AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
![]() |
Home |  Store List |  FAQ |  Contact Us |   | ||
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
![]() |
Title: A History of Ancient Israel and Judah by J. Maxwell Miller, John H. Hayes ISBN: 0-664-21262-X Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1986 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: has little to add to the old testament
Comment: This is a great book, very readable and scholarly. There exists one problem though: this book has practically nothing to add to what is written, just as clearly and just as easily accessible, in the old testament.
I read this book seeking to find a modern perspective on the old testament narrative, which would include all the findings of modern archeology and other sciences. What I found is that modern scholarship has precious little to add to what is already set down in the bible because the OT remains, with very few and mostly modest exceptions, our only source for this period. This is not the fault of the authors, of course, who are very noteworthy scholars. A few bits of history are scattered throughout the book which are not obvious from a reading of the bible, but the vast majority is just summary and interpretation (not usually very revealing) of the OT.
It goes without saying that if you are interested in the history of this period and have not read the bible, open the good book to Genesis 1 and start reading.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Nice Introduction to Ancient Israel
Comment: J. Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes' A History of Ancient Israel and Judah provides a solid introduction to the methods and problems of studying the development of the kingdoms that came to be known as Israel and Judah. The book deals with events from the time of Israel's origins (the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages) to the work of Ezra and Nehemiah (the fifth and fourth centuries BCE). On the whole, A History is more cautious with the biblical texts than other histories of ancient Israel, such as John Bright's A History of Israel. Miller and Hayes spend less time offering guesses about the more speculative aspects of Israel's history, such as the patriarchs and exodus, and concentrate their efforts on the later period (tenth to fifth centuries BCE) for which conclusions are more certain. From its beginning, this study is very much set within the geographical, political, economic, and religious context of the ancient Near East and Egypt as a whole. Perhaps the most attractive feature of this work is the inclusion of both photographs and fairly complete translations of extra-biblical documents pertinent to various stages of Israel's history. A History is divided into chronological segments, and the authors proceed by summarizing the biblical texts germane to the time period, critically examining these accounts along with extra-biblical and archaeological evidence, and then drawing conclusions. If the book has a major weakness, it is the absence of either footnotes or endnotes, but the authors provide a sizable topical bibliography at the conclusion of the book, and overall, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah is sound, readable scholarship.
![]() |
Title: A History of Israel by John Bright ISBN: 0664220681 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
![]() |
Title: The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter ISBN: 046500427X Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1983 List Price(USD): $16.50 |
![]() |
Title: The Oxford History of the Biblical World by Michael David Coogan ISBN: 0195139372 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
![]() |
Title: Survey of the Old Testament, A by Andrew E. Hill, John H. Walton ISBN: 0310229030 Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $32.99 |
![]() |
Title: The Archaeology of Ancient Israel by Amnon Ben-Tor ISBN: 0300059191 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1994 List Price(USD): $37.50 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments