A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars

by Walter C. Kaiser Jr.

Publisher:

B&H

, 1998

Overview

Kaiser lets history triumph over hearsay in this comprehensive chronicle of God’s chosen people. He refutes many of today’s common misconceptions about Israel and sets down an accurate account of its history, from the Patriarchal Age to the birth of Christ, based on the Holy Scriptures. Thorough, with attention to detail, Kaiser carefully researched his subject, assembled the facts, and conveyed his findings in a convincing narrative style. He supports the Scriptures’ historical claims with ancient Eastern documents and compelling archaeological evidence. A History of Israel addresses current approaches to the study of the history of Israel, common fallacies found in the modern secular historical study, and convincing proofs for the historical authenticity of the Bible. Kaiser carefully scrapes away the layers of time to reveal the truth about the land and the people of Israel.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The contemporary historian’s approach tends to differ from that of his earliest counterparts in three ways: he generally takes a critical stance toward his sources; (2) he is inclined to disregard the supernatural or miraculous in his treatment of past events; (3) he is very much aware of his own historicity and, accordingly, of the subjectivity and tentative character of his own historical conclusions.’” (Page 4)

“Fallacy No. 5: History writing must not give logical and necessary priority to written evidence over material culture.” (Page 7)

“Fallacy No. 3: History cannot include narratives about individuals, but must focus on nations instead.^{14” (Page 6)}

“Fallacy No. 4: History must not focus on individuals as shapers of the times, but on sociological factors that attempt to discover general laws and large-scale societal forces that influence historical change.” (Page 7)

“Interestingly enough, however, the disagreement among scholars is not so much over the ‘facts’ in the field; rather, it is over how one should interpret those facts, and with what sorts of presuppositions one may legitimately approach the study of Old Testament history.” (Pages 1–2)

Product Details

• Title: A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars
• Author: Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
• Publisher: Broadman and Holman
• Publication Date: 1998
• Pages: 539

About Walter C. Kaiser Jr.

Walter C. Kaiser (1933–) is an evangelical Old Testament scholar, writer, speaker, and educator. He earned degrees from Wheaton College and Brandeis University.

Kaiser taught Bible and archaeology at Wheaton College and taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in several capacities. He currently serves as the Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2006 retired as their President.

Kaiser has contributed to numerous publications like Journal for the Study of Old Testament and Westminster Theological Journal. He has also written over 30 books including Toward an Exegetical Theology and A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars.