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Tracing the legacy of ancient Israel
Here are two fine scholars on the top of their form, declares J. W. Rogerson
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| Ancient Israel: What do we know and how do we know it? Lester L. Grabbe
T. & T. Clark £22.99 (978-0-567-03254-6) reviewed with
Temple Themes in Christian Worship Margaret Barker T. & T. Clark £19.99 (978-0-567-03276-8) Church Times Bookshop £18 A CHARACTERISTIC feature of German university education is the Lehrbuch, a work written by a specialist, and designed to guide students through the basic questions and problems of a particular subject, and the most important scholarly literature. It has never really had an equivalent in Britain, except that for nearly two decades Professor Grabbe of the University of Hull has made this genre his trademark, greatly expanding the German model to produce magisterial volumes on Judaism in the Greek and Roman periods, the history of the Jews in the Persian period, and now the present volume on the history of ancient Israel. Following his established practice, Professor Grabbe takes readers through problems of method and approach, and then through four main historical periods: 2000 to 1300 BCE; 1300 to 900; 900 to 720; and 720 to 539. Each section intro-duces and discusses the main evidence: archaeological, inscriptional, biblical, and extra-biblical; then outlines differing interpretations of this evidence, and offers his own conclusions. These are always well balanced. For example, Professor Grabbe, rightly in my view, thinks that there is sufficient evidence that Saul, David, and Solomon existed, although the tradition has to be read cautiously in the light of the growth and later use of narratives about them, as well as in the light of modern insights into social processes. The whole area of ancient Israelite history is in something of a turmoil at present. There can be no better guide to the subject than Professor Grabbe, both for the thoroughness of his discussions and for the convincing nature of his conclusions. Margaret Barker has also been a pioneer in biblical studies for the past two decades, as she has investigated themes buried in apocalyptic literature, and early Jewish and Christian sources. The present work continues her series of brilliant and controversial books that make compelling reading. Her thesis (also explored in earlier works) is that there existed traditions about the worship and practices of the Jerusalem Temple which were preserved in either oral form or written form outside the Bible, and which profoundly influenced not only the formation of the Old Testament, but also (this is the concern of the present book) early Christian worship. She draws attention to the prominence of temple themes in the New Testament (Jesus cleanses the Temple, is accused of planning to destroy it; 1 Peter invites readers to become a living temple; the ministry of Jesus is understood in Hebrews in terms of the priesthood of Melchizedek), and goes on to elucidate important aspects of early Christian worship in terms of Temple tradition. Thus the baptism of Jesus, and Christian baptism, are traced back to the consecration of priests. The eucharist is interpreted against the background of the Day of Atone-ment, not the Passover. The bread at the eucharist is most likely the Bread of the Presence, consumed weekly by the priests of the Temple. It is also the “bread of tomorrow”, the most likely meaning of the phrase “daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer. A short review cannot hope to do justice to the richness and com-plexity of this book, which is full of intriguing suggestions, whether one agrees with the main thesis or not. In short, here are two fine scholars on the top of their form. Canon Professor Rogerson is Emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies at Sheffield University. To order these books, email the details to Church Times Bookshop |
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