In Search of "Ancient Israel": A Study in Biblical OriginsThe appearance in 1992 of 'In Search of Ancient Israel' generated a still raging controversy about the historical reality of what biblical scholars call 'Ancient Israel'. But its argument not only takes in the problematic relationship between Iron Age Palestinian archaeology and the biblical 'Israel' but also outlines the processes that created the literature of the Hebrew bible-the ideological matrix, the scribal milieu, and the cultural adoption of a national literary archive as religious scripture as part of the process of creating 'Judaisms'. While challenging the whole spectrum of scholarly consensus about the origins of 'Israel' and its scriptures, it is written more in the style of a textbook for students than a monograph for scholars because, its author believes, it offers an agenda for the next generation of biblical scholars. 'In this reader-friendly polemic, Davies brilliantly addresses an essential issue and at numerous points represents a vanguard in biblical studies' (Robert B. Coote, Interpretation). 'A rich mine of provocative quotations, will provoke considerable opposition and debate, and deserves to be read and reflected on by all biblical scholars' (Keith Whitelam, SOTS Book List). |
Contents
Preface to Second Edition | 7 |
Acknowledgements | 8 |
Abbreviations | 10 |
Chapter 1 Preliminaries | 11 |
Chapter 2 Searching for Ancient Israel | 21 |
Chapter 3 Defining the Biblical Israel | 47 |
Chapter 4 A Search for Historical Israel | 57 |
Chapter 5 The Social Context of the Biblical Israel | 72 |
Chapter 6 Who Wrote the Biblical Literature and Where? | 90 |
Chapter 7 How Was the Biblical Literature Written and Why? | 108 |
Chapter 8 From Literature to Scripture | 128 |
Chapter 9 The Emergence of Israel | 149 |
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Common terms and phrases
Achaemenid ancient Israel ancient Near East archaeological archive argument Assyrian authors Babylonian Ben Sira Bible biblical Israel biblical literature biblical period biblical scholars biblical scholarship biblical story books of Ezra Canaanites canon century BCE chapter claim context creation criticism cult cultic culture David defined deity deportation Deuteronomy distinction Egypt Enoch entity ethnic evidence exile existence Ezekiel Ezra and Nehemiah groups Hasmonaeans Hebrew historian historical Israel history of Israel ideological immigrants implies inscription Iron Age Iron Age Palestine Isaiah Israelite Jeremiah Jerusalem Jewish JSOT Press Judaean Judaism king kingdom kingdom of Israel land later literary construct literary Israel Maccabees monarchic Moses name Israel narrative non-biblical Old Testament origin Palestinian Pentateuch perhaps Persian period political population priestly prophets Psalms Qumran reference religion religious Samaria scholarly scribal school scribes scripture scrolls Second Temple Sheffield Sira social society term theological tion traditions writings written Yahweh Yahwistic Yehud Yhwh