14a - Long, long ago

IT is helpful to differentiate between those books which survey the history of Israel as recorded in the Bible and those which fill in the gaps, whether between the Testaments or during the time of the epistles, when the emphasis changed from national to ecclesial affairs. Bear in mind that the Old Testament covers a much longer time period, with far more interaction from other nations, for good or ill, and that New Testament events were dominated by the Romans, whose control extended to all surrounding nations as well.

Bible history as a whole

Mention has already been made of Alfred Edersheim’s monumental work, Old Testament Bible History which comprises a retracing of the Biblical account. As mentioned, it was first published in seven volumes, but it also appeared in four volumes, then two volumes, before appearing in its present single volume format (1982, Eerdmans). This is well worth acquiring, as are all Edersheim’s works, but it is a product of its time; his emphasis is much more Biblical than historical. This is now obtainable electronically from several software providers, like Biblesoft, Libronix and Ages software (the latter being by far the cheapest package, but not as well integrated into other Bible reference works).

A. P. Stanley’s Lectures on the Jewish Church is of similar vintage, but these two volumes are less concentrated and expositional: they were given as lectures.

In addition to the two works by F. F. Bruce already mentioned, there are several other one-volume works which cover the same ground. John Bright’s A History of Israel is regarded as a standard work in this area (originally 1960, now in its fourth revision, SCM Press). It covers the period up to the New Testament, is readable and wide-ranging, but the writer can take a somewhat critical view of Bible events. For example, he thinks the Exodus occurred in the thirteenth century, holding that the 1 Kings 6:1 chronology “has now been rather generally abandoned”, and secular history can tend to be his preference whenever there is an apparent choice. But he is fair-minded and balanced in his general approach.

Leon Wood in A Survey of Israel’s History (1970, Zondervan) takes a much more conservative approach for the same periods of time. This is scholarly and well researched and is matched by Eugene Merrill’s Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel (1987, Baker). Merrill’s book upholds the conservative, or fundamentalist, viewpoint and critiques the views held by authors like Noth or Bright before offering a solution that upholds the Bible text.

Walter C. Kaiser Jnr., in A History of Israel: from the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars appears to be covering the entire span of Biblical history but only gets up to the arrival of the Romans (the Jewish Wars referred to in the title are those against the Seleucids, and they get only brief coverage – 16 out of 540 pages). But this book takes a conservative approach and is very readable. Martin Noth in The History of Israel (1958, A&C Black, and subsequently SCM Press) does indeed cover the entire historical span, but takes a text-critical view. He does not, for example, believe in the Exodus as an event, but merely as a tradition developed by nomadic tribes.

Filling in the gaps: Old Testament to New Testament

Whilst these books give good coverage of Old Testament happenings, they are all fairly lightweight with regard to the Inter-Testamental period and the Roman occupation. There are several short works that cover this period well, all of which are available second-hand from time to time.

Inter-testamental

William Fairweather From the Exile to the Advent (1894, T&T Clark) is in textbook style; clear and concise and he sticks to the history. Norman Snaith The Jews from Cyrus to Herod (1949, Religious Education Press) covers the same ground but also traces the impact of Hellenism on Jewish thought. C. F. Pfeiffer Between the Testaments (1959, P&I) does much the same, while R. H. Charles Between the Old & New Testaments and D. S. Russell Between the Testaments (1960, SCM) concentrate almost entirely on the way that the regime changes affected Judaism, and their religious views (both Charles and Russell are specialists on apocalyptic literature).

Roman history

A vast number of books have been written about Roman history and you can take your pick. Find an author whose style appeals to you and who writes in an interesting way, like Professor Michael Grant. His History of Rome (1978, Faber & Faber) covers the entire period of Roman dominance, but he has also looked in more detail at The Jews in the Roman World (1973), The Climax of Rome (1968) and The Fall of the Roman Empire: A Reappraisal (1976). Grant wrote more than 50 books about the ancient world, including about Hellenistic times, From Alexander to Cleopatra (1982) and biographies, including Herod the Great (1971).

Any mention of the fall of the Roman Empire reminds readers of Edward Gibbon’s multi-volume work The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which is now available in one-volume condensed form, in illustrated format, and electronically. This can now be found on the On-Line Bible, Libronix, and in many other electronic formats, including online.

Specialist works

These books by Grant and Gibbon are in-depth studies of a particular period (in this case Roman history), and it is possible to dig deep into any area that particularly interests you. Georges Roux wrote Ancient Iraq (1980, Penguin), for example, and Edwin Yamauchi Persia and the Bible (1990, Baker). There are volumes written about ancient Egypt, some of them very readable and lavishly illustrated. John Romer is an archaeologist with a flair for communication and his books, like People of the Nile (1982, Penguin) are attractive; and there are plenty of others, like Barbara Mertz, Temples, Tombs and Hieroglyphs (1999, Brockhampton). If you want a definitive statement of the conventional understanding of Egyptian History, Ian Shaw has written The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000, OUP). And if you want to relate Egyptian history to Israel’s emergence as a people, try J. K. Hoffmeier’s Israel in Egypt (1996, OUP).

Most of these books are not about Bible history per se; they are studies of secular history, but they read across to Bible times, if you can bridge between the different chronologies. The Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen offers some useful guidance in his book On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003, Eerdmans), where he offers key datum points between the nations around and Biblical happenings. Jack Finegan’s Handbook of Biblical Chronology (1998, Revised, Hendrickson) offers some alternative cross checks (e.g. for both a 1250 and 1446 BC Exodus). The chronology of the Kings of Israel and Judah is notoriously tricky to sort out: one widely accepted scheme is that outlined by Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings (1985, Revised, Zondervan). There are critics of his work, and alternatives, especially now that Bishop Usher’s chronology is coming back into favour in some quarters. See, for example, The Chronology of the Old Testament by Floyd Nolen Jones (2005, Revised, Master Books).

Original documents

If you feel confident enough to undertake some examination of the original documents from Bible times, they too are readily available, and it is always useful to check up on what specialists are saying when you can. The standard work for the Old Testament (usually abbreviated as ANET), edited by J. B. Pritchard, is The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, available in various formats. Some key documents have been collected by D. W. Thomas, Documents from Old Testament Times (1958, Nelson) and if you want more detailed insights, for example, about The Amarna Letters, the whole collection has been translated and edited by W. L. Moran (1992, John Hopkins), and these are also available electronically from Libronix. The same thing has been done for post-New Testament times, in A New Eusebius, edited by J. Stevenson.

But why stop there? The Works of Flavius Josephus, translated by W. Whiston, take you right back to first century times and mention has already been made of the Dead Sea Scrolls material (see the appendix to Article 10), which can now be read in an English translation. The writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, The Histories are available in the Penguin Classics series, and so are many other ancient writings, if you have the time or inclination to read them, as opposed to authors who are using that data to explain ancient events or circumstances.

Alternative explanations

As a community we have often been mistrustful of standard works and have an inbuilt preference for people who suggest alternative schemes, especially if they are said to support scripture. Immanuel Velikovsky was once widely read because of his suggestion in Ages in Chaos (1973) that the traditional alignment between Bible and secular history was out by some 400 years. According to his scheme of things, the Amarna Letters, for example, were written in Egypt during the time King Jehoshaphat reigned in Jerusalem, not at the time of the Conquest or the early Judges (Amenophis III to Tutankhamun). That displacement needs to be reconciled at some time, however. As the first book only considered the period of the Exodus up to King Akhnaton, another three books followed, adjusting historical alignments even further – Oedipus and Akhnaton (1960); Peoples of the Sea (1977) and Rameses II and his Time (1978).

That detail about Velikovsky is included as a reminder that more recently David Rohl has tried another scheme of historical reconciliation, this time adjusting history in a different direction. According to his alignment, the Amarna Letters would have been written during the time of the early kingdom of Israel (he thinks that King Saul features in one of them). He too has written several books to outline his theory, including The Test of Time (1995), and so have others of a like mind, including Peter James, Centuries of Darkness (1991) and John Bimson, Redating the Exodus and the Conquest (1978). You can get plenty of evaluations of this alternative chronology, for and against, on the web. Decide for yourself if they help or hinder; I think that such attempted chronological adjustments confuse more than they enlighten.

A book to read!

You may have concluded that history books about Bible times, in Israel or elsewhere, are more for research than for enjoyment, but it need not be so. Some authors have the knack of writing about history in a fascinating way and these are books well worth looking out for when browsing in a bookshop, or when you get a personal recommendation. Tom Peters has written a book about Persia, Persian Fire (2005) and another about the Roman Republic (from 49 BC) called Rubicon (2005). Neil Faulkner has written a graphic account of the build-up to AD 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem, called Apocalypse: The Great Jewish Revolt Against Rome (2004). And Michael Wood wrote In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (1997) as a follow-up to his documentary BBC-TV series. Books like this really make history accessible, even if it wasn’t your favourite subject in school!

Atlases and graphics

Instead of thinking that a bit of in-depth exploration might be interesting, you may however be thinking, “How about just an overview, in just a few pages, or even in a few pictures!” Mention has already been made (in the appendix to article 9) of Atlases of World History, and there are specialist historical atlases too. Penguin published a two-volume Atlas of World History (1964) and atlases of Ancient History and Medieval History (1967), both edited by Colin McEvedy. These show graphically the way that history changed political boundaries and national configurations, and have a short accompanying commentary. Michael Grant has also produced an Ancient History Atlas.

Graphics can also be used effectively to depict specific Bible events, like Battles of the Bible by Chaim Hertzog and Mordechai Gichon (1978), and these can be of great help when preparing an illustrated talk. Charts and maps are also available electronically in such packages as Nelson’s Complete Book of Maps and Charts, which is available from Libronix. These are however in greyscale, not colour, but there are many fully illustrated books available, like The Lion Atlas of Bible History (2006) by Paul Lawrence, that may become available electronically in due course.

World history

When looking at Bible prophecy, it can be useful to get an overview of how things developed over hundreds of years, in the Middle East and elsewhere. H. G. Wells wrote A Short History of the World (1965, Penguin) to provide just that, though not with Bible prophecy in mind! More recently, J. M. Roberts has written a widely acclaimed History of the World (1976 and revised). At 952 pages it can hardly be called a short history, but it is very informative if you like that sort of thing!

As ever, your own recommendations and suggestions will be welcome.