© 2008 by Eugene H. Merrill Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerpublishing.com Ebook edition created 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. ISBN 978-1-4412-1707-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Page Illustrations Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the First Edition Abbreviations 1. Recalling Israel’s Past: Issues and Strategies Preliminary Considerations The History of Israel and Historiography The Old Testament as Historiography 2. Origins Israel at Moab The Purpose of Torah The Story of the Patriarchs 3. The Exodus: Birth of a Nation The Meaning of the Exodus The Historical Setting of the Exodus The Date of the Exodus The Dates and Length of the Egyptian Sojourn Patriarchal Chronology The Wilderness Wandering 4. The Conquest and Occupation of Canaan The Land as Promise Fulfillment The Ancient Near Eastern World The ‘Apiru and the Conquest The Strategy of Joshua The Date of Joshua’s Conquest The Campaign against the Anakim Alternative Models of the Conquest and Occupation The Tribal Allotments The Second Covenant Renewal at Shechem 5. The Era of the Judges: Covenant Violation, Anarchy, and Human Authority The Literary-Critical Problem in Judges The Chronology of Judges The Ancient Near Eastern World The Judges of Israel The Bethlehem Trilogy 6. Saul: Covenant Misunderstanding The Demand for Kingship The Chronology of the Eleventh Century The Selection of Saul The First Challenge to Saul The Decline of Saul Theological Considerations The Rise of David 7. David: Covenant Kingship The Lack of Nationhood before David David at Hebron Chronicles and Theological History Jerusalem the Capital The Establishment of David’s Power An Introduction to a Davidic Chronology 8. David: The Years of Struggle Egypt and Israelite Independence The Ammonite Wars The Beginning of David’s Domestic Troubles Jerusalem as Cult Center The Rebellion of Absalom David’s Efforts at Reconciliation Additional Troubles David’s Plan for a Temple The Solomonic Succession The Davidic Bureaucracy 9. Solomon: From Pinnacle to Peril Problems of Transition The Failure of the Opposition to Solomon The Conclave at Gibeon International Relations The Building Projects of Solomon Cracks in the Solomonic Empire Solomonic Statecraft Spiritual and Moral Apostasy Solomon and the Nature of Wisdom 10. The Divided Monarchy The Roots of National Division The Immediate Occasion of National Division The Reign of Rehoboam The Reign of Jeroboam The Pressure of Surrounding Nations Abijah of Judah Asa of Judah The Reemergence of Assyria Nadab of Israel The Dynasty of Baasha of Israel Omri of Israel Jehoshaphat of Judah Ahab of Israel The Threat of Assyria Ahab’s Successors The Anointing of Hazael of Damascus Jehoram of Judah The Anointing of Jehu 11. The Dynasty of Jehu and Contemporary Judah The Reign of Jehu of Israel Athaliah of Judah The Role of Other Nations Joash of Judah Jehoahaz of Israel The International Scene Jehoash of Israel Amaziah of Judah Jeroboam II of Israel Uzziah of Judah The Ministry of the Prophets 12. The Rod of Yahweh: Assyria and Divine Wrath Factors Leading to Israel’s Fall The End of the Dynasty of Jehu Assyria and Tiglath-pileser III Menahem of Israel The Last Days of Israel The Impact of Samaria’s Fall Judah and the Fall of Samaria Hezekiah of Judah The Viewpoint of the Prophets 13. Fading Hope: The Disintegration of Judah The Legacy of Hezekiah Manasseh of Judah Amon of Judah The International Scene: Assyria and Egypt Josiah of Judah The Fall of Jerusalem The Prophetic Witness 14. The Exile and the First Return An Introductory Overview The World Situation during the Exile The Jewish People during the Exile The World Situation during the Period of Restoration The First Return Problems following the Return Encouragement from the Prophets 15. Restoration and New Hope The Persian Influence Subsequent Returns: Ezra and Nehemiah Malachi the Prophet Bibliography Scripture Index Subject Index Notes Illustrations Chronological Tables 1. The Sequence of the Bronze Age 2. The Patriarchs 3. Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt 4. Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties of Egypt 5. The Life of David 6. The Kings of the Divided Monarchy 7. The Neo-Assyrian Kings 8. The Neo-Babylonian Kings 9. The Persian Kings Maps 1. The Middle East in Pentateuchal Times 2. Canaan in Patriarchal Times 3. The Exodus 4. Arrival in Transjordan 5. The Middle East in the Times of Joshua and the Judges 6. The Conquest of Canaan 7. The Tribal Allotments 8. Israel during the Age of the Judges 9. The Kingdom of Saul 10. The Middle East during the United Monarchy 11. The Kingdom of David 12. Jerusalem in the Days of David and Solomon 14. The Twelve Districts of Solomon’s Kingdom 15. The Divided Monarchy 16. The Assyrian Empire 17. The Babylonian Empire 18. The Persian Empire Preface to the Second Edition The twenty years since the initial publication of this work have witnessed a veritable explosion of new information and new methodologies in the study of the history of Old Testament Israel. New documents from the ancient Near Eastern and biblical worlds have emerged or have been newly edited and published, and new ways of assessing these texts and their meaning have come to the fore. The secondary literature has also kept pace, with new studies now available to the world of scholarship and to the general laity. The major rationale for a new edition of this work, indeed, has been the increasingly obvious recognition that what was adequate a generation ago has become insufficient for the dawn of a new millennium. Besides my own conviction that a major overhaul of the work was needed, I have been encouraged by others to take on the task of bringing the narrative up to date so that the message of the Old Testament as not only a theological but also a historical work can resonate more clearly and relevantly with a new generation of readers. Baker Academic has responded to this sense of urgency and has graciously undertaken the immense effort and cost of revising a work such as this with all its technicalities. The author is particularly grateful to Jim Kinney because early on he saw the value and wisdom of bringing a sorely needed revision to pass. At the same time, he would be first to admit, with me, that without the competent staff at Baker this work would never have come to fruition. The human and technical resources of Dallas Theological Seminary have also contributed immeasureably to the success of the project. The administration and staff have offered great encouragement and more—they have assisted in practical ways that have eased the process and made it possible to complete the work in the short time that has been devoted to it. As always, my wife, Janet, has been a tower of strength in moving me forward in the times when it seemed there was so little energy to get it done. It is to my beloved faculty colleagues at Dallas Theological Seminary, however, that I want to pay greatest tribute this time around, and I gratefully dedicate this effort to them. Many of them have used the first edition in their classrooms, and they have unfailingly reminded me of its usefulness to them. I trust that they will find even greater satisfaction in this second attempt. One might think it strange that a work on history—even the history of Israel—could be such a spiritually edifying and stimulating exercise for its author, but such it has been. To recognize all over again and ever more profoundly that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God of our history as well is both a sobering and exhilarating thought. To God be all glory and praise from this day in history until the eschatological day of his kingdom on earth. Eugene H. Merrill October 2006 Preface to the First Edition The title of this work—Kingdom of Priests—suggests at once the peculiar nature of a history of Israel: it cannot be done along the lines of normal historical scholarship because it relies primarily upon documents (the Old Testament) that are fundamentally ahistoriographic in character. The Old Testament is first and foremost theological and not historical literature; this means that theological and not historical approaches must be brought to bear if its underlying purpose and message are to be discerned. Contrary to much contemporary scholarship, however, we must assert that just because the Old Testament is by definition “sacred history,” this does not nullify its claim to authentic historicity as that term is commonly used. It is indeed the record of Yahweh’s covenantal relationship with his special people Israel, a record that constantly calls attention to the divine interpretation and even prediction of events, but this always presupposes that those very events actually occurred in time and space. The theological message, in other words, is grounded in genuine history. The purpose of this study is not so much to interpret the meaning of the underlying events—a task more properly in the province of biblical theology—as it is to discover the historical data themselves and by every resource at our disposal (including the biblical text, archaeological artifacts, and extrabiblical documents) to reconstruct the history of Israel along the lines of ordinary historiographical method to the extent that such a goal is possible given the unique nature of the material. Any success in this endeavor will be of importance to the search for a true understanding of Israel’s Old Testament past—a worthy objective in itself—and to the establishment of the historical factualness of the Old Testament record, the truthfulness of which is absolutely critical if the religious and theological message is to have any effect. Whether we have succeeded must be determined by the reader. The completion of a project that has brought so much personal satisfaction to its author requires that those who made its accomplishment possible be recognized and thanked. It was in the course of a sabbatical kindly granted by Dallas Theological Seminary in 1983–84 that the major part of the work was achieved, and so I want to express my appreciation for this generous and enlightened policy. Moreover, the seminary made its word-processing facilities available. The typing was undertaken by the gifted hands and enthusiastic spirit of Marie Janeway. To Baker and particularly Allan Fisher and Ray Wiersma I pay special homage for their patience, expertise, and painstaking attention to every detail of the project. Finally I must thank my dear wife, Janet, and daughter, Sonya, for putting up with my absences, aberrations, and frequent demands and for their constant encouragement to see this through to the end. Eugene H. Merrill September 1986