History, Archaeology and the Bible Forty Years after ’Historicity’: Changing Perspectives 6

247 Pages·2016·1.41 MB·English

by  Ingrid Hjelm

HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY
AND THE BIBLE FORTY YEARS
AFTER “HISTORICITY”
In History, Archaeology and the Bible Forty Years after “Historicity”, Hjelm and
Thompson argue that a ‘crisis’ broke in the 1970s, when several new studies of biblical
history and archaeology were published, questioning the historical-critical method of bibli-
cal scholarship. The crisis formed the discourse of the Copenhagen School’s challenge of
standing positions, which—together with new achievements in archaeological research—
demand that the regional history of ancient Israel, Judaea and Palestine be reconsidered
in all its detail. This volume examines the major changes that have taken place within the
field of Old Testament studies since the groundbreaking works of Thomas Thompson and
John van Seters in 1974 and 1975 (both republished in 2014). The book is divided in three
sections: changing perspectives in biblical studies, history and cult, and ideology and his-
tory, presenting new articles from some of the field’s best scholars with comprehensive
discussion of historical, archaeological, anthropological, cultural and literary approaches
to the Hebrew Bible and Palestine’s history. The chapters question: “How does biblical
history relate to the archaeological history of Israel and Palestine?” and “Can we view the
history of the region independently of a biblical perspective?” by looking at the problem
from alternative angles and questioning long-held interpretations.
Unafraid to break new ground, History, Archaeology and the Bible Forty Years after
“Historicity” is a vital resource to students in the field of Biblical and East Mediterranean
Studies, and anyone with an interest in the archaeology, history and religious development
in Palestine and the ancient Near East.
Ingrid Hjelm is Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen and Director of the
Palestine History and Heritage Project. She is the author of The Samaritans and Early
Judaism (2000) and Jerusalem’s Rise to Sovereignty (2004) in addition to a considerable
number of articles within the field of Samaritan studies, the history of ancient Israel and the
Hebrew Bible. Her latest book, co-edited with Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme is Myths
of Exile (2015).
Thomas L. Thompson is Professor Emeritus at the University of Copenhagen and
author of some 130 articles and ca. 20 books, including The Historicity of the Patriarchal
Narratives (1974), The Early History of the Israelite People (1992), The Bible in History:
How Writers Create a Past (1999) and Biblical Narrative and Palestine’s History (2013),
currently working as Project Developer on the Palestine History and Heritage Project.
COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR
General Editors: Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
both at the University of Copenhagen
Editors: Niels Peter Lemche and Mogens Müller,
both at the University of Copenhagen
Language Revision Editor: James West at the Quartz
Hill School of Theology
Available:
JAPHETH BEN ALI’S BOOK OF JEREMIAH
Joshua A. Sabih
THE EMERGENCE OF ISRAEL IN ANCIENT
PALESTINE
Emanuel Pfoh
ORIGIN MYTHS AND HOLY PLACES IN
THE OLD TESTAMENT
Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spanò
CHANGING PERSPECTIVES I
John Van Seters
ARGONAUTS OF THE DESERT
Philippe Wajdenbaum
THE EXPRESSION ‘SON OF MAN’ AND
THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTOLOGY
Mogens Müller
BIBLICAL STUDIES AND THE FAILURE
OF HISTORY
Niels Peter Lemche
BIBLICAL NARRATIVE AND PALESTINE’S HISTORY
Thomas L. Thompson
‘IS THIS NOT THE CARPENTER?’
Edited by Thomas L. Thompson and Thomas S. Verenna
THE BIBLE AND HELLENISM
Edited by Thomas L. Thompson and Philippe Wajdenbaum
RETHINKING BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP
Philip R. Davies
REPRESENTING ZION
Frederik Poulsen
MYTHS OF EXILE
Edited by Anne Katrine De Hemmer Gudme and Ingrid Hjelm
REWRITING PETER AS AN INTERTEXTUAL CHARACTER
IN THE CANONICAL GOSPELS
Finn Damgaard
HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE
FORTY YEARS AFTER “HISTORICITY”
Edited by Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION BEYOND HISTORICITY
Edited by Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
Forthcoming:
SYRIA-PALESTINE IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE
Emanuel Pfoh
THE JUDAEO-KARAITE RECEPTION
OF THE HEBREW BIBLE
Joshua A. Sabih
PLATO AND THE CREATION OF THE HEBREW BIBLE
Russel E. Gmirkin

H I S T O R Y ,
A R C H A E O L O G Y
A N D T H E B I B L E
F O R T Y Y E A R S A F T E R
“ H I S T O R I C I T Y ”
Changing Perspectives 6
Edited by Ingrid Hjelm and
Thomas L. Thompson
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and
of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hjelm, Ingrid, editor.
Title: History, archaeology and the Bible forty years after historicity / edited by
Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Changing perspectives ;
6 | Series: Copenhagen international seminar | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015028476| ISBN 9781138889514 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781315690780 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Bible. Old Testament—
History of Biblical events. | Bible. Old Testament—Antiquities. | Palestine—
History—To 70 A.D.
Classification: LCC BS511.3 .H57 2016 | DDC 220.609/04—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015028476
ISBN: 978-1-138-88951-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-69078-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
In memory of a colleague and friend
Frederick H. Cryer
1947–2002

CONTENTS
List of figures xi
Notes on contributors xii
Acknowledgements xv
List of abbreviations xvi
Introduction 1
INGRID HJELM AND THOMAS L. THOMPSON
PART I
Changing perspectives in biblical studies 15
 1 Old and new in Scandinavian interpretation of the
Hebrew Bible 17
DOUGLAS A. KNIGHT
 2 Myth and history: reflections on the relationship between
biblical history and the history of Israel 35
REINHARD G. KRATZ
 3 Out of the wilderness? Some suggestions for the future
of Pentateuchal research 47
THOMAS M. BOLIN
 4 The contemporary debate over linguistic dating of
biblical texts 60
MARTIN EHRENSVÄRD
ix