Insights from Archaeology Reading the Bible in the 21st Century: Insights

189 Pages·2017·27.06 MB·English

by  David A. Fiensy

INSIGHTS f
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The Insights series presents brief volumes that describe the differ-
ent ways modern scholars approach the Bible, with emphasis on
the practical “pay-off” that a given approach has for students and
teachers of the Bible. Each volume discusses
 how a particular method, approach, or strategy
was first developed and how its application has
changed over time;
 what current questions arise from its use; InsIghts from
 what enduring insights it has produced; and
 what questions remain for future scholarship.
archaeology
Mark allaN Powell, series editor
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s
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g
h
DavID a. fIensy
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INSIGHTS froM arcHaeoloGy s

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davId a. fIeNSy r
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In this volume, David A. Fiensy provides a brief survey of a discipline that was once called “biblical archaeology.” He de- m
scribes how the conception of the field has changed; recounts how key discoveries have opened up new understandings a
of Israel’s own history and religion; discusses how archaeological study has shaped the task of biblical interpretation; r
analyzes specific texts through archaeological perspectives; and provides conclusions, challenges, and considerations for c
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the future of archaeology and biblical interpretation. a
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o
“In a clear and engaging writing style, David A. Fiensy explains the uses and abuses of archaeology with
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examples from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Reading his guided tour of an ancient Israel- o
ite house is almost like taking a time machine back into the Iron Age and living with an Israelite family. This g
y
volume will be required reading for my introductory course in archaeology and the Bible!”
ralPH HawkINS, Averett University
“Insights from Archaeology succeeds in doing what it sets out to do: it explains what archaeology is, what
it is not, and how it can help us better understand the Bible and its world. Fiensy is a great scholar and a
wonderful writer. This concise book is well worth the read.”
craIG a. evaNS, Houston Baptist University
“Fiensy has given us what we want in an introductory volume on archaeology and the Gospels. Not only
does this book belong in institutional libraries, it also should find its way onto the shelves of seminary and
university students and the professors who teach them.”
JaMeS r. STraNGe, Samford University
davId a. fIeNSy is the author of Christian Origins and the Ancient Economy (2014) and Jesus the Galilean (2007) and
the coeditor of The Galilean Economy in the Time of Jesus (2013) and Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic
Periods, 2 vols. (Fortress Press, 2014–15).
Mark allaN Powell, series editor, is Robert and Phyllis Leatherman Professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran
Seminary. He is the author of many books, including Introducing the New Testament (2009) and Fortress Introduction to the
Gospels (Fortress Press, 1998).
Religion / Bible
Insights from Archaeology

Insights from
Archaeology
David A. Fiensy
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
INSIGHTS FROM ARCHAEOLOGY
Copyright © 2017 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations
in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner
without prior written permission from the publisher. Email [email protected]
or write to Permissions, Fortress Press, PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN
55440-1209.
Cover image: Brooklyn Bridge/Andres Garcia Martin/Thinkstock & Cruz de
Tejeda/emregologlu/Thinkstock
Cover design: Alisha Lofgren
Print ISBN: 978-1-5064-0014-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-5064-0108-9
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
For my siblings: Kitty, Chris, and Deanne
דחי םג םיחא תבש םיענ המו בוט המ הנה
(Psalm 133:1)

Contents
Series Foreword ix
Abbreviations xiii
Preface xv
1. Vocational Guidance Counseling: 1
What Archaeology Is and
What Archaeologists Do
2. Digging Up the Bible: Examples of Using 25
Archaeology to Interpret the Bible
3. All in the Family: House, Family, Village, 63
and Meal in the Iron Age
Highlands of Israel
4. It Is Lived So Briefly: Osteoarchaeology and the 99
New Testament
5. Conclusions: What Archaeology Can and Cannot Do 129
Appendix: Archaeological Periods of Palestine (Neolithic 137
to Iron Age)
Bibliography 139
Subject Index 161
Scripture Index 167

Series Foreword
“What does this mean?”
That is, perhaps, the most-asked question with regard to the Bible.
Whatdoesthisversemean?Whatdoesthisstorymean?Whatdoesthis
psalm or letter or prophecy or promise or commandment mean?
The question can arise from a simple desire for information, or the
concernmaybeoneofcontextorrelevance:Whatdidthismeantoits
original audience? Whatdoesit mean for us today?
Someone has said that understanding the Bible is difficult not
because meaning is hard to find but because it is so abundant. The
problemforinterpretersisnottoolittlemeaningbuttoomuch.Theques-
tion becomes, which of all the possible meanings is to be preferred?
But is that really a problem? And, if so, is it not a lovely one?
This abundance of meaning became especially clear in the last
decades of the twentieth century when the field of biblical studies
embraceddozensofnewmethodsandapproachesthathadnotprevi-
ouslybeenusedorappreciatedwithintheguild.Inmanyways,biblical
studies became more exciting than ever before.
But, yes, the task of understanding the Bible could be daunting.
Bible teachers, clergy and lay, who had struggled through college or
seminarytolearn“thehistorical-criticalmethod”weresuddenlycon-
frontedwithnovelstrategiesdrawnfrommanyotherfieldsofinquiry:
sociology,psychology,worldreligions,culturalanthropology,commu-
nication theory, modern literary criticism, and so forth. Then came
theavalancheofinterpretiveapproachesgroundedinparticularphilo-
sophicalorideologicalperspectives:feminism,postmodernism,libera-
tion theology, postcolonialism, queer theology, and on and on.
Fortheopenminded,theyieldwasanembarrassmentofriches.We
nowunderstandtheBibleinsomanydifferentways:itshistoricalwit-
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