History, Politics and the Bible from the Iron Age to the Media Age: Essays in Honour of Keith W. Whitelam 9780567670595, 9780567670625, 9780567670601

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LIBRARY OF HEBREW BIBLE/ OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES

651 Formerly Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series

Editors Claudia V. Camp, Texas Christian University Andrew Mein, Westcott House, Cambridge

Founding Editors David J. A. Clines, Philip R. Davies and David M. Gunn

Editorial Board Alan Cooper, John Goldingay, Robert P. Gordon, Norman K. Gottwald, James E. Harding, John Jarick, Carol Meyers, Carolyn J. Sharp, Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, James W. Watts

HISTORY, POLITICS AND THE BIBLE FROM THE IRON AGE TO THE MEDIA AGE

Essays in Honour of Keith W. Whitelam

Edited by Jim West and James Crossley

T&T CLARK Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA BLOOMSBURY, T&T CLARK and the T&T Clark logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2017 Paperback edition first published 2018 Copyright © Jim West and James Crossley 2017 Jim West and James Crossley have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editors of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: HB: 978-0-56767-059-5 PB: 978-0-56768-252-9 ePDF: 978-0-56767-060-1 ePUB: 978-0-56767-061-8 Series: The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Series, volume 651 Typeset by Forthcoming Publications (www.forthpub.com) To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters.

C ඈඇඍൾඇඍඌ

Abbreviations

vii

,ඇඍඋඈൽඎർඍංඈඇ .ൾංඍඁ:ඁංඍൾඅൺආංඇ&ඈඇඍൾඑඍ James Crossley and Jim West

ix

0ൺඑංආൺඅංඌඍൺඇൽඈඋ0ංඇංආൺඅංඌඍ$ඉඉඋඈൺർඁൾඌ ංඇ5ൾർൾඇඍ5ൾඉඋൾඌൾඇඍൺඍංඈඇඌඈൿ$ඇർංൾඇඍ,ඌඋൺൾඅංඍൾ ൺඇൽ-ඎൽൺൾൺඇ+ංඌඍඈඋඒ Ingrid Hjelm

1

7ඁൾ(ආൾඋ඀ൾඇർൾඈൿ,ඌඋൺൾඅ$඀ൺංඇ Robert B. Coote

19

$3අൾൺൿඈඋൺඇ+ංඌඍඈඋංർൺඅ$ඇඍඁඋඈඉඈඅඈ඀ඒඈൿ$ඇർංൾඇඍ3ൺඅൾඌඍංඇൾ Emanuel Pfoh

41

0ൺඉඉංඇ඀3ൺඅൾඌඍංඇൾ Philip R. Davies

55

$6ൾർඍൺඋංൺඇ*උඈඎඉ&ൺඅඅൾൽ,ඌඋൺൾඅ+ංඌඍඈඋංඈ඀උൺඉඁඒ ൺඇൽ&ඎඅඍඎඋൺඅ0ൾආඈඋඒ Niels Peter Lemche

72

7ඁൾ+ංඌඍඈඋඒඈൿ,ඌඋൺൾඅ±:ංඍඁඈඎඍඍඁൾ%ංൻඅൾ $7ඁඈඎ඀ඁඍ(එඉൾඋංආൾඇඍ Jim West

97

7ඁൾ3උൾඌൾඇඍ&උංඌංඌංඇ%ංൻඅංർൺඅ6ർඁඈඅൺඋඌඁංඉ John Van Seters

105

7ඁൾ3ൾඋඉൾඍඎൺඍංඈඇඈൿ5ൺർංൺඅ$ඌඌඎආඉඍංඈඇඌංඇ%ංൻඅංർൺඅ6ඍඎൽංൾඌ Deane Galbraith

116

vi

Contents

0ൺൽൾංඇ6ඁൾൿൿංൾඅൽ 7ඁൾ)ංඋඌඍ'ංർඍංඈඇൺඋඒඈൿඍඁൾ$ඇർංൾඇඍ+ൾൻඋൾඐ/ൺඇ඀ඎൺ඀ൾ David J. A. Clines

135

*ඈൽൺඇൽඍඁൾ6ඍൺඍൾ 7ඁൾ%ංൻඅൾൺඇൽ'ൺඏංൽ&ൺආൾඋඈඇ¶ඌ$ඎඍඁඈඋංඍඒ James Crossley

146

Index of Authors

163

A ൻൻඋൾඏංൺඍංඈඇඌ AASOR ADPV ANET BAR BASOR BZAR BZAW CBQ CIS COS CSSH DBAT ESHM ET FAT JAAR JBL JNES JQR JSOT JSOTSup KAT KTU

LHBOTS NAEHL OBO RBL SBTS SHCANE SJOT SWBA

Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research Archiv für die Deutsch-Palestina Verein J. B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. Princeton. 1969 Biblical Archaeology Review Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur Altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Catholic Biblical Quarterly Copenhagen International Seminar The Context of Scripture. Edited by W. W. Hallo. 3 vols. Leiden, ± Comparative Studies in Science and History Dielhammer Blatter zum Alten Testament European Seminar in Historical Methodology English translation Forschungen zum Alten Testament Journal of the American Academy of Religion Journal of Biblical Literature Journal of Near Eastern Studies Jewish Quarterly Review Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series Kommentar zum Alten Testament Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit. Edited by M. Dietrich, 2/RUHW]DQG-6DQPDUWtQ$2$71HXNLUFKHQ9OX\Q 2d enlarged ed. of KTU: The Cuneiform Alphabetic Texts from Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani, and Other Places. Edited by M. Dietrich, O. Loretz, and J. Sanmartín. Münster, 1995 (= CTU) /LEUDU\RI+HEUHZ%LEOH2OG7HVWDPHQW6WXGLHV The New Encyclopedia of Archeological Excavations in the Holy Land Orbis biblicus et orientalis Review of Biblical Literature Sources for Biblical and Theological Study Studies in the History and Culture of the Ancient Near East Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament Social World of Biblical Antiquity

viii TDOT

THAT

TLOT

VT VTSup ZAW ZDPV

Abbreviations Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren. Translated by J. T. Willis, G. W. Bromiley, DQG'(*UHHQYROV*UDQG5DSLGV± Theologisches Handwörterbuch zum Alten Testament. Edited by E. Jenni, with assistance from C. Westermann. 2 vols., Stuttgart, ± Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament. Edited by E. Jenni, with assistance from C. Westermann. Translated by M. E. Biddle. 3 vols. Peabody, MA, 1997 Vetus Testamentum Supplements to Vetus Testamentum Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Zeitschrift des deutschen Palästina-Vereins

K ൾංඍඁ

I ඇඍඋඈൽඎർඍංඈඇ : W ඁංඍൾඅൺආ ංඇ C ඈඇඍൾඑඍ James Crossley 6W0DU\¶V8QLYHUVLW\ and Jim West

(Ming Hua Theological College) We are in the peculiar position of not being entirely clear that Keith Whitelam would be overly fond of a Festschrift:KLWHODP¶VPRGHVW\QR doubt fuels our hesitancies. He is also known for having strong attachments to what the British politician Dennis Healey once said all politicians (and thus biblical scholars) should have: a hinterland. Whitelam has especial interests in athletics (he is a trainer at a high level) and the fortunes of Manchester United (something which he shares with at least one of the co-editors). More recently, he has turned his hand to baking, plumbing DQGJDUGHQLQJ%XWRQHRI:KLWHODP¶VJUHDWDFKLHYHPHQWVLVWRVKRZKRZ all these honourable hobbies and interests are, without contradiction, the hinterland of one of the most radical biblical scholars of recent times. Having spent both his undergraduate and postgraduate years at the University of Manchester (where he was taught by, among others, ))%UXFH :KLWHODPZRXOGVRRQJRRQWRSXEOLVKKLV¿UVWPRQRJUDSK± WKH SXEOLVKHG YHUVLRQ RI KLV  3K' WKHVLV ± LQ DQ DUHD WKDW PLJKW EH considered a relatively mainstream work of historical criticism: The Just King: Monarchical Judicial Authority in Ancient Israel 6KHI¿HOG-627 1979).1 It was around this time that he also gained a permanent academic position at the University of Stirling in Scotland where he would remain until his appointment in 2001 as Head of the now defunct Department of %LEOLFDO 6WXGLHV DW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI 6KHI¿HOG PRUH RQ ZKLFK EHORZ  His early career was pioneering on two fronts. First, he would be one of 1௒7KH RULJLQDO WKHVLV ZDV FRPSOHWHG XQGHU WKH WLWOH µ-XGLFLDO )XQFWLRQV RI WKH .LQJLQ$QFLHQW,VUDHO¶3K'GLVV8QLYHUVLW\RI0DQFKHVWHU 

x

Introduction

the few British scholars to attend the annual Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) conference in North America, a now common occurrence among British and European scholars. Not only did Whitelam and others play D VLJQL¿FDQW UROH DPRQJ D QHZ JHQHUDWLRQ RI KLVWRULDQV LQ EULQJLQJ QHZ TXHVWLRQV WR +HEUHZ %LEOH2OG 7HVWDPHQW VWXGLHV EXW WKHLU LQÀXHQFH FRQVFLRXVRUXQFRQVFLRXV FRXOGEHVHHQLQWKHGHYHORSLQJVRFLDOVFLHQWL¿F approaches to New Testament studies, such as in the work of Richard Horsley. Second, as part of his attendance at the annual SBL conference, he would, along with his close friend Robert Coote, develop interdisciplinary DSSURDFKHVWRTXHVWLRQVUHODWLQJWRWKHKLVWRU\RIµDQFLHQW,VUDHO¶DQGWKH ODQGRI3DOHVWLQHZKLFKZHUH¿UPO\LQWKHDQQDOLVWWUDGLWLRQRIWKH)UHQFK historian, Fernand Braudel, and with a particular stress on the longue durée and recurring social patterns. Whitelam and Coote would co-author one of the major works in this scholarly sub-genre: The Emergence of Early Israel in Historical Perspective 6KHI¿HOG $OPRQG  UHSXEOLVKHG E\ 6KHI¿HOG 3KRHQL[  7KH HPSKDVLV RQ H[WUDELEOLFDO DUFKDHRORJ\ and the problematizing of the biblical texts for earlier reconstructions of µDQFLHQW,VUDHO¶ZRXOGEHDQHDUO\LQGLFDWLRQRI:KLWHODP¶VUHSXWDWLRQDVD µPLQLPDOLVW¶KLVWRULDQ In the 1990s Whitelam would, however, turn his attention to the social and ideological history of biblical scholarship on the construction of ancient Israel, particularly in his most famous, most controversial, and arguably most important publication: The Invention of Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History (London: Routledge, 1996). Along with Philip Davies, Thomas Thompson, Niels Peter Lemche, and (depending on who does the counting) John van Seters, Whitelam became known DV RQH RI WKH QRWRULRXV JURXS RI µPLQLPDOLVW¶ VFKRODUV µ0LQLPDOLVP¶ was popularly understood in scholarly circles as the attempt to allow the history of Israel to be investigated without simply falling back on a re-telling of the biblical text.2 +RZHYHU :KLWHODP¶V PDMRU ZRUN RI WKH V ZDV QRWLFHDEO\ GLIIHUHQW IURP KLV IHOORZ µPLQLPDOLVWV¶ LQ WKDW KLV focus was on the ideological location and social history of scholarship, particularly the ways in which historical scholarship on ancient Israel has consciously or unconsciously imposed modern nationalist notions about the state of Israel. The dark side of this imposition was the removal

2௒)RU:KLWHODP¶VRZQDFFRXQWRIµPLQLPDOLVP¶DQGSUREOHPDWL]LQJRIWKHODEHO LWVHOI VHH.HLWK::KLWHODPµ5HSUHVHQWLQJ0LQLPDOLVP7KH5KHWRULFDQG5HDOLW\ RI 5HYLVLRQLVP¶LQSense and Sensitivity: Essays on Reading the Bible in Memory of Robert CarrollHG$*+XQWHUDQG35'DYLHV6KHI¿HOG6KHI¿HOG$FDGHPLF  ±

Introduction

xi

of alternative histories from the record, histories which likewise had FRQWHPSRUDU\ UHOHYDQFH LQ RWKHU ZRUGV WKLV LQYROYHG WKH VLOHQFLQJ of Palestinian history. This publication led to some disgraceful allegations levelled at Whitelam, including allegations made by scholars who had (predictably) not even bothered to read the book!3 But, once again, :KLWHODP¶VZRUNZDVDKHDGRILWVWLPH1RWRQO\ZDV:KLWHODPRQHRI the very few biblical scholars then taking seriously the now standard work of Edward Said, but he was anticipating developments in ideological criticism of biblical scholarship, which has begun to grow over the past decade. In this respect, one of the co-editors previously acknowledged his debt to The Invention of Ancient Israel at a time when the social history of biblical scholarship was only just starting to gain momentum.4 Whitelam would continue his interests in ideological criticism of scholarship in his analysis of the fallout from The Invention of Ancient Israel and beyond but in the new millennium he was also taking his interests in the construction of the state of Israel in new directions. As µUHFHSWLRQ KLVWRU\¶ JDLQHG PRPHQWXP DV D VXEGLVFLSOLQH ZLWKLQ ELEOLFDO studies, Whitelam made another innovative move, this time in the role of imagined cartographies,5 even making connections at one annual SBL meeting between maps of his home county of Lincolnshire and mapping the land of Palestine. But one question that had followed him throughout most of his career continued to haunt him: how to write a history of the ODQG RI 3DOHVWLQH ZLWKRXW DQDFKURQLVWLF UHIHUHQFH WR µERUGHUV¶ µVWDWHV¶ and biblical kings? His answer to such questions can now be found in Keith W. Whitelam, Rhythms of Time: Reconnecting Palestine’s Past (BenBlackBooks, 2013).6 Echoing Braudel even in the cover design, :KLWHODPORRNHGDWFKDQJHVDQGµUK\WKPV¶LQVHWWOHPHQWSDWWHUQVFOLPDWH economics, and so on, to provide a kind of geographical history which looked at how human beings interacted with their environment, rather

3௒:KLWHODPµ5HSUHVHQWLQJ0LQLPDOLVP¶± 4௒ -DPHV * &URVVOH\ Jesus in an Age of Terror: Scholarly Projects for a New American Century (London: Equinox, 2008), 3. 5௒ 6HH HJ .HLWK : :KLWHODP µ/LQHV RI 3RZHU 0DSSLQJ$QFLHQW ,VUDHO¶ LQ To Break Every Yoke: Essays in Honor of Marvin L. Chaney, ed. Robert B. Coote DQG 1RUPDQ . *RWWZDOG 6KHI¿HOG 6KHI¿HOG 3KRHQL[   ± .HLWK : :KLWHODPµ7KH/DQGDQGWKH%RRN%LEOLFDO6WXGLHVDQG,PDJLQDWLYH*HRJUDSKLHV RI 3DOHVWLQH¶ Postscripts    ± .HLWK::KLWHODP HG Holy Land as Homeland? Models for Constructing the Historic Landscapes of Jesus 6KHI¿HOG 6KHI¿HOG3KRHQL[  6௒)XUWKHUGHWDLOVDUHDYDLODEOHDWKWWSZZZUK\WKPVRIWLPHFRP

xii

Introduction

WKDQDQDUURZIRFXVRQWKHVHDUFKIRUDQHPHUJLQJHWKQLFLW\RUµJUHDWPHQ¶ like King David. He also connected ancient history with contemporary politics and how different retellings of history matter for contemporary political discourses concerning Israel and Palestine, and with some consideration given to American foreign policy debates. Aside from the content, Whitelam made another innovative move with this publication: he selfSXEOLVKHGLWDVDQH%RRN:HZLOOKDYHWRZDLWWRVHHKRZLQÀXHQWLDOWKLV move towards affordable, low-cost publishing will be, but it is striking that Whitelam has done so at a time when open-access journals (e.g. Relegere, Bible and Critical Theory DQGPRQRJUDSKVHULHVHJ6%/¶V$QFLHQW1HDU (DVW 0RQRJUDSKV0RQRJUDItDV VREUH HO $QWLJXR &HUFDQR 2ULHQWH  DUH beginning to make their mark in biblical studies. It is perhaps less well known that Whitelam has a reputation as a ¿UVWFODVV+HDGRI'HSDUWPHQWDQGPHQWRUWR\RXQJHUVFKRODUV,WLVQRW XQFRPPRQWR¿QGQRZVHQLRUDFDGHPLFVLQWKH¿HOGVRIELEOLFDOVWXGLHV and religious studies in various British universities who openly speak of their debt to, and admiration for, Whitelam. Whitelam also had the dubious pleasure of being a head of department throughout the 1990s and 2000s. This enduring punishment is testimony to just how good he was at KLVMRE:KHQKHVWHSSHGGRZQDV+HDGRI%LEOLFDO6WXGLHVDW6KHI¿HOGLQ 2006, he left the Department with eight full-time members of staff without UXQQLQJDGH¿FLWDVZHOODVFRQWLQXLQJKLVUROHDVFRGLUHFWRUZLWK&KHU\O ([XPDQG'DYLG&OLQHV RI6KHI¿HOG3KRHQL[3UHVV± :LWKLQ three years of stepping down, and a new managerial regime in place, there was a near-successful attempt to close the Department and Whitelam was one of a number of staff who, with much international support, fought hard to keep the Department alive. Sadly, this effort was in vain because another new managerial regime was later successful in shutting down the Department, which by this point had been allowed to wither away. The contrast with the thriving Department Whitelam left is striking. One of the misguided criticisms sometimes levelled at Whitelam was that he is a product of the social changes of the 1960s, as if the pure scholar of his generation were somehow immune from being tainted by KLVWRU\,QVWHDGRIVHHLQJWKLVDVDFULWLFLVPZHVKRXOGORRNDW:KLWHODP¶V context as a way of understanding Whitelam and his range of scholarly LQWHUHVWVPDQ\RIZKLFKZHKRSHDUHUHÀHFWHGLQWKLVYROXPH+LVLQWHUdisciplinary approach to history can be located as part of wider trends DIWHUWKHVRFDOOHGµH[SORVLRQRINQRZOHGJH¶LQWKHVLQFOXGLQJWKH impact in European and American universities of decolonization, percepWLRQVRIVHFXODUL]DWLRQWKHULVLQJLQÀXHQFHRIVRFLRORJ\WKHHPHUJHQFHRI anthropological approaches to history, translations of Weber into English,

Introduction

xiii

and, perhaps more indirectly, shifts in West German historiography away from the Nazi cult of the individual towards trends and themes.7 His interest in reception and readers is part of the general (though not always DFNQRZOHGJHG LPSDFWRISRVWVWUXFWXUDOLVPRQWKH¿HOGRIELEOLFDOVWXGLHV :KLWHODP¶V LQWHUHVW LQ UHFHSWLRQ RI SROLWLFDOO\ HQJDJHG VFKRODUVKLS FDQ DOVREHWLHGLQZLWKWKHDIWHUPDWKRI%XWWKHSULRU\HDU±±LV equally important as the Six-Day War marked the turning point in AngloAmerican attitudes towards Israel which had a profound impact on higher education. Whitelam was one of only a handful of scholars prepared to be critical of Israeli policies towards Palestinians in a climate where criticisms of the state of Israel were too quickly and conveniently equated with antisemitism. Few scholars would be courageous enough to act as Whitelam has done and, despite all the disgraceful attacks, he always DFWHGZLWKLQWHJULW\DQGKRQHVW\:KHWKHUKHOLNHVLWRUQRWLWLV¿WWLQJWKDW :KLWHODP¶VUHPDUNDEOHFDUHHULVUHFRJQL]HGIRULWVFHQWUDOLPSRUWDQFHWR WKH¿HOGRIELEOLFDOVWXGLHV

7௒ 2Q WKH ULVH RI KLVWRULFDO HQJDJHPHQW ZLWK VRFLDO VFLHQFHV LQ ELEOLFDO VWXGLHV (especially New Testament studies) see James G. Crossley, Why Christianity Happened: A Sociohistorical Account of Christian Origins 26–50CE (Louisville: Westminster -RKQ.QR[ ±

M ൺඑංආൺඅංඌඍ ൺඇൽ  ඈඋ M ංඇංආൺඅංඌඍ A ඉඉඋඈൺർඁൾඌ ංඇ R ൾർൾඇඍ R ൾඉඋൾඌൾඇඍൺඍංඈඇඌ ඈൿ A ඇർංൾඇඍ I ඌඋൺൾඅංඍൾ ൺඇൽ J ඎൽൺൾൺඇ H ංඌඍඈඋඒ Ingrid Hjelm (University of Copenhagen) It is my great honour to contribute to a Festschrift for the author who opened our eyes to what we are doing and whom we serve in our pursuit RIDµWUXWKIXO¶KLVWRU\RI,VUDHO¶VSDVW7KHQDPHRIWKHWRSLFDORQHFDXVHV problems as Keith Whitelam effectively demonstrated in his 1996 book, The Invention of Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History. There is a distortion here, which has not yet been overcome. Not only has scholarly focus on Ancient Israel silenced Palestinian history, but it has served agendas promoting the formation of a modern Israel, and scholars have (unwittingly) contributed to that development. Imperialistic use of scholarly works is rarely considered and discussed at length in academia. (GZDUG 6DLG¶V Orientalism from 1978 and his Culture and Imperialism from 1993, which, I believe, inspired Whitelam to write his 1996 book, UHFHLYHGJUHDWDWWHQWLRQ6RGLG:KLWHODP¶VERRNEXWUDWKHUWKDQGLVFXVVLQJ its epistemological implications, quite a few scholars rejected the idea that their work could have served political interests. The disproportionate DWWHQWLRQJLYHQWRµELEOLFDO¶DQGµ,VUDHOLWH¶KLVWRU\ZKLFKLQPRVWFDVHVLV WROGIURPDµ-XGHDQ¶SHUVSHFWLYHRYHUDJDLQVWRWKHUSHRSOHVLQ3DOHVWLQH LV VWLOO SUHYDOHQW ,W LV KRZHYHU QRW RQO\ µ3DOHVWLQLDQ¶ RU SHUKDSV PRUH FRUUHFW µQRQ-HZLVK¶ KLVWRU\ ZKLFK LV VLOHQFHG EXW KLVWRULHV DOVR RI WKH %LEOH¶V RZQ SHRSOHV DQG KHUH PRVW QRWDEO\ WKRVH RI WKH GHVFHQGDQWV RI the ancient kingdom of Israel. It is somewhat ironic that a majority of WLWOHVFRQWDLQWKHQDPHµ,VUDHO¶RUµ%LEOLFDO,VUDHO¶ZKHQLQPRVWFDVHVWKH historical Israel is discussed only in its relation to biblical Judah. A review RI VRPH UHFHQW GLVFXVVLRQV DQG UHSUHVHQWDWLRQV RI KLVWRULHV RQ µ$QFLHQW ,VUDHO¶GHPRQVWUDWHVWKDWQRWKLQJKDVUHDOO\FKDQJHG%LDVLVVWLOOGLVFXVVHG in the context of the reliability of biblical sources rather than in the context of political agendas and unwarranted exploitation of scholarly works.

2

History, Politics and the Bible

7KLV LV DOVR WKH FDVH ZLWK 0HJDQ %LVKRS 0RRUH¶V Philosophy and Practice in Writing a History of Ancient Israel, from 2006.1 The history 0RRUHKDVLQPLQGLVWKHELEOLFDOKLVWRU\DQGLWVFRUUHFWLRQDQGFRQ¿UPDWLRQ by extra-biblical sources. The histories analyzed by Moore have been written by biblical scholars and theologians, who, in different ways, have approached tensions between history and biblical tradition in their invenWLRQVRI,VUDHO¶VSDVWZKHWKHUVHHQDVP\WKLFDORUUHDO$VUHSUHVHQWDWLYH of minimalist voices, she singles out Thomas Thompson, Philip Davies, Niels Peter Lemche and Keith Whitelam, who appear to be her only true minimalists. Although their opinions have had several adherents, Moore does not count them as minimalists, because they either disagree with minimalism on certain points, have written comprehensive histories of ancient Israel, make biblical Israel the subject of their research or use the %LEOHIRUWKHLUUHFRQVWUXFWLRQV0RRUHLVZHOODZDUHRI:KLWHODP¶VDJHQGD LQKLVERRNZKLFKVKHFKDUDFWHUL]HVDVµ7KHPRVWFRPSUHKHQVLYH FDVWLJDWLRQRIUHOLJLRXVDQGSROLWLFDOPRWLYHVLQELEOLFDOVFKRODUVKLS¶2 Her discussion of objectivity, however, quickly moves to a discussion of the reliability of the biblical texts without engaging in the potential dangers RIELEOLFDOVFKRODUVKLS¶VSURPRWLRQRIXQEDODQFHGKLVWRULHVRIWKHSDVW In a rigid understanding of minimalism as minimising or even dismissing the role of the Bible and biblical Israel as a subject for historical reconstruction combined with a Persian-Hellenistic dating of biblical texts,3 0RRUH¶VGH¿QLWLRQRIPLQLPDOLVPLVVHWLQFRQWUDVWWRPD[LPDOLVWSRVLWLRQV promoted by Alt, Albright and their followers, who established the Bible as DSULPDU\ZLWQHVVWR,VUDHO¶VSDVW+HUSRLQWRIGHSDUWXUHKRZHYHULVQRW DUHDFWLRQWR$OWDQG$OEULJKWLQWKH¶VDQG¶VVSXUUHGE\HJDUFKDHology, literary readings of the Bible, deconstruction and social science, but GLVFXVVLRQVWKDWWRRNSODFHLQWKH¶V7KLVOHDYHVRXWWKHHQWLUHDFDGHPLF PHQWDOLW\ RI WKH ¶V DQG ¶V ZKLFK IRVWHUHG TXLWH D QXPEHU RI ZRUNV WKDWZHUHFULWLFDORIWKHFRQVHUYDWLYHKLVWRULFLVPWKDWGRPLQDWHGWKH¿HOG Works by Bernd J. Diebner, Heike Friis, David Gunn, Morton Smith, J. P. Fokkelman, Hans Heinrich Schmid, Rolf Rendtorff, H. Vorländer, Manfred Weippert, James Barr (Semantics) and Northrop Frye, which are QRWPHQWLRQHGE\0RRUHRSHQHGXSQHZDYHQXHVIRULQWHUSUHWLQJ,VUDHO¶V

1௒0HJDQ%LVKRS0RRUHPhilosophy and Practice in Writing a History of Ancient Israel/+%276/RQGRQ7 7&ODUN,QWHUQDWLRQDO ,QJULG+MHOP5HYLHZ of Philosophy and Practice in Writing a History of Ancient Israel, by Megan Bishop Moore, SJOT  ±DQGCBQ  ±DEEUHYLDWHGYHUVLRQ  2௒0RRUHPhilosophy and Practice, 81. 3௒0RRUHPhilosophy and Practice, 108.

+ඃൾඅආMaximalist and/or Minimalist Approaches

3

SDVW DV UHÀHFWHG LQ WKH %LEOH DQG ZHUH DV PXFK DQ LQVSLUDWLRQ WR WKH minimalists as were those that dealt more explicitly with Israelite archaeology and history in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Consequent of her QDUURZ DQG PLVOHDGLQJ GH¿QLWLRQ RI PLQLPDOLVP 0RRUH FRQFOXGHV WKDW WUXH PLQLPDOLVP GLG QRW RFFXU EHIRUH WKH ¶V VLQFH7KRPSVRQ 4) and Lemche (19855) had until then written comprehensive historical works that addressed the issue of biblical Israel without neglecting completely the use of the Bible for their reconstructions.6 Later works by Thompson and Lemche are characterized as theoretical and methodological prolegomena to history.7 Both Davies and Whitelam have contributed prolegomena to history rather than full treatments of the past.8 &RRWH DQG :KLWHODP¶V9 µPDMRU KLVWRULFDO FRQWULEXWLRQ¶10 is thus dismissed and not considered comprehensive.11 It is not quite clear whether this evaluation is based on WKHIDFWWKDW&RRWHDQG:KLWHODP¶VZRUNµLJQRUHVWKH%LEOHHQWLUHO\ and makes historical reconstructions based on archaeological evidence and VRFLDOVFLHQWL¿FPRGHOV¶12 or whether a work is only comprehensive when using the Bible as a source. From this it follows that one might characterize &RRWHDQG:KLWHODP¶VThe Emergence of Early Israel as the earliest and only minimalist history of ancient Israel in spite of its title. Upon closer

4௒ 7KRPDV / 7KRPSVRQ The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical Abraham%=$:%HUOLQGH*UX\WHU 7KRPDV/ Thompson, Early History of the Israelite People: From the Written and Archaeological Sources, SHANE 8 (Leiden Brill, 1992). 5௒1LHOV3HWHU/HPFKHEarly Israel: Anthropological and Historical Studies on the Israelite Society Before the Monarchy (Leiden: Brill, 1985). 6௒0RRUHPhilosophy and Practice, 141. 7௒ 7KRPDV / 7KRPSVRQ The Bible in History: How Writers Create a Past (London: Jonathan Cape, 1999) = idem, The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel 1HZ%UHVFLD3DLGHLD@  2nd rev. ed., An Introduction to the History of Israel and Judah (London: SCM, 1993), trans. John Bowden of Soggin, Introduzione alla Storia d’Israele e di Guida %UHVFLD 3DLGHLD   UG UHY HG An Introduction to the History of Israel and Judah%UHVFLD3DLGHLDWUDQV-RKQ%RZGHQ/RQGRQ6&0  22௒6RJJLQA History of Israel, ±

6

History, Politics and the Bible

¿QGVWKDWDODFNRIVRXUFHVPDNHVLWGLI¿FXOWWRZULWHWKHKLVWRU\RIRWKHU peoples.23 He also recognizes the impossibility of writing histories about WKHWZRNLQJGRPVRQWKHEDVLVRIVRXUFHVWKDWµDUHQRWKLVWRULFDOWH[WVLQ WKH PRGHUQ VHQVH RI WKH ZRUG EXW WHVWLPRQLHV RI IDLWK¶24 The question ZDVUDLVHGDOVRLQWKH¿UVWYROXPHRIWKH($%6¶VVHPLQDURQKLVWRULFDO PHWKRGRORJ\µ&DQD+LVWRU\RI,VUDHO%H:ULWWHQ"¶250LOOHUDQG+D\HV¶V A History of Ancient Israel and Judah, from 1986,26 begins with the SHULRGRIWKH-XGJHVDVWKH%LEOH¶VHDUOLHVWKLVWRULFDONHUQHOUHÀHFWLQJDQ µDXWKHQWLF WUDGLWLRQ¶ DERXW ,VUDHO¶V RULJLQV 6FHSWLFDO DERXW µWKH KLVWRULRJUDSKLFDOYDOXHRIWKHELEOLFDOVWRU\DERXWWKHXQLWHGPRQDUFK\¶27 which they nevertheless present in about a hundred pages, their focus is on the traditions and history of the independent Israelite and Judaean monarFKLHV 7KLV PRYH IURP DQ µDOO ,VUDHO¶ KLVWRU\ WR D JUHDWHU IRFXV RQ WKH regional histories was already made in 1977 by Hayes and Miller.28 At the time of their publication, both books were seen as quite radical, but today RQH ZRXOG ¿QG WKDW WKH\ UHSUHVHQW PDLQVWUHDP SRVLWLRQV ,Q WKH VHFRQG HGLWLRQRIWKHLUYROXPHWKHDXWKRUVVWDWHWKDWµJLYHQWKHQDWXUHRIWKH debate in the last twenty years, their work has come to seem less radical DQGPRUHPRGHUDWHO\FDXWLRXV¶29 7KHVHDUFKIRUDQ(DUO\,VUDHOLQ/HPFKH¶VPRQRJUDSK30 turned RXW QHJDWLYHO\ LQ UHJDUG WR ¿QGLQJ SUHPRQDUFKLF VWUXFWXUHV ZKLFK FDQ EH LQWHUSUHWHG DV EHORQJLQJ WR D GH¿QHG SROLWLFDO HQWLW\ FDOOHG µ,VUDHO¶31 Consequently, his Ancient Israel, from 198832 set the reign of David as

23௒3UHIDFHWRWKHUGUHYHG[LY 24௒3UHIDFHWRWKHUGUHYHG[LLL 25௒/HVWHU/*UDEEHHGCan a History of Israel Be Written(6+06KHI¿HOG 6KHI¿HOG$FDGHPLF  26௒-0D[ZHOO0LOOHUDQG-RKQ++D\HVA History of Ancient Israel and Judah 3KLODGHOSKLD:HVWPLQVWHUQGUHYHG  27௒0LOOHUDQG+D\HVA HistoryFI7KRPSVRQEarly Israel, 109. 28௒ -RKQ + +D\HV DQG - 0D[ZHOO 0LOOHU HGV Israelite and Judaean History (London: SCM, 1977). 29௒.HLWK::KLWHODPµ7KH'HDWKRI%LEOLFDO+LVWRU\¶LQFar from Minimal: &HOHEUDWLQJWKH:RUNDQG,QÀXHQFHRI3KLOLS5'DYLHV, ed. Duncan Burns and J. W. 5RJHUVRQ/+%276/RQGRQ7 7&ODUN,QWHUQDWLRQDO ±Q  30௒ 1 3 /HPFKH Early Israel: Anthropological and Historical Studies on the Israelite Society Before the Monarchy (Leiden: Brill, 1985). 31௒/HPFKHEarly Israel, 406. 32௒ 1LHOV 3HWHU /HPFKH Ancient Israel: A New History of Israelite Society 6KHI¿HOG-627 

+ඃൾඅආMaximalist and/or Minimalist Approaches

7

WKHHDUOLHVWSRVVLEOHµterminus a quoIRUDSDQ,VUDHOLWHLGHRORJ\¶ZKLFK KRZHYHUPLJKWQRWKDYHEHHQHIIHFWLYHIRUFHQWXULHVDQGUHSUHVHQWVµWKH ODWH,VUDHOLWHFRQVWUXFWLRQRIWKHHDUO\KLVWRU\RI,VUDHO¶33 In spite of the critical stance taken by Lemche in his 1988 book, the Old Testament is KLVPDLQVRXUFHRILQIRUPDWLRQRQ,VUDHOLWHKLVWRU\DQGUHOLJLRQLQWKH¿UVW PLOOHQQLXP%&(&RRWHDQG:KLWHODP¶VThe Emergence of Early Israel in Historical PerspectiveIURPVROLGL¿HVWKHH[LVWHQFHRIWKHXQLWHG 'DYLGLF NLQJGRP LQ LWV FODLP RI (DUO\ ,VUDHO¶V HPHUJHQFH IURP OLWHUDU\ activity in Davidic courts.34 Searching for an early Israel, however, the ERRN¶VFRQFOXVLRQWKDWWKHIRUPDWLRQRIWKH'DYLGLFVWDWHZDVDUHVXOWRI changed environmental and political circumstances, is directed entirely E\ WKH ELEOLFDO QDUUDWLYH¶V FRPSRVLWLRQ DQG SHULRGL]DWLRQ 7KH ,VUDHO found by Coote and Whitelam was not the origin of the historical Israelite NLQJGRPDOVRNQRZQDV%LW+XPULDLQQLQWK±HLJKWKFHQWXU\H[WUDELEOLFDO sources, but a united kingdom, which is as much a part of a mythic past as is its invention of an early Israel.35 *|VWD$KOVWU|P¶V The History of Ancient Palestine from the Paleolithic Period to Alexander’s Conquest, from 1993,36 attempts a balance from Joshua onwards, without too much V\QWKHVL]LQJRIVRXUFHV+RZHYHUZKHQKHEHJLQVXVLQJ6DPXHO±.LQJV and the Prophets, the biblical material takes center stage and directs his FRPSRVLWLRQ $OWKRXJK $KOVWU|P¶V ERRN PDLQWDLQV D JUHDWHU VHQVLWLYLW\ to neighboring areas and international history it is not truly a history of ancient Palestine.37 7KRPDV 7KRPSVRQ¶V Early History of the Israelite People: From the Written and Archaeological Sources, from 1992, rather deconstructs any history told and attempts to open up avenues to the literary and intellectual matrices of the biblical tradition.38 7KH ERRN¶V PDLQSXUSRVHLVWKHGHYHORSPHQWRIµDQXQGHUVWDQGLQJRIWKHKLVWRU\RI “Israel” within the context of a comprehensive regional and historical geography of Palestine¶39 I wonder if Thompson would use the term µ,VUDHOLWHSHRSOH¶WRGD\"$WOHDVWDTXHVWLRQPDUNVHHPVQHHGHGLQUHJDUG WR :KLWHODP¶V FULWLTXH RI VHDUFKLQJ IRU DQ DQFLHQW ,VUDHO LQ FXOWXUDO

33௒/HPFKHAncient Israel, 108. 34௒&RRWHDQG:KLWHODPEmergence± 35௒:KLWHODPInvention, 156. 36௒ *|VWD : $KOVWU|P The History of Ancient Palestine from the Paleolithic Period to Alexander’s ConquestHG'9(GHOPDQ-6276XS6KHI¿HOG-627 1993). 37௒:KLWHODPInvention± 38௒7KLVWKHPHKDVEHHQWKRURXJKO\H[DPLQHGLQ7KRPSVRQThe Bible in History. 39௒7KRPSVRQEarly History, 401.

8

History, Politics and the Bible

remains devoid of clear ethnic markers.40 Despite its negative results,41 the search has in many instances promoted false dichotomies between 3DOHVWLQH¶VPDQ\SHRSOHVDQGUHJLRQV$VUHPDUNHGE\:KLWHODP The search for ancient Israel has been of such primary concern within the discipline because the historical critical assumption has been that it is these periods >WKHµHPHUJHQFH¶RI,VUDHOLQ3DOHVWLQHDQGWKHGHYHORSPHQWRIWKH'DYLGLF± 6RORPRQLFVWDWH@ZKLFKSURYLGHWKHORFLIRUXQGHUVWDQGLQJDQGGH¿QLQJPXFK of the biblical material. The irony is, however, that current reassessments by $KOVWU|P /HPFKH &RRWH :KLWHODP DQG 7KRPSVRQ DUH OLNHO\ WR OHDG WR WKH YLHZ WKDW LW LV WKH SHULRG RI WKH /DWH %URQ]H±,URQ$JH WUDQVLWLRQ ZKLFK ZLOOFRPHWREHVHHQDVWKHGH¿QLQJPRPHQWLQWKHHPHUJHQFHRI3DOHVWLQLDQ history as a subject in its own right.42

&RXQWHULQJWKHDERYHPHQWLRQHGZRUNVZH¿QGUHFHQWDVVHVVPHQWVRI ,VUDHO¶VELEOLFDOSDVWLQWKHZRUNVRI.HQQHWK.LWFKHQOn the Reliability of the Old TestamentIURP:LOOLDP'HYHU¶V What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel from 2001, and Who Were the Israelites and Where Did They Come from? IURPDQG$YUDKDP)DXVW¶VIsrael’s Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance from 2006.43 Ferdinand Deist published his The Material Culture of the Bible: An IntroductionLQDQG¿QDOO\,DLQ3URYDQ3KLOLS/RQJDQG7UHPSHU Longman III returned to traditional ideology and use of terminology in their

40௒:KLWHODPInvention, 35. 41௒7KRPSVRQEarly History,VUDHO)LQNHOVWHLQµ&DQWKH5HDO,VUDHO6WDQG 8S"¶ BA  QR    ± UHYLHZLQJ KLV HDUOLHU SRVLWLRQ LGHP The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement [Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1988]) DQGUHIXWLQJ:LOOLDP*'HYHUµ:LOOWKH5HDO,VUDHO3OHDVH6WDQG8S"$UFKDHRORJ\ DQG,VUDHOLWH+LVWRULRJUDSK\¶BASOR ±DQGLGHPµ:LOOWKH5HDO ,VUDHO 3OHDVH 6WDQG 8S" 3DUW ,,$UFKDHRORJ\ DQG WKH 5HOLJLRQV RI$QFLHQW ,VUDHO¶ BASOR ±2QWKLVVHHDOVRWKHGLVFXVVLRQVLQ'HYHUWhat Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel *UDQG 5DSLGV (HUGPDQV   ± and Avraham Faust, Israel’s Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance /RQGRQ(TXLQR[ ± 42௒:KLWHODPInvention, 71. 43௒.HQQHWK$.LWFKHQOn the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: (HUGPDQV 'HYHUWhat Did the Biblical Writers KnowLGHPWho Were the Israelites and Where Did They Come from? *UDQG5DSLGV(HUGPDQV )DXVW Israel’s Ethnogenesis.

+ඃൾඅආMaximalist and/or Minimalist Approaches

9

A Biblical History of Israel from 2003.44 These scholars advocate a general trust in the Bible as a historical document from the Patriarchs onwards and reject modern opinions about the biblical books as literary and theological documents. It stands to reason that, in general, they are quite skeptical of UHFHQW DFKLHYHPHQWV LQ UHODWHG ¿HOGV )DLWKIXO WR $OEULJKW¶V UHDGLQJ WKH Bible with the spade, biblical archaeology, however, is the exception that LVPRVWRIWHQEURXJKWXSDVSURYLGLQJHYLGHQFHRIWKH%LEOH¶VKLVWRULFLW\ The simple method of relating texts to material resists: (1) a sophisticated reading of biblical material,45 (2) a non-biased interpretation of stratigraphy and artifacts,46DQG SURYLQJWKHFDVHWKURXJKIDOVL¿FDWLRQ47 Distorting .DUO3RSSHU¶VSULQFLSOHRIIDOVL¿FDWLRQWRDTXHVWLRQRIYHUL¿FDWLRQDVKDV EHHQµWKHQHZUDOO\LQJFDOOIRUWKRVHZKRZRXOGGHIHQG³ELEOLFDOKLVWRU\´௘¶48 does not remove the unsettling experience that archaeology too often has proven biblical narratives wrong. It is not sophisticated reading of biblical WH[WVELDVRUQRQYHUL¿FDWLRQWKDWKDYHFDVWGRXEWRQWKHXQLWHGPRQDUFK\ it is archeology.49 Neither have they brought to life the forgotten Israelite kingdom of the Omrides, which has appeared through archaeology and non-biblical sources.50 Biblical misrepresentation of ancient history is not a PRGHUQRUSRVWPRGHUQLQYHQWLRQLWLVLQKHUHQWLQWKHPDWHULDOZKLFKE\DOO

44௒ )HUGLQDQG ( 'HLVW µ&RQWLQJHQF\ &RQWLQXLW\ DQG ,QWHJULW\ LQ +LVWRULFDO 8QGHUVWDQGLQJ$Q 2OG7HVWDPHQW 3HUVSHFWLYH¶ Scriptura    ± LGHP The Material Culture of the Bible: An Introduction, The Biblical Seminar 70 6KHI¿HOG6KHI¿HOG$FDGHPLF ,DLQ:3URYDQ93KLOLSV/RQJDQG7UHPSHU Longman III, A Biblical History of Israel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003). 45௒ (J .LWFKHQ Reliability  EHZDLOV WZR KXQGUHG \HDUV RI VFKRODUVKLS¶V PRYHWRZDUGVµDVSLULWRILQTXLU\WKDWVRXJKWWRJREH\RQGMXVWUHDGLQJWKH+HEUHZ %LEOHZKROO\³RQWKHVXUIDFH´௘¶6HHDOVR'HYHU¶VKLGHRXVGLDWULEHVDJDLQVWVRFDOOHG postmodernism in What Did the Biblical Writers Know± 46௒(J)DXVW¶VGLVWLQFWLRQEHWZHHQ,VUDHOLWHVDQG3KLOLVWLQHVEDVHGRQDVFKRODUO\ hypothesis of early Israelites as non-pork consumers (Israel’s Ethnogenesis, 37). It is, in fact, not the Old Testament, but early Jewish (esp. Books of Maccabees) and Christian literature, which problematize pork consumption. 47௒ (J 3URYDQ /RQJ DQG /RQJPDQ Biblical History ± &I :KLWHODP¶V FULWLTXHRI3URYDQ/RQJDQG/RQJPDQLQµ7KH'HDWKRI%LEOLFDO+LVWRU\¶ 48௒:KLWHODPµ7KH'HDWKRI%LEOLFDO+LVWRU\¶ 49௒,VUDHO)LQNHOVWHLQDQG1HLO$VKHU6LOEHUPDQThe Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts (New York: The )UHH3UHVV ± 50௒,VUDHO)LQNHOVWHLQThe Forgotten Kingdom: The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013).

10

History, Politics and the Bible

PHDQVPXVWEHFODVVL¿HGDVVHFRQGDU\LQUHJDUGWRKLVWRULFDOUHFRQVWUXFWLRQ of the past. The basic problem is not whether there are elements of historical truth in our tradition (there probably are several), but whether the tradition LVRSHUDWLQJZLWKLQVXFKDµSURWHVWDQW¶ad fontes mode of authentic objective presentation.51%LEOLFDODUFKDHRORJ\LVQRWWKHVFLHQWL¿FGLVFLSOLQHDUFKDHology should be at institutions of higher education. It serves the purpose RI UHDVVHVVLQJ D µKLVWRU\¶ UDWKHU WKDQ VHDUFKLQJ DQG FUHDWLQJ LW52 In order to bring the discipline under proper academic auspices, Dever, in the early ¶VVXJJHVWHGWKDWWKHWHUPEHFKDQJHGWRµ6\UR3DOHVWLQLDQ$UFKDHRORJ\¶ µSXUVXHGE\FXOWXUDOKLVWRULDQVIRULWVRZQVDNH¶537KHVXJJHVWLRQZDVQ¶W DSSURYHG DQG QHLWKHU GLG ELEOLFDO DUFKDHRORJ\ EHFRPH VFLHQWL¿F DQG WKH reassessment of its methodologies and assumptions by Hoffmeier and 0LOODUGXQIRUWXQDWHO\FRQ¿UPVWKDW54 Claiming an a priori authority of the biblical texts and resisting any attempt at critical evaluation, as Provan, Long and Longman do,55LVFRPSDUDEOHWR-RVHSKXV¶FODLPIRUKLVWUDGLWLRQ¶V historicity based on age and akribia. However, their method is that of the ancient Greeks: persuasion through rhetoric.56 Seeking to mediate between minimalist and maximalist positions, Megan Bishop Moore in her book advocates an idealist, one might say PRGHUQFRQ¿GHQFHWKDWDQREMHFWLYHFRPSUHKHQVLYHKLVWRU\RI,VUDHO¶VSDVW can and should be written, but that this history should be composed in such DZD\WKDWµZKDWHYHUUHOHYDQWLQIRUPDWLRQWKDWLVDYDLODEOHLVPDGHNQRZQ and nothing potentially relevant is omitted, while keeping the distinction EHWZHHQHYLGHQFHDQGLQWHUSUHWDWLRQDVFOHDUDVSRVVLEOH¶57 Rather than the scepticism advocated by several scholars, Moore advocates, with Deist DQG3KLOLS/RQJWKDWµTXDOL¿HGFRUUHVSRQGHQWWUXWK¶LVDPRUHDSSURSULDWH 51௒+MHOPJerusalem’s Rise to Sovereignty, 20. 52௒=LRQ\=HYLWµ7KH%LEOLFDO$UFKDHRORJ\9HUVXV6\UR3DOHVWLQLDQ$UFKDHRORJ\ 'HEDWH LQ ,WV $PHULFDQ ,QVWLWXWLRQDO DQG ,QWHOOHFWXDO &RQWH[WV¶ LQ The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions, ed. James K. +RIIPHLHUDQG$ODQ0LOODUG*UDQG5DSLGV(HUGPDQV ± 53௒ :LOOLDP * 'HYHU DQG 6KDORP 0 3DXO Biblical Archaeology (Jerusalem: .HWHU 'HYHUµ$UFKDHRORJ\DQG%LEOLFDO6WXGLHV5HWURVSHFWVDQG3URVSHFWV¶ in The Hebrew Bible and Its Modern Interpreters, ed. Douglas A. Knight and Gene 07XFNHU3KLODGHOSKLD)RUWUHVV ± 54௒+RIIPHLHUDQG0LOODUGHGV The Future of Biblical Archaeology. 55௒3URYDQ/RQJDQG/RQJPDQBiblical History, 56. 56௒,QJULG+MHOPµ-RVHSKXVLQWKH7HQWVRI6KHPDQG-DSKHW7KH6WDWXVRI$QFLHQW $XWKRUV LQ -RVHSKXV¶7UHDWLVH Against Apion ±¶ LQ The Bible and Hellenism: *UHHN,QÀXHQFHRQ-HZLVKDQG(DUO\&KULVWLDQ/LWHUDWXUH, ed. Philippe Wajdenbaum DQG7KRPDV/7KRPSVRQ/RQGRQ$FXPHQ ± 57௒0RRUHPhilosophy, 144.

+ඃൾඅආMaximalist and/or Minimalist Approaches

11

µWUXWKVWDQGDUGIRUWKHKLVWRU\RI,VUDHODWWKLVWLPH¶58 She also advocates WKDWDFRPSUHKHQVLYHKLVWRU\VKRXOGDQGFDQEHZULWWHQ+RZHYHU0RRUH¶V attempt to do so in collaboration with Brad Kelle (2011) turned out quite differently (see below). Here I want to pay attention to a recent history of Israel by the Italian Assyriologist Mario Liverani, because it implicitly offers an answer to 0RRUH¶VSRVLWLRQEXWLQDIDUPRUHVRSKLVWLFDWHGZD\WKDQWKHZRUNVRI Deist and Long.59,Q/LYHUDQL¶VIsrael’s History and the History of Israel, translated and published in 2005 from its Italian original in 2003,60 the DXWKRU IDU VXUSDVVHV 9DQ 6HWHUV¶V K\SRWKHVLV RI RI D ODWH +HEUHZ@(QJWUDQV ( /HYLQ DQG & (EHUW  +MHOP µ&KDQJLQJ 3DUDGLJPV¶ HDGHP µ0W *HUL]LP DQG 6DPDULWDQVLQ5HFHQW5HVHDUFK¶LQSamaritan’s Past and Present: Current Studies, ed. M. Mor and Jack Pastor %HUOLQGH*UX\WHU ± 76௒ 0DJHQ 0LVJDY DQG 7VHIDQLD Mount Gerizim Excavations I$QQH .DWULQH De Hemmer Gudme, Before the God in This Place for Good Remembrance: A Comparative Analysis of the Aramaic Votive Inscriptions from Gerizim (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2013). 77௒,QJULG+MHOPµ/RVWDQG)RXQG"$1RQ-HZLVK,VUDHOIURPWKH0HUQHSWDK6WHOH WR WKH %\]DQWLQH 3HULRG¶ LQ History, Archaeology and the Bible Forty Years After ‘Historicity’: Changing Perspectives 6, ed. Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson, &,6/RQGRQ5RXWOHGJH ± 78௒ $ 2IHU µ௘³$OO WKH +LOO &RXQWU\ RI -XGDK´ )URP D 6HWWOHPHQW )ULQJH WR D 3URVSHURXV 0RQDUFK\¶ LQ From Nomadism to Monarchy: Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel HG , )LQNHOVWHLQ DQG 1 1D¶DPDQ -HUXVDOHP ,VUDHO ([SORUDWLRQ 6RFLHW\   ± + 0 %DUVWDG µ$IWHU WKH ³0\WK RI WKH (PSW\/DQG´0DMRU&KDOOHQJHVLQWKH6WXG\RI1HR%DE\ORQLDQ-XGDK¶LQ/LSVFKLWV and Blenkinsopp, eds., Judah and Judaeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period ± (9).

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History, Politics and the Bible

of the populace remained in the city,79 Carter,80 Lipschits81 and Stern82 have reservations that more than a very tiny minority lived there in the Babylonian and the beginning of the Persian period. Part of the population VHHPV WR KDYH ÀHG WR WKH WULEDO DUHD RI %HQMDPLQ83 with its provincial capital Mizpah (Tell en-Nasbeh).84 By the mid-fourth century most of Judah was inhabited by Edomites.85 Judging from the Elephantine letters, -HUXVDOHP¶VWHPSOHVHHPVWRKDYHH[LVWHGLQWKH¿IWKFHQWXU\%&(EXWLt was not until the beginning of the Hellenistic period that the city expanded to a size larger than that of a minor temple city.86

79௒ %DUVWDG µ$IWHU WKH ³0\WK RI WKH (PSW\ /DQG´௘¶  )RU IXUWKHU UHIHUHQFHV VHH*DU\1.QRSSHUVµ,Q6HDUFKRI3RVW([LOLF,VUDHO6DPDULD$IWHUWKH)DOORIWKH 1RUWKHUQ.LQJGRP¶LQIn Search of Pre-Exilic Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, ed. J. Day, JSOTSup 406 (London: T&T Clark International,  ± 80௒&(&DUWHU The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period: A Social and Demographic Study 6KHI¿HOG 6KHI¿HOG $FDGHPLF   LGHP µ,GHRORJ\ DQG $UFKDHRORJ\LQWKH1HR%DE\ORQLDQ3HULRG([FDYDWLQJ7H[WDQG7HOO¶LQ/LSVFKLWV and Blenkinsopp, eds., Judah and Judaeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period± 81௒2/LSVFKLWVµ'HPRJUDSKLF&KDQJHVLQ-XGDK%HWZHHQWKH6HYHQWKDQGWKH )LIWK&HQWXULHV%&(¶LQ/LSVFKLWVDQG%OHQNLQVRSSHGVJudah and Judaeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period±±  82௒6WHUQµ7KH%DE\ORQLDQ*DS¶  83௒ $ 0DODPDW µ7KH /DVW :DUV RI WKH .LQJGRP RI -XGDK¶ JNES 9 (1950): ±%2GHGµ:KHUH,VWKH³0\WKRIWKH(PSW\/DQG´WR%H)RXQG"¶LQJudah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period, ed. O. Lipschits and J. Blenkinsopp :LQRQD /DNH ,1 (LVHQEUDXQV   ±   - 5 =RUQ µ7HOO HQ1DVEHK A Re-evaluation of the Architecture and Stratigraphy of the Early Bronze Age and /DWHU3HULRGV¶ 3K'GLVV%HUNHOH\ /LSVFKLWVµ'HPRJUDSKLF&KDQJHVLQ -XGDK¶6HHKRZHYHUWKHGHDUWKRISLJERQHV@ZRXOGLQGHHGKDYHEHHQ interpreted as indicating Israelite identity, yet recent archaeozoological research has SURYHQWKHSLFWXUHWREHPRUHFRPSOLFDWHG¶ 

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WRWHPLVP LV D VHSDUDWH PDWWHU IURP ,VUDHO¶V RULJLQ ,VUDHO¶V RULJLQ DQG LWV ODWHU GLVFHUQLEOH HWKQLF LGHQWLW\ µDUH GLIIHUHQW TXHVWLRQV¶ DQG GLVFXVVLQJWKHPWRJHWKHUH[FHSWODWHLQWKHDQDO\VLVµFDQFDXVHPRUHFRQIXVLRQ WKDQLWFDQUHVROYH¶ +RZHYHUKDYLQJHODERUDWHGRQHWKQLFLW\ DOPRVW HQWLUHO\ ZLWK UHVSHFW WR ,VUDHO¶V KLJKODQG GHYHORSPHQW DQG WKHQ having commendably separated the issues of origin and development, ZKDWGRHV)DXVWKDYHWRVD\DERXWWKHLQLWLDORULJLQWKH¿UVWVWDJHRIWKUHH" Following convention, he assumes a pre-totemic ethnic identity by positing that the Israel referred to in the Merneptah stela was a social group, and that it resided or was soon to reside in the highland, was squarely opposed to Egypt, and later served as the core of the larger, more diverse group that gravitated to Israelite identity over against the Philistines. In )DXVW¶V FRQFHSWLRQ WKLV K\SRWKHWLFDO RULJLQDO FRUH JURXS ZDV DOUHDG\ GLYHUVH SDVWRUDOLVWV µVHPLQRPDGV¶ VHWWOHG µ&DQDDQLWHV¶ ZKR µFKDQJHG WKHLU LGHQWLW\¶ µWULEHV¶ IURP 7UDQVMRUGDQ DQG µSUREDEO\ HYHQ D JURXS ZKR ÀHG (J\SW¶ )DXVW¶V DFFRXQW RI 0HUQHSWDK¶V ,VUDHO  ±  LVDPDVWHUIXOWUHDWPHQWRIRSWLRQVEXWLQWKH¿QDODQDO\VLVLWLVKDUGQRW to regard the attribution of ethnicity to this primal Israel as other than VXSSRVLWLRQ:HDUHOHIWZLWK6SDUNV¶TXHVWLRQWR)DXVWµ:KDWHYLGHQFH do we have that nascent Israel was ever anything except a confederation (or “coalition” or “league”) of different tribal groups that joined together DJDLQVWFRPPRQWKUHDWVDQGHQHPLHV"¶ ±DVVXPLQJWKHODVWSKUDVH FDQLQFOXGHDOVRFROODERUDWLRQZLWKµHQHPLHV¶ $V*RWWZDOGVXUPLVHGGHFDGHVDJRµWKHWULEHVRI,VUDHO¶DOWHUQDWLYHO\ µWKHWULEHVRIQHDUWKHPRGHUQ/HEDQHVHERUGHU@E RI those who came up from Egypt, from Keziv (Achzib) to the River as far as Amanah XQLGHQWL¿HGEXWSHUKDSVQRUWKZHVWRI$QWLRFKFI-XE([RG5DE DQG F IURPWKH5LYHU(XSKUDWHV µDVIDUDV$PDQDLQZDUGV¶$VDIXUWKHUFRPSOLFDWLRQ Yadayim 4, narrates a discussion over whether the tithe for the poor should be given in the sabbatical year in Ammon and Moab, as in Egypt, or the Second Tithe, as in Babylon (note the biblical terminology). This is the one case in which the dichotomy between land of Israel and other lands is infringed. Here is a nice illustration of the theoretical nature of the rabbinic discussion.

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Jews) sentimental or faux-nostalgic. Whatever the felt political necessities of asserting this bond, it should not become enshrined in scholarly discussion. 5. Postscript For two millennia the matrix of biblical scholarship has been theological. The contents of the Jewish scriptures have been interpreted mainly in light of their ideas about God and their apparent records of a sacred history. This may, not too unfairly, be represented as a post-canonical hermeneutic: looking at the texts through lenses coloured by their incorporation in a µKRO\ERRN¶%XWDKLVWRULFDOFULWLFDODSSURDFKUHTXLUHVDOVRDKLVWRULFDO FULWLFDO UHFRQ¿JXUDWLRQ RI D SUHFDQRQLFDO SURFHVV RI DXWKRUV ZULWLQJ not to teach about God but about something more engaged with history, ideology and politics. Political use of the Bible contributed much to the shaping of modern Europe (and its colonies), and perhaps the foundation of a truly modern and secular appropriation of biblical scholarship is to deconstruct language about God into language about power, of which the FKLHIDSSOLHGVFLHQFHLVSROLWLFV7KHDSRULDVLGHQWL¿HGDWVHYHUDOSRLQWVLQ WKHSUHFHGLQJGLVFXVVLRQVKRZZKHUHDFRQÀLFWRULQFRQVLVWHQF\RIFHUWDLQ ideological positions exists that cannot be managed narratively. The importance of analyzing the historical terminology and concepts of the region long known as Palestine is that today the different spaces outlined above are exploited, sometimes ignorantly, sometimes deliberDWHO\LQFODLPVIRUSRVVHVVLRQRIWKHµKRO\ODQG¶+LVWRU\LVQRWEXQNEXW WKHPLVXVHRIKLVWRU\VRPHWLPHVLV%LEOLFDOµKLVWRU\¶QHHGVWREHUHSODFHG by the kinds of historical memories we critically construct for other parts RIWKHZRUOGDQGZKDWJRHVIRUKLVWRU\JRHVIRUJHRJUDSK\DVZHOO Bibliography Agamben, Giorgio. 2005. State of Exception. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Italian ed. Stato di eccezione. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 2003. Auld, A. Graeme. 1980. Joshua, Moses and the Land: Tetrateuch-Pentateuch-Hexateuch in a Generation Since 1938. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. %HDWWLH'5*DQG3KLOLS5'DYLHV:KDW'RHVµ+HEUHZ¶0HDQ"JSS± Davies, Philip R. 2007. The Origins of Biblical Israel. London: T&T Clark International. ———. 2008. Memories of Ancient Israel. Nashville: Westminster John Knox. ²²² D ,QWURGXFWLRQ 3DJHV ± LQ Cultural Memory in Biblical Exegesis. Edited by Pernille Carstens, Trine Bjørnung Hasselbach and Niels Peter Lemche. Piscataway: Gorgias.

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²²² E  6DPXHO DQG WKH µ'HXWHURQRPLVWLF +LVWRU\¶ 3DJHV ± LQ Is Samuel Among the Deuteronomists? Current Views on the Place of Samuel in a Deuteronomistic History. Edited by C. Edenburg and J. Pakkala. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. Goodblatt, David. 2006. Elements of Ancient Jewish Nationalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Grabbe, Lester L. 2008. A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period. 2 vols. London: T&T Clark International. +HU]RJ =H¶HY DQG /LO\ 6LQJHU$YLW]  5HGH¿QLQJ WKH &HQWUH 7KH (PHUJHQFH RI State in Judah. Tel Aviv± Kallai, Z. 1967. The Tribes of Israel: A Study in the Historical Geography of the Bible. Jerusalem: Bialik. ———. 1986. Historical Geography of the Bible: The Tribal Territories of Israel. Jerusalem: Magnes. Korzybski, Alfred. 1958. Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics. 4th ed. Lakeville, CN: International Non-Aristotelian Library Pub. Co. Mendels, Doron. 1992. The Rise and Fall of Jewish Nationalism. New York: Doubleday. 1D¶DPDQ 1DGDY  Borders and Districts in Biblical Historiography. Jerusalem: Simor. Niehr, Herbert. 1990. Der höchste Gott: Alttestamentlicher JHWH-Glaube im Kontext syrisch-kanaanäischer Religion des 1. Jahrtausends v. Chr. Berlin: de Gruyter. 6FKZDUW]'DQLHO5-XGHDQV-HZVDQG7KHLU1HLJKERUV3DJHV±LQBetween Cooperation and Hostility: Multiple Identities in Ancient Judaism and the Interaction with Foreign Powers(GLWHGE\5DLQHU$OEHUW]DQG-DFRE:|KUOH*|WWLQJHQ Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Schwartz, Seth. 2009. Imperialism and Jewish Society: 200 B.C.E. to 640 C.E. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 6LGGDOO/XLV5REHUW7LJODWK3LOHVHU,,,¶V$LGWR$KD]$1HZ/RRNDWWKH3UREOHPV of the Biblical Accounts in Light of the Assyrian Sources. ANES± Smith, Jonathan Z. 1978. Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions. Leiden: Brill. Stavrakopoulou, Francesca. 2010. Land of Our Fathers: The Roles of Ancestor Veneration in Biblical Land Claims. London: T&T Clark International. Tadmor, Hayim. 1994. The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III: King of Assyria. Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences. Von Rad, Gerhard. 1962. Old Testament Theology. Translated by D. M. G. Stalker. 2 vols. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. German ed., Theologie des Alten Testaments. Munich: Kaiser, 1957. Whitelam, Keith W. 1996. The Invention of Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History. London: Routledge. ———. 2013. Rhythms of Time: Reconnecting Palestine’s Past6KHI¿HOG%HQ%ODFN%RRNV Whitelam, Keith W., ed. 2011. Holy Land as Homeland? Models for Constructing the Historic Landscapes of Jesus6KHI¿HOG6KHI¿HOG3KRHQL[ Whitelam, Keith W., and Emanuel Pfoh, eds. 2013. The Politics of Israel’s Past: The Bible, Archaeology and Nation-Building6KHI¿HOG6KHI¿HOG3KRHQL[ Zimmerli, Walther. 1983. Ezekiel. Hermeneia, vol. 2. Philadelphia: Fortress. German ed., Ezekiel 2, II%.$71HXNLUFKHQ±9OX\Q1HXNLUFKHQHU

A S ൾർඍൺඋංൺඇ G උඈඎඉ C ൺඅඅൾൽ I ඌඋൺൾඅ : H ංඌඍඈඋංඈ඀උൺඉඁඒ ൺඇൽ C ඎඅඍඎඋൺඅ M ൾආඈඋඒ Niels Peter Lemche (University of Copenhagen) In Memory of Ilumilki, scribe, Gelehrter, and poet

National Memory ,Q KLV VWXG\ RQ µ&KRVHQ 3HRSOHV¶ WKH ZHOONQRZQ VRFLDO DQWKURSRORJLVW Anthony D. Smith argues that every national group or ethnic group will nourish a series of foundation myths informing its membership why they are different and especially superior to other ethnic groups and nationalities (Smith 1996). It is the basic conviction of Smith that there is a certain degree of survivability attached to ethnic groups allowing them to survive for sometimes a very long period even without a land of their own -XGDLVP-HZV  RU D FRPPRQ ODQJXDJH OLNH 6ZLW]HUODQG  6XFK JURXSV UHO\RQµHWKQLFPHPRULHVYDOXHVV\PEROVP\WKVDQGWUDGLWLRQV¶6PLWK 1996, 189). 6PLWK OLVWV IRXU µSDWWHUQV¶ RI EHOLHIV UHODWLQJ WR WKH FKRVHQQHVV RI DQ ethnic group: 1. A pattern called imperial dynastic when election is attached to a ruling dynasty. 2. Another pattern called communal-demotic relating to how a certain ethnic group claims the right to its land as its original inhabitants. It is especially relevant to ethnic groups struggling to remain intact in spite of having lost their political independence. 3. A third pattern called emigrant colonist explaining how a people on the move become immigrants and the true heirs of their country GLVUHJDUGLQJDQ\ULJKWIRUWKLVFRXQWU\¶VRULJLQDOSRSXODWLRQ 4. $QG ¿QDOO\ D SDWWHUQ QDPHG diaspora-restoration which has to GRZLWKUHWXUQWRRQH¶VKRPHDQGWKHUHHVWDEOLVKPHQWRIWKHROG society of the country.

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In his discussion, Smith makes use of the biblical story about the fate of Israel, believing this story to present myths rather than historical facts, although it is a surprise that he, in this connection, does not mention the importance of the idea of the Davidic dynasty as the true heirs to the land of Israel in the formation of the modern state of Israel but uses as his primary example the Norman regnum of Normandy. However, when discussing his third pattern, Smith uses the exodus story as a prototype and the inspiration for many recent groups colonizing a foreign country. Finally, he also acknowledges Zionism as a clear example of the fourth pattern. $VDPDWWHURIIDFWDOORI6PLWK¶VIRXUSDWWHUQV¿WLQZLWKWKHELEOLFDO story of Israel. Smith in particular refers to the exodus, and the case of the dynasty of David has already been mentioned. Also the story of the exile and return is totally adapted to the needs of a group referring its identity WRDVHWRILGHDVOLNH6PLWK¶VIRXUWKSDWWHUQDQGZHQHHGQRWSURYHWKDW SDWWHUQWKUHH¿WVWKHELEOLFDOVWRU\SHUIHFWO\1 Within social-anthropology Anthony D. Smith counts as a member of the group of primordialists,2 DOWKRXJK KH GRHV QRW VKDUH DOO WKLV JURXS¶V ideas about nationalism and nations. Basically he believes that ethnic groups may have long histories perpetuated in memory and religion. The opposing school, essentialism, sees ethnic groups as the result of political FRPSHWLWLRQDQGWKHDI¿OLDWLRQZLWKRQHRUWKHRWKHUJURXSDVVRPHWKLQJ used to stress differences vis-à-vis other competing groups. In Fredrik %DUWK¶VZRUGVHWKQLFLW\LVDVRFLDOZD\RIRUJDQL]LQJFXOWXUDOGLIIHUHQFH (Barth 1969), meaning that it is never a given fact, but always changing according to circumstances.3 In many ways essentialism, with its stress on the dynamics of ethnic LGHQWL¿FDWLRQDQGLQWKLVFRQQHFWLRQDOVRRIWKHP\WKRORJ\WKDWJRHVZLWK WKLV LGHQWL¿FDWLRQ VHHPV D PRUH UHDVRQDEOH SDWK WR IROORZ LQ VSLWH RI RQHRI$QWKRQ\'6PLWK¶VIDYRXULWHLGHDVWKDW(XURSHDQQDWLRQDOLVPLV EDVHGRQWZRSLOODUVRQWKHRQHKDQGWKH(XURSHDQQDWLRQV¶HWKQLFRULJLQV and on the other the biblical notion of Israel as the chosen people. It is certainly true that the Bible is of paramount importance for European identity building but perhaps not exactly in the way imagined by Anthony D. Smith. Until the Reformation the European laity had in general little personal knowledge of what is written in the Bible, and even after the Reformation the Bible only became widely read by people not belonging to the clergy among the Protestants, and even here we are only talking 1௒&IRQWKLV/HPFKH 2௒)HQWRQ±+XWFKLQVRQDQG6PLWKLQFOXGHDPSOHGLVFXVVLRQRI WKLVFRQFHSWWKXV*URVE\ 3௒)RUDUHFHQWVXUYH\RIWKHGLVFXVVLRQ)HQWRQ

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about the diminutive educated minority.4 In the Catholic Church the Bible was, until Vatican II, reserved for the Latin reading and speaking clergy and the few secular people brought up in institutions run by the clergy. Until that moment the conservators of biblical memory were largely under the control of the clergy, and because they also to a large degree represented the part of Medieval society able to read and write, it was their DQGWKHLUVWXGHQWV¶WUDQVPLVVLRQRIWKHELEOLFDOQDUUDWLYHWKDWGHFLGHGZKDW people not belonging to their group should know about the Bible. ,W LV FOHDU WKDW PHGLHYDO KLVWRULRJUDSK\ ZDV KHDYLO\ LQÀXHQFHGE\ LWV ZULWHUV¶ NQRZOHGJH RI WKH ELEOLFDO WUDGLWLRQ ,W LV GLI¿FXOW WR SRLQW DW D more relevant example than Saxo Grammaticus who around 1200 wrote his Gestae Danorum in praise of his employer, the Archbishop Absalon.5 Saxo did not belong to the clergy, although the reader of his history of the 'DQHV ZLOO VRRQ UHFRJQL]H WKH LQÀXHQFH IURP WKH 2OG7HVWDPHQW ZKLFK can be found almost on every page. Saxo is not imitating biblical narrative but it is clear that biblical narrative patterns his description of events. Saxo is a relevant example to mention here, for he shows what the SUREOHP LV ZLWK $QWKRQ\ ' 6PLWK¶V LGHDV WKDW RQH SLOODU RI (XURSHDQ identity was formed by the Bible. It was not, but the educated class who would without exception have been schooled within Church institutions was able to impress on the general population its knowledge and ideas formed by the Church and its Bible. When the Modern Age took over after WKH(QOLJKWHQPHQWWKHLQÀXHQFHRIWKHOHDUQHGVRFLHW\RQWKHJHQHUDOSXEOLF widened, simply as a consequence of the school laws of the nineteenth century, when ordinary people became able to read, not only the Bible but also the transformation of the biblical tradition in the writings of the historiographers of their own time, now reckoned to be proper historians. Hereafter, it is correct to speak of the Bible as a pillar in modern European culture, although always in a transformed version created by the intellectuals. We may simply call this European culture the cultural memory of the European intellectual elite who created it.6 It was not a memory shared by 4௒5HPHPEHULQJWKDWE\IDUWKHELJJHVWSHUFHQWDJHRI(XURSHDQSRSXODWLRQVZDV until quite recently peasants, and until the nineteenth century, reading was largely unknown to this part of the population. 5௒6D[R*UDPPDWLFXVFD±+LVKLVWRU\RI'HQPDUNUXQVIURPWKH¿UVW King Dan (totally legendary) to 1187. 6௒µ,QWHOOHFWXDOHOLWH¶:KHQVSHDNLQJLQWKLVFRQQHFWLRQDERXWWKHµHOLWH¶LWVKRXOG always be understood as the intellectual elite which is never the same as the elite in the political and economic sense of the word. It is not always clear that scholars understand this difference, maybe simply because they do not understand that they are not members of the power groups of their own society even today. In many ways

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DOO(XURSHDQVLWZDVDPHPRU\FUHDWHGE\WKHOLWHUDULO\DEOHPLQRULW\QRZ imbedded no longer in the Church but in the growing universities of Central and Northern Europe and its academy of Gelehrter. This cultural memory, the product of the individual imagination of the members of the elite, was not common memory, understood as the collective memory of common people. It belonged to the elite who wrote the stories that were thereafter told to common people. If the majority happens to know anything from the past, it is because this memory was imprinted in the minds of common people by the members of the intellectual elite. Memory has to do with identity. Individual memory marks out a person from his fellows. Cultural memory is supposed to be the common memory RIDFXOWXUH±VRFLHWLHVLQWKHVHQVHRI3DXO&RQQHUWRQ $QXPEHU of symbols connected to commemorative ceremonies and bodily practices (to quote Connerton) form the cultural memory of a society. But, we are entitled to ask, when and how? I have dealt with the problem a number of times, discussing the effects RIORVLQJWKHµQDWLRQDO¶V\PEROZKHQWKHNLQJZDVGHFDSLWDWHGGXULQJWKH )UHQFKUHYROXWLRQ/HPFKH±± $WWKDWWLPHKLVWRU\ writers, people who wrote the chronicles of the past, got a new assignment: to create national stories that would unite people living in a certain area LQWRRQHµQDWLRQ¶E\VKRZLQJWKHLUFRPPRQRULJLQVDQGKLVWRU\$VORQJDV WKHROGV\VWHPH[LVWHGRQHµPHPRU\¶XQLWHGWKHSHRSOHRIVD\)UDQFHWKH common knowledge of being the subjects of the king in Paris. Otherwise it would be wrong to say that people living in southwestern France (Gascony) had much in common (and certainly not a cultural memory) with people living in, say, Burgundy, which only became the possession of the French king relatively late. People living in Provence would share almost nothing with either the people of Gascony nor those from Burgundy. They would also have their own language, Provençal, and from a phenotypic point of view probably share more traits with people of Lombardy and Piedmont in modern Italy. The many provinces of the realm of the French kings were united not by a feeling of belonging together but by a strong central administration, headed by a strong central symbol, the king. Losing the king meant the dissolution of the French state, something that became evident during the revolutionary civil wars in France. As it happened, France was saved not by the revolutionary government in Paris but by a newly established myth that united most if not all people living within the old royal territories, the myth of the great emperor, who fought scholars belonging to the contemporary intellectual elite are writing about themselves in the disguise of ancient intellectuals belonging to the same group as they do separated by time but not by function.

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the world. In this way the myth was a contemporary myth created in 1DSROHRQ¶VRZQOLIHWLPHEXWLWZDVDOVRLQDYHU\FRQVFLRXVZD\UHODWHGWR past history. The historians were at this time engaged in creating national histories, seeing the new France as the continuation not of the Bourbon state but of the state of its early rulers like Charlemagne. Napoleon did his best to forward the national consciousness of his subjects, for example by building his huge monument, the Arch of Triumph, in the center of 3DULV ,Q WKH VDPH ZD\ µKLVWRULFDO¶ PRQXPHQWV ZHUH HUHFWHG DOO RYHU his kingdom, something that continued during the rest of the nineteenth century, and something that was soon copied all over Europe, although the original condition, the removal of the king, did not apply in other places, at least not for the hundred years that separated the Napoleonic Wars from the First World War.7 National history was in this way the child of the French revolution, and LWDSSHDUHGDVDQDQVZHUWRDYHU\VSHFL¿FTXHVWLRQ7RHVWDEOLVKWKHVHQVH of belonging to a common nation. It was an intellectual creation in which ordinary people had little to say, but which was then dictated to ordinary people via the school system which at the same time was improved all over Europe. In this way, history became, as it is often maintained, a weapon of mass instruction.8 7௒,WZRXOGEHLQWHUHVWLQJWR¿QGRXWKRZELJDSHUFHQWDJHRIµQDWLRQDO¶PRQXments in Europe came into existence between 1815 and 1914. Presumably most existing monuments belong to this period. Previously there was little interest in µKLVWRULFDOVLWHV¶,WLVWKXVW\SLFDORIWKHVLWXDWLRQWKDWWKHUHQHYHUZDVDPHPRULDOIRU the battle in the Teuteburger Forest (9 CE), although this was arguably one of the most important events in European history, setting for all future the borderline between WKH /DWLQ LQVSLUHG VRXWK DQG ZHVW DQG WKH µ7HXWRQLF¶ QRUWK 1RW HYHQ WKH SODFH RI WKHEDWWOH¿HOGZDVNQRZQ:KHQWKH+HUUPDQQPRQXPHQWZDVHUHFWHGDW'HWPROG EHWZHHQDQGFHOHEUDWLQJWKHYLFWRU\LWZDVQRWHYHQFORVHWRWKHEDWWOH¿HOG at Kalkriese, discovered no earlier than the 1980s (if Kalkriese is indeed the place of this famous battle). 8௒ )RU LQGLVSHQVDEOH VWXGLHV RI WKH VXEMHFW RI PHPRU\ DQG KLVWRU\ WZR )UHQFK historians stand out, Jacques le Goff and Pierre Nora, le Goff coming out of the historical school Les Annales, and joining up with Nora as a member of the school of histoire nouvelle. They are also reckoned as leading members of the direction Histoire des mentalités. Nora is in this connection especially known for his multivolume series 5HDOPV RI 0HPRU\ &RQÀLFWV DQG 'LYLVLRQV 1RUD ±  DQG Rethinking France: Les Lieux de Memoire1RUD± /H*RII¶VSULQFLSDOZRUN on the theme of history and memory is Le Goff 1992. As to be expected, considering that both Nora and le Goff represent a previous generation of historians, their position on memory is not unchallenged. See thus Todorov (2004) who talks about a special French obsession with memory. For a more mundane (down-to-earth) study on the

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Biblical Cultural Memory When we turn to the Bible, evidently an inspiration for later European intellectual tradition, it is not the history of the people of Israel that inspired, as this history never happened. It was the story about biblical Israel that inspired the imagination. These are fairly simple sentences to write but YHU\GLI¿FXOWWRXQGHUVWDQG8QWLOWKHEUHDNWKURXJKRIPRGHUQKLVWRULFDO studies it was hardly a problem if something had not happened but was invented history. Even the learned part of the community would mainly have been indifferent to the question of historicity and would probably still be of the same opinion as classical historians, that the important part was not whether or not something had happened but whether or not the tales from the past provided moral guidance for the present (Lemche 2000). In spite of pretending to be professional historians, biblical scholars continued to write hyperstories rather than critical history (cf. Liverani 1999). However, while the Bible was, before the modern break-through, considered to contain truth in the religious and moral sense, it was now believed to contain the historical truth, i.e., the true record of what had happened in the past. As a consequence every time serious changes were proposed to the basic story as found in the Old Testament, it resulted in a pitched battle, where obsolete positions were defended as if life depended on the outcome of this battle. That most of the people involved KDGDUHOLJLRXVEDFNJURXQGLVRQO\RQHSDUWRIWKHSUREOHPWKDWWKH\DOVR belonged to the already mentioned middle group of intellectuals is another problem. Somehow these European intellectuals felt at home when they translated the biblical story into modern history. Brought up within the biblical tradition, it was seemingly their own ideas about society which they found represented in biblical historiography. To mention only one example of this: The assertion that the nation consists of one and only one people. A generation ago it was still common WRVSHDNDERXWµWKHSHRSOH¶DVLILWFRQVWLWXWHGDXQLW\ZKHWKHUUDFLDORU LQWHOOHFWXDO0RGHUQKLVWRULRJUDSKHUVRIWHQFDOOHGWKHLUYHUVLRQVRI,VUDHO¶V KLVWRU\ µKLVWRULHV RI WKH -HZLVK 3HRSOH¶ RU µKLVWRULHV RI WKH SHRSOH RI ,VUDHO¶9 2EYLRXVO\ WKHVH (XURSHDQ LQWHOOHFWXDOV ± DQG WKH\ ZHUH SUDFWLFDOO\DOO(XURSHDQV±ZHUHGUDZLQJRQWKHLURZQWUDGLWLRQFRPELQHGZLWK relationship between history and memory cf. Cubitt 2007. An important forum for the continuous discussion is the e-journal History & Memory KWWSPXVHMKXHGX MRXUQDOVKLVWRU\BDQGBPHPRU\ 9௒ 7R PHQWLRQ VRPH VSHFWDFXODU H[DPSOHV (ZDOG ± 5HQDQ ± .LWWHO ± 6HOOLQ ± DQG HYHQ DV ODWH DV 'RQQHU  $OEUHFKW $OW¶V famous collection of articles also has such a title: Kleine Studien zur Geschichte des Volkes Israel$OW± 

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the rather vulgar German popular philosophy of the nineteenth century personalized in the ideas about the nation as formulated by, among others, (UQVW 0RULW]$UQGW ±  FODLPLQJ WKDW HDFK SHRSOH RU QDWLRQ was different from other nations: some represented lower life forms, some were sublime organizations like the German nation, which did not even exist when Arndt published his speculations.10 The theoretical part of the discussion about the nature of nations was not a consequence of WKH HVWDEOLVKPHQW RI WKH *HUPDQ QDWLRQ LW ZDV SDUW RI WKH IRXQGDWLRQ RQZKLFKWKH*HUPDQQDWLRQZDVIRXQGHGDIWHUWKH)UHQFK±*HUPDQZDU LQ ± %HIRUH WKH XQL¿FDWLRQ RI WKH PDQ\ *HUPDQ VWDWHV LQWR WKH German Empire, Germany was no more than a dream among intellecWXDOV±WKHDOUHDG\GHVFULEHGPLGGOHJURXS±DERXWDQDWLRQWRFRPH7KLV dream arose in Germany around 1800 and was accelerated by the Prussian defeat by Napoleon in 1806, an event which forced the Prussians, in order WRVXUYLYHSROLWLFDOO\RI¿FLDOO\WRXUJHWKHXQLW\RIDOO*HUPDQV When forming their idea of the nation, the European intellectuals drew H[WHQVLYHO\ RQ WKH FODVVLF GH¿QLWLRQ RI D SHRSOH WKH RQH IRUPXODWHG E\ Herodotus in the eighth book of his histories: ¸ħÌÀË»òÌġ?¾ÅÀÁĠÅբëġÅĞĸÄĠÅ̼Á¸ĖĝÄĠºÂÑÊÊÇÅբÁ¸Ė¿¼ľÅĎ»Éįĸ̼̊ ÁÇÀÅÛÁ¸Ė¿ÍÊţ¸Àô¿¼Š̼ĝÄŦÌÉÇȸ. (Herodotus VIII 144)

,Q$XEUH\GH6HOLQFRXUW¶VFODVVLFWUDQVODWLRQ $JDLQWKHUHLVWKH*UHHN1DWLRQ±WKHFRPPRQEORRGWKHFRPPRQODQJXDJH WKH WHPSOHV DQG UHOLJLRXV ULWXDOV WKH ZKROH ZD\ RI OLIH ZH XQGHUVWDQG DQG share together. (Sélincourt 1954, 550)

7KHWUDQVODWLRQLVDOLWWOHWHQGHQWLRXVDVZHGRQRW¿QGWKHZRUGµQDWLRQ¶ here but just ?¾ÅÀÁĠŵWKH*UHHN¶ZLWKQRH[SODQDWLRQDVWRZKDWWKLV UHIHUV WKRXJK VFKRODUV QRUPDOO\ WDNH LW WR PHDQ µSHRSOH¶ RU µHWKQRV¶ µ1DWLRQ¶PLJKWQRWEHLQFRUUHFWLIWKHPRGHUQXQGHUVWDQGLQJRIWKHZRUG is left out. It is also debatable what is meant by ¿¼ľÅ Ď»Éįĸ̊ which could EHWUDQVODWHGDVµWKHFRPPRQHVWDEOLVKPHQWVRIWKHJRGV¶DQG¿ÍÊţ¸À ô¿¼Š ̼ĝÄŦÌÉÇȸWKHDFFXVWRPHGDQGFRPPRQVDFUL¿FHV$QRWKHUWUDQVODWLRQ presented on the Internet by Shlomo Felberbaum (2010) has «DQGDIWHUZDUGVWKH*UHHNSHRSOHEHFDXVHLWLVRIWKHVDPHEORRGDQGRIWKH VDPHWRQJXHDQGERWKWKHJRGV¶FRPPRQVHDWVDQGVDFUL¿FLQJVDQGFXVWRPV RIWKHVDPHPDQQHU« 10௒$UQGWEHJDQKLVSURSDJDQGLVWLFSXEOLFDWLRQVDOUHDG\DWWKHEHJLQQLQJRIWKH QLQHWHHQWK FHQWXU\7KH XQL¿FDWLRQ RI *HUPDQ\ RFFXUUHG PRUH WKDQ WHQ \HDUV DIWHU his death.

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which changes the meaning a little but not fundamentally. The correct translation would perhaps be something like: «WKHQWKH*UHHNHVWDEOLVKPHQWSHRSOHUDFHQDWLRQ11), be it same blood, and same language, and the common establishments of the gods and the accusWRPHGDQGFRPPRQVDFUL¿FHV«

But again, the European GelehrterDVWKH\UHOLHGRQWKLVFODVVLFGH¿QLWLRQ which they also found represented by the biblical narrative about Israel, LGHQWL¿HG +HURGRWXV¶ GH¿QLWLRQ RI WKH *UHHN ?¾ÅÀÁĠÅ with their own understanding of the nation as it was formed in the early Romantic period, thereby changing it into something which was certainly not intended by WKHRULJLQDODXWKRU,QELEOLFDOVFKRODUVKLS,VUDHOZDVLGHQWL¿HGDVDQRWKHU QDWLRQLQWKHPRGHUQVHQVHRIWKHZRUGDQGEHFDPHµDQFLHQW,VUDHO¶QR more than a construction of European biblical scholarship, constructed according to European ideas of the nation as current at the time when the construction took place. These ideas, which also allow for ethical GLIIHUHQFHVEHWZHHQQDWLRQV±VRPHDUHRIPRUHVRPHRIOHVVYDOXHWKDQ RWKHUQDWLRQV±XQLWHGDVDleitmotif in Old Testament scholarship which presented the Israelites as the superior nation vis-à-vis other nations, especially the Canaanites, an abominable nation destined to be exterPLQDWHG E\ WKH ,VUDHOLWHV DOWKRXJK WKH ,VUDHOLWHV IDLOHG E\ QRW IXO¿OOLQJ their obligation to kill all Canaanites. It is in this light not surprising that a leading biblical scholar of the previous generation like William F. Albright was of the opinion that a good Canaanite was a dead Canaanite, and that the Canaanites deserved to die because of their abominable UHOLJLRXVSUDFWLFHV$OEULJKW±  In recent years several scholars, including the present writer, have addressed the question of how the violent message of the Old Testament: µJR DQG ZLSH RXW WKH &DQDDQLWHV IURP WKH IDFH RI WKH HDUWK¶ EHFDPH D leading motive in European colonialism (Lemche 2009, 112). Yet this is not a subject for discussion in the present article. Here, it is my intention to discuss the identity of those intellectuals who constructed the biblical KLVWRU\DQGDWWKHVDPHWLPHFUHDWHGµ,VUDHOLWH¶QDWLRQDOLGHQWLW\12

11௒)RUDUHFHQWUHYLHZRIWKHPHDQLQJRIWKHVHWHUPVDQGWKHLUUHVSHFWLYHGHYHORSPHQWVFI)HQWRQ± 12௒ 0\ IRUWKFRPLQJ VWXG\ Cultural Memory Is Not a Paper Tiger: In Memory of Ancient Israel ZLOO LQFOXGH DQ H[WHQGHG GLVFXVVLRQ RI µOHV FDGUHV VRFLDX[ GH OD PpPRLUH¶RIDQFLHQW,VUDHOEDVHGRQDVRFLRORJLFDOVWXG\RI3DOHVWLQLDQVRFLHW\DWWKH time when biblical tradition was formed (Lemche forthcoming).

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Why ‘Israel’? Placing Israel in inverted commas is an indication of a central problem to biblical studies: Why Israel and why not Judah? After all we talk about Judaism as the name of the culture that emerged in the Near East in the VHFRQG KDOI RI WKH ¿UVW PLOOHQQLXP %&( $V ORQJ DV LW ZDV D SRSXODU pastime among biblical scholars to submit biblical historiography to a rationalistic paraphrase, it was all too easy to accept the assertion by this historiography that there once was an Israel very much as described in the Old Testament. As a tribal coalition, Israel entered its land as conquerors, and as a tribal coalition Israel dominated life in its country before the LQWURGXFWLRQRIWKHPRQDUFK\DQGZKHQWKH¿UVWPRQDUFKVRI,VUDHOUXOHG WKH\UXOHGRYHUDQDWLRQEDVHGRQWKHWZHOYHWULEHVRI,VUDHOWKHµVRQV¶RI the Patriarch Jacob. The name of Israel was linked to these tribal and later PRQDUFKLFDOXQLWVDQGLQVSLWHRIWKHGLVVROXWLRQRI'DYLG¶VDQG6RORPRQ¶V great state the name lived on as the name of all members of this tribally based society However, in history none of this happened. Instead of a conquest and a period of the judges we have a period of transition between the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age which lasted for several hundred years. There seems WRKDYHEHHQIHZJUHDWHYHQWVIRUORFDOSHRSOHWRUHPHPEHUQRWHYHQWKH Egyptian rule of Palestine during the Late Bronze Age was remembered by one word. The exception may be the arrival of the Philistines,13 truly intruders and messengers from another part of the Mediterranean world but not totally unknown or limited in their advent to only one place, as the recently discovered presence of the Philistines west of Aleppo has shown.14 Although it was a period of changes of names and identities, it was basically the same socio-political system that dominated the ancient Near East, in, say, ca. 800 as half a millennium before. In spite of former ideas about the existence of national states versus territorial states, and the argument that national states emerged in the Iron Age,15 the system remained stable. This was especially the case in a country like Palestine, where the system so-to-speak moved from one of city-states in the Late Bronze Age, including a couple of territorial units like Jerusalem and

13௒7KH3KLOLVWLQHVDUHPHQWLRQHGLQWKLVFRQQHFWLRQEHFDXVHRIWKHWUDGLWLRQDERXW WKHLURULJLQVIRXQGLQDQXPEHURISODFHVLQWKH2OG7HVWDPHQW$PRV-HU Cf. also Gen 10:14 and 1 Chr 1:12. 14௒2QWKH3KLOLVWLQHVLQ6\ULDFI+DZNLQVDQG0HLHU2QWKHLGHQWLW\ RIWKH3KLOLVWLQHVDVµ*UHHNV¶FI/HPFKHD 15௒6XFKLGHDVZHUHVWLOOSRSXODUDJHQHUDWLRQDJR&I%XFFHOODWL

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Shechem known to have existed in the fourteenth century,16 to a system of city-states in the Iron Age with a few territorial units such as Jerusalem and Samaria (Lemche 1996). This system seems to have been constant for Palestine all the way through its history up to modern times.17 A state of the name of Israel existed in Palestine between ca. 900 and 722 BCE, when it was subdued by the Assyrians. It had its base in the northern part of the central highlands. The name was known from shortly before 1200 BCE, when it appeared in an inscription by Pharaoh 0HUQHSWDK FD ± %&(  SUREDEO\ ZLWK D WHUULWRULDO RU HWKQLF meaning.18 Israel was also the name used in the Tel Dan inscription and in the Mesha inscription from the ninth century BCE.19 How the Israel of 0HUQHSWDK¶VWLPHSUHFLVHO\UHODWHVWRWKHODWHU,VUDHORIWKHQLQWKFHQWXU\ is unknown. Maybe it was a name connected to the territory of the state which arose in the northern part of the central mountains at the beginning RI WKH ¿UVW PLOOHQQLXP PD\EH LW ZDV D WULEDO QDPH RI VRPH VRUW RU WKH name of a tribal coalition. 7KHWHUULWRULDOQDPHRIWKLVVWDWHPD\KDYHEHHQµ,VUDHO¶EXWLWVG\QDVWLF QDPHZDVµWKH+RXVHRI2PUL¶20 who, according to the Old Testament, was the most important of its rulers, and the name preserved in Assyrian inscriptions when these do not simply call the state Samarina, named after its most important city, Samaria. In the power play of western Asia in the ,URQ$JH,VUDHOZDVQRWWRWDOO\LQVLJQL¿FDQWDVORQJDVLWVNLQJVPDQDJHG to keep alliances with similar local powers. However, when alone, it was easy prey for major forces, and was utterly defeated by the Assyrians who ¿UVWUHGXFHGWKLVWHUULWRULDOVWDWHWRDFLW\VWDWH6DPDULD DQGWKHQDIHZ years later destroyed even that little state. After 722 BCE there was no state of the name of Israel anywhere until 1948 when the new Jewish state decided to be named Israel. In spite of this, the name survived in tradition, but how it happened, where it happened, and

16௒ 2Q WKH FRQWLQXDWLRQ RI ORFDO SROLWLFV LQ 3DOHVWLQH WKURXJK LWV KLVWRU\ FI Lemche: Forthcoming. 17௒&IWKHPDSVRISROLWLFDORUJDQL]DWLRQLQWKH$PDUQD$JHDQGLQWKH%\]DQWLQH Period in Lemche 2008, 431 and 449. 18௒7UDQVODWLRQLQANET, 378, COS 2:41. 19௒7HO'DQFI$WKDV+DJHOLD0HVKDFI'HDUPDQ 20௒$V UHÀHFWHG E\ WKH QRUPDO$VV\ULDQ UHIHUHQFH WR WKLV VWDWH DV %vW ‫ۏ‬XPUL\D Omri is not a Hebrew name. It might be Arab (Omar) as proposed, e.g., by Noth 1928, ,IWKLVUXOHURIµ,VUDHO¶ZDVDIRUHLJQHULWZRXOGQRWEHH[FHSWLRQDOVHHQLQOLJKWRI the praxis of, say the Amarna period, as several names of leading local personalities were of foreign extraction.

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why it happened are open questions. In the mountains to the south of the state of Israel a minor state was in existence known from the Old Testament as Judah. Until the fall of Samaria there are no non-biblical references to -XGDK:HGRQ¶WHYHQNQRZLIWKLVVWDWHZDVUHDOO\FDOOHG-XGDK,WVPDLQ FLW\ZDVQRW-HUXVDOHPZKLFKZDVVWLOOVPDOODQGLQVLJQL¿FDQWEXW/DFKLVK VRPHWZHQW\PLOHVVRXWKZHVWRI-HUXVDOHP7KH¿UVWFOHDUPHQWLRQRI-XGDK in Assyrian sources is in connection with King Hezekiah, whose territory the Assyrian annals describes as LU ia-ú-da-ai µWKH PDQ IURP -XGDK¶21 $OWKRXJK VRPHWLPHV WUDQVODWHG DV µWKH -HZ¶ WKH PHDQLQJ LV SUREDEO\ UDWKHUµWKHPDQIURP-XGDK¶RUµWKH-XGHDQ¶22 referring to Hezekiah as the man of the state or landscape called Judah, in which case the name is a testimony to the name of the territorial state of Judah. Manasseh is similarly in documents from the time of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal described as µNLQJRI-XGDK¶ANET± 6LPLODUO\WKH1HR%DE\ORQLDQ&KURQLFOH PHQWLRQV KRZ 1HEXFKDGQH]]DU ODLG VLHJH RQ µWKH FLW\ RI -XGDK¶ 858 LDD‫ې‬XGX:LVHPDQ   UHY  *UD\VRQ   and adminisWUDWLYHGRFXPHQWVIURP1HEXFKDGQH]]DU¶VWLPHUHIHU WR-HKRLDNLQDQGµWKH VRQV RIWKHNLQJRI-XGDK¶ANET 308). There can be no doubt that Israel was never the name of the kingdom of Judah: not even after the fall of Samaria. Israel is not remembered, and in the relatively few documents that exist from the Persian period, notably WKH SDS\UL IURP (OHSKDQWLQH ZH ¿QG WKH FRORQLDOLVWV IURP 3DOHVWLQH GHVFULELQJWKHPVHOYHVDVµ-XGHDQV¶'#!'.23 Even the Hasmoneans did not UHIHU WR WKHPVHOYHV DV µ,VUDHOLWHV¶ 2Q +DVPRQHDQ FRLQV ZH VRPHWLPHV ¿QG LQVFULSWLRQV PHQWLRQLQJ WKH QDPH RI D +DVPRQHDQ KLJK SULHVW LQ connection with -'#!'! :%µWKHFRXQFLORIWKH-HZV¶24 When the books of Maccabees refer to the opposition against the Seleucids, it is not Israel ZKLFKLV¿JKWLQJWKH*UHHNVEXWWKH-HZV-XGHDQVDVDWWKHRSHQLQJRI 2 Maccabees:

21௒/XFNHQELOO2ULHQWDO,QVWLWXWH3ULVP&RO,,,O 22௒µ+H]HNLDKWKH-HZ¶7KXV/XFNHQELOODQG$/2SSHQKHLPANET, µ+H]HNLDKWKH-XGHDQ¶HJ0RUGHFKDL&RJDQCOS, 2:303. 23௒ &RZOH\  DV '#!', '#!', or 0'#!': cf. index, p. 290. Judah is also mentioned, ibid.LQSHWLWLRQVWR%DJRKL#!'=%6WKHµJRYHUQRURI-XGDK¶ 31,18 mentions #!'':%#WKHµQREOHVRI-XGDK¶ 24௒0HVKRUHU±7KXV-'#!'!:!#+!0!)!#!'µ-HKXGDWKHKLJK SULHVWDQGWKHDVVHPEO\RIWKH-HZV¶0HVKRUHU DQG:!#+!0!)!0=1#!' -'#!'!µ-RQDWKDQWKHKLJKSULHVWDQGWKHDVVHPEO\RIWKH-HZV¶0HVKRUHU  Whenever a Hasmonean king is referred to, it is always only by name and the title µNLQJ¶

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ÇėË Ò»¼ÂÎÇėË ÌÇėË Á¸Ìφ ċºÍÈÌÇÅ ÇÍ»¸ţÇÀË Ï¸ţɼÀÅ ÇĎ Ò»¼ÂÎÇĖ ÇĎ ëÅ ¼ÉÇÊÇÂįμÇÀË ÇÍ»¸ėÇÀ Á¸Ė ÇĎ ëÅ Ìĉ ÏŪÉß ÌýË ÇÍ»¸ţ¸Ë ¼ĊÉŢžŠҺ¸¿ŢÅ To the brethren, the Jews in Egypt, from the Jewish brethren in Jerusalem and those in the land of Judea prosperous peace. (2 Macc 1:1)

7KHXVHRIµ,VUDHO¶VHHPVWREHFRQ¿QHGWRWKH2OG7HVWDPHQWDQGWH[WV representing a rewriting of Old Testament historiography. In this sense ZH¿QG,VUDHOXVHGLQHJ-XELOHHVDQGPD\EHDOUHDG\&KURQLFOHV7KXV ZKHQ-RVHSKXVWRZDUGVWKHHQGRIWKH¿UVWFHQWXU\&(ZURWHKLVERRNV RQ WKH 5RPDQ±-HZLVK :DU `ÇÍ»¸ŤÁÇı ÈŦ¼ÄÇË (Bellum Ioudaicum), it ZDVDERXWWKHZDURIWKH-HZVDQGQRW,VUDHO¶VZDUDJDLQVWWKH5RPDQV and when he wrote his new history of the Jews, `ÇÍ»¸ŤÁŢ ÉϸÀÇÂǺţ¸ (Antiquitates Judaicae), it was not the Antiquities of Israel or the Israelites, but the Antiquities of the Jews.25 Israel is in such works hardly more than a memory of the past, a name found in transmitted literature. ,W FDUULHV QR PHDQLQJ LQ LWVHOI 7KLV VHHPV WR KDYH FKDQJHG ¿UVW ZKHQ Jewish coins were minted during the revolt against the Romans with the inscription +:«@>«@>«@

These Israelites are the only people from Antiquity who, in the remains found outside of the Old Testament, call themselves Israelites, although they seemingly belong in a Hellenistic and Greek context. It is not only an example of a cultural memory that links them to Mount Gerizim, but they describe themselves as active contributors to the religious establishment at Gerizim. The link between Israel and Gerizim is therefore an established fact. We KDYHQRVXFKFRQ¿UPDWLRQRIDVLPLODUOLQNEHWZHHQ,VUDHODQG-HUXVDOHP We cannot say that it did not exist, only that there are no witnesses to it. Still, the link between Israel and the northern part of the central highlands of Palestine seems to be the primary one, and the geographical location of Israel in the Shechem-Samaria area may be traced a long way back in the history of Palestine in Antiquity, probably already indicated by the inclusion of Israel in the Merneptah inscription in a location which this author already in 1985 placed in the territory between Jerusalem and -HQLQ /HPFKH  ±  7KH ,VUDHOLWHV IURP 'HORV DUH QRW RQO\ nourishing a recollection of Israel as a kind of cultural memory from the SDVWWKH\FRQVLGHUWKHPVHOYHVDFWLYHPHPEHUVRIDVRFLHW\RUJDQL]DWLRQ carrying the name of Israel.41 41௒)RUPRUHDERXWWKHVHLQVFULSWLRQVLQFOXGLQJOLWHUDWXUHVHH/HPFKHE&I DOVR.DUWYHLW±ZKRGRHVQRWKRZHYHUGUDZWKHVDPHFRQFOXVLRQVDV this writer.

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The formation of the biblical tradition about Israel understood as the cultural memory of the intellectual elite in cities like Samaria and Shechem with Gerizim is therefore highly likely. However, were Samaria not the place where the tradition of Israel originated, the most likely alterQDWLYHZRXOGEHWKH-HZLVKGLDVSRUDDIWHU$OH[DQGHU¶VGHDWKLQ%&( If we think of Seleucid Mesopotamia, Greek and oriental tradition could HDVLO\PLQJOHLQWRDV\PELRVLVZKLFKPD\EHWKHRQHUHÀHFWHGLQELEOLFDO literature. Another possibility is Ptolemaic Egypt, especially Alexandria with its learned centers, particularly if the story of the deportation of Samarians in the days of Ptolemy I (then still a general) to Egypt has any value.42 Whether Samarian, Mesopotamian, or Alexandrinian, the carriers of WKH WUDGLWLRQ PD\ EH LGHQWL¿HG , KDYH DW VRPH SRLQW GHVFULEHG WKHP DV µ7DOLEDQHVTXH¶ LQ UHIHUHQFH WR WKH PRGHUQ ,VODPLVW JURXS WKDW WULHG WR establish the kingdom of God in Afghanistan (Lemche 2003). The writers who put the memory of ancient Israel into writing were not unbiased historians or storytellers. It was a partisan group that excluded any person not to their liking. 7KHLUVHOILGHQWL¿FDWLRQDSSHDUVLQ2OG7HVWDPHQWWH[WVOLNH3VDQG Isa 5. Psalm 1 distinguishes between two types of people, the ungodly mob, and the God-fearing pious Jew who ponders the law day and night, whereas according to Isa 5, all kinds of normal people are denounced because they have rejected the word of God. These texts go well with the general attitude of the Old Testament that the sole obligation of a true Israelite is to obey the word of God and especially not to worship other JRGV(YHU\SDUWRI,VUDHO¶VKLVWRU\LVHYDOXDWHGDVUHVWLQJRQWKHVHSLOODUV :HFRXOGVD\WKDWWKHLPDJHRIWKHWUXHIROORZHURI*RGµ7DOLEDQ¶ LVWKH UHOLJLRXVIDQDWLFFDULQJIRUQRWKLQJEXWWKHZRUGRI*RGLQ3VLGHQWL¿HG ZLWKWKH7RUDKWKHµLQVWUXFWLRQ¶JLYHQE\*RGWRKLVIROORZHUV43 As the Greek philosopher said, if cows had gods, they would form their images of their gods in their own likeness. The same can be said about human beings. If God is described as a patron binding his faithful to him through a covenant, a treaty creating borders between his faithful and all RWKHU SHRSOH WKHQ WKLV SHRSOH RI *RG LV GH¿QLQJ LWV UHODWLRQVKLS WR LWV God as a patronage system molded according to its own socio-political reality. God is the patron, his people his clients. This system is more than DPHWDSKRULWLVWKHYHU\HVVHQFHRIWKHWUDGLWLRQDO0HGLWHUUDQHDQVRFLHW\

42௒6HH-RVHSKXVAnt. XII:1. 43௒2Q7RUDKDVPHDQLQJQRWµODZ¶EXWµLQVWUXFWLRQ¶µJXLGDQFH¶FI/HPFKH ±DQGIRUWKHVHOIGH¿QLWLRQRIµWKHSHRSOHRI*RG¶FI/HPFKH±

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7KH VSHFL¿F WKLQJ DERXW ELEOLFDO ,VUDHO XQGHUVWRRG WR EH WKH SHRSOH RI God is the very special elements that mark this Israel out in comparison to µQRUPDO¶SHRSOHDVDFOHDUO\UHOLJLRXVVRFLHW\FODLPLQJDODQGIRULWVRZQ and disregarding the right of all other inhabitants to exist in the kingdom RI *RG ,W LV DQ RQJRLQJ WKHPH LQ WKH ¿UVW VL[ ERRNV RI WKH %LEOH WKDW &DQDDQ¶VPDQ\QDWLRQVPXVWEHUHPRYHGIURPWKHVRLORI,VUDHO¶VODQGRU Yahweh will sooner or later have to reject his people and recall his gifts to this nation of God. With bits of memories from Palestine and elsewhere, some with a historical basis, some without any foundation in history, and incorpoUDWLQJWUDGLWLRQVRIWKHPRVWKHWHURJHQHRXVRULJLQV±*UHHN3DOHVWLQLDQ 0HVRSRWDPLDQDQG(J\SWLDQ±DVRFLHW\ZDVIRUPHGLQWKHLPDJHRIWKH self-understanding of the people who wrote the historical literature of the Old Testament, Prophets, and Psalms.44 Wisdom literature in the Old Testament is in many ways different but not in disaccord with the general attitude of the writers. It is politically and religiously mostly neutral. If the intention was to create a political program for the present, these writers IDLOHG PLVHUDEO\ DV QRWKLQJ LQGLFDWHV WKDW µ,VUDHO¶ ZDV DFFHSWHG DV WKH name of the Jewish society as long as it existed in Palestine, i.e. until the ¿UVWDQGVHFRQGFHQWXU\&($VVDLGEHIRUHSHRSOHZKRFRXOGUHDGDQG write did not automatically belong to the political elite. In the real world things move according to rules other than the program for a society put forward by such intellectuals. However, if it was to create a program for the future, they succeeded very well as the program was for a new society carrying the words of God in its heart. It is clearly not coincidental that the ¿UVW-HZVWRDFFHSWWKHQDPHRI,VUDHODVWKHQDPHRIWKHNLQJGRPWRFRPH belonged to messianic movements, being either Christians or supporters of Bar Kochba. By describing a society of the past as the runaway people of God, the writers have put up a program for the society which they hope ZLOOFRPH:HPD\EHDEOHKHUHWR¿QGWKHW\SLFDOLQWHUSUHWDWLRQRIKLVWRU\ in Antiquity: the past was golden, the present is without hope but there is hope for the future, when the old days return, yet in the case of Israel, with a renewed and better foundation.

44௒ ,Q /HPFKH  , GHVFULEH D SURJUDP DFFRUGLQJ WR ZKLFK WKH KLVWRULFDO books, especially the two books of Kings and the prophetic literature, are two sides of the same coin. In Prophets we can read what is going to happen, and in Kings that it did happen. Psalms includes a program for the people of God with its insistence on WKH¿JKWEHWZHHQ*RG¶VSHRSOHDQGWKHXQJRGO\RQHV&IHVSHFLDOO\FKV±

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Concluding Remarks Now it is time to approach a conclusion of sorts, overviewing the evidence. No political organization existed by the name of Israel between  %&( DQG  DQG µ,VUDHO¶ ZDV QHYHU XVHG DERXW D FRQWHPSRUDU\ political organization and with a contemporary political meaning. When WKH ELEOLFDO ERRNV ZHUH SXW GRZQ LQ ZULWLQJ WKHLU µ,VUDHO¶ EHORQJHG WR KLVWRU\DQGDFFRUGLQJWRWKHVWDQGDUGVRIWKLVNLQGRIOLWHUDWXUH±DQFLHQW KLVWRULRJUDSK\ ± ,VUDHO UHSUHVHQWHG D SDVW WKDW VKRXOG QRW EH IRUJRWWHQ a bad example that could be learned from in the present. Biblical Israel is the chosen people of God that in the end was rejected by that God because it had proven unworthy of its role as a light to the nations. It is also a manipulated past, because it is evaluated according to the standards set up by the very same people who wrote the story about biblical Israel. And it is a theological past because of its importance as an example to the present. The present is the people who carry the word of God, the new covenant, in its heart, as pronounced in Jer 31. By the way, it is most likely also within this paradigm that Paul in the New Testament makes his distinction between Israel kata sarka and Israel kata pneuma. Since there are no indications of any endeavour in the time of Paul to identify -HZVZLWK,VUDHOLWHVLQWKHSROLWLFDOVHQVHLWLVEHWWHUWRXQGHUVWDQG3DXO¶V GLVWLQFWLRQ EHWZHHQ WKH WZR ,VUDHO¶V LQ WKH OLJKW RI WKH ELEOLFDO VWRU\ RI ancient Israel as the people of God that failed and was unfaithful towards its master and God. When Bar Kochba took up the name of Israel in a political sense, it might still have been based not on a secular political agenda in the simple understanding of the term, but on a religious program as well: This son RIWKHVWDUDVKLVQDPHZDVµWUDQVODWHG¶ZRXOGHYHQWXDOO\EHWKHPHVVLDK who would raise biblical Israel to its former glory. It was a problem that the Romans did not understand the beauty of such a vision until several hundred years later. When the Zionists who founded the modern state of Israel selected Israel as the name of their state, they followed true to their LQVWLQFWV WKH VHFXODU SDUW RI %DU .RFKED¶V PHVVLDQLF PHVVDJH7KH\ GLG not relate it to Bar Kochba but to David as the great ruler of biblical Israel, transforming biblical memory into history. A Final Word About Memory and History It might be that cultural memory, seen as the glue that keeps a society together, is based on a collective memory of a common destiny of the inhabitants of a certain area, or forms the background of a feeling of belonging somewhere. It might be that it is based on several issues

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OLNH ± DSDUW IURP DQFLHQW GH¿QLWLRQV DERXW FRPPRQ EORRG FRPPRQ ODQJXDJH DQG FRPPRQ UHOLJLRQ LQ WKH VHQVH IRXQG LQ +HURGRWXV¶ GH¿QLWLRQRIDQHWKQLFJURXSPHDQLQJFXOWXUH ±IRRGFKRLFHGUHVVERG\ art, common habits, architecture, landscape, and much more. However, it is at the same time at odds with modern scholarship devoted to the concept of ethnicity which shows that the idea of ethnic belonging may WUDQVJUHVVDOORIWKHVHVXEGLYLVLRQV7KXVWKH%DপWL\DUVRIFRQWHPSRUDU\ Iran consider themselves one ethnic group although they do not all share a common landscape, or a common material culture. As I described them in DQHDUOLHUSXEOLFDWLRQWKH\µUHSUHVHQWDQH[WUHPHO\KHWHURJHQHRXVVRFLRORJLFDODQGSROLWLFDOJURXS¶/HPFKH± 45 What actually keeps WKHP WRJHWKHU DW OHDVW LQ WKHRU\ LV WKH FRQYLFWLRQ RI EHLQJ %DপWL\DUV ,Q PDQ\ ZD\V WKLV DFFRUGV ZLWK )UHGULN %DUWK¶V GH¿QLWLRQ RI HWKQLFLW\ DOUHDG\TXRWHGDERYHDQGGH¿QLWHO\DOVRLQWURGXFHVDQHFHVVDU\HOHPHQW of instability and dynamism. Or as also expressed by Barth, ethnic identity depends on adscription and description: How do you see yourself, and how do other people see you? If anything the study of ethnicity has shown ethnic groups to be unstable, stressing this lack of stability in contrast to the position of the primordialists, putting emphasis on a stable concept of DJURXS¶VHWKQLFFRKHUHQFH This is an important point, as most identities created by the intellectual elite as described on these pages are stable and not really accepting of change. When the notion of the European nations was created about two hundred years ago, the concept was of unchanging identities, although developments in Europe have since then shown this to be a totally false description of European society, which has never stopped transforming itself into new combinations, new ethnicities. The idea of Israelite ethnicity based on a cultural memory shared by DOOµ,VUDHOLWHV¶±DVDPDWWHURIIDFW-HZV±DQGXVHGWRGD\ZLWKDVWURQJHU emphasis than ever of not being the victim of changes, was the creation of the intellectual elite found in a few localities in the Palestinian highlands in the Hellenistic Period. In its modern form it mainly disregards the myriads of ethnic changes that have taken place ever since Antiquity, transforming the population into new identities such as the modern Palestinians. The UHFHQWKHDWHGGLVFXVVLRQDERXW6KORPR6DQG¶VWKHRU\RIWKH.D]DURULJLQV RI(XURSHDQ-HZVLVRQO\DQRWKHUH[DPSOHRIWKHLQÀXHQFHRILQWHOOHFWXDO reason over historical facts (Sand 2009).

45௒%DVHGRQWKHDQWKURSRORJLFDOVWXGLHVRI(KPDQQDQG'LJDUG6HH also Digard 1982.

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Cultural memory appeared as the construction of the intellectual elite, which was until modern times and modern mass media very few in number and totally in charge of communication. No doubt these intellectuals borrowed from local memories, habits, and prejudices, at home as well as in foreign contexts, much in the way composers have adapted folk music into their own music, but the choice of elements to become part of their construction was their responsibility alone. Bibliography Albright, W. F. 1940. From the Stone Age to Christianity: Monotheism and the Historical Process. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. $OW$'LH+HLPDWGHV'HXWHURQRPLXPV3DJHV±LQ$OW± ²²²±Kleine Studien zur Geschichte des Volkes Israel. Munich: Beck. Athas, G. 2003. The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Interpretation. -6276XS/RQGRQ6KHI¿HOG$FDGHPLF Barstad, H. M. 1996. The Myth of the Empty Land. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press. %DUWK )  ,QWURGXFWLRQ 3DJHV ± LQ Ethnic Group and Boundaries. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Buccellati, G. 1967. Cities and Nations of Ancient Syria: An Essay on Political Institutions with Special Reference to the Israelite Kingdom. Studia Semitici 26. Rome: Istituto di Studi del Vicino Oriente, Università di Roma. Connerton, P. 1989. How Societies Remember. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cowley, A. E. 2005. Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock [1923]. Cubitt, G. 2007. History and Memory. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Dailey, S. 1989. Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh and Others. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dearman, A., ed. 1989. Studies in the Mesha Inscription and Moab. Archaeology and Biblical Studies 2. Atlanta: Scholars Press. 'LJDUG-3'HODQpFHVVLWpHWGHVLQFRQYpQLHQWVSRXUXQ%D[WL\kULG¶rWUHED[WL\kUL &RPPXQDXWpWHUULWRLUHHWLQpJDOLWpFKH]OHVSDVWHXUVQRPDGHVG¶,UDQ3DJHV± in Pastoral Production and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ———. 1982. Techniques des Nomades Baxtyari d’Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Donner, H. 1984. Geschichte des Volkes Israel und seiner Nachbarn in Grundzügen. Das $OWH 7HVWDPHQW 'HXWVFK (UJlQ]XQJVUHLKH %DQG  *|WWLQJHQ 9DQGHQKRHFN  Ruprecht. Edelman, D. 2005. The Origins of the ‘Second’ Temple: Persian Imperial Policy and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem. London: Equinox. Ehmann, D. 1975. %D‫ې‬WL\ƗUHQ3HUVLVFKH%HUJQRPDGHQLP:DQGHOGHU=HLW. Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert. (ZDOG + ± Geschichte des Volkes Israel *|WWLQJHQ ,Q GHU 'LHWHULFNV¶VFKHQ Buchhandlung. Faust, A. 2012. Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. )HOEHUEDXP6 WUDQV  ,QTXLULHV E\ +HURGRWXV%RRNKWWSZZZORVWWUDLOVFRP SDJHV7DOHV,QTXLULHV+HURGRWXVBKWPO&LWHG2FWREHU

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Fenton, S. 2010. Ethnicity. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity. Finkelstein, I. 2001. The Rise of Jerusalem and Judah: The Missing Link. Levant ± Finkelstein, I., and N. A. Silberman. 2001. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts. New York: The Free Press Grayson, A. K. 2000. Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles. Repr. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. *URVE\67KH,QH[SXQJHDEOH7LHRI3ULPRULDOLW\3DJHV±LQ+XWFKLQVRQDQG Smith 1996. Hagelia, H. 2006. The Tel Dan Inscription: A Critical Investigation of Research on Its Palaeography and Philology. Acta Universitatis Uppsalienses, Studia Semitica Upsaliensia 22. Uppsala: Uppsala University. Hawkins, J. D. 2009. Cilicia, the Amuq, and Aleppo: New Light on a Dark Age. Near Eastern ArchaeologyQR± +MHOP ,  0W *HUL]LP DQG 6DPDULWDQV LQ 5HFHQW 5HVHDUFK 3DJHV ± in Samaritans: Past and Present Current Studies. Edited by Menachem Mor, Frierich V. Reiterer, and Waltraud Winkler. Studia Samaritana 5. Berlin: de Gruyter. Hutchinson, J., and A. D. Smith. 1996. Ethnicity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kartveit, M. 2009. The Origins of the Samaritans. VTSup 128. Leiden: Brill. .LWWHO5±Geschichte des Volkes Israel. Gotha: Leopold Klotz Verlag. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, last ed. Originally Geshichte der Hebräer± Knoppers, G. N. 2004. Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Zion: A Study in the Early History RI WKH 6DPDULWDQV DQG -HZV  &6%6 3UHVLGHQWLDO $GGUHVV ZZZFFVUFD FVEV35(6,'(17,$/SGI Kuhnen, H.-P. 2004. Israel unmittelbar vor und nach Alexander dem Großen: Geschichtlicher :DQGHOXQGDUFKlRORJLVFKHU%HIXQG3DJHV±LQDie Griechen und das antike Israel: Interdisziplinäre Studien zur Religions- und Kultrugeschichte des Heiligen Landes. Edited by S. Alkier and M. Witte. OBO 201. Fribourg: Academic Press. *|WWLQJHQ9DQGHQKRHFN 5XSUHFKW Le Goff, J. 1992. History and Memory. New York: Columbia University Press. French original Histoire et mémoire. Paris: Gallimard, 1988. Lemche, N. P. 1985. Early Israel: Anthropological and Historical Studies on the Israelite Society Before the Monarchy. VTSup 37. Leiden: Brill. ²²²)URP3DWURQDJH6RFLHW\WR3DWURQDJH6RFLHW\3DJHV±LQThe Origins of the Israelite States. Edited by Volkmar Fritz and Philip R. Davies. JSOTSup 228. 6KHI¿HOG6KHI¿HOG$FDGHPLF ———. 1998. The Israelites in History and Tradition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox. ———. 2000. Good and Bad in History: The Greek Connection. The Purpose of +LVWRULRJUDSK\ 3DJHV ± LQ Rethinking the Foundations: Historiography in the Ancient World and in the Bible: Essays in Honour of John Van Seters. Edited by 60F.HQ]LHDQG75|PHU%=$: 294. Berlin: de Gruyter. ———. 2001. How Does One Date an Expression of Mental History? The Old Testament DQG+HOOHQLVP3DJHV±LQDid Moses Speak Attic? Jewish Historiography and Scripture in the Hellenistic Period. Edited by L. L. Grabbe. JSOTSup 317. 6KHI¿HOG6KHI¿HOG$FDGHPLF5HSULQSDJHV±RI13/HPFKHBiblical Studies and the Failure of History: Changing Perspectives, 3. CIS. London: Equinox, 2013.

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²²²µ%HFDXVH7KH\+DYH&DVW$ZD\WKH/DZRIWKH/RUGRI+RVWV¶±2Uµ:H DQGWKH5HVWRIWKH:RUOG¶7KH$XWKRUV:KRµ:URWH¶WKH2OG7HVWDPHQWSJOT 17: ± ———. 2008. The Old Testament Between Theology and History. Louisville: Westminster John Knox. ———. 2009. How Christianity Won the World. SJOT ± ²²²D8VLQJWKH&RQFHSWRI(WKQLFLW\LQ'H¿QLQJ3KLOLVWLQH,GHQWLW\LQWKH,URQ Age. SJOT ± ²²² E 7KH *UHHN ,VUDHOLWHV DQG *HUL]LP LQ 7DO 'DYLGRYLFK 3DJHV ± LQ Plogbillar & svärd: En festskrift till Stig Norin. Edited by Tal Davidivich. Uppsala: Molin & Sorgenfrei. ²²²([LOHDVWKH*UHDW'LYLGH:RXOG7KHUH%HDQµ$QFLHQW,VUDHO¶:LWKRXWDQ ([LOH"3DJHV±LQMyths of Exile: History and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible. Edited by A. K. Gudme and I. Hjelm. Copenhagen International Seminar. London: Routledge. ———. Forthcoming. Cultural Memory Is Not a Paper Tiger: In Memory of Ancient Israel. Lipschits, O. 2005. The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem: Judah Under Babylonian Rule. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. /LYHUDQL 0  1XRYL VYLOXSSL QHOOR VWXGLR GHOOD VWRULD GHOO¶,VUDHOH ELEOLFR Biblica ± Luckenbill, D. D. 2005. The Annals of Sennacherib. Repr. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. Originally published 1924. Magen, Y. 1993. Mount Gerizim. NAEHL± ———. 2007. The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim LQ/LJKWRIWKH$UFKDHRORJLFDO(YLGHQFH3DJHV±LQJudah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E. Edited by Oded Lipchits, Gary N. Knoppers, and Rainer Albertz. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Magen, Y., H. Misgav, and L. Tsefania. 2004. Mount Gerizim Excavations, Vol. 1, The Aramaic, Hebrew and Samaritan Inscriptions. Judea and Samaria Publications 2. -HUXVDOHP6WDII2I¿FHURI$UFKDHRORJ\&LYLO$GPLQLVWUDWLRQRI-XGHDDQG6DPDULD 0HLHU$  1HZ µ1HDU (DVWHUQ$UFKDHRORJ\¶ DQG WKH 1RUWKHUQ 3KLOLVWLQHV" KWWS JDWKZRUGSUHVVFRPQHZQHDUHDVWHUQDUFKDHRORJ\DQGWKHQRUWKHUQ SKLOLVWLQHV&LWHG2FWREHU Meshorer, Y. 2001. A Treasury of Jewish Coins: From the Persian Period to Bar Kokhba. Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press. 1D¶DPDQ 1  :KHQ DQG +RZ 'LG -HUXVDOHP %HFRPH D *UHDW &LW\" 7KH 5LVH RI -HUXVDOHPDV-XGDK¶V3UHPLHU&LW\LQWKH(LJKWK6HYHQWK&HQWXULHV%&(BASOR ± 1RUD 3 ± 5HDOPV RI 0HPRU\ &RQÀLFWV DQG 'LYLVLRQV. 3 vols. New York: Columbia University Press. ²²²±Rethinking France: Les Lieux de Memoire. 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. French originals: Les lieux de mémoire. Paris: Gallimard, ± Noth, M. 1928. Die israelitischen Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung%:$176WXWWJDUW.RKOKDPPHU 5HQDQ(±Histoire du peuple d’Israël. Paris: Calmann-Lévy. Sand, S. 2009. The Invention of the Jewish People. New York: Verso.

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Sélincourt, A. de. 1954. Herodotus: The Histories. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin. 6HOOLQ ( ± Geschichte des Israelitisch-jüdischen Volkes. Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer. Ska, J.-L. 2006. Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. 6PLWK$'&KRVHQ3HRSOHV3DJHV±LQ+XWFKLQVRQDQG6PLWK Tappy, R. E. 2001. The Archaeology of Israelite Samaria, Vol. 2. Harvard Semitic Studies +DUYDUG6HPLWLF0XVHXP:LQRQD/DNH,1(LVHQEUDXQV Todorov, T. 2004. Les abus de la mémoire. Paris: Arléa. Ussishkin, D. 1982. The Conquest of Lachish by Sennacherib. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University. ———. 2006. The Borders and De Facto 6L]HRI-HUXVDOHP3DJHV±LQJudah and the Judeans in the Persian Period. Edited by Oded Lipschits and Manfred Oeming. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Wette, W. M. L. de. 1805. Dissertatio critica qua Deuteronomium diversum a prioribus Pentateuchi libris, alius cuisdam recentioris autoris opus esse demonstrator. Jena: /HWHULV(W]GRU¿L Wiseman, D. J. 1956. Chronicles of the Chaldaean Kings (626–556 B.C.) in the British Museum. London: The Trustees of the British Museum.

T ඁൾ H ංඌඍඈඋඒ ඈൿ I ඌඋൺൾඅ ±: ංඍඁඈඎඍ ඍඁൾ B ංൻඅൾ : A T ඁඈඎ඀ඁඍ E එඉൾඋංආൾඇඍ* Jim West (Ming Hua Theological College) For many years the argument has been made that the history of Israel cannot be reconstructed without the Bible as a source text. Or, to state it differently, what exactly would a history of Israel look like if it did not include any reference, at all, to the Bible? That question serves as the springboard to this little thought experiment in which I shall endeavor to µPLQH¶WKHGRFXPHQWVRIWKHDQFLHQW1HDU(DVWIRUUHIHUHQFHVWRµ+HEUHZ¶ µ+HEUHZV¶µ,VUDHO¶µ-XGDK¶µ-HUXVDOHP¶DQGµ,VUDHOLWHV¶ The terms chosen for exploration are the most commonly used in ELEOLFDOOLWHUDWXUHWRGH¿QHWKHSHRSOHZKRVHWUDGLWLRQVFRPSULVHWKH%LEOH RUPRUHSUHFLVHO\µWKH2OG7HVWDPHQW+HEUHZ%LEOH¶ 7KRVHWHUPVDUH WKHRQO\ZD\E\ZKLFKZHFDQFRQQHFWWKHµDQFLHQW,VUDHOLWHV¶ZKDWHYHU WKDW PHDQV  ZLWK WKH %LEOH DQG ZLWK WKH ODQG RI WKH %LEOH &DQDDQ 3DOHVWLQH,VUDHO The methodology to be utilized here is simple: What do ancient sources VD\ DERXW WKHVH SHRSOHWKLV QDWLRQ" 'R WKH\ UHIHUHQFH WKHP DQG LI VR ZKHQDQGZKDWGRWKH\VD\RIWKHP" Objections of course will arise. Why should ancient texts be privileged and the biblical texts ignored and not allowed the same privilege? The DQVZHULVVLPSOH±WKLVLVDWKRXJKWH[SHULPHQW,DPµSUHWHQGLQJ¶WKDWWKH Bible does not exist and scholars have happened upon a group of ancient WH[WVZKLFKPHQWLRQDP\VWHULRXVDQGXQNQRZQHQWLW\SHRSOHSODFHFDOOHG µ,VUDHO¶RUµ-XGDK¶RUµ,VUDHOLWHV¶ZLWKDFLW\WKH\VHHPWRYLHZDVLPSRUWDQW QDPHGµ-HUXVDOHP¶$UHµ,VUDHO¶DQGµ-XGDK¶WKHVDPHWKLQJ"$UHWKHWHUPV synonymous? Or are they different? If so, what can we know of them from the sources we do have? * This essay is gratefully offered in honor of my friend Keith Whitelam for his years of collegiality and personal hospitality and especially for his ability to provoke thought. With special thanks to Niels Peter Lemche for looking it over and making helpful suggestions.

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The material to be examined is drawn from the extremely useful Context of Scripture.1 This resource contains every reliable mention of µ,VUDHO¶ HWF NQRZQ WR WKLV KLVWRULFDO SRLQW$OVR XVHIXO DUH WKH VHYHUDO examples provided by Philip Davies in his In Search of ‘Ancient Israel¶2 Archaeological evidence will be ignored and the focus here will be RQ WH[WXDO HYLGHQFH DORQH IRU RQH VLPSOH UHDVRQ ± VSDFH 7KHUH VLPSO\ LV QRW VSDFH LQ WKH FRQ¿QHV RI D Festschrift to engage the mountain of archaeological evidence for the topic at hand. But, that said, archaeology LVLWVHOIDTXLWHGLI¿FXOWVRXUFHRIKLVWRULFDOLQIRUPDWLRQWRXQUDYHO:KDW IRULQVWDQFHPDNHVDµIRXUURRPKRXVH¶µ,VUDHOLWH¶":KDWHYLGHQFHGRZH have that a city with gates of six chambers must, because of that simple IDFW EH µ,VUDHOLWH¶"$UFKDHRORJ\ FDQ DQG GRHV LOOXPLQDWH FXOWXUH ± EXW whose culture remains, in most instances, an open question.3 To turn now to the issue at hand, the preceding caveats being understood, the Context of Scripture lists the following occurrences for the forms we are interested in examining: +HEUHZ± ,VUDHOEDFEFDF±  Israelite Hebrew: 2.137 Israelite tribal confederacy: 1.185 ,VUDHOLWHG -XGDKGDD±F 125 Judahite: 3.245d Judea: 1.286c Judean: 3.77

1௒:LOOLDP:+DOORDQG./DZVRQZDVEHFDPHNLQ@JRYHU,V>UDHO@ siege against [ ]6

The Mesha Inscription And the men of Gad lived in the land of Ataroth from ancient times, and the king of Israel built Ataroth for himself, and I fought against the city, and I captured it, DQG,NLOOHGDOOWKHSHRSOH>IURP@WKHFLW\DVDVDFUL¿FH" IRU.HPRVKDQG IRU0RDEDQG,EURXJKWEDFNWKH¿UHKHDUWKRIKLV8QFOH" IURPWKHUHDQG I hauled it before the face of Kemosh in Kerioth, and I made the men of Sharon live there, as well as the men of Maharith. And Kemosh said to me: µ*RWDNH1HERIURP,VUDHO¶ And I went in the night, and I fought against it from the break of dawn until noon, and I took it, and I killed [its] whole population, seven thousand male citizens (?) and aliens (?), DQGIHPDOHFLWL]HQV" DQGDOLHQV" DQGVHUYDQWJLUOV for I had put it to the ban for Ashtar Kemosh. And from there, I took th[e ves]sels of yhwh, and I hauled them before the face of Kemosh. And the king of Israel had built Jahaz, and he stayed there during his campaigns against me, and Kemosh drove him away before my face, and I took two hundred men of Moab, all its division (?), and I led it up to Jahaz. And I have taken it in order to add it to Dibon.7

6௒COS± 7௒COS±

:ൾඌඍThe History of Israel – Without the Bible

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II. ‘Hebrew’ (Language) These texts are those written in Hebrew. 0H‫܈‬DG‫ۉ‬DVKDY\DKX2VWUDFRQ 0D\WKHRI¿FLDOP\ORUGKHDUWKHSOHDRIKLVVHUYDQW \RXUVHUYDQW¶VJDUPHQWWKHQKDYH@SLW\XSRQKLP>DQG UHWXUQ@\RXUVHUYDQW¶V>JDUPHQW@IURPWKDWPRWLYDWLRQDUH@FXOWXUDOO\EDFNZDUG«6RFLDOHYROXWLRQLVP contained its own moral vision about chosenness and cultural superiority that religion KDGORQJLPSOLHG¶ 27௒ (GZDUG % 7\ORU Primitive Culture: Researches Into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Language, Art and Custom (London: John Murray,  ±

*ൺඅൻඋൺංඍඁThe Perpetuation of Racial Assumptions in Biblical Studies

125

PRQRJUDSKRQWKH&DOHELWHWUDGLWLRQFRQ¿GHQWO\SURFODLPVWKDWµWRWHPLVP LV HYHU\ZKHUH GH¿QHG DV D QHFHVVDU\ SKHQRPHQRQ LQ WKH HYROXWLRQ RI PDQNLQG¶28 $ VHFRQG SKDVH LQ WKH LVRODWLRQ RI FHUWDLQ PDWHULDO LQ 1XP ± DV P\WKLVHYLGHQWLQWKHPDMRULW\RIWZHQWLHWKDQGHDUO\WZHQW\¿UVWFHQWXU\ approaches, which have attempted to push back the dating of Caleb and JLDQW WUDGLWLRQV WR D µSUHSXEOLVKHGLQSDUWV±@ 7௒ /XGZLJ .RHKOHU DQG :DOWHU %DXPJDUWQHU Hebräisches und aramäisches Lexikon zum Alten TestamentYROVUGHG/HLGHQ%ULOO±  8௒/XGZLJ.RHKOHUDQG:DOWHU%DXPJDUWQHUThe Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 5 vols., trans. and ed. under the supervision of M. E. J. Richardson /HLGHQ%ULOO± 

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JURXQGEUHDNLQJZRUNLQJHQHUDOEXWLQ6KHI¿HOGLWUHWDLQVDÀDYRXURI its original sense.9 DCH KDG LWV RULJLQ DW WKH PRPHQW ZKHQ LQ  ZH LQ 6KHI¿HOG learned that James Barr had abandoned his plans for a revision of BDB. Not all will now know that after the original publication of BDB in 1906, * 5 'ULYHU VRQ RI WKH HSRQ\PRXV µ'¶ RI %'% DQG 5HJLXV 3URIHVVRU RI+HEUHZLQ2[IRUGFUHDWHGDQHZLVKHGLWLRQLQLQFOXGLQJµPDQ\ KXQGUHGV¶ RI FRUUHFWLRQV WR WKH SODWHV RI WKH  HGLWLRQ SOXV  SDJHV of Addenda et Corrigenda. Driver alluded to a Supplement he hoped to produce, but that never saw the light of day. My own professor of Hebrew, David Winton Thomas, who had been a SXSLORI'ULYHU¶VWKHQHPEDUNHGLQKLVUHWLUHPHQWRQDUHYLVLRQDQGJRW as far as Kaph before his early death in 1970. The manuscript was kindly given to me by Oxford University Press. I was excited when I got hold of LWDQGLW¶VDEHDXWLIXOSLHFHRIZRUNDOOLQKLVH[FHOOHQWKDQGZULWLQJ%XW sadly it was not planned as anything more than an expansion and updating of the trusty BDB, and it is in many respects identical with it. What was QHZZHUHWKHQHZZRUGVWKDW'ULYHUDQG:LQWRQ7KRPDVKDGGLVFRYHUHG more of them later. J. B. Segal, Professor of Semitic Languages at University College, London, was thereafter given responsibility for a revision, but nothing remains of any work he may have done, as far as I know. Thereafter James Barr, Regius Professor of Hebrew in Oxford from 1978 to 1989, took over the task, and wrote a number of studies preparatory to beginning the work, but never, I believe, even a sample article for a revised Dictionary. +H ¿QDOO\ FRQFOXGHG WKDW WKH WDVN RI ZULWLQJ D +HEUHZ GLFWLRQDU\ ZDV too big for any one person, and therefore gave it up. We drew a different conclusion: if it was too big for one person, then it needed to be done by several. And indeed there are no fewer than twelve names listed on the title pages of the volumes of DCH as research associates over the years. 7KH\ ZHUH WKH SHUVRQV ZKR DFWXDOO\ ZURWH WKH GUDIWV RI DOO WKH DUWLFOHV there are many more things to do in the creation of a dictionary than drafting articles, but their task was self-evidently essential.

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2. The Meaning of a Word Is Its Use in the Language This famous sentence of Ludwig Wittgenstein10 was an inspiration for our DCH. The old-fashioned thinking was that words have meanings in the way that wallets have banknotes, and that it is the job of the lexicographer to extract those meanings from texts, word by word. Well, any dictionary has to list words, of course, in alphabetical order so that people can look them up, but the key thing now is that it is recognized that meanings are given to words by contexts. What a dictionary of the present day needs to display are the situations in which a word is used, so that we can see its range of meanings and identify the kinds of sentences where it can crop up. In The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew this programme is carried out by showing, for every word, which words it is used with. So for every noun, we list all the verbs of which it is the subject or the object. For example, with the word :!š š1µULYHU¶ZHVKRZWKDWDULYHUFDQÀRZ, RYHUÀRZ, surround, lift up, or oppress, and that it can be crossed, dried up, restrained, or fouled. Users do not perhaps need to be told all that to know what a river is, but imagine you were wanting to know what a king GRHVRUDPRWKHURU*RGWKHQE\WKLVV\VWHP\RXZRXOGKDYHDFRPSOHWH account of everything our texts say about such matters. It works the same for verbs too: for each Hebrew verb you can see who or what is said to do it, and who or what it is done to. What can you write in Hebrew? A word, a law, a vision, a letter, an accusation, a list, bitter things, coming things, and many others. No other dictionary will tell you all that. 3. Completeness This matter of completeness is something that distinguishes The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew from all other dictionaries of Hebrew. Every time a word occurs in the ancient Hebrew texts, it is referenced in the Dictionary WKHIHZH[FHSWLRQVDUHIRUYHU\FRPPRQZRUGVOLNHWKRVHPHDQLQJµLQ¶ DQG µIURP¶  All other dictionaries, like dictionaries in other languages also, restrict themselves to a mere selection of texts, and so they give the user only a sense of the typical, that is to say, what is typical in the opinion of the dictionary-maker. We thought it was worth trying to exclude the dictionary-maker as far as possible from the data, and to present the evidence rather than opinions. Fortunately, the quantity of texts in Classical Hebrew is small enough to do that within a reasonable compass. All the texts written in ancient Hebrew come to little more than 500,000 words,

10௒Philosophical Investigations (Oxford: Blackwell, 1953), 43.

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not much more than the size of a blockbuster novel. So we have been able to look at every word of ancient Hebrew in each of the contexts where it has been used. And we tell you how many times the word occurs, in each of the four corpora or collections of ancient Hebrew texts, the Hebrew Bible, Ben Sira, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Inscriptions. The average dictionary-maker has to decide what are the typical meanings of all the words in the dictionary. We set ourselves a harder task, which was to decide what exactly each word meant in every place it was used. When did 7:˜ , ˜ for example, mean the land, and when did it mean the earth? Other dictionaries were not obliged to decide how to categorize HYHU\ RFFXUUHQFHWKH\ FRXOG MXVW WHOO\RX WKDWVRPHWLPHVLW PHDQW land and sometimes world, but not what it meant in the verse you were worried about. When you use a selective dictionary (as most of us usually do) you are in the hands of, or perhaps rather, at the mercy of, the lexicographer. $VZHOODVWKDWFRPSOHWHFRYHUDJHZKLFKLVXQLTXHWKHUHDGHU¿QGVD host of interesting phrases and idioms in DCH that slip under the radar of other dictionaries: in the article on -3µZLWK¶IRUH[DPSOH\RXFDQVHHLQ – DVLQJOHOLVWDOOWKHRFFXUUHQFHVRIWKHZHOONQRZQSKUDVHµVRPHRQH@¶ ZKLFK \RX ZLOO ¿QG KDUG WR GLVFRYHU DQ\ RWKHU ZD\ XQGHU ˜ 3µVHUYDQW¶\RXZLOO¿QGDOOH[DPSOHVRIWKHSKUDVHµ\RXUVHUYDQW¶XVHG ˜ DVDWHUPRIVHOIDEDVHPHQWRUKXPEOHQHVVXQGHU!+3KLSKLOµFDXVHWRJR XS¶RUµRIIHUVDFUL¿FH ¶\RXZLOO¿QGWKHQDPHVRIDOOWKHSHRSOHZKRDUH VDLGLQDQFLHQW+HEUHZWRRIIHUVDFUL¿FH,I\RXGRQ¶WZDQWWRNQRZDQ\ of those things, I often say when presenting the Dictionary, let me know of something you do want to know, and I will probably be able to tell you KRZWR¿QGLWLQDCH. There are other features of DCH \RX GR QRW ¿QG LQ HYHU\ +HEUHZ dictionary: there is a word frequency table, which shows all the words listed LQRUGHURIWKHQXPEHURIWLPHVWKH\RFFXUWKHUHLVDQ(QJOLVK±+HEUHZ LQGH[WKHUHLVDOLVWRIDOOWKH'HDG6HD6FUROOVZLWKWKHDEEUHYLDWLRQZH XVHIRUHDFKGRFXPHQWDQGWKHUHLVD%LEOLRJUDSK\RIFXUUHQWUHVHDUFKRQ individual words, the richest such bibliography ever compiled. 4. Reforming the Translation of Hebrew Less evident than the features I have just mentioned are the many attempts of DCH to reform the translation of Hebrew. Teachers and students of Hebrew have become lazy in perpetuating standard translations of wellknown words, and standard Bible translations do no better. In composing DCH, we have always had on our agenda the question of how best to convey the language of ancient Hebrew in modern English. For example,

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we take a stand against non-inclusive language. So we make sure that -› LVQHYHUWUDQVODWHGµPDQ¶EXWDOZD\VµKXPDQ¶RUµKXPDQLW\¶VLQFHWKH › term is not gendered (there is a separate word f'– WKDWLVWKHZRUGIRUµD PDQ¶ 11 Likewise we outlaw infantilizing feminine forms like Moabitess DQG SURSKHWHVV WKH\ EHFRPH 0RDELWH RU SURSKHW ZLWK µIHP ¶ DGGHG when necessary. And we try not to simply reproduce the outlook of the text: there are in DCH no false gods or idols, since it is a matter of opinion what is true DQGZKDWLVIDOVHQRWDQREMHFWLYHGHFLVLRQD+HEUHZGLFWLRQDU\KDVQR investment in promoting ideology, even if it is found in the Bible. False JRGVDQGLGROVEHFRPHµRWKHUJRGV¶DQGµLPDJHV¶ And then there is a range of common terms, especially in the Bible, that no one thinks about much, but are seriously in need of revision: :'3LVKDUGO\HYHUµFLW\¶EXWXVXDOO\µWRZQYLOODJH¶ – :6˜ 2QRWµERRN¶EXWµVFUROOGRFXPHQW¶ — :Cš ’ /– QRWµGHVHUWZLOGHUQHVV¶EXWµJUD]LQJSODFHVWHSSH¶FI:œ˜ GµSDVWXUH¶ LVš µKRQRXU¶UDWKHUWKDQµJORU\¶HYHQRI*RG f ˜+˜ aQRWµFRQFXELQH¶EXWµVHFRQGDU\ZLIH¶ – L%:’ VLQJµVTXDUH¶EXWSOXU-'L% – :µVWUHHWV¶ ’ %8: DVLQWKH7HQ&RPPDQGPHQWV LVQRWµNLOO¶EXWµPXUGHU¶ +K ’E LVQRWXVXDOO\µERUGHU¶EXWµUHJLRQ¶ 9/˜ 3— LVQRWXVXDOO\µYDOOH\¶EXWµSODLQ¶

5. The Creation of the Dictionary The 8 volumes of DCH run to 3.5m words, and some 5,600 pages. If it were printed in the format of a normal book, it would constitute some 35 volumes. Some 433,000 texts in Biblical Hebrew are referred to in it and some 106,000 in extra-Biblical Hebrew. Over 20,000 emendations are noted because numerous minor errors have crept into these ancient texts. Every occurrence of every word in Classical Hebrew, apart from a handful of the very most common words, has been registered. The Dictionary has taken 24 years to complete, from 1987 to 2011. It needed about 55 person years to create, and it cost about £2.5m. In 2009 we brought out the Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, a one-volume edition containing all the words of the larger Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, but with far fewer references, and so a tenth its size.

11௒ 6HH P\ µ-, the Hebrew for “Human, Humanity”: A Response to James %DUU¶VT  ±

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In 2011, along with the completion of the Dictionary, we brought out a paperback edition of the whole work. Today it will cost £1200 for a library with many users to buy the complete set of 8 volumes, but £600 for an individual reader. Or a scholar could get the 8 volumes in paperback for £395. The complete Dictionary is available electronically as a module in the Accordance Bible search program for about $350. The other day I had DQHPDLOIURPVRPHRQH,GLGQ¶WNQRZDJUDSKLFGHVLJQHULQ6FRWODQG,W read: I am a proud possessor of the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. :KDWDPDJQL¿FHQWIHDW It was great to be a subscriber over so many years. I had no idea that I would ever spend £1,000 on a book, but this is worth it.

,ZDVVRUU\KHGLGQ¶WUHDOL]HKHFRXOGKDYHKDGLWIRU…DVDQLQGLYLGXDO SXUFKDVHU,ZLOOJLYHKLPDFRPSOLPHQWDU\FRS\RIWKHHOHFWURQLFYHUVLRQ he is desperate to have DCH on his iPhone. 6. The New Words in the Dictionary A special feature of the Dictionary that I have not yet alluded to is the SUHVHQFHRIPDQ\µQHZZRUGV¶E\ZKLFK,PHDQZRUGVWKDWGRQRWDSSHDU LQ WKH VWDQGDUG +HEUHZ±(QJOLVK GLFWLRQDU\ RI %'% %'% FRQWDLQV E\ P\ UHFNRQLQJ VRPH  ZRUGV DCH contains some 12,026 words, that is, 3,635 new words. That means that DCH has increased the Hebrew vocabulary by 43.3%. This is reason enough in itself for possessing The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. Who wants to be using a dictionary that contains only two-thirds or so of the vocabulary? No other dictionary contains more than a small number of these words. Now new words, marked in DCH with an asterisk, are of two quite GLIIHUHQWW\SHV7KH¿UVWFRQVLVWVRIWKRVHWKDWKDYHDSSHDUHGIRUWKH¿UVW time in texts that were not considered for BDB, that is, texts outside the Bible, namely Ben Sira, the Qumran literature, and the Inscriptions. There DUHZRUGVRIWKLVW\SHRIWKHP¿UVWDSSHDUHGLQ%HQ6LUD ¿UVW LQ WKH 'HDG 6HD 6FUROOV DQG  ¿UVW LQ ,QVFULSWLRQV  RI WKHVH words from the non-biblical literature are proper names. The second type of new words are those that have been proposed (usually for Biblical Hebrew) by scholars, especially in the course of the last century. There are 2,537 of these words in DCH. I need to stress that these words have in most cases only the status of proposals. Inclusion of a word in the Dictionary does not carry with it any guarantee that its H[LVWHQFH LV ¿UPO\ HVWDEOLVKHG 1RW D IHZ RI WKH SURSRVDOV DUH LQ IDFW

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mutually exclusive, and they cannot all be right. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that it is the proper business of a dictionary of the classical Hebrew language at this moment to record, as far as is feasible, the very many SURSRVDOVWKDWKDYHEHHQPDGHLQWKHWZHQWLHWKFHQWXU\IRUWKHUH¿QHPHQW and expansion of our knowledge of the Hebrew vocabulary. What kinds of words are these new words? Here are just a few examples: ! š1'6– 2’ II hold (of ship). Did Jonah go down into the ship, or into its hold (Jonah 1:3)?12 :aš 2™ barber. 'LG-HKRLDNLPFXW%DUXFK¶VVFUROOXSZLWKDVFULEH¶VNQLIHRUZLWK DEDUEHU¶VNQLIH-HU "13 :6˜ 2— II bronze. 'LG-REZLVKWKDWKLVZRUGVZHUHZULWWHQLQDµERRN¶RULQVFULEHG in bronze (Job 19:23)?14 9]˜ 3— II strength. Does the war horse paw in the valley or beat the ground with strength (Job 39:21)?15 !š ž 3II ” cattle. Did Job have many servants (Job 1:3) or many cattle?16 5+3III perfume. In order to seduce Judah, did Tamar wrap herself up or perfume herself (Gen 38:14)?17 =Ka’ II separation. Did Yahweh put a ransom between the Hebrews and the Egyptians, or a separation (Exod 8:19)?18

Winton Thomas, whom I have mentioned above, called the project of identifying new lexicographical proposals the Recovery of the Hebrew Language.19 No one else has collected these proposals, many of the 12௒0DUWLQ0XO]HUµ!1'62-RQD ³JHGHFNWHU /DGHUDXP´௘¶BN 104 (2000): ± 13௒ 6HH )HOL[ 3HUOHV µ7KH )RXUWHHQWK (GLWLRQ RI *HVHQLXV±%XKO¶V 'LFWLRQDU\¶ JQR ±  14௒ 6HH 0 'LHWULFK µ$NNDGLVFK sipparu “Bronze”, ugaritisch spr, g´prt und hebräisch spr, ‘prt¶UF 17 (1986): 401. 15௒ 6HH &\UXV + *RUGRQ Ugaritic Grammar: The Present Status of the Linguistic Study of the Semitic Alphabetic Texts from Ras Shamra5RPH3RQWL¿FDO Biblical Institute, 1940), 105 n. 624. 16௒6HH$UQROG%(KUOLFKRandglossen zur hebräischen Bibel, Vol. 1 (Leipzig: -&+LQULFKV ± 17௒ 6HH *RGIUH\ 5 'ULYHU µ3UREOHPV RI ,QWHUSUHWDWLRQ LQ WKH +HSWDWHXFK¶ LQ Mélanges bibliques redigés en l’honneur de André Robert 7UDYDX[ GH O¶,QVWLWXW FDWKROLTXHGH3DULV3DULV%ORXG *D\ ±±  18௒6HH$$0DFLQWRVKµ([RGXVYLLL'LVWLQFW5HGHPSWLRQDQGWKH+HEUHZ Roots !6 and 6¶VT ± • 19௒ +LV LQDXJXUDO OHFWXUH DV 5HJLXV 3URIHVVRU RI +HEUHZ DW &DPEULGJH ZDV entitled The Recovery of the Ancient Hebrew Language: An Inaugural Lecture

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proposals are excellent, and we all need to see what they are instead of leaving them buried in obscure journals and Festschriften. Except in the case of a handful of proposals, I did not have the time to evaluDWH WKHP , UHFNRQ LW ZRXOG WDNH PH RQ DYHUDJH D GD\¶V ZRUN WR GR justice to a single such proposal), so there is a task there for a future generation. 7. The Future of the Dictionary Though the Dictionary LVFRPSOHWHLWLVQRW\HW¿QLVKHG We intend to bring out in coming months (as I write) a Volume IX: (QJOLVK±+HEUHZ,QGH[0DQ\RIWKH+HEUHZOH[LFDGRZQWKHFHQWXULHV from that of Alfonso de Zamora (1515) in the Complutensian Polyglot RQZDUG KDYH EHHQ DFFRPSDQLHG E\ DQ ,QGH[ /DWLQ±+HEUHZ *HUPDQ± +HEUHZ RU (QJOLVK±+HEUHZ  WKRXJK WKH SUDFWLFH KDV ODUJHO\ IDOOHQ RXW of fashion in the last century.20 The Index to DCH will go beyond all previous indexes in listing all the Hebrew words, with page references, for which a given English term has been used as a gloss. We have also embarked on a full-scale revision of the whole of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. Volume 1 (Aleph), in particular, is sorely in need of revision, partly because there are now so many more Qumran documents available than in 1993 when it was published, and partly because it does not have a Bibliography like the other volumes. %XWDOOWKHYROXPHVZLOOEHQH¿WIURPUHYLVLRQ7KHUHDUHPDQ\WKRXVDQGV of improvements to be made (though very few corrections, as it turns RXW DQGDWOHDVWµQHZZRUGV¶WREHDGGHGWKDWZHGLGQRWNQRZ of when the Dictionary volumes were published. We are doing a more thorough survey of the scholarly literature of the past 100 years than we managed during the period of composition of DCH, and the changes, though not affecting the general look of the Dictionary, will make it even more comprehensive and richer than before.

(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1939), and John Day has brought the term EDFNLQWRFLUFXODWLRQDVWKHWLWOHRIKLVUHFHQWSXEOLFDWLRQRIDOO7KRPDV¶VSXEOLFDWLRQV with a critical assessment (The Recovery of the Ancient Hebrew Language: The Lexicographical Writings of D. Winton Thomas, Hebrew Bible Monographs 20 >6KHI¿HOG6KHI¿HOG3KRHQL[@  20௒7KHYDULRXVHGLWLRQVRI*HVHQLXV¶VOH[LFRQLQFOXGLQJWKHODWHVWHebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, ed. Rudolf Meyer and +HUEHUW'RQQHU>%HUOLQ6SULQJHU9HUODJ±@ KDYHJHQHUDOO\EHHQSURYLGHG ZLWKD*HUPDQ±+HEUHZLQGH[

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After that, it will be time, no doubt, for me and my long-time co-worker, 'DYLG06WHFWRUHWLUHIURPOH[LFRJUDSK\DQGOHDYHWKH¿HOGWRRWKHUV to take up the challenge.21

21௒ 6HH P\ µ7KH &KDOOHQJH RI +HEUHZ /H[LFRJUDSK\ 7RGD\¶ LQ Congress Volume, Ljubljana 2007HG$QGUp/HPDLUH976XS/HLGHQ%ULOO ±

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G ඈൽ ൺඇൽ ඍඁൾ S ඍൺඍൾ : ൺඇൽ D ൺඏංൽ C ൺආൾඋඈඇ ¶ ඌ A ඎඍඁඈඋංඍඒ James Crossley 6W0DU\¶V8QLYHUVLW\

,Q KLV PRVW VLJQL¿FDQW DFDGHPLF SXEOLFDWLRQ Nationalism and Culture, 5XGROI 5RFNHU DUJXHG WKDW WKURXJKRXW LWV KLVWRU\ µUHOLJLRQ¶ KDV PDGH humanity dependent upon a higher power which has been taken over, or LQWHUWZLQHG ZLWK SROLWLFDO SRZHU DQG DXWKRULW\ )RU 5RFNHU µDOO SROLWLFV LVLQWKHODVWLQVWDQFHUHOLJLRQ¶µDOOSRZHUKDVLWVURRWVLQ*RG¶DQGµDOO UXOHUVKLSLVLQLWVLQPRVWHVVHQFHGLYLQH¶1 It was this sort of thinking that KDGSUHYLRXVO\OHG0LNKDLO%DNXQLQWRLQYHUW9ROWDLUH¶VIDPRXVSKUDVHDQG FODLPWKDWµLI*RGUHDOO\H[LVWHGLWZRXOGEHQHFHVVDU\WRDEROLVKKLP¶2 There are a number of analytical problems with this sort of argument, particularly its outdated dependence on an evolutionary model of religion, LWV HVVHQWLDOLVW DVVXPSWLRQV DERXW µUHOLJLRQ¶ DQG LWV XQGHUHVWLPDWLRQ RI the complexities and messiness of human history, culture and society. 1HYHUWKHOHVV LW LV KDUGO\ GLI¿FXOW WR ¿QG H[DPSOHV RI SROLWLFDO V\VWHPV invoking higher authorities or using language associated with religious systems to justify power. Moreover, as Craig Martin has shown, the postEnlightenment rhetoric of an apparent split between church and state, or

௒,DPYHU\SOHDVHGWREHDEOHWRZULWHDQHVVD\DQGLQGHHGHGLWDYROXPH LQ KRQRXURI.HLWK:KLWHODP0\¿UVWHYHUSXEOLFOHFWXUHVHYHUDO\HDUVEHIRUH,¿UVW met him) was on The Invention of Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History (London: Routledge, 1996), which I consider among the best books published in biblical studies. When I did meet Keith, it happily transpired that he was also on the side of the devils in that he supported (and continues to support) the right football WHDP7KLVSUHVHQWDUWLFOHUHÀHFWVRXUVKDUHGLQWHUHVWVLQSROLWLFDOLQWHUSUHWDWLRQVDQG XVHVRIWKH%LEOHZKHQ.HLWKZDVDFROOHDJXHRIPLQHDW6KHI¿HOGDQHUVWZKLOH6%/ roommate, and a much-missed and highly respected Head of Department. 1௒ 5 5RFNHU Nationalism and Culture (Los Angeles: Rocker Publications Committee, 1937), 46, 48. 2௒0%DNXQLQGod and the State (New York: Dover, 1970), 28.

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religion and politics, masks a more complicated reality.3 We might think, for instance, of contemporary American politics where church and state are theoretically separate but where all presidents over the past thirty years have gone out of their way to make sure that their Christian and biblical credentials are on display.4 In the case of the ostensibly secularized political discourse in Britain today, the invocation of God and religion may seem antiquated. However, what I want to show in this contribution is that contemporary English-based parliamentary political discourse still feels WKHQHHGWRJURXQGLGHDV±DOEHLWVXEWO\±LQDKLJKHUTXDVLVXSHUQDWXUDO authority: the Bible. I will show this with particular reference to David Cameron and include both his domestic and foreign policy, including how he has dealt with the emergence of Islamic State (variously abbreviated as IS, ISIS, and ISIL, though I will use the seemingly standard ISIS as shorthand). God and the British State The choice of contemporary English-based political discourse for the VWXG\ RI WKH LQÀXHQFH RI WKH %LEOH PLJKW DW ¿UVW VHHP VWUDQJH 8QOLNH $PHULFD WKHUH LV QR VHULRXV µ&KULVWLDQ YRWH¶ WKDW PLJKW EH GHHPHG WR swing an election, and most successful career politicians know, or at least think, that it is risky to invoke religion, Christianity or the Bible, with a voting public deemed to be highly suspicious of overt uses of religion. 7RQ\ %ODLU¶V IRUPHU 'LUHFWRU RI &RPPXQLFDWLRQV DQG 6WUDWHJ\$ODVWDLU &DPSEHOOIDPRXVO\FODLPHGWKDWµZHGRQ¶WGR*RG¶ZKHQ%ODLUZDVDVNHG LQ DQ LQWHUYLHZ DERXW KLV UHOLJLRXV EHOLHIV &DPSEHOO KDV VLQFH FODUL¿HG WKDWWKLVµZDVQRWDPDMRUVWUDWHJLFVWDWHPHQW¶EXWZDVUDWKHUDQDWWHPSWWR HQGWKHLQWHUYLHZ+RZHYHU&DPSEHOODOVRDFNQRZOHGJHGWKDWµZHGRQ¶W GR*RG¶ZDVµVLPSO\SDUWRIDYLHZWKDWLQ8.SROLWLFVLWLVDOZD\VTXLWH dangerous to mix religion and politics, not least because the electorate are not keen on it, and the media and politicians tend to misrepresent it ZKHQHYHU LW KDSSHQV¶5 Nevertheless, over the last few decades, prime ministers, including Tony Blair, have invoked the Bible to support their 3௒&0DUWLQMasking Hegemony: A Genealogy of Liberalism, Religion and the Private Sphere (London: Equinox, 2010). 4௒ - %HUOLQHUEODX Thumpin’ It: The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today’s Presidential Politics (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008). 5௒$&DPSEHOOµ%DURQHVV:DUVLPLVVHVSRLQWRI³ZHGRQ¶WGR*RG´ZULWHVDSUR IDLWKDWKHLVW¶$ODVWDLU¶V%ORJ6HSWHPEHU KWWSZZZDODVWDLUFDPSEHOORUJ EORJEDURQHVVZDUVLPLVVHVSRLQWRIZHGRQWGRJRGZULWHVDSURIDLWK DWKHLVW6HHDOVR$&DPSEHOOThe Blair Years+XWFKLQVRQ/RQGRQ ±

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History, Politics and the Bible

most controversial and foundational ideas.60DUJDUHW7KDWFKHU¶V%LEOHLQ particular has become the dominant template for English-based politicians since her premiership. Thatcher saw the Bible as a key source for emerging Thatcherism, as well as representing the core values of England, Britain and the West more generally. This Bible was, of course, constructed in VKDUS FRQWUDVW WR 0DU[LVP DQG 6RYLHW &RPPXQLVP 7KDWFKHU¶V %LEOH was about individualism, freedom, tolerance, rule of law, and English or %ULWLVKKHULWDJHDQGZLWKDSDUWLFXODUO\LQÀXHQWLDOHPSKDVLVRQLQGLYLGXDO wealth creation and charitable giving as an alternative to state provision of welfare.7 Thatcher was the most explicit user of the Bible of all prime ministers since the 1970s, in part because (and with only a small degree of hyperbole) she was leading a bourgeois revolution of sorts, overthrowing the post-War Keynesian consensus and the aristocratic Tory hierarchy and ushering in the era of neoliberal capitalism and a new elite. Thatcher and her circle took advantage of the social upheavals of the 1960s ZKLFKDOVRPDUNHGDVLJQL¿FDQWPRPHQWLQWKHGHFOLQHRIWKHVRFLDODQG SROLWLFDO VLJQL¿FDQFH RI UHOLJLRXV LQVWLWXWLRQV PRVW QRWDEO\ WKH &KXUFK of England.8 It is telling that Thatcher was able to tame the then rebellious Church of England whose hierarchy had become broadly social GHPRFUDWLF WKRXJK SROHPLFDOO\ ODEHOOHG µ0DU[LVW¶ DQG µ&RPPXQLVW¶ E\ Thatcher loyalists.9 Just as the new Thatcherite political consensus settled

and M. H. M. Steven, Christianity and Party Politics: Keeping the Faith (Abingdon: Routledge, 2011), 105. 6௒ - * &URVVOH\ Harnessing Chaos: The Bible in English Political Discourse since 1968, rev. ed. (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016). 7௒&URVVOH\Harnessing Chaos± 8௒6HHHJ&*%URZQµ7KH6HFXODULVDWLRQ'HFDGH:KDWWKHVKDYHGRQH WRWKH6WXG\RI5HOLJLRXV+LVWRU\¶LQThe Decline of Christendom in Western Europe, HG+0F/HRGDQG:8VWRUI&DPEULGJH&DPEULGJH8QLYHUVLW\3UHVV ± C. G. Brown, Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain (Harlow: Peason,   ± & * %URZQ The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation QG HG $ELQJGRQ 5RXWOHGJH   ± * 3DUVRQV µ+RZ the Times They Were a-Changing: Exploring the Context of Religious TransforPDWLRQ LQ %ULWDLQ LQ WKH V¶ LQ 5HOLJLRQ LQ +LVWRU\ &RQÀLFW &RQYHUVLRQ DQG CoexistenceHG-:ROIIH0DQFKHVWHU0DQFKHVWHU8QLYHUVLW\3UHVV ± H. McLeod, The Religious Crisis of the 1960s (Oxford: Oxford University Press,   ' 0DF&XOORFK A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years /RQGRQ$OOHQ/DQH ± 9௒ 2QH RI ZKRP LV EHOLHYHG WR KDYH EHHQ 1RUPDQ 7HEELWW 6HH IXUWKHU 6WDII 5HSRUWHUVµ7KDWFKHU&ODVKHGZLWK&KXUFK'HVSLWH+HU)DLWK¶Church Times (April

&උඈඌඌඅൾඒGod and the State

149

LQ VR WKH H[HJHWLFDO SRVLWLRQ IROORZHG VXLW 7KH PRVW VLJQL¿FDQW ¿JXUH LQHPEHGGLQJ7KDWFKHU¶V%LEOHZDV7RQ\%ODLU10:KDW6ODYRMäLåHNVDLG RI7KDWFKHULVPZHPLJKWVD\RIKHU%LEOHµLWZDVRQO\%ODLUPRUHWKDQ -RKQ 0DMRU  ZKR WUXO\ IRUJHG 7KDWFKHULVP DV D QRWLRQ¶11 %ODLU¶V %LEOH DVVXPHG WKH NH\ HPSKDVHV RI 7KDWFKHU¶V %LEOH DQG ZLWK UHODWLYH HDVH reapplied the Cold War thinking to the War on Terror. Moreover, Blair rethought the Radical Bible tradition (effectively the equation of the Bible with socialism) which previously had a notable presence in the rise of the Labour movement, the founding of the NHS, and the development RIWKH:HOIDUH6WDWH,QVWHDGRIULGGLQJ%ULWDLQRIµHYLOJLDQWV¶RIµZDQW¶ µVTXDORU¶µGLVHDVH¶DQGµLJQRUDQFH¶DV/DERXUKDGSURPLVHGIROORZLQJ the Beveridge Report) in 1945,12%ODLUVRXJKWWRUHDSSO\WKLVµDSRFDO\SWLF¶ WKLQNLQJ µIURP WKH GHVHUWV RI 1RUWKHUQ$IULFD WR WKH VOXPV RI *D]D WR WKH PRXQWDLQ UDQJHV RI $IJKDQLVWDQ¶ LQ D SRVW6HSWHPEHU  /DERXU Party conference speech full of biblical allusions.137KHRWKHUVLJQL¿FDQW TXDOL¿FDWLRQ%ODLUPDGHWR7KDWFKHU¶V%LEOHZDVDGGLQJDVRFLDOO\OLEHUDO VSLQHVSHFLDOO\RQLVVXHVUHODWLQJWRJHQGHUDQGVH[XDOLW\ WR7KDWFKHU¶V economically liberal Bible. This legacy was apparent in the parliamentary debates over gay marriage in 2013 where the Bible and Jesus were invoked only as supporters of gay marriage.14 7KXV GHVSLWH &DPSEHOO¶V FRQFHUQ (QJOLVKEDVHG SROLWLFLDQV UHDOO\ do µGR *RG¶ %XW ZK\" 7KHUH DUH D QXPEHU RI KLVWRULFDO UHDVRQV IRU WKLV15 The Bible and Christianity are, of course, intertwined in English and British political and cultural history and were integral to the political changes brought about by the English Revolution. Anyone looking at the ÀRRURIWKH+RXVHVRI3DUOLDPHQWWRGD\ZLOOEHDEOHWRVHHWKDWWKH%LEOH even has a physical presence, including the Latin text of Ps 127:1 along    +