Ancient Orient and Old Testament

by Kenneth A. Kitchen

During the last hundred years considerable growth has taken place both in Ancient Near Eastern research and in the study of the Old Testament. But despite the fact that geographically, historically, and culturally the Ancient Near East is the world of the Old Testament and the Old Testament is a vital part of Ancient Near Eastern literature, these two branches of study and research have developed almost entirely independently. In this book K. A. Kitchen, Lecturer in the School of Oriental Studies at Liverpool University, shows the immense value of allowing Near Eastern studies to shed light on some of the historical problems of the Old Testament.

The vital factor which emerges from such comparative study is that, if the principles found valid in dealing with other literature are applied to the Old Testament, the results agree with the structure of the Old Testament as it stands rather than with its reconstruction at the hands of nineteenth-century scholars and their successors down to the present day. To illustrate his thesis Mr. Kitchen takes some specific problems of current Old Testament scholarship, such as the chronology of the patriarchal age, the exodus and the Israelite invasion of Canaan.

Such studies could revolutionize the outlook of much modern biblical scholarship. The book is well documented and will be welcomed not only for the light it throws on various difficult Old Testament problems but also for its frank and forthright discussion of current critical theories.

Genres: Biblical Studies, History, Archaeology, Christian, Theology, Old Testament

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Kenneth Anderson Kitchen was a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, England. He specialised in the ancient Egyptian Ramesside Period (i.e., Dynasties 19-20), and the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt, as well as ancient Egyptian chronology, having written over 250 books and journal articles on these and other subjects since the mid-1950s. He has been described by The Times as "the very architect of Egyptian chronology".

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN EARLIER WORK BY A FAMOUS OLD TESTAMENT SCHOLAR

Kenneth A. Kitchen (born 1932) is an expert on Biblical History and the Egyptian Third Intermediate Period, who currently teaches/researches at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, at the University of Liverpool, England.

In this 1966 book (see his The Bible in Its World: The Bible and Archaeology Today and On the Reliability of the Old Testament) for more recent treatments), he states in the Preface, "The following pages are intended to give some idea of the kind of contribution that Ancient Near Eastern studies can make to the study of the Old Testament, and towards a critical reassessment of problems and methods in the Old Testament field."

He criticizes the JEPD documentary hypothesis on the grounds that "even the most ardent advocate of the documentary theory must admit that we have as yet no single scrap of external, objective (i.e., tangible) evidence for either the existence or the history of 'J', 'E', or any other alleged source-document.... It is the lack of really early manuscript-attestation which has permitted so much uncontrolled (because unverifiable) theorizing in Old Testament studies."

He adds, "nowhere in the Ancient Orient is there anything which is definitely known to parallel the elaborate history of fragmentary composition and conflation of Hebrew literature (or marked by just such criteria) as the documentary hypothesis would postulate."

He concludes on the note, "If some of the results reached here approximate to a traditional view or seem to agree with theological orthodoxy, then this is simply because the tradition in question or that orthodoxy are that much closer to the real facts than is commonly realized. While one must indeed never prefer mere orthodoxy to truth, it is also perverse to deny that orthodox views can be true."

[Scott Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful little book! Concise and is a nice corrective to many of the liberal theories on the Old Testament. Cannot wait to read his larger book on the Reliability of the Old Testament.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very solid survey of how studies of the ANE complement our understanding of the OT, as well as show the great weaknesses of the Documentary Hypothesis. Packs a punch in a short space.

[Jimmie L.]

Wonderful book to explore background material for understanding the Old Testament. K. A. Kitchen's approach is a refreshing look at the subject from a conservation viewpoint. While he appreciates the work done by critical scholars, he himself has a few criticisms of the learned masters.