A Brief History of Ancient Israel

by Victor H. Matthews

Grounded in the latest archeological developments, Victor Matthews's A Brief History of Ancient Israel presents a concise history of Israel covering the ancestral period, conquest and settlement, the monarchy, and both the exilic and postexilic periods. Using supplemental figures and insets, the author concentrates on providing a cogent and condensed discussion of events. He examines historical geography, archaeological data, and, where relevant, comparative cultural materials from other ancient Near Eastern civilizations. With an accessible yet high-quality introduction, A Brief History of Ancient Israel will be of immense value to both students of the Old Testament and the scholars who teach them.

Genres: History, Biblical Studies

190 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Victor Harold Matthews (PhD, Brandeis University) is dean of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs and professor of religious studies at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. He is the author of numerous books, including Manners and Customs in the Bible, Studying the Ancient Israelites, Old Testament Turning Points, and The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Genesis–Deuteronomy.

Reviews

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, college-level introduction to the topic.

[Matthew Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, concise book outlining the history surrounding the Hebrew Bible. I enjoyed the occasional charts, organizing information and excepts from ancient sources/archeological finds.

[Ethan Preston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very mediocre history of Israel. Often times more of just a list of dates and facts than an actual historical enquiry. The positives were that it at least followed a more conservative reconstruction of events and there is valuable information spread throughout. Matthews is unnecessarily skeptical of the biblical records which at many points comes across as mere pandering to the academic guild. While he had a good discussion at the beginning on historical method and not being to critical or too accepting of sources, this did not seem to be implemented into the text well. Beyond these quibbles with methodology and content, there were multiple typos and actual factual inaccuracies such as wrong dates (as Peter Williams points out in his review for the Gospel Coalition). One at least interesting quality of the text is that it focuses much more on reconstructing the history of Israel using sources from the ANE besides the biblical text. While I don't agree with this as a viable historical approach, it was interesting to see how many other texts can help reconstruct Israel's history. This and the other positives above are the only reason for 3 stars. There are likely much better resources out there for the history of Israel though.

[Brittany Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it very interesting and informative. It was nice to read a book by someone who has done the research and is a professor, instead of listening to someone at a podium who thinks they know the history but has not done the research.

[Deke Moulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceedingly dense with historical data and archeological discoveries, relying on evidence outside of biblical sources. Excellently thorough, but honestly DNFing to turn to the book Unsettled (perhaps not of what I was looking for when I got this book through abe)

[Wes Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

the title pretty much sums this one up

[A.L. Stumo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense reading, but with full citations of where to find more info on each point of history. Good for students of the OT.