A History of Israel

The Coogan Oxford History is just an omnibus of essays by Coogan's cronies; Miller and Hayes is history as a series of problems in historiography. Bright remains the unsurpassed recent narrative history in English. There has been some archaeological advance since his time, but not such as to outdate his ideas or to call any of his inferences into question.What makes people so eager to add Bright to the evolution chart is the fact that he's of the old school that believes the Bible was written by people competent to bear accurate witness to the events of their own time, that great men have a major role in making history, and that history is finally knowable. Bright interprets with tremendous skeptical skill, but is finally decisive and brilliant enough to synthesize his sources into an account which is patently accurate as far as any ancient history can be.The book is also, inevitably, a splendid handbook to the Bible, particularly the prophets, which it would have to be, since they are the first-order historical witnesses here, superior in detail and scope to anything we can deduce from Assyrian inscriptions and the like.Bright makes no mystery of about his Christianity, which is an honorable and honest proceeding: he is also clear to distinguish his rare and minimal assertions of faith from his purely historical work.

Absolutely fantastic resource for Intermediate-Advanced students researching Israelite history. Bright does a fair job at finding the ever-so-tricky balance between scholastic liberties and biblical integrity. Scholars may find some of his views too conservative, while bible enthusiasts may be surprised to see some of his interpretations, especially regarding the motives of certain prophetical figures. This very reason is why I found his research to be so fascinating: He is a student of the scriptures, but isn't afraid to interpret history through human eyes. I certainly didn't agree with all of his findings, but found them valuable nonetheless.I definitely recommend this resource to anyone with a history in biblical scholarship that wants to further advance their studies.

This is one excellent book for anyone who wants to know the truth about Israel and its very beginning--with archaeological proof updated and thoroughly thoughtful and scholarly words. Mr. Bright covers so much of background, languages, cultic practices, pre-Israel practices and movements, just what the ancient world was like. It is truly a book for undergraduate study, but written is such a way that the layman can enjoy. I give it a plus on extraordinary knowledge with right biblical quotations and insight with some wise words.

Though Bright may be a bit dated, I found his correlation of biblical theology and biblical chronology most helpful. Given the loss of a comprehensive understanding of the biblical texts, history is one of the few skeletons on which to arrange the biblical text. So, even if one must supplement Bright's dated material with newer material, his overarching perspective is extremely helpful.

Have just begun to study it. Thus far, it does meet my expectations. I had expected new archeological discoveries to change the first part of the book. Will continue to study it, and I plan to compare it with another book on the same subject.

i fouind this very useful in constructing a teaching series on the development of the Jewish faith as it evolved to Christianity. The text is not only factual but it ties the stages together and explains them as to why the faith evolved at each stage. Each chapter summarizes the historical stage and builds an excellent taking off point to the next chapter period.

Very scholarly, more so than what I was looking for. Almost a text book.

Very satisfy with the product. On time and very neat.

A rather less sceptical take on the history of Ancient Israel than other volumes, this attempts to piece together that history in light of both the Biblical text and archaeological science. The section covering the Exodus and “lack of evidence” is fantastic and worth the price of the book alone.

John Bright achieved a staggering and wonderful feat in putting this history of Israel together.`The history of Israel is the history of a people which came into being... as a league of tribes united in covenant with Yahweh... [but]... we... begin our story with the migration of Israel's ancestors some centuries earlier...' (from Bright's Forward)So we have:Prologue: The Ancient Orient Before 2000 B.C. (to provide `perspective')Part One: The Age of the PatriarchsPart Two: The Exodus, Conquest of Canaan and Tribal LeagueParts Three and Four: The Monarchy, Divided Kingdoms and the end of Israel and JudahPart Five: Exile and ReturnPart Six: The end of the Old Testament period to the Maccabean revolt and introduction to early JudaismBright's `History...' has rightly become a widely acclaimed classic. The scope and attention to detail are amazing with all the biblical, historical and archaeological elements explored thoroughly. Though Bright's approach may be considered a little old fashioned nowadays the whole still stands impressively amongst other histories. (For instance, Hayes and Miller's `A History of Ancient Israel and Judah', which is better laid out.)But this fabulous work is presented in the most basic format: a main heading in title case, sub-headings in italics prefixed with a number, further sub-headings also in italics with a prefix letter. No variation in indentation, type face or line spacing makes this much harder work to read than it should be. The publishers have allowed four successive editions (and over forty years with sales exceeding 100 000 copies) to pass with no alteration to the presentation. I was especially miffed to find that the fourth edition offers no revision over the third AT ALL (except a short introduction and an even shorter appendix by W. P. Brown).That said, this is still a wonderful title and I love both my copies. I heartily recommend it, while earnestly hoping that the publishers will update the presentation for the fifth edition (e.g. Lion Publishing)!EDIT (2009):I have recently read  A History of Israel in Old Testament Times by Siegfried Herrmann . Though I decry the dreadful formatting of Bright's `History', it is still so satisfyingly readable. It was only the first or second theological book I ever read so nearly all the concepts and vocabulary were new to me, and sometimes difficult.I have done a huge amount of OT related reading since then and continue to be amazed at how very good Bright's work is: the whole sense of journey which Bright takes the reader on now seems almost romantically or mystically wonderful. I remember thinking as I was reading it, "It's like he was there!"I have the revised edition (1972) and a fourth edition (2001) and there is very little difference between them; even page numbers usually match precisely. The third edition (1981) is preferred, however, as it's cheap and exactly the same as the fourth (see above!). Now though, it's even better because the Logos Bible Software people have digitised it: a purchase I definitely intend to make in the future.I first read John Bright's `History of Israel' around 2003 and the only reason I have not read it again is because I'm a dreadfully slow reader and there are so many books... But I will read it again - and am looking forward to it. :-) A History of Israel in Old Testament Times by Siegfried Herrmann

This is an excellent book, but i did not realise when I bought it - (perhaps that was why it was cheap!) that there are about 4 editions since this one.Therefore I feel that I cannot use it for serious study in case it is out of date

a good book, very comprehensive. Perhaps bitten off more than I can chew with this one as it's densely packed with lots of info and detail! I haven't read from beginning to end as its not the sort of book that lends itself to that type of reading, but certainly dipping in and out it seems sound.

We had high expectations for this book. I arrived on time and my husband was ever so delighted to get it. Quality was perfect!