Review of Kratz, Historical and Biblical Israel

RELIGION AND LITERATURE OF ANCIENT PALESTINE: Review of R. Kratz, Historical and Biblical Israel: The History, Tradition, and Archives of Israel and Judah (2015) (Ryan Thomas).

Despite these disagreements over literary history, Kratz can only be offered fulsome praise for his daring attempt to construct a synthetic reconstruction of the origin of the Hebrew Bible and to make it available to a broader readership. His writing is compressed and yet clear and accessible, and the glossary at the end of the book will assist those less familiar with the technical terminology of academic biblical studies. Finally, although the book is strictly historical in its interpretation of the development of the biblical tradition, the author ends with an eloquent postlude directed at those who may have concerns that the conclusions reached in the book undermine religious faith.