Where did the ancient Israelites come from? “Isn’t it obvious?” They were oppressed slaves who escaped from Egypt. The majority of scholars answer: “No, it is not obvious at all.” They assert all sorts of alternate hypotheses. This article introduces evidences related to early Israeli history and their interpretations.
Exegesis and Eisegesis
Joshua Bowen is an Assyriologist whose specialty is the ancient Sumerian language.1 He was raised as a Christian, but as he progressed through his evangelical biblical training, he became disillusioned. Eventually the faith of his youth was shredded. This is a common story. Conservative Christians can be quite rigid in their scriptural interpretations. The message: Free thinkers are not welcome. What do we do when evidence threatens prevailing Bible interpretations? To address this question, let’s first define the terms exegesis and eisegesis.
Exegesis is the process of extracting meanings from a text based on the context and the original author’s intent. Eisegesis reads ideas and biases into the text. We are all guilty of the latter when it comes to the Bible. Many scriptural narratives are short, concise, with lots of holes. Ancient authors care little for all the subtleties. They present that which is important to the points they are making. This leaves modern interpreters hanging. Gaps must be filled. Uncertainty overflowing with mystery is troubling.
Consider Adam for example. It is clear from the book of Romans that through Adam, sin entered the world (Rom 5:12). Most Christians therefore assume that Adam was the first human to live on earth. This is eisegesis. Nowhere does the Bible clearly state that; not even Gen 1:26–27.2 Genesis hints otherwise. Cain built a city (Gen 4:17); who were the inhabitants? Who did Cain marry (Gen 4:17-24)? Who were those who would want to kill Cain after Abel’s murder (Gen 4:14)?3 If other humans existed at the time of Adam, we have easy answers to these questions. But you might ask? What was the spiritual state of the other humans? That is a mystery, isn’t it?
Eisegesis is not necessarily bad. It becomes an issue when it leads to unbreakable doctrines. It helps to keep an open mind, especially when it comes to biblical scholarship and archaeology. Sometimes the earth reveals data that conflict with our understandings. What do we do? Perhaps the evidence is incomplete. Or maybe, our understanding of scripture is faulty. Either can apply. I suspect that ex-evangelicals (like Josh Bowen) often cannot shake the rigid interpretations that they feel compelled to maintain.
Biblical Archaeology
The birth of biblical archaeology commenced in the early 1800s. The purpose was to dig up remnants of the past in order to confirm (or prove) the Bible. A radical shift occurred in the mid-1900s. Archaeologists began attempting to reconstruct what really happened, even if their discoveries conflict with the Bible record. The pendulum swung so far that archaeologists like Finklestein and Thompson came to dismiss biblical narratives entirely. They postulate that the Bible was written many hundreds of years after the events. Typical quotes include: “Nothing in the Bible is useful for historical purposes.” Or: “Modern archaeology has uncovered remnants of the past that clearly refute biblical narratives.” This group of scholars are tagged with the term minimalist . They were dominant in the seventies and eighties.
The pendulum is beginning to swing back. Scholars like Hoffmeier, Kitchens, Falk, and others have made impressive finds demonstrating that the Bible can and should be used as a legitimate source document. This group of scholars are the maximalists . They hold that biblical accounts are generally reliable and cannot be excluded from the effort to reconstruct past events.
Objectivity
Can Bible scholars treat the Bible the same way as they treat other ancient texts? I don’t believe this is possible. I’m a Christian. As such, I want it to be true. I root for finds that are compatible with the Bible. Skeptics and atheists are also biased. They want their alternate hypotheses to be true. In both cases, after publishing articles, posting blogs, and giving speeches, it is difficult to admit: “I was wrong on this or that.” It is easy to come to the point where one simply has too much skin in the game . The following quote from archaeologist Adam Zertal applies:
Even in the hallowed halls of science and academia, zealots can sometimes be found. It is often difficult for those passionate intellectuals to acknowledge facts which contradict their own opinions.4
Zertal began his career believing that Bible stories were largely mythological. He changed his position as he uncovered archaeological evidence that he found to be compelling.
A Nation Born by Adam Zertal
Adam Zertal was seriously wounded in the Yom Kippur war. As a result, he spent the rest of his life on crutches. During his year of hospital recovery, he became interested in archaeology. His subsequent work focused on excavating sites that link to the time of Joshua. His most significant find was an altar on Mt. Ebal dating to about 1200 BCE. This altar’s design is consistent with descriptions in extra-biblical Jewish literature. It remained in use for about fifty years before it was carefully buried and disbanded. The bullet points below summarize further details.
• Scarabs (beetle shaped amulets popular in ancient Egypt) produced during the reign of Ramesses II (1279–1213 BCE).
Pictures of the site follow.
This find immediately garnered publicity and controversy. The early-date Exodus evangelicals didn’t like it because it was two-hundred years too late. Indigenous people of the area objected because it was in the wrong place. Minimalists were especially peeved. They were absolutely convinced that Joshua’s altar never existed.
Some of these issues no longer apply. The scholarly consensus has come to accept that the site represents an early Israelite altar. Those insisting that the Exodus happened around 1446 BCE (based on a literal translation of 1 Kgs 6) now generally accept that this altar is indeed the one Josua built, but they question the site’s dating. The remaining controversy concerns whether the Mt. Ebal altar can be linked to Joshua.
Joshua’s Altar?
The strongest argument against the authenticity of Joshua’s altar is its position. It rests on a Western portion of Mt. Ebal. It doesn’t face Mt. Gerizim as the Bible seems to demand. Adam Zertal was aware of this, and he put forward an explanation. He hypothesized that the altar faces Mt. Kabir, which is another high mountain nearby. Mt. Kabir is the highest point in Samaria. From its summit, the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Hermon are visible. Zertal posits that the names of Mt. Kabir and Mt. Gerizim were interchanged after the dispute between Sanballat and Nehemiah (Neh 2, 4, 6) over repairing the wall of Jerusalem. This is when the Samaritan temple was built on what is now Mt. Gerizim. Zertal’s proposal is interesting, but I don’t believe it works. Judges 9:7 reads:
When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them (the inhabitants of Shechem), “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.
Note that this text never says whether the men of Shechem actually heard Jotham’s cries. Nevertheless, Mt. Gerizim is much closer to Shechem than it is to Mt. Kabir. I don’t see why Jotham would travel away from Shechem to yell down to its inhabitants. So, my reply to Zertal is, “Nice try.”
Does this mean that the altar built on Mt. Ebal cannot be the one that Joshua built. To answer this question, let’s consider what the Bible has to say. First: what did Moses command Joshua to do?
It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and coat them with plaster (to enable writing) . You shall write on them all the words of this law, . . . which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, . . . There you shall build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones. You shall not use any iron tool on them. . . . You shall offer burnt offerings on it to Yahweh your God. You shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God. . . . Moses commanded the people the same day, saying, “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. (Deut 27:2–13)
Moses envisioned six tribes on each mountain shouting curses and blessings. There’s a problem. Moses knew about the two mountains, but he never actually visited the site. The picture below shows the landscape. The Shechem valley is about 900 feet wide. This distance greatly increases if two sets of tribes were to walk up both mountains. Unfortunately, under ideal conditions, a human voice can only be heard and understood for about 590 feet. What was Joshua to do?
Joshua’s solution follows
Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings. He wrote there on the stones a copy of Moses’ law, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
Interesting! The people stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant in front of both mountains. Apparently, Joshua read all the words of the law within earshot. For some reason, he did not even divide those present into their representative tribal groups. Why? Scripture doesn’t tell us. We can only guess. Joshua did not forget about the Altar. It was built on Mt. Ebal in accordance with Moses’s instructions. It didn’t need to face Mt. Gerizim.
Conclusion
The scholarly consensus agrees that the Mt. Ebal altar is an important discovery. It has a lot going for it. It was in use for burnt and gift offerings during a period of about fifty years. It’s altar construction was consistent both with Jewish tradition and with the text of the Bible. When abandoned, it was carefully buried, not destroyed. Those who consider the account of Joshua to be accurate recognize Shechem as an original center for Israeli worship (Josh 24:25).
As with many archaeological discoveries, we cannot say that we have proven that the Altar on Mt. Ebal is linked with Joshua. We can say that the evidence is in its favor. What do you think?
The next two articles will focus on presenting other evidence relating to Israel’s entry and conquest of the promised land. The first will consider whether various archaeological finds are consistent with scripture. The second article will wrestle with the morality of the conquest. How can a Good God order genocide? Stay tuned.
References
Joshua Bowen, An Atheists Guide to the Old Testament: Volume 1 , 2021.
S. Joshua Swamidass, The Genealogical Adam & Eve , 2019.
John Walton, The Lost World of Adam and Eve , 2013, 64–65.
Adam Zertal, A Nation Born: The Birth of Ancient Israel , Kindle Version, 2018.
Zvi Koenigsberg, The Altar on Mount Ebal, Israel’s Holy Site
Zvi Koenigsberg, Mount Ebal – more than meets the eye
Ralph Hawkins, How Israel Became a People , 2013.
Thanks for listening,https://secondlooknow.com/
Super interesting. I agree that wooden readings of the text, plus an inability to think creatively, leads to problems. Hyper fundamentalist believers produce the same type of ardent atheists. Dan Barker and Bart Earmann is case in point.