Israel and the Nations: The History of Israel from the Exodus to the Fall of the Second Temple, rev. ed.
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
In recounting Israel’s story from the Exodus to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, F.F. Bruce reveals the historical context of the nation of Israel in a way that reads more like a novel than an academic text. In doing so, he makes the Bible come alive. For instance, the book gives a context to Psalm 137 in which Edom rejoices over Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon, and it gives context to John 4 where a woman says, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”
The chief distinction of Israel and the Nations lies in the fact that Professor Bruce does not deal with Israel as an isolated unit. Rather, he deals with Israel from the standpoint of its historical interaction with its almost forgotten neighbors.
The Old Testament is the story of Israel, God’s chosen people. At the time the Bible was written, the story’s context—Israel’s relation with Egypt, with the nations of Canaan, and with Babylon and Assyria, for instance—was familiar to its readers. However, today’s readers, who sometimes find the political context of the Old Testament and the events of the intertestamental period to be obscure, will gain fresh understanding through Israel and the Nations.
This new edition, carefully revised by David F. Payne, includes some new material and a revised bibliography.
This is a Logos Reader Edition. Learn more.
- Provides an excellent introduction to the history of Israel
- Explores the complexities of Israel’s history
- Includes color photos and illustrations as well as genealogical and chronological tables
- Features revisions by David F. Payne, including new material and a revised bibliography
- Prefaces
- Introduction
- Israel’s Beginnings
- The Philistines and the Hebrew Monarchy
- The Reign of David
- Solomon and His Successors
- The Dynasty of Omri
- The Syrian Wars and the Rise of the Prophets
- The Fall of the Northern Kingdom
- Hezekiah and the Assyrian Peril
- Apostasy and Restoration
- Last Days of the Kingdom of Judah
- The Exile
- When the Lord Turned Again the Captivity of Zion
- The People of the Law
- The Jews in the Persian Empire
- Rival Greek Empires
- Oniads and Tobiads
- And Ambitious Greek King
- The Abomination of Desolation
- The Hasmonaean Resistance
- Judas Maccabaeus
- Independence Won
- The Hasmonaean Dynasty
- The Roman Conquest
- The Reign of Herod
- The Sons of Herod and the Early Roman Governors
- Herod Agrippa and the Jews
- Troubles Mulitply in Judaea
- The War with Rome and the End of the Second Temple
- Genealogical and Chronlogical Tables
An excellent sketch of the history of Israel, written with a splendid clarity.
—John Bright
F. F. Bruce (1910–1990) was one of the founders of the modern evangelical understanding of the Bible and served as the Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester. After teaching Greek for several years, first at the University of Edinburgh and then at the University of Leeds, he became head of the Department of Biblical History and Literature at the University of Sheffield in 1947. He studied at University of Aberdeen, Cambridge University, and the University of Vienna. During his distinguished career, he wrote many bestselling commentaries and books, including Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free, Hard Sayings of the Bible, The Book of the Acts in The New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) and many others. In addition, Bruce served as general editor of the NICNT series for nearly thirty years from 1962–1990.
Reviser: David F. Payne, Old Testament scholar and former Academic Dean at London School of Theology, also served as Head of the Department of Semitic Studies, Queen’s University of Belfast, Ireland.