Lester L. Grabbe

I'm interested in critical histories of ancient Israel and this book seemed to fit the bill. But note, from the preface:

"This book is ... not a history of Israel but the preparation--the prolegomena--for such a history. It is aimed initially at scholars, with the intent of contributing to the current debate. By laying out as clearly as possible the main primary sources and drawing attention to the areas of debate and the arguments being advanced, I hope to give a snapshot of the field at the present time."

Be aware of that going in. If you're not already very familiar with the narrative of Israel given in the Hebrew Bible you'll get very little out of this book; if you're not already somewhat familiar with modern historical and archaeological findings and conclusions about ancient Israel you'll be lost quickly here.

Though conversant with this type of material, I often found myself struggling over mentions of "lower chronology", the "Iron Age IIC" period, the names of various scholars whose theories are frequently referenced, and various other technical terms left unexplained. Adding some brief introductory and explanatory comments would have gone a long way to making this book much more accessible to a lay audience. It comes across throughout as a book intended for graduate students wanting an overview of the subject.

There are no maps and only one chart that is not particularly helpful. More of both would have been extremely helpful.

This book is, however, very interesting. It discusses problems with the Biblical narrative, such as the lack of evidence for an actual state of the sort David was said to have ruled during the time he would have lived and the anachronistic insertion of the Philistines into Israel's history before they were actually settled in coastal Palestine. Evidence from artifacts, writings, inscriptions, and monuments are discussed along with various interpretations of the data. One gets a much better understanding of Israel's position vis-a-vis the great empires of its time (Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon) from this book, which covers up to the period of the Babylonian exile.

Not recommended for anyone who hasn't already been introduced to critical scholarship regarding ancient Israel as it is a bit more opaque to the nonspecialist than it needs to be. Would have benefited from a longer introduction and conclusion.… (mehr)