Ancient Israel's neighbors
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"The purpose of this book is to tell the story of Israel's nearest neighbors-not only discovering what the Bible to say about them, but also what we can know from archaeology, ancient inscriptions, and other sources. The Bible itself presents these neighbors in nuanced and conflicting ways; sometimes they are friends or even related to Israel at a family level, and sometimes they are enemies, spoken of as though they must die in order for Israel to live. We are left wondering how the biblical portrayal might have affected our thinking about these people as historical groups, on their own terms. How would an Aramaean have described her own religion? How would an Edomite have described conflict with Israel? In this book, then, we will explore both the biblical portrayal of the smaller groups surrounding Israel and explore what we can know about these groups through their own literature, archaeology, and other sources. Learning what we can about who these various peoples were in their own right will deepen our awareness of Israel's close neighbors. By uncovering the identity of the Philistines as settlers along the coast at the same time that early Israel carved out their place in the land, for example, we can better understand the social turmoil and political maneuvering that lies just beneath the surface of the biblical narrative, and we can see more clearly just how the authors of the Bible saw themselves in the face of others"--,Provided by publisher.