the days when the Judaeans separated from the Samaritans to the very beginning of the world. A characteristic tone pervades the history, even of the antediluvian age, from the creation of Adam; or rather, the history of the earliest times has been written under its influence. It reveals itself in the days of the Patriarchs, before the “Amarna” age—or rather in the narratives relating to these remote ancestors. It will be perceived that an objective attitude to the subjective writings must be adopted, the starting-point is the writings themselves and not individual preconceptions of the authentic history which they embody. Although there are various points of contact with Palestinian external history, there is a failure to deal with some events of obvious importance, and an emphasis upon others which are less conspicuous in any broad survey of the land. There are numerous conflicting details which unite to prove that various sources have been used, and that the structure of the compilation is a very intricate one, the steps in its growth being extremely obscure.[1] In studying the internal peculiarities and the different circles of thought involved, it is found that they often imply written traditions which have a perspective different from that in which they are now placed. As regards the pre-monarchical period, some evidence points to a settlement Pre-Monarchical Period. (apparently from Aramaean localities) of the patriarchs, and of Israel (Jacob) and his sons, i.e. the “children of Israel.” It ignores a descent into Egypt and the subsequent invasion.[2] The parallel account in the book of Joshua of the entrance of the “children of Israel” is, in its present form, the sequel to the journey of the people along the east of Edom and Moab after the escape from Egypt, and after a sojourn at Kadesh (Exodus-Deuteronomy). But other evidence also points to an entrance from Kadesh into Judah, and associates the kin of Moses, Kenites, Calebites and others. Thus, the tradition of a residence in Egypt, implied also in the stories of Joseph, has certainly become the “canonical” view, but the recollection was not shared by all the mixed peoples of Palestine; and to this difference of historical background in the traditions must be added divergent traditions of the earlier population. Traditions, oral and written, with widely differing standpoints have been brought together and merged. Moreover, the elaborate account of the vast invasion and conquest, the expulsion, extermination and subjugation of earlier inhabitants, and the occupation of cities and fields, combine to form a picture which cannot be placed in Palestine during the 15th–12th centuries. It must not be denied that the recollection of some invasion may have been greatly idealized by late writers, but it happens that there were important immigrations and internal movements in the 8th–6th centuries, that is to say, immediately preceding the post-exilic age, when this composite account in the Pentateuch and Joshua reached its present form. An enormous gap severs the pre-monarchical period from this age, and while the tribal schemes and tribal traditions can hardly be traced during the monarchies, the inclusion of Judah among the “sons” of Israel would not have originated when Judah and Israel were rival kingdoms. Yet the tribes survive in post-exilic literature and their traditions develop henceforth in Jubilees, Testament of the XII Patriarchs, &c. During the changes from the 8th century onwards a non-monarchical constitution naturally prevailed, first in the north and then in the south, and while in the north the mingled peoples of Samaria came to regard themselves as Israelite, the southern portion, the tribe of Judah, proves in 1 Chron. ii. & iv. to be largely of half-Edomite blood. A common ground previous to the Samaritan schism is ignored; it is found only in the period before the rival kingdoms. The political history of these monarchies in the book of Kings is singularly slight considering the extensive body of tradition which may be pre-supposed, Monarchies. e.g. for the reigns of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah, or which may be inferred from the evidence for different sources dealing with other periods. The scanty political data in the annalistic notices of the north kingdom are supplemented by more detailed narratives of a few years leading up to the rise of the last dynasty, that of Jehu. The historical problems involved point to a loss of perspective (Jews, § 11), and the particular interest in the stories of Elijah and Elisha in an historical work suggests that the political records passed through the hands of communities whose interest lay in these figures. Old tradition suggests the “schools of the prophets” at Jericho, Gilgal and Bethel, and in fact the proximity of these places, especially Bethel, to Judaean soil may be connected with the friendly and sometimes markedly favourable attitude to Judah in these narratives. The rise of the kingdom of Israel under Saul is treated at length, but more prominence is given to the influence of the prophet Samuel; and not only is Saul’s history written from a didactic and prophetical standpoint (cf. similarly Ahab), but the great hero and ruler is handled locally as a petty king at Gibeah in Benjamin. The interest of the narratives clings around north Judah and Benjamin, and more attention is given to the rise of the Judaean dynasty, the hostility of Saul, and the romantic friendship between his son Jonathan and the young David of Bethlehem. The history of the northern and southern kingdoms is handled separately in Kings; but in Samuel the rise of each is closely interwoven, and to the greater glory of David. The account of his steps contains details touching Judah and its relation to Israel which cannot be reconciled with certain traditions of Saul and the Ephraimite Joshua. It combines amid diverse material a hero of Bethlehem and rival of Saul with the idea of a conqueror of this district; it introduces peculiar traditions of the ark and sanctuary, and it associates David with Hebron, Calebites and the wilderness of Paran.[3] The books of Samuel and Kings have become, in process of compilation, the natural sequel to the preceding books, but the conflicting features and the perplexing differences of standpoint recur elsewhere, and the relationship between them suggests that similar causes have been operative upon the compilation. The history of Judah is, broadly speaking, that of the Davidic dynasty and the Temple, and it begins at the time of the first king of the rival north. Care is taken to record the transference of secular power and of Yahweh’s favour from Saul to David, and David accomplishes more successfully or on a larger scale the achievements ascribed to Saul. The religious superiority of Jerusalem over the idolatrous north and over the “high places” is the main theme, and with it is the supremacy of the native Zadokite priests of Jerusalem over others (e.g. of Shiloh), who are connected with the desert traditions. The political history is relatively slight and uneven, and the framework is rehandled in Chronicles upon more developed lines and from a later ecclesiastical standpoint, which suggests that many traditions of the monarchy were extant in a late dress. Both books represent the same general trend of political events, even where the “canonical” representation is most open to criticism. Chronicles, with the Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah. book of Ezra and Nehemiah, makes a continuity between the old Judah which fell in 586 and the return (time of Cyrus), the rebuilding of the temple (Darius), and the reorganization associated with Nehemiah and Ezra (Artaxerxes). Historical material after 586 is scanty in the extreme, and, apart from the records of Nehemiah and a few other passages, the interest lies in the religious history of the communities and reformers who returned from Babylonia. The late and composite book of Chronicles places at the head of the Israelite divisions, which ignore the exodus (1 Chron. vii.
- ↑ In the art. Jews, §§ 1–24, the biblical history is taken as the foundation, and the internal historical difficulties are noticed from stage to stage. In the present state of biblical historical criticism this plan seemed more advisable than any attempt to reconstruct the history; the necessity for some reconstruction will, however, be clear to the reader on the grounds of both the internal intricacies and the external evidence.
- ↑ See, in the first instance, E. Meyer (and B. Luther), Die Israeliten und ihre Nachbarstämme (Halle, 1906); also art. Genesis.
- ↑ Whence the theory that David was of S. Judaean or S. Palestinian origin (Marquart, Winckler, Cheyne, Ency. Bib. cols. 1020, 2618 seq.), and, also, that he knit together the southern non-Judaean clans (see David, Judah). But it is preferable to recognize different traditions of distinct origin and to inquire what genuine elements of history each may contain.
