A History of Ancient Israel and Judah

by John H. Hayes, James Maxwell Miller

This classic textbook, widely used for over two decades, constructs a history of ancient Israel and Judah through a thorough investigation of epigraphical, archaeological, and biblical sources. Approaching biblical history as history , Miller and Hayes examine the political and economic factors that give context to the Israelite monarchy's actions and the biblical writers' accounts. Now updated with the latest research and critical discoveries, including the Tel Dan Inscription, and considering the lively debate surrounding the reliability of biblical accounts, Miller and Hayes's judicious and even-handed portrayal gives detailed attention to the nature, strengths, and limitations of various forms of evidence for understanding Israel's origins and early history. The new edition also includes thirty-four new maps, helpful notes, and numerous charts and photographs.

Genres: History, Biblical Studies, Ancient History, Nonfiction, Judaism, Old Testament, Christianity

584 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1986

Reviews

[Koen Crolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a theologian (a university professor, not the American kind) and also served, I now realise, as much of the basis for the part of a History of the ANE class I took a few years ago dealing with Israel and Judah, which was also taught by a theologian. I can understand why it's popular with theologians but also completely off the radar of, say, any Assyriologist I know: it's effectively a euhemerist take on what the authors keep calling "the Genesis-2 Kings history" that assumes that everything that's written there must have some connection—literal or otherwise—to historical fact in the period it's talking about unless there's some overwhelming reason to believe otherwise, down to the smallest details of tribal arrangements and territorial apportionments. For the Assyrian and Babylonian periods Akkadian material is marshalled only to support the biblical narrative, with inescapable contradictions seemingly pointed out only so the authors can convince themselves that they're walking an enlightened middle path between biblical literalism and "extreme skepticism", and otherwise extra-biblical material barely features; when it does show up, it's often treated with a level of disdain, as if it's mere trivia the authors can't be bothered to fact-check.
So for the most part the book ends up being a walkthrough of and literary commentary on, mainly, Samuel and Kings, with Ezra-Nehemiah taking over very briefly for the Persian period at the end (with bit parts from Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Herodotus (!)), and in that respect it's often engaging and even interesting; for that reason, and because the per-section mini-bibliographies are pretty usable, I'm still giving it three stars. It cannot reasonably be described as a history of ancient Israel and Judah.

[Wendelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is a ponderous, prodigious scholarly text that examines the chronological history of Israel and Judah from its beginnings in the Iron Age, through the Davidic dynasty, the Omride and Jehudic dynasties, the Assyrian conquest, until the Neo-Babylonian Conquest under Cyrus. If one is approaching this subject from an interest in Middle Eastern archaeology and antiquity, the text's incorporation and explanations of the various peoples and empires that influenced and interacted with Israel, in an attempt to place Israel's history within the local contexts, will leave one satisfied. If one is approaching from an interest in biblical rectitude, the book's balanced writing philosophy of starting from the traditional approach, of using biblical chronological list of kings, then revising or evaluating the history according to the proof or lack thereof from archaeology, epigraphy, r chronology will leave one satisfied. I learned a lot about both the area and the kings from this book, in particular, how the House of David (and Solomon) were aggressively built up by the biblical writers into visions of majesty and munificence, from foundations of mediocrity (in terms of achievements) and terribleness(in terms of using fellow Israelites as forced labor), in order to fit a narrative of legend for the makers of the Jerusalem Temple and founders of the Royal Zionic cult.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A readable and comprehensive history of both the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and the 'United Monarchy' under Saul, David and Solomon, based on Biblical, epigraphic and archaeological sources. The authors, both professors at Emory U., are careful not to go beyond the proven, and where there are conflicts, anachronisms or problems with the source material, they point them out. The latest theories and trends in Biblical Archaeology are brought into play, even though Miller and Hayes occasionally disagree with the conclusions, the reader is made aware of the possibilities. Israel and Judah (given that there is very little actual evidence for the Kingdom of Saul, or the huge Davidic empire as described in the Bible) were the Jews' first experiment in independent national life and, given that the ancient Fertile Crescent was a very rough neighborhood, we didn't do so badly, all things considered. If you have an interest in the history of the Land of Israel in the Iron Age, this book is a fine place to begin, or even to continue.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the preface of this book it is laid out that this book "continues to serve classrooms and to attract readers from the general public" and the latter is where I am coming from. With more than 6 decades of life behind me and a lifetime of curiosity about the role of religion in the human mind I decided to tackle the foundational aspects of how the god of the Jews became the god of most. I do have some previous years' reading about the New Testament (mostly by Bart D. Erhman) but I wanted to know what was going on in the ancient world alongside the development of what we now call Judaism. In order to truly understand the Bible, you need to read history. Beliefs don't develop in a vacuum and to understand something as vast as the major monotheistic religions, I knew I wanted to find something of the beginnings.

This book's main focus is the Iron Age, from 1200 BCE to 330 BCE. A history of ancient Israel and Judah is by default a history of Judaism. Since I am not a biblical student and don't have much before me other than reading The Invention of God by Thomas Römer, I had to really pay close attention and found my mind rattling around to earlier school days and church and synagogue days of hearing about many of the names, places and empires. I found it helpful to google various maps of the ancient world as well as copying and printing off some of the maps provided in the textbook.

This book will work you through the various books of the Old Testament Bible with a heavy concentration on the Book of Kings. Make sure to get the latest edition as new discoveries add to the knowledge. I read the 2006 2nd edition. It is a textbook, so understand that. Considering it is a textbook however, I would say it was not an unenjoyable experience to read. I give credit to the authors as they would tell you about an issue, tell you if it was in dispute, tell you what other scholars had to say and whether they agreed, disagreed or found themselves somewhere in the middle of a debate. Many of the footnotes had their own interesting things to say.

If you want to brush up on ancient world history then I highly recommend this book. And did I learn a lot about the ancient Jewish peoples? YES! Who the Jews were is a very personal subject for me. It has most certainly sent me down many roads of thought, has given me a lot of information to digest. But more than anything I was amazed about how incredibly violent the Bible itself is, and also just how incredibly violent the people of the era were - ancient peoples needed their gods for protection. I also read many things that sound just like people, religion and politics today. There were so many gods of neighboring areas, so much to fear from a day to day existence. Gods spoke through thunder and burning bushes. Conquering empires implored their own gods for help in winning battles. In the Israel and Judah of ancient times, Yahweh was their own personal war god. He was violent and vengeful. If the ancients Jews fought off an enemy, Yahweh was the reason. If something horrible happened to the them, Yahweh was teaching them a lesson. This god is the direct line to what became the world's largest religion. You can't have the New Testament without the Old Testament. It's an education and one that I would recommend for anyone. As I am a non-believer this book created no problems for me but I could see how it might truly challenge someone who is devout. Faith is faith, fact is fact and historical scholarship is desperately needed. We are free to process the knowledge and still keep one's faith, and this book is not here to destroy one's beliefs. But its relevance to our world today is beyond questioning.

[Roger Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive look at ancient Israel and Judean history - as a history not a religious book.

The book is very academic and difficult to read, but does what its supposed to do - a history of the area.

The review of the historical documentation outside of the Bible is important to understanding what the ancient Middle East actually was and not the concepts mis-interpreted by religious leaders. Specifically, the review of Egyptian (Tel Dan Stele), Babylonian Records, and others add perspective to a narrow, wishful history of Religious Leaders who don't use a historical methodology.

[J]

Incredibly dense and largely credulous towards the Biblical material. The authors -- who admit much of their analysis is speculative -- should perhaps have spent more time speculating on things like 1) the writing of the Torah 2) the origins of monotheism 3) the social structure of the kingdoms 4) the functions of the priesthood.

I suppose a good reference if you're looking for historical commentary on the Deuteronomical history, but otherwise a bit of a chore.

[Hazel Rainfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. I found it valuable to pair along with several other books covering the same subject. The reason this is required is because of the bias each different author lends to their work when presenting history. Even when trying to not have a bias, everyone has one; it is unavoidable.

[Anthony Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive analysis of Ancient Israel. It compares and collates, biblical, epigraphical and archaeological evidence in order to present an accurate historical perspective of ancient Israel. Overall it is an interesting read.

[Ravanagh Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is almost no archaeological evidence that is identifiably Israelite in the Levant, so the book focusses almost exclusively on the Bible.

But it does highlight the contradictions and embellishments of the long-after-the-fact compilers of the Books of History, calls them what they are, disentangles them, suggests what the scribes intended to achieve, indicates what kernel of truth may lurk behind the ancestral memory they represent and … well, generally renders the whole Hebrew Bible highly historically suspect.

It occurred to me, reading it, that Yahweh was the original God of War in the prehistoric Israelite polytheistic pantheon; but that, since the Jews aim at general take-over, he gained supremacy and came to be worshipped solely, at the expense of Baal — fertility and the seasons — and El — Supreme God/Father of the Gods (Isra-El: “God has given” ie. Canaan (etc.) to the Jews.) Miller and Hayes come close to making this point, but stop short.

Then there is the almost given fact, as I see it, that the Jews were the first to discover that there is only one God and have almost certainly purloined him for their own purposes, planted their flag on him, sucked gullible dupes and useful idiots into consent to their plan …

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe if I was more of a Biblical scholar...or a scholar at all, I would have enjoyed this book more. The fact that I am not made the chapters relating biblical events to the archeology of the region too long and detailed for my taste.

[Sharkcrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great into to the area of study. The first chapter is a bit dense, but on the whole the book is easy to read and understand. Also good for dipping in and out for topics of interest.