AK1710 Roots of Western Culture
October 6: The Rise and Fall of Israel
Read for today’s class: “Introduction to the Historical Books” (Bible p. 309-313 and
additional introductions on pp. 398-399, 446, 487-489, 533, 974-977, 1 Sam 16-17; 2
Sam 7; 1 Kings 11-12, 17-20; 2 Kings 17, 25; Isaiah 1, 6-7.
Tutorial Preparation: Read closely Isaiah 7:10-16. Jews and Christians have very
different interpretations of this section of the text. Try to read it through both
perspectives: what might a Jewish reader take from it? what might a Christian think of?
Also, how should these verses be read in an academic setting? NOTE: this tutorial is to
be handed in for grading.
Appendix to Last Class: The “Conquest of Canaan” (Joshua 23-24)
 modern scholarship questions the extent of this conquest
 archeology has shown that many of the facts in the text of Joshua are not correct;
some cities described as destroyed by the Israelites were not destroyed in that
time period; some were but it is debated whether or not the Israelites had any
hand in it
 conquest coincides with an invasion of the area by “Sea Peoples” that occupied
the attention of the great superpowers of the time and allowed for the Israelites to
move into Canaan without much interference
 Sea Peoples: great surge of population in area of the Aegean Sea; people moved
out into the Mediterranean; called Peoples of the Sea in Egyptian documents
assortment of names; one is Peleset (Philistines)
 actual battles in Joshua limited to the highlands of Canaan, beyond the west bank
of the Jordan, between Mount Hermon to the Judean wilderness
 after Joshua’s death most of the plains, valleys and coastal cities remained under
the control of the Canaanites and Philistines
 these lands eventually join Israel through conquest by King David or through
treaty
 text ends with a meeting of the twelve tribes, a covenant renewal ceremony
 people promise to worship Yahweh and thus forge an alliance agreeing to adopt
Yahweh as their god and the story of the Exodus therefore becomes the founding
myth of the new society in Israel
1. The Book of Deuteronomy
 Deuteronomy=“second law”
 620 BCE King Josiah of Judah was intent on reform (see 2 Kgs 22:3-20) as
reaction to Assyrian power and influence
 elements of reform: closing of non-Jewish sites in the north (Israel); priests of
these sites slain; centralization of worship in one temple in Jerusalem (other
Yahweh temples destroyed; priests put out of work), incorporation of the
provincial priesthood in the central shrine
 reforms mentioned in Deut:
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o “You must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you
are about to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the
hills, and under every leafy tree” (12:2)
o “Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place you happen
to see. But only the place that the LORD has chosen in one of your tribes—
there you shall offer your burnt offerings and there you shall do everything I
command you” (12:13-14); prior to this time had numerous shrines (two
prominent ones at Bethel and Dan) and temples (Shechem, Arad, Maqqadah,
Elephantine)
o “If a Levite leaves any of your towns, from wherever he has been residing in
Israel, and comes to the place that the LORD will choose, then he may
minister in the name of the LORD his God…” (18:6-7)
Book of Deuteronomy is essentially the text found by Josiah with an introduction
and conclusion placing it within the narrative of the Exodus; Josiah’s Reform thus
called the Deuteronomic Reform
the themes of the Deuteronomic Reform are found in the Deuteronomic History
(=DH) (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings); editor of these texts
referred to as the Deuteronomic Historian
Deuteronomic Theme: sin-punishment-repentance-deliverance
Joshua and Judges deal with the conquest
Judges and 1 Samuel with the formation of a monarchy; constant refrain: “in
those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their
own eyes”; anticipates that a king is necessary; 1 Samuel selects the first king:
Saul
2 Samuel stories of Saul and his successor David
1 Kings stories of David and Solomon
2 Kings stories of the northern and southern kings
2. A King for Israel (1 Sam. 16-17)
 tension observable through the DH between literary sources favourable to
kingship and those that are not
 1 Sam. 8 Israelites come to Samuel, asking “appoint for us a king to govern us,
like other nations”
 Saul is not a good king, but he is succeeded by David
 three stories of David’s selection:
o (1 Sam. 16:1-13) David is brought to Saul’s court to play for him; private
anointing by God through Samuel; anointed one=Messiah
o David becomes Saul’s armour bearer (16:14-23)
o David vs. Goliath (17:1-18:5)
 David eventually becomes publicly selected as king, and the remainder of 1 and 2
Sam. tells of his exploits
3. The Covenant with David (2 Sam. 7)
 previously the Israelites connected with Yahweh through the covenant with
Abraham (in which the land of Palestine is promised to his progeny) and the
covenant with Moses (in which the Torah is given); now have covenant with
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David: “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;
your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 16)
David wants to make a permanent temple but God, through the prophet Nathan,
dissuades him; his son Solomon builds the Temple
Davidic monarchy lasted 400 years; replaces Sinai covenant in the thinking of the
average Israelite, especially the Judeans
Israel now much like the “nations”: they have a ruler (David) who is like God on
earth (a shepherd), and a temple(s) as the meeting place between heaven and earth
4. The Divided Monarchy (1 Kgs. 11-12)
 1 Kgs. 1-11 is Solomon’s life (961-922 BCE); famous for wisdom, great building
projects (including the temple), ostentatious palace (greater than the temple);
harem of 1000 wives and concubines, a navy
 Temple designed by Canaanite architects; Canaanite culture for God’s sanctuary
 Temple and other building projects came at great price: ends in the separation of
Israel into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south
5. The Northern Kings
 A northern king is selected from the tribe of Ephraim: Jeroboam (r. 922-901 BCE)
 Jeroboam gets better part of the kingdom; 10 northern tribes (more people), and
best and most productive land; also more accommodating to Canaanite culture
 Judah gets only 2 southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin
 text written from perspective of the south; by the time it was written, Israel had
been destroyed, so incorporates northern traditions but evaluated in light of their
destruction; so all the northern kings will be looked at negatively
 Jeroboam’s sins (1 Kgs. 12:25-33): makes two shrines (Dan and Bethel), uses
golden calf iconography
7. Prophets
 intermediary between humans and the gods: “Thus says Yahweh!”
 concerned with present, not future, task to communicate God’s message for now,
and to summon the people to respond today
 Elijah from Tishbeh in Gilead; Elijah’s stories are battles between prophets,
between religious systems (Canaanite and Israelite)
 1 Kgs. 18 the contest at Mt. Carmel: Elijah vs. Jezebel’s Canaanite prophets
 Isaiah: a southern prophet operating under King Ahaz; lived in time of concern
that Assyria would take the south also
8. The End of Israel
 all kings evaluated by the southern writer only in whether or not they continued
the rival sanctuaries (“he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and walked in
the way of Jeroboam and his sin which he made Israel to sin.”)
 Samaritans: product of remaining northern Jews mixing with colonists; seen as
inferior by Jews
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Why did the south fall? King Manasseh guilty of many forms of accommodation,
including building high places, erecting altars for Baal and an image of Asherah
in the temple, worshipped the host of heaven, sacrificed his son to the Canaanite
deity Molech; and filled Jerusalem with blood
Judah fell to the Babylonian invasion in 587; the people are deported, the Temple
is destroyed
much of the Bible composed and/or edited during the Exile
all of Israelite history evaluated in light of the Exile