Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions

by Roland de Vaux, John McHugh

Considered by many to be a modern classic, Ancient Israel offers a fascinating, full-scale reconstruction of the social and religious life of Israel in Old Testament times.Drawing principally on the text of the Old Testament itself, as well as from archaeological evidence and information gathered from the historical study of Israel's neighbors, de Vaux first provides an extensive introduction to the nomadic nature of life in ancient Israel and then traces in detail the developments of Israel's most important institutions--family, civil, military, and religious--and their influence on the nation's life and history.

Genres: History, Theology, Religion, Old Testament, Biblical Studies

619 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a challenging read. It's a text book, not a narrative, so know what you're getting into, but I found something valuable on every page. This book provides the cultural context for the stories of the Bible. It covers the Semitic peoples surrounding the Israelites. It covers the conquering cultures like the Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Babylonians and the similarities of their cults of worship (technical term) with that of Israel. It explains the important emphases on high places, temples, tents, sacrifices, priests, purity, Levites, war, families, marriages, languages, calendars, money, measurements, and probably a lot more that I'm forgetting. There is a layer of depth here that I wasn't quite prepared for. To get the most out of this book, I think the reader needs a good background in the Old Testament, the general narrative of Israel's history, and probably some familiarity with the Dead Sea Scrolls. But even without any of that, the book is written in such a straight forward manner that it's easy to follow along with all the theories the author considers before explaining, with evidence and logic, his own ideas. I highly recommend this book for serious Bible study, or if not this book then one a lot like it.

[Amanda Nunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good thick book. The author was a Catholic priest and states as much, which is refreshing after the sneak-priesting I got from Carsten Peter Thiede in his book on the Dead Sea Scrolls. I do get the impression that he is fairly realistic about what he is studying, and not so much pushing an agenda. For example, while using the Bible as evidence, he acknowledges redactions, edits, additions and different dates of particular parts of the text.

I was more interested in the practical stuff, how the people actually lived rather than their religious life. The section on calendars was interesting and gave me a better understanding of how our own calendar has evolved over time.

[Imoh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where are the books

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for very exacting scholars of the Old Testament. Vaux is very good about sharing his sources (all primary sources: royal receipts, correspondence, etc.) and also about explaining why would-be pet theories do not fit popular interpretations of certain passages. Its a good look at how the monarchy was established, functioned and eventually disappeared. It is especially good for comparing the later rulers in light of the tradition they came from. I got a little impatient with the intricacies of the different duties of the family leader (as in the Book of Ruth) but I appreciated the explanations on the mohair of married women, as compared to what we traditionally think of as a dowry........

[David Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little outdated in some issues, but worth looking at as a reference every now and then.