Abstract
Given the rapid change in assumptions, methods, and sources present in current discussions of Israelite/Biblical historiography, it comes as a relief to the bewildered non-specialist to find such a thorough summary of the debate as Moore and Kelle have provided. They have thus disentangled the daunting mess before us, allowing multiple audiences from the interested public through to graduate students to grasp the ‘changing study of the Bible and history since the middle of the twentieth century’ (p.1), and they have achieved this in a way that is very readable, abundantly clear, and yet appropriately academic.
It begins with asking general questions of the field: who are the major contributors, from the earlier modern historiographers to those of the present, and what have they argued? In doing so, they establish the following pattern: traditional reconstructions prior to the 1970s; then challenges from the rise of archaeology in the 1970s; followed by the challenge of assumptions and ideologies in the 1980s; minimalist versus maximalist controversies of the 1990s; and finally the present situation. This pattern frames the story of chapters 2-8, which are each dedicated to a different era of Israel’s past (Patriarchs and Matriarchs; Israel’s Emergence; Monarchical Period in three parts; Exilic or Neo-Babylonian Period; and Post-Exilic or Persian Period). For each era, the authors demonstrate how the respective traditional reconstructions came under voracious attack, and new quite different reconstructions largely replaced them. For the current state of scholarship, Moore and Kelle then identify which major interpretive issues remain concerning the given period.
Throughout the book, the reader will quickly notice some of the successful attempts to reach the non-specialist. Two of note are the text-box excurses on topics that would otherwise be assumed in such a discussion (e.g. explaining the documentary hypothesis), and the suggestions for further reading on the respective era.
Despite the overall effectiveness and value of the book, there are nevertheless two persistent problems. First, one may notice that the authors present the data in such a way that gives pride of place to those of the so-called ‘minimalist’ persuasion. They are regularly given much more thorough treatments than the ‘maximalists,’ and when the latter are mentioned, their arguments are often reductively stated and, it seems, politely dismissed. These maximalists also much less frequently appear in the further reading suggestions. This privilege for the minimalist position, however, is understandable. This is because Moore and Kelle have committed themselves to demonstrating this general position of scholarship. Generally it is accurate to say that those writing from this perspective have tended to dismiss more maximalist positions. However, while Moore and Kelle represent the minimalist position, what is encouraging is that they do so with far significant grace and fairness.
Notwithstanding these criticisms of understandable partiality, Moore and Kelle have provided the much-needed service of gathering the bulk of the debates and arguments on Israel’s past and its relationship to the Bible into one place. This book could serve as both an effective course textbook and a reference work, and it will continue to be a meaningful resource for years to come.