On the Reliability of the Old Testament
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
For more than two hundred years controversy has raged over the reliability of the Old Testament. Questions about the factuality of its colorful stories of heroes, villains, and kings, for example, have led many critics to see the entire Hebrew Bible as little more than pious fiction. In this fascinating book, noted ancient historian K. A. Kitchen takes strong issue with today’s “revisionist” critics and offers a firm foundation for the historicity of the biblical texts.
In a detailed, comprehensive, and entertaining manner, Kitchen draws on an unprecedented range of historical data from the ancient Near East—the Bible’s own world—and uses it to soundly reassess both the biblical record and the critics who condemn it. Working back from the latest periods (for which hard evidence is readily available) to the remotest times, Kitchen systematically shows up the many failures of favored arguments against the Bible and marshals pertinent permanent evidence from antiquity’s inscriptions and artifacts to demonstrate the basic honesty of the Old Testament writers.
Enhanced with numerous tables, figures, and maps, On the Reliability of the Old Testament is a must-read for anyone interested in the question of biblical truth.
In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
Want similar titles? Check out Eerdmans Old Testament Studies Collection (16 vols.) for more!
- Draws on an unprecedented range of historical data from the ancient Near East
- Demonstrates the basic honesty of the Old Testament writers
- Offers a firm foundation for the historicity of the biblical texts
- First Things First — What’s in Question?
- “In Medias Res”— the Era of the Hebrew Kingdoms
- Home and Away — Exile and Return
- The Empire Strikes Back — Saul, David, and Solomon
- Humble Beginnings — around and in Canaan
- Lotus Eating and Moving On — Exodus and Covenant
- Founding Fathers or Fleeting Phantoms — the Patriarchs
- A Vitamin Supplement — Prophets and Prophecy
- Back to Methuselah — and Well Beyond
- Back to Methuselah — and Well Beyond
Top Highlights
“Thus the phenomenon of an exodus-deliverance recurs all over the biblical corpus, in law/covenant, in historical narratives, in the poetry of the Psalms, and in the messages of the prophets, at all dates in the biblical saga from Sinai itself and the plains of Moab down into the Persian period. If there never was an escape from Egyptian servitude by any of Israel’s ancestors, why on earth invent such a tale about such humiliating origins? Nobody else in Near Eastern antiquity descended to that kind of tale of community beginnings.” (Page 245)
“First, no total conquest and occupation. The book of Joshua does not describe a total Hebrew conquest and occupation of Canaan, real or imaginary.” (Page 234)
“This illustrates a basic literary phenomenon endemic to the ancient Near East, yet one constantly abused by biblicists. When prose and poetry accounts coexist, it is prose that is the primary source and poetry that is the secondary celebration. This cannot be overstressed.” (Page 252)
“Manetho and Berossus drew upon authentic history and sources, this activity is denied to the Jewish writers of the Old Testament. So, two questions here arise. (1) Were the Old Testament books all composed within circa 400–200 b.c.? And (2) are they virtually pure fiction of that time, with few or no roots in the real history of the Near East during circa 2000–400 b.c.?” (Page 2)
“Exodus-deliverance is cause for Hebrews’ gratitude” (Page 244)
The scope of this book is nothing less than the entire sweep of Old Testament history, and Kitchen introduces an impressive amount of evidence for the historical reliability of most Old Testament narrative. . . . This is a hugely impressive book, packed with detail and energetic argument.
—Biblical Studies Bulletin
Eminent Egyptologist and ancient Near Eastern scholar Kenneth Kitchen has produced here a tour de force that questions many of the simplistically assumed hypotheses of Old Testament scholarship while at the same time contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the environment in which the Hebrew Bible was composed. Kitchen’s lifetime of study of the ancient context of the Old Testament makes this volume a must-read.
—K. Lawson Younger Jr., professor of Old Testament, Semitic languages, and ancient Near Eastern history, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Why should I be concerned about the historical reliability of the Old Testament? The overriding concern of most Bible readers is. Are this book’s claims about God, Jesus, and the afterlife reliable enough that I should carefully heed and believe what it says? ‘This is the absolute truth’ that Kenneth Kitchen in his preface states is beyond the purview of this book. Kitchen’s approach is not. How much historical reliability do I need for my faith? How much faith do the facts of archaeology (including ancient texts) tell me that I actually have? In the course of his tour through three pre-Christian millennia, Kitchen approaches his subject with the skill and experience of a bona fide expert and the frankness, honesty, and wit of a Scotsman. His book takes into account the very latest discoveries. There could be no better author for a book like this, an author who for over forty years has read, published, and taught most of the ancient texts he cites.
—Harry A. Hoffner Jr., professor of Hittitology, University of Chicago
K. A. Kitchen is Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics, and Oriental Studies, University of Liverpool, England. He is the author of many books on Egyptology, the ancient Near East, and biblical history, including Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, Ancient Orient and Old Testament, and The Bible in Its World: The Bible and Archaeology Today.
Reviews
4 ratings
Richard Keane
7/27/2019
Matthew Lawrence
8/18/2017
Glenn Crouch
7/17/2015
This is an excellent reference book that I would recommend to all those interested in the History and Archaeology of the Old Testament. Whilst there are plenty of books around that help us get a better feel for First Century Judaism and Greco-Roman Culture and thus better understand the background of the New Testament, there are not as many such tools for the Old Testament - which is not surprising since the periods it talks above cover well over 1,000 years (and far longer depending on how you see the Creation Account). Kitchen does a fine job of treating the Old Testament seriously and seeing how it stands up against modern understanding for the Ancient World. Whilst I have read the entire book (and well worth it), it is also a great reference tool to get background info - not just for preaching but for a better understanding of the world as it was then. I find especially interesting the argument that much in Genesis fits well into the time period that long pre-dates Moses / Exodus period (whatever date you put on that). I also find convincing that the cultural background we see through much of the Old Testament fits nicely into the time period that it purports to be reporting on - thus making it quite difficult to accept that it was "made up" in the Babylonian Captivity as some suggest. The Author crams quite a lot into this book! The only downside, I felt, was the final chapter - where he does get quite "angry" with those who disregard the reliability of the Old Testament - though I would recommend his examination of Wellhausen and the whole J E D P approach to the Pentateuch. Highly recommended :)
Daniel Warner
6/25/2015
