Ancient Israel’s Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context

303 Pages·2001·51.006 MB·English

by  George E. Mendenhall

Ancient Israel’s Faith and History
Ancient Israel’s Faith and History
An Introduction to the Bible in Context
George E. Mendenhall
Edited by Gary A. Herion
Westminster John Knox Press
LOUISVILLE
LONDON • LEIDEN
D 2001 George E. Mendenhall
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without per­
mission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster
John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396.
Scripture quotations from the New Revised StandardVersion of the Bible are
copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and are used by permission.
Scripture quotations from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible are
copyright © 1946, 1952,1971, and 1973 by the Division of Christian Edu­
cation of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and
are used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked TEV are from the Good News Bible—Old Testa­
ment: Copyright © American Bible Society 1976; New Testament: Copy­
right ©American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976.
Book design by Savitski Design
Composition by Bookcomp, Inc.
Cover design by Mark Abrams
On the cover: Diana of the Ephesians (Greek, Artemis), the chief goddess of
the eastern Mediterranean world in the first century (Acts 19:28). She repre­
sented prosperity, fertility, and productivity—values worshiped then, during
the late Bronze Age, and now.
First edition
Published by Westminster John Knox Press
Louisville. Kentucky
This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National
Standards Institute Z39.48 standard.©
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 — 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library
of Congress. Washington. D.C.
ISBN 0-664-22313-3
Dedicated to the villagers (‘am ha’arets) of Palestine, Jordan,
Syria, and Lebanon, from whom I have learned so much.
Illustrations
Abbreviations
Foreword by Gary A. Herion xiii
Preface xvii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. The World from Abraham to Moses:
Prologue to the Emergence of the Biblical
Tradition 9
Chapter 2. Moses and the Exodus:
The Formative Period of the Biblical Tradition 43
Chapter 3. The Twelve-Tribe Federation:
The Adaptive Period (I)—Yahweh
Becomes King of Israel 73
Chapter 4. King David and the Transition to Monarchy:
The Adaptive Period (II)—The Abdication of
Yahweh 101
Chapter 5. The Legacy of King Solomon:
The Traditional Period (I)—Yahwism versus
Yahwisticism 125
Chapter 6.Josiah Reforms the Imperial Religion:
The Traditional Period (II)—The Troubling
Legacy of the Monarchy 153
Chapter 7. Destruction and Exile:
The Creative Reform of Yahwism 177
Chapter 8. Jesus and the New Testament Reformation:
The Renewal of an Old Faith 203
Afterword 233
Appendixes 237
Glossary 251
Bibliography 2t>5
Indexes 269
Figures 1.1 Syllabic Text from Bronze Age Byblos 16
1.2 Ancient Scribes 18
1.3 Pastoralism 22
1.4 Female Singers 24
1.5 Baal and Asherah 35
2.1 Immigrants from the North 45
12. Merneptah Stela 49
2.3 Egyptian Slaves Making Bricks 51
2.4 Sinai Wilderness 55
3.1 Gezer Calendar 77
3.2 God and King 89
3.3 The Agricultural Village 99
4.1 Ark of the Covenant 104
4.2 Saul at Gibcah 109
4.3 Jerusalem at the Time of David 113
5.1 Tell Tainat Temple 126
5.2 Cherubim 136
5.3 Drawings and Graffiti from Kuntillet Ajrud 139
5.4 Samaria Ivory 142
6.1 Siege of Lachish 159
6.2 Child Sacrifice at Carthage 163
6.3 “Bowing Down" Equals Worship 164
7.1 Assyrian State Terrorism 182
” 2 Neheimah Rebuilds Jerusalem 196
8.1 Isis and Madonna 204
8.2 The Changeless Countryside 209
8.3 Dynamics of Religious Reform 213
8.4 “Firstfruits” Custom in Modern Syria 218
1.1 The Ancient Near East in the Bronze Age 15
3.1 The Israelite Tribes 76
3.2 The Wilderness Wanderings 82
4.1 Solomon’s Empire 122
6.1 Political States in the Iron II Period 154
7.1 Ezekiel’s Vision of the Restored Twelve Tribes 187
8.1 The Spread of Early Christianity 211
1.1 Chronology of the Ancient Near East (Early Bronze Age) 12
1.2 Chronology of the Ancient Near East (Late Bronze Age) 29
2.1 Chronology of Egypt at the End of the Bronze Age 46
4.1 Chronology of the Jerusalem Monarchy 102
5.1 Chronology of the Early Kings and Prophets
of Northern Israel 134
6.1 Chronology of Southern Judah 156
8.1 Chronology of the Postexilic Period 216
ALL M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature. 3 vols.
Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1973.
AL W. L. Moran, The Amarna Letters. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1992.
ANET* J. B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating
to the Old Testament. 3d ed. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1969.
ANEP J. B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near East in Pictures Relat­
ing to the Old Testament. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1954.
ARM Archives royales de Mari
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BAR The Biblical Archaeologist Reader. 3 vols. Garden City,
N.Y.: Doubleday, 1961-70.
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
DocStGos D. R. Cartledge and D. L. Dungan, eds., Documents for
the Study of the Gospeb. Rev. and enl. ed. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1994.
DOTT D. W. Thomas, ed., Documents from Old Testament Times.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958.
EA El Amarna letter
EB Early Bronze Age
IBL Journal of Biblical Literature
IS(JT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
KJV King James Version
LB Late Bronze Age
MB Middle Bronze Age
Melanges DussaudG. Dossin, Melanges syriens offerts a Monsieur Reni Dus­
saud. 2 vols. Paris: P. Guethner, 1939.
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
NT New Testament
OT Old Testament
OTP J. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.
2 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1983.
OTPar V. Matthews and D. Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels.
2d ed. New York: Paulist Press, 1992.
RDSS L. Schiffinan, Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls. Phila­
delphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1994.
RSV Revised Standard Version
SAC M. D. Coogan, ed.. Stories from Ancient Canaan. Phila­
delphia: Westminster Press, 1978.
SEM E. Chiera, Sumerian Epics and Myths. Chicago: Univer­
sity of Chicago Press, 1934.
TEW Today’s English Version
V(V). verse(s)
WD Hesiod, Works and Days. Trans. D.Wender. Harmonds-
worth. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1973.