Testaments
HKAT Handkommentar zum Alten Testament
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
ICC International Critical Commentary
IDB The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by George Arthur Buttrick. 4 vols. Nashville: Abingdon, 1962
IDBSup The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible Supplementary Volume. Edited by Keith R. Crim. Nashville: Abingdon, 1976
JB Jerusalem Bible
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies
JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series
KJV King James Version
LCL Loeb Classical Library
m. Mishnah tractates
Mek. Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael
MT Masoretic text
NAB New American Bible
NCB New Century Bible
NEB New English Bible
NJPS New Jewish Publication Society Version
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
OTL Old Testament Library
OTS Oudtestamentische Studiën
RGG Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart
RSV Revised Standard Version
SAT Die Schriften des Alten Testament
SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series
SBT Studies in Biblical Theology
SJOT Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament
ThBü Theologische Bücherei
TLZ Theologische Literaturzeitung
TUMSR Trinity University Monographs Series in Religion
VT Vetus Testamentum
VTSup Vetus Testamentum Supplements
War Josephus, Jewish War
WMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament
ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
ZTK Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche
1. See Kelle and Moore, “Introduction,” in Israel’s Prophets and Israel’s Past.
2. See, for example, the comprehensive history volume originally published in 1986: Miller and Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah.
3. See Moore and Kelle, Biblical History and Israel’s Past.
4. This characteristic of Hayes’s scholarship finds its fullest expression in his work as general editor on a major reception history resource. See Hayes, ed., Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation.
5. Hayes and Miller, eds., Israelite and Judaean History.
6. For the continuation of this kind of survey up to the present, see Moore and Kelle, Biblical History and Israel’s Past.
7. Thompson, The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical Abraham; Van Seters, Abraham in History and Tradition.
8. Along with the Hayes and Kuan article, discussions of the final years of the northern kingdom commonly cite the following among others: Na’aman, “The Historical Background to the Conquest of Samaria (720 BC)”; Becking, The Fall of Samaria; Younger, “The Fall of Samaria in Light of Recent Research”; Tetley, “The Date of Samaria’s Fall as a Reason for Rejecting the Hypothesis of Two Conquests.” See also Kelle, “Hoshea, Sargon, and the Final Destruction of Samaria”; and Kelle, “What’s in a Name?” Most recently, see Park, “A New Historical Reconstruction of the Fall of Samaria.”
9. E.g., Hayes and Irvine, Isaiah, the Eighth Century Prophet; and Hayes, Amos.
10. See Hayes, ed., Old Testament Form Criticism.
11. See, for example, Sweeney and Ben Zvi, eds., The Changing Face of Form Criticism for the Twenty-first Century.
12. Hayes, Amos.
13. See also Gitay, Prophecy and Persuasion; Shaw, The Speeches of Micah; Kelle, Hosea 2.
14. Hayes, If You Don’t Like the Possum, Enjoy the Sweet Potatoes; Hayes, Abanda: A Novel.
1
The History of the Study of Israelite and Judean History
The Earliest Treatments of Israelite and Judean History
The writing of history as a narrative about past events is a very ancient undertaking. Its roots, so far as Western historiography is concerned, are anchored in the cultures of Israel and Greece.
History, as a genre or literary type, is found in much of the Hebrew Scriptures where events are understood in a theological or, to use Collingwood’s terminology,1 “theocratic” perspective. In spite of this perspective, much of the narrative material in these Scriptures is historiographical in intent in so far as it attempts a narrative account of past events. To suggest, as is frequently done, that Israel was the creator of historical writing2 probably goes beyond the evidence. Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Hittite inscriptions, annals, chronicles, narratives, and art in many ways approach genuine historical thought and writing3 and tend to moderate extravagant claims about the originality and priority of Israelite historical writing. In addition, the origins and character of historical writing in Israel, especially with regard to the materials in the Pentateuch remain a much debated and unsettled issue.4 Since the Hebrew Scriptures have been and remain the primary sources for reconstructing the history of Israel and Judah, questions regarding the nature, character, and antiquity of these traditions will be discussed in various places in the following
