History of Ancient Israel

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. M. Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Historical Reliability ◽  
The 19Th Century

The history of ancient Israel is best known to most people from the narratives in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. There, however, the name “Israel” covers a wide diversity of social and political entities over the course of many centuries. The first attestation of the name outside the Bible (on the Egyptian stela of Merneptah, c. 1208 bce) seems to refer at most to some ill-defined tribal federation. It then served for at least two different monarchies and later again as a social or religious title for the people who inhabited the Achaemenid (Persian) province of Yehud. The value of the biblical written records varies considerably with regard to historical content, and this must further be evaluated on the basis of internal literary analysis and in the light of evidence that comes from archaeological research, including in particular from epigraphic sources both from Israel itself and from many near and more distant nations. How to combine these differing forms of evidence has been the topic of lively and sometimes rancorous debate, which varies in its detail from one period to another, often depending on the extent to which external sources are immediately available. Solutions are not always available, but exploration into the nature of these problems and misunderstandings in the application of appropriate methods reveal where the problems lie and, in some cases, what are plausible solutions. Until the 19th century, the history of ancient Israel was, for most people, coterminous with the familiar narrative of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. No relevant external sources were known, and there was no reason to doubt its essential historical reliability, allowance made, of course, for those who could not accept the miraculous as historically factual. Archaeological and epigraphical discoveries over the last two centuries or so, together with the introduction more recently of new and different historical methods, have led to aspects of this topic being fiercely contested in current scholarship. Taking a general familiarity with the outline “story” for granted, the following analysis will present some of the major topics on which new data have become available and on which opinion remains divided.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Michael E. Pregill
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Golden Calf ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The Relationship

This book is a study of the famous—or infamous—narrative of the Israelites’ worship of the Golden Calf, explored through historical and literary analysis of the various interpretations and expansions of the episode across more than a thousand years. The story of the Calf is familiar even to laypeople with very little scriptural literacy; many people know it from the version recounted in the Hebrew Bible (sometimes still termed the “Old Testament”), and perhaps from later Jewish and Christian versions as well. However, while those versions will be discussed at length here, this book focuses in particular on the version found in the Qur’an—which, I will argue, represents an integral part of the biblical tradition, broadly conceived. I will trace the development of understandings of the episode from ancient Israel through the consolidation of classical Judaism and Christianity up to the emergence of Islam, using it as a case study through which to re-evaluate the relationship between Bible and Qur’an. Interrogating both historical and contemporary scholarship on the Qur’an and its connections to the Bible and ancient Jewish and Christian traditions of interpretation provides us with a framework in which to investigate the relationships between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, particularly during the long transitional period now commonly termed Late Antiquity....

Flora and Fauna of the Hebrew Bible

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Joerstad
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Natural World ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Normative Dimension ◽  
Noah's Ark

The flora and fauna of the Hebrew Bible has long fascinated scholars and lay readers alike. From illustrated volumes aimed at children, to the detailed tables and charts of archaeozoology and archaeobotany, the plants and animals of the Bible fascinate because of their many ties to daily life. What did people in ancient Israel eat? How did they garden? What wildflowers and trees grew around their homes? Which animals did they encounter in the desert? Animals and plants also feature centrally in some of the most memorable stories of the Bible: Noah’s ark, Balaam’s ass, Isaiah’s vineyard, Jonah in the belly of the fish, the Song’s lush gardens, God’s menagerie in Job—the list goes on. Because flora and fauna touch on topics historical, archaeological, literary, and symbolic, the study of the Bible’s flora and fauna is by necessity many-pronged. It requires multiple methodologies, as well as attention to a host of topics, including but not limited to law and purity regulations, agriculture and husbandry, metaphor theory, fables and parables, history of domestication, and so on. The recent growth in interest in ecological readings of the Bible has added a new, normative dimension to the study of flora and fauna in the Bible. While many early (and contemporary) studies focus on identification and classification of mentioned species in the Bible, ecological readings instead look at the quality of relationships between humans and their plants and animals, God’s relationship to non-human creatures, as well as relationships among non-human creatures. Scholars in the ecological vein often attempt either to derive ecological guidelines for present-day practice from the text or to critique the text’s lack of attention to responsible human conduct toward the natural world.

Statehood and Jerusalem in Ancient Israel: Myths And Realities

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-253
Author(s):  
H. Eberhard von Waldow
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Jewish History ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Spiritual Community ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Holy City

The Old Testament people of Israel entered the political reality of ancient Palestine as a spiritual community held together by worshipping Yahweh in ‘the God-given land’. When it became a state with a king this spiritual character was threatened or lost. The capital was always the holy city of Jerusalem, as the spiritual—not political—centre o f Yahweh's people, and it survived all political catastrophes, even after the homeland was lost. The people of Israel survived not as a nation but rather as a religious community (Judaism). Only as such can today's Jews legitimately reclaim Eretz Yisrael. Certain claims made by the modern secular Jewish nation-state—for example, that Jerusalem always was and always will be the capital of the Jewish people—are not only problematic, but have no foundation, either in the Bible or in Jewish history: they are fabricated modern myths.

From Areopagus to Corinth (Acts 17:22–31; I Cor 2:1–5) A Study on the Transition from the Power of Knowledge to the Power of the Spirit

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Pathrapankal
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Mission ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
History Of ◽  
Change Of Perspective ◽  
The Church

AbstractHow are we to understand Christian mission in our time? Is it the obedient response to the commission of his disciples by Jesus after his resurrection (Mt 28:18–20)? What should be the motivating power behind the mission of the church? Is it patterned on the conquest expeditions of the people of Israel narrated in the Old Testament? The long history of the mission of the church, especially as organized by the West, would give us such an impression. This approach has more the nature of exercising power over the other, the power of knowledge and the power of self to win over the other. From the time of the Roman Emperor, Constantine, this had been the pattern in the history of the western church. But times have changed and there is a real shift in the understanding of Christian mission in the context of religious pluralism. The Bible itself seems to support and substantiate this change of perspective of understanding mission as the operation of the power of the Spirit of God. Taking two New Testament writings, the Acts of the Apostles and the first Letter to the Corinthians as paradigms, the author tries to see how Paul first of all attempted to preach the gospel in Athens with the eloquence and wisdom of the Greeks and then changed his approach in Corinth to give centrality to the power of the Spirit of God. Although we may not argue for a historical sequence for this change of attitude in the case of Paul, applying new developments in biblical interpretation, we can still propose it as a trans-textual approach with a message for our time. The Word of God has within itself a dynamism to take on new meanings and new horizons of ideas through its encounter with new contexts in a pluralistic world.

The Enduring Value of the Old Testament—An Interesting Quest

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Ronald Clements
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Major Turning Point ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Origin ◽  
Academic Interests

AbstractThe period when the Society for Old Testament Study held its first meeting in 1917 marked a major turning point for the study of the Hebrew Bible. This rested on two factors: first, the preceding half-century had witnessed the slow, and often painful, acceptance in Christian and Jewish circles of a modern 'critical' explanation of the historical origin of its writings. Secondly, the context in which serious study of this literature was undertaken had increasingly moved out from a religious forum into that of a wider secular field of cultural and academic interests. The new methodology aimed to show that the Bible presented a worldview agreeable to modern scientific knowledge. In this setting, older, well-worn hermeneutical strategies were abandoned and replaced with new ones consonant with this aim. Prominent among these was a claim to present a historically verifiable demonstration that the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament possessed an enduring value based on its presentation of ideas of social justice, religious monotheism and universal morality. The claims to this uniqueness, however, rapidly lost credibility when fuller knowledge of the social world of antiquity became better known through archaeological and anthropological research. Such claims could be shown to depend largely on the Bible's own polemic. Nevertheless the idea of enduring value bears welcome comparison with comparable concerns to define what entitles any literary work to be regarded as a classic, and to deserve universal approval. Useful criteria can be set out but fail to command any wholly definitive acceptance. Rather, the best that can be achieved is to note those features and qualities which give to certain writings an intrinsic power to generate a continuity of interest and appeal. The history of the interpretation of the Old Testament shows that it performs well in such a context.

Martin Luther’s Biblical Commentary: New Testament

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik H. Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Commentary ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of Exegesis ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Of

Martin Luther’s exposition of the Bible was not only fundamental to his academic vocation, it also stood at the very center of his reforming work. Through his interpretation of the New Testament, Luther came to new understanding of the gospel, expressed most directly in the apostle Paul’s teaching on justification. Considering the historical complexities of Luther’s own recollections on the matter, it is quite clear that he regarded his time immersed in the writings of Paul as the turning point for his theology and his approach to the entire Scriptures (cf. LW 34:336f). Furthermore, Luther’s interpretation of the New Testament was imbued with such force that it would influence the entire subsequent history of exegesis: colleagues, students, rivals, and opponents all had to reckon with it. However, as a professor, Luther’s exegetical lectures and commentaries were more often concerned with the Old Testament. Most of Luther’s New Testament interpretation is found in his preaching, which, following the lectionary, usually considered a text from one of the Gospels or Epistles. His reforms of worship in Wittenberg also called for weekly serial preaching on Matthew and John for the instruction of the people. From these texts, we have some of the richest sustained reflections on the Gospels in the 16th century. Not only was the substance of his interpretation influential, Luther’s contribution to exegetical method and the hermeneutical problem also opened new possibilities for biblical interpretation that would resonate with both Christian piety and critical, early modern scholarship.

Yahwistic Religion in the Assyrian and Babylonian Periods

2020 ◽  
pp. 240-253
Author(s):  
Richard S. Hess
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Historical Texts ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Biblical Perspective

The question of religious practice in the historical texts of the Bible not only considers what the texts may have intended to portray as the correct religion but also the reality behind the texts: what did the people of ancient Israel actually believe and practice during the ninth, eighth, seventh, and early sixth centuries bce? In considering the major textual, archaeological, iconographic, and onomastic sources for this period, we will argue that ancient Israel practiced a variety of religious expressions that can be plotted on a continuum from the biblical perspective. There were those who practiced religious forms unrelated to biblical orthodoxy, those who saw YHWH as a chief deity governing a pantheon of lesser deities, and those who worshiped YHWH alone. All three categories have biblical and extrabiblical testimony from both the Historical Books of the Old Testament and from the categories of evidence mentioned above. Having made this point, however, it will be argued that the extrabiblical evidence also witnesses divergences from the Historical Books in terms of new categories of religious expression and in terms of an overall evolution in the movement toward worship of YHWH alone.

scholarly journals Slavery, the Hebrew Bible and the Development of Racial Theories in the Nineteenth Century

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 742
Author(s):  
Kevin Burrell
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Origin Stories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Christian Worldview ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Book Of Genesis ◽  
The 19Th Century

Racial ideas which developed in the modern west were forged with reference to a Christian worldview and informed by the Bible, particularly the Old Testament. Up until Darwin’s scientific reframing of the origins debate, European and American race scientists were fundamentally Christian in their orientation. This paper outlines how interpretations of the Hebrew Bible within this Christian Weltanschauung facilitated the development and articulation of racial theories which burgeoned in western intellectual discourse up to and during the 19th century. The book of Genesis was a particular seedbed for identity politics as the origin stories of the Hebrew Bible were plundered in service of articulating a racial hierarchy which justified both the place of Europeans at the pinnacle of divine creation and the denigration, bestialization, and enslavement of Africans as the worst of human filiation. That the racial ethos of the period dictated both the questions exegetes posed and the conclusions they derived from the text demonstrates that biblical interpretation within this climate was never an innocuous pursuit, but rather reflected the values and beliefs current in the social context of the exegete.

scholarly journals Old Testament exegesis: Reflections on methodology

2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alphonso Groenewald
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biblical Texts

The question of methodology remains important in dealing with biblical texts, given the fact that the Hebrew Bible is not an uncomplicated book. Its meaning is embedded in the history of the people who wrote it, read it, passed it on, rewrote it, and read it again. The question addressed in this article is in which manner should exegetes analyze texts? Which methodology should be followed during the exegetical process? What would be the most appropriate method to do justice to the texts of the Hebrew Bible? In both South African and European exegetical arena this debate is still continuing and over the past decades several contributions have kept it alive. The aim of this article is to make a contribution to this ongoing debate. It focuses primarily on Psalms and Pentat-euchal studies. The call is made upon exegetes to pursue a diachronically reflected synchronic reading.

The Portrayal of Islam in Some Early Nigerian Newspapers (1880-1910)

1989 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-328
Author(s):  
Salahudeen Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Religious Conflict ◽  
Intellectual Honesty ◽  
The People ◽  
Late 18Th Century ◽  
The Press ◽  
External Threat ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Impact

The history of Islam in part of what is known today as Nigeria datesto about the loth Century. Christianity dates to the late 18th Century. Bythe middle of the 19th Century, when Nigerian newspapers began to appearon the streets of Nigeria, both religions had won so many followers and extendedto so many places in Nigeria that very few areas were untouched bytheir influence. The impact of both religions on their adherents not only determinedtheir spiritual life, but influenced their social and political lives aswell. It therefore became inevitable that both religions receive coverage frommost of the newspapers of the time. How the newspapers as media of informationand communication reported issues about the two religions is thetheme of this paper.Rationale for the StudyThe purpose of this study is to highlight the context in which such earlynewspapers operated and the factors that dictated their performance. Thisis because it is assumed that when a society faces external threat to its territory,culture, and independence, all hands (the press inclusive) ought tobe on deck to resist the threat with all might. Were newspapers used as verbalartillery and how did they present each religion? It is also assumed thatin a multireligious society a true press should be objective and serve as avanguard in the promotion of the interest of the people in general and notcreate or foster an atmosphere of religious conflict. The study also aims atfinding out whether the papers promoted intellectual honesty and fosteredthe spirit of unity particularly when the society was faced with the encroachmentof the British who posed a threat to their freedom, culture, economy ...

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