommending this book!"
--V. Philips Long, Regent College, Vancouver

"This is an outstanding work that will provide students and scholars alike with a fine introduction to the multifaceted issues and sources that are crucial to interpreting and reconstructing a history of ancient Israel. This is achieved through an impressive cadre of scholars contributing their individual expertise."
--K. Lawson Younger Jr., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

About the Author

Bill T. Arnold (PhD, Hebrew Union College) is Paul S. Amos Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, where he has taught for more than twenty-five years. He is the author or editor of twelve books, including Ancient Israel's History, Who Were the Babylonians?, Encountering the Old Testament, Encountering the Book of Genesis, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax,and commentaries on Genesis and 1-2 Samuel.

Richard S. Hess (PhD, Hebrew Union College) is distinguished professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colorado, and editor of the Denver Journal. He is the author or editor of more than forty books, including Ancient Israel's History, Israelite Religions, Song of Songs in the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms, and the commentary on Joshua in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Baker Academic; Reprint edition (November 6, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1540960943
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1540960948
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.95 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.27 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #209,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #232 in Old Testament Criticism & Interpretation
- #642 in Old Testament Bible Study (Books)
- #796 in Literary Movements & Periods

Customer Reviews:
4.5 57 ratings

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Bill T. Arnold
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Bill T. Arnold (Ph.D., Hebrew Union College) is the Paul S. Amos Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary. While at Asbury, he has held administrative positions, first as Director of Postgraduate Studies and then as Vice President of Academic Affairs/Provost.
His research encompasses Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern studies, both separately and in combination. He specializes in Pentateuchal interpretation and is currently writing a two-volume commentary on Deuteronomy, the first installment of which appeared in 2022 (NICOT; Eerdmans). He has written on many aspects of Old Testament interpretation, including Hebrew language and the history of Israelite religion. Past publications have taken up specific portions of the Hebrew Bible (Genesis and 1-2 Samuel), as well as a grammar (“A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax,” with John H. Choi), and introductory materials (“Who Were the Babylonians?” and “Encountering the Old Testament,” with Bryan E. Beyer).
Arnold served as co-chair of the Genesis Program Unit for the Society of Biblical Literature 2017-2021 (with Professor Naomi Steinberg, DePaul University), and since 2019 serves as co-chair of the SBL Deuteronomy Program Unit (with Dr. Harald Samuel, University of Oxford). Previously, he served on the Board of Trustees of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2007-2011, and ASOR’s Committee on Publications, 2008-2014.
Arnold is General Editor (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament) for the New Cambridge Bible Commentary series (NCBC), Editor of the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Pentateuch (BCOTP), and Associate Editor of the New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT). He served as an editor for the Old Testament notes in “The Wesley Study Bible” (Abingdon, 2009) and co-translator of Genesis for the Common English Bible (Abingdon, 2011).
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Richard S. Hess
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Dr. Richard S. Hess is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Denver Seminary, and is also the editor of the Denver Journal, Denver Seminary’s online theological review journal. He is the founder and editor of the Bulletin for Biblical Research’s Supplement Series and co-editor of the Septuagint Commentary Series. He researches and writes in areas of Old Testament exegesis and theology, Hebrew and ancient Near Eastern languages, biblical archaeology, and topics such as the transcendent value of human life and healing in biblical times. He is currently preparing a commentary on 2 Kings for Eerdmans’s NICOT Series.
Having lectured at more than one hundred scholarly societies, universities, and colleges, he has recently given invited lectures at Jerusalem University College, Jerusalem; Gateway Seminary, Ontario, California; Westmont College, Santa Barbara; Lanier Theological Library, Houston; and the Irish Bible Institute, Dublin. Dr. Hess is a member of the Committee On Bible Translation for the New International Version.
With his wife, Dr. Hess co-pastors 316, a Celtic Christian church in Denver, Colorado. He also regularly ministers in churches and teaches adult groups. He is happiest spending time with his children and grandchildren.
Denver Seminary Journal: https://denverseminary.edu/denver-journal/
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Customers find the book informative and interesting. It provides the latest research and scholarship on ancient Israel. Readers praise the writing quality as excellent, combining archeological and written sources to draw conclusions supportive of the biblical view. The book steers a well-articulated middle course between two approaches to Biblical history.

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7 customers mention "Information value"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and interesting. It provides the latest research on ancient Israel and is a great tool for Bible students. Readers describe it as a balanced, constructive treatment of subjects like pre-history that digs deeply into them. The book offers different perspectives but avoids skepticism.

"...the rest of the book to be a thoroughly balanced and constructive treatment of subjects such as pre-history and patriarchal times (Bill Arnold), the..." Read more

"...Well written, offers different perspectives but avoids skepticism, which plagues current historiography of early Israel...." Read more

"...An interesting perspective worth reading by all those with an interest in ancient Israel...." Read more

"Excellent book. Can't say too much as I have a ton of reading. Reasonable, balanced, and thoughtful." Read more

5 customers mention "Writing quality"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book. They find the essays well-written, combining archeological and written sources to support the biblical view. The book steers a well-articulated middle course between two approaches to Biblical history. It provides great writing on the history of Israel without being overly technical.

"This book steers a well-articulated middle course between the two approaches to Biblical history...." Read more

"...He nicely merged the archeological and written soruces drawing conclusions supportive for the biblical view of David's and Solomon's kingdom." Read more

"An excellent set of essays which methodically assemble the ancient near eastern texts and other evidence with the biblical data to describe the..." Read more

"Great writing on the history of Israel, technical, but not overly..." Read more

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G. Thomas Hobson
The way that history ought to be done!
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2014
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This book steers a well-articulated middle course between the two approaches to Biblical history. It avoids the dogmatic approach of critics who automatically pronounce the Bible guilty of error until proven innocent, yet even its most conservative contributors do a thorough job identifying unresolved issues. It provides the very latest in discoveries and scholarship (right up through 2013). The most significant omission is any reference whatever to Esther or its contents, which stands in stark contrast to the rest of the OT material (it also fails to investigate the historicity of Daniel, apart from the parts that are self-identified as prophecy). If I remove Daniel Bodi’s treatment of David as a deliberate schemer and usurper in his chapter on Saul, I find the rest of the book to be a thoroughly balanced and constructive treatment of subjects such as pre-history and patriarchal times (Bill Arnold), the Exodus (James Hoffmeier), Joshua (Lawson Stone), Judges (Robert Miller), the United Monarchy (Steven Ortiz), the ninth century (Kyle Greenwood), the eighth century (Sandra Richter), and the seventh century (Brad Kelle), just to name a few. To compare value for the dollar, this volume was worth more than three days at SBL.

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25 people found this helpful

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Falcon7
Great book.
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2016
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It is very informative about the current state of research on ancient Israel. Well written, offers different perspectives but avoids skepticism, which plagues current historiography of early Israel. I particularly enjoyed the part by Steven Ortiz on the united monarchy. He nicely merged the archeological and written soruces drawing conclusions supportive for the biblical view of David's and Solomon's kingdom.

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3 people found this helpful

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Aran Joseph Canes
Different Methodologies Yield Radically Different Conclusions
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2020
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There is no agreement on the proper methodology for researching ancient Israel. Some scholars place their emphasis on archaeological finds. Only those parts of the Bible that agree with archaeology are considered legitimate. Because of the sparsity of data regarding Israel before the ninth century B.C., these scholars regard the parts of the Bible describing these times as largely legendary.

The scholars of this text take a different tack. They begin by relating the biblical story, look for analogous texts from surrounding peoples and only express disagreement with the Bible when archaeological finds actually disprove it.

An example is the story of the Exodus. It is well known that there is no explicit reference to the Israelites dwelling in Egypt in Egyptian sources. But the authors point out that it is documented that tribes would migrate to the Nile delta during times of famine in the wider Near East. For this and other reasons, they find the Biblical account consonant with the data.

Similarly, the conquest of the Promised Land is not well supported by archaeological evidence. But the authors’ argue that early post exilic Israeli civilization closely resembled that of the Cannanites. Thus, a close reading of the Bible and the archaeological record again allow for a roughly consonant picture.

It is remarkable that the archaeological evidence fits well with Biblical history after the ninth century B.C. while it does not in the preceding period. This is left largely unexplained in this text.

But overall the book makes a plausible case for much of the Bible’s history. Essentially, if you make the archaeological finds the gold standard then, with little to go preceding the ninth century, one can come up with a variety of possible theories. However, If one begins with the Bible, the paucity of early archaeological data enables scholars to believe in its historical veracity.

An interesting perspective worth reading by all those with an interest in ancient Israel. As one of the roots of Western civilization and the root of the great Monotheistic religions the story of the Hebrews deserves a place in every intellectual’s library.

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7 people found this helpful

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Yvonne D. Henry
however from browsing through the book I can see a lot of useful information.
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2015
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This book is one of two textbooks used in my Introduction to OT class. We are only in our second week of classes, however from browsing through the book I can see a lot of useful information.

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2 people found this helpful

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Paul Kissling
State of the art essays on the Bible as history.
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2015
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An excellent set of essays which methodically assemble the ancient near eastern texts and other evidence with the biblical data to describe the historical situations which the Hebrew Bible describes.

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Andrew
Great writing on the history of Israel, technical, but not overly
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2018
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Excellent book. Can't say too much as I have a ton of reading. Reasonable, balanced, and thoughtful.

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Telebiopic
Advanced yet accessible!
Reviewed in Canada on April 15, 2021
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This is a reference book which is interesting enough and can be read cover to cover like a regular novel. It touches upon a lot of recent bible scholarships and academically refutes many liberal viewpoints on the sanctity of the historical narrative. It is edited very well, the curation of essays is great and the language generally is accessible even to the laity. I wish it was hardcover, for the premium-ish price I purchased it for, given that it is clearly a reference book and needs to sit on my book shelf for years.

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jart voortman
A good introduction in facts and arguments
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2015
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This is a brief defence of the historicity of the Old Testament with a realistic acknowledgement of certain problems.
A good introduction in facts and arguments written by experts and a counterbalance towards writers like Finkelstein, Thompson, Lemche and others.

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Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

5.0 out of 5 stars The way that history ought to be done!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Different Methodologies Yield Radically Different Conclusions

5.0 out of 5 stars however from browsing through the book I can see a lot of useful information.

5.0 out of 5 stars State of the art essays on the Bible as history.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great writing on the history of Israel, technical, but not overly

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Advanced yet accessible!

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction in facts and arguments

The way that history ought to be done!

Great book.

Different Methodologies Yield Radically Different Conclusions

however from browsing through the book I can see a lot of useful information.

State of the art essays on the Bible as history.

Great writing on the history of Israel, technical, but not overly

Advanced yet accessible!

A good introduction in facts and arguments