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Dedication
To Helen the love of my life, faithful fan for over sixty years, whose loving
support still makes telling the story a joy.
JT
To my colleagues on the faculty of the School of Religion at Belmont University

MM
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CONTENTS
Bibliographical Abbreviations xiii

Maps xiv
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Chapter 1 The Book and Those Who Study It 1

The Old Testament: What Is It? 2
How It Began 4
How It Developed 6
The Work of Scholars 8
Archaeology as a Tool for Understanding 15
Why Study the Old Testament? 18
Study Questions 21 • Endnotes 21
Chapter 2 The Geographical and Historical Settings for the Old Testament
Prior to 1200 B.C.E. 23
The Ancient Near East 24
Mesopotamia 24
Asia Minor 27
Africa 27
Syria-Phoenicia 28
Palestine 29
Chapter 3 Israel Looks at the Beginnings 37

The Primeval Complex 38
The Ancestral Complex 47
Genesis in Retrospect 58
Chapter 4 Israel Becomes a People 61

The Book of Israel’s Beginnings 63
Moses: Birth and Wilderness Years 64
Moses: The Struggle with the Pharaoh 67
The Exodus Event 71
Sinai and the Giving of the Law 75
After Mount Sinai 86
ix
x Contents
Themes in the Pentateuch 92

Chapter 5 Israel Gains a Home: Joshua and Judges 95

Moving into the Promised Land 96
Continuing the Story of Occupation 104
Proposed Models for the Israelite Occupation of Canaan 114
Chapter 6 The Beginning of the Monarchy: Samuel, Saul, and David 117
The Sources for the Story of the Israelite Kingdoms 118
The Story of Samuel 119
The Establishment of Saul’s Kingship (1020–1000 B.C.E.) 124
The Appearance of David 128
Samuel, Saul, and David: A Summary 133
David: King Over Judah 134
David: King Over All Israel 135
The Court History of David 137
Chapter 7 The Division of the Monarchy I: The Reign of Solomon and the Story
of the Northern Kingdom 145
The Reign of Solomon 146
Approaching the Divided-Kingdom Story 155
The Division of the Kingdom 156
The Dynasty of Omri 158
Elijah’s Confrontations with Ahab and Jezebel 162
Jehu to Jereboam II (842–746 B.C.E.) 168
The Destruction of the Northern Kingdom 170
Chapter 8 The Division of the Monarchy II: The Story of the Southern
Kingdom 173
Judah After the Division 174
Judah After the Destruction of Israel 177
Chapter 9 The Exile and Restoration: Redefining Israel 187

After the Fall of Jerusalem 188
The Lives of the Survivors 194
The Changing International Situation (538–486 B.C.E.) 197
The Restored Community 199
Contents xi
Ezra and Nehemiah 201

Chapter 10 The Prophetic Literature I: An Introduction to Prophetic Literature

and the Book of Isaiah 208
An Introduction to Prophetic Literature 209
Introduction to the Book of Isaiah 210
A Survey of the Contents of the Book of Isaiah 212
Summary of Isaiah 232
Chapter 11 The Prophetic Literature II: The Scrolls of

Jeremiah and Ezekiel 234
Introduction to the Book of Jeremiah 235
Survey of the Book of Jeremiah 236
Introduction to the Book of Ezekiel 252
Survey of the Book of Ezekiel 254
Chapter 12 The Prophetic Literature III: The Book of the Twelve and
the Continuation of the Prophetic Tradition 269
Introduction to the Book of the Twelve 270
The Opening Sequence: Hosea, Joel, and Amos 271
Jerusalem and Nineveh: Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, and Nahum 284
Shifting the Focus to Babylon: Habakkuk and Zephaniah 289
The Prophets of Restoration: Haggai, Zechariah,
and Malachi 292
The End of Prophecy? 297
Chapter 13 A Legacy of Israel: Wisdom Literature and Psalms 300

The Wisdom Literature 301
Psalms: Israel Sings Its Faith 320
Chapter 14 The Time of Silence: Judah in Eclipse 334

The Historical Situation 335
The Festival Scrolls 337
The Maccabean Revolt 344
Geographical and Canonical Boundaries and
the Book of Daniel 345
xii Contents
Chapter 15 Epilogue: The Continuing Story 352

Life in Jewish Communities 353
The Development of Sectarian Judaism 354
Literary Activity 356
Judaism’s Oral Tradition 359
A Closing Statement 359
Glossary 361
For Further Study 370
Comprehensive Chronological Chart 375
Credits 378
Index 379
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS
AB Anchor Bible
ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary
ABRL Anchor Bible Reference Library
ANE The Ancient Near East
ANET The Ancient Near East—An Anthology of Texts and Pictures
ARCH Archaeology
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BAR Biblical Archaeology Review
BBC Broadman Bible Commentary
BR Bible Review
FOTL Forms of Old Testament Literature
HER Hermeneia
IB Interpreter’s Bible
IDB Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
INT Interpretation
ITC International Theological Commentary
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JBQ Jewish Bible Quarterly
JBR Journal of Bible and Religion
LAI Library of Ancient Israel
LBC Layman’s Bible Commentary
LXX The Septuagint (the Greek Version of the Hebrew Bible)
KJV King James Version of the Bible
MBA Macmillan Bible Atlas
MCB Mercer Commentary on the Bible
MDB Mercer Dictionary of the Bible
NCBC New Century Bible Commentary
NEA Near Eastern Archaeology
NIB New Interpreter’s Bible
NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament
NJBC New Jerome Bible Commentary
NOAB New Oxford Annotated Bible
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
OBA Oxford Bible Atlas
OTL The Old Testament Library
TEV Today’s English Version, or Good News for Modern Man
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
xiii
MAPS
Figure 1–3 Archaeological sites 20

Figure 2–1 This map of the ancient Near East illustrates the Fertile Crescent, which
extends from the Persian Gulf in the east to Canaan in the west 26
Figure 2–3 The highways of Palestine 31
Figure 4–2 The Exodus and Sinai 72
Figure 5–1 The division of the land (Josh. 13:1–19:51) 103
Figure 7–3 David’s kingdom and the united monarchy 151
Figure 7–7 Israel and Judah—850 B.C.E. 167
Figure 8–2 The Assyrian Empire 178
Figure 8–3 The Kingdom of Judah—seventh century B.C.E. 179
Figure 9–1 The Babylonian Empire—sixth century B.C.E. 188
Figure 9–4 The Persian Empire 198
Figure 14–2 Alexander’s empire 344
xiv
PREFACE
The purpose of this textbook is to introduce students to the collection of literature from ancient
Israel that has, for Christian traditions, become the Old Testament. This task necessitates famil-
iarity with the content of the literature itself, an awareness of the basic framework of the history
and culture of the ancient Near East, and insight from the methods of reading ancient texts that
have been developed in contemporary scholarship.
WHAT’S NEW TO THIS EDITION?

• Expanded and enhanced study aids for students
• Synthetic literary treatments of each of the prophetic scrolls
• An uninterrupted treatment of the story line of the Israelite monarchy
• Expanded discussion of the influence of African cultures on ancient Israel
• Updated discussion of the influence of Diaspora Judaism on the formation of the canon
The preface to the eighth edition of The Old Testament Story made reference to the massive
shift that has taken place in the field of biblical studies over the last three decades. This shift has
two facets that are closely connected. First, the dominance of a historical framework has given
way to a more eclectic field of study in which literary approaches to the text continue to gain
prominence. Second, the chorus of voices that take part in academic and ecclesial conversations
about the Bible has become much more diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, geography, and eco-
nomics. Attention has been given to many of the effects of this shift in all of the new editions of
this book during that period. The revisions for the ninth edition, however, necessitate the first
major reorientation of material since the book’s inception. There are still fifteen chapters, and the
first five and last three chapters retain most of their previous structure, but chapters 6 through 12
have been significantly reorganized. The previous editions of this book told the story of the
Monarchy, the Exile, and the Restoration in these middle chapters and placed all of the material
related to the prophetic books within the framework of this story. In this edition, the discussion
of the prophetic books has been extracted and reorganized into its own set of chapters.
I. Developing Connections and Context

Chapter 1 explains what the Old Testament is and where it came from. It also describes some of
the ways that people have read these texts and how related areas of study contribute to our under-
standing. Chapter 2 describes the places, people, and cultures of the ancient Near East, from
which the cultural context of the Israelites arose and the place that serves as the setting for the
literature of the Old Testament.
II. Following the Essential Story

Chapters 3 through 9 follow the story of Israel from the primeval period through the work of
Ezra and Nehemiah. The continuous story told by the books of Genesis through II Kings moves
from creation to the Exile, with the development of Israelite monarchy as its high point. The con-
tent of these books, sometimes called the “Primary History,” will be the focus of these chapters,
with an examination of the contents of I and II Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah providing
another biblical perspective of this story.
xv
xvi Preface
III. Prophetic Responses to Israel’s Story

Chapters 10 through 12 treat the prophetic literature from a literary-canonical perspective. This
reorganization reflects the changes in the ways that this material is most commonly studied
today, a shift that has been taking place for more than twenty years and that has now reached a
level of accomplishment that needs to be reflected in an introductory textbook. This means that
those following the plan of the book will cover the entire narrative of the people of Israel as pre-
sented in the Old Testament before examining the final form of the prophetic literature, begin-
ning with the book of Isaiah, as a response to that entire story.
IV. Responses in Stories and Poems

Chapters 13 through 15 examine the parts of the Old Testament that do not fit precisely into one
chronological place in Israel’s story. Instead, they are artistic responses to the entirety of that
story, which often struggle with how to be a faithful Israelite in many different contexts. The
focus of Psalms is worship, while Proverbs is concerned with ordinary issues of daily life, and Job
and Ecclesiastes struggle with the pain and futility that often result from that activity. Books like
Ruth, Jonah, and Esther tell stories of foreigners in Israel and Israelites living in foreign places, as
the Old Testament moves away from its geographical center in Jerusalem. There has been a grow-
ing recognition that “exile and return” characterized the experience of only a minority of
Israelites during the sixth and fifth centuries. Numerically, far more Israelites either stayed
in Judah or fled to Egypt than were taken into captivity in Babylon. Thus, we have tried to add
emphasis on those other communities and their experience.
Two important milestones should be identified as the ninth edition of The Old Testament
Story moves toward publication. First, 2011 will mark thirty years of the publication of this text-
book. For all of us involved in the project through the years, it is most gratifying that this book
still finds a place within the conversation about the Bible and its role in our lives. Second, on a
grander scale, this year is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version of
the Bible. The English translation of the Bible used as the primary basis for this textbook is the
New Revised Standard Version, a direct descendent in the family of translations initiated by the
King James Version. Despite its obvious limitations as a translated text of the Bible, the King
James Version is a great example of the twin processes of advancing biblical scholarship at its cut-
ting edge and using the results of that scholarship to make the biblical literature more accessible
to readers of all levels of experience. To the readers of this ninth edition of The Old Testament
Story, welcome to the conversation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Nine editions and thirty years of use reflect a stunning record of achievement for this textbook.
This has only been possible because of the work and support of many people. I will always be
grateful to John Tullock and his family for the opportunity they have given me to continue this
project. The contributions of Beth Tullock Sizemore and David Tullock have been a great benefit
to this edition.
On behalf of John Tullock and myself, I want to thank the staff at Prentice Hall whose ded-
ication and hard work keep this project alive and growing. We are particularly grateful to Nicole
Conforti for her careful attention to the vast array of tasks that are involved in creating a new edi-
tion. We also wish to thank our colleagues past and present in the School of Religion at Belmont
University, where the combined tenures of John and myself now approach fifty years. These great
teachers and companions have been and are a constant source of inspiration and life. We also
gratefully acknowledge the reviewers of this edition: John Harris, East Texas Baptist University;
Jeff Tillman, Wayland Baptist University; Thomas Steele, LaGrange College; and Steven Godby,
Broward College–South Campus.
Portions of the Old Testament are quoted many times in this book. In a minority of cases,
they are acknowledged as my own translation, from the King James Version, or from The Bible in
Today’s English Version (© 1966, 1971, 1976). In all other cases, biblical quotations are taken from
The New Revised Standard Version (© 1989, by the division of Christian Education of the National
Council of Churches in the United States and are used by permission. All rights are reserved).
xvii
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CHAPTER
1 The Book and Those

Who Study It
Timeline
1200 B.C.E. First mention of Israel on the Merneptah Stele in Egypt
500 B.C.E. Approximate date for the completion of the final form of the Torah
200 B.C.E. Approximate date for the beginning of translation of the Hebrew
scriptures into Greek
100 C.E. Approximate date for the closing of the Hebrew canon
400 C.E. Approximate date of the copying of the Vatican and Alexandrian
Codices of the Septuagint
1000 C.E. Copying of the Leningrad Codex
1450 C.E. Invention of the printing press by Gutenburg and the production
of the first printed Bible
1535 C.E. First complete English translation of the Bible by Coverdale
1611 C.E. Completion of the King James Version of the Bible
Chapter Outline
I. The Old Testament: What Is It?
II. How It Began
III. How It Developed
IV. The Work of Scholars
V. Archaeology as a Tool for Understanding
VI. Why Study the Old Testament?
1
2 Chapter 1 • The Book and Those Who Study It
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter serves as an introduction to the academic study of the Old Testament. The first task is
to define Old Testament, a task that becomes more difficult when we realize that different religious
communities understand and use this collection of literature in different ways. The next step is to
describe the process by which the Old Testament came into being, a task that can only be hypo-
thetical at many points because of a lack of evidence. The remainder of the chapter describes how
scholars of various types approach the Old Testament, by examining different methods of reading,
and how the historical study, including archaeology, is applied to the understanding of the text.
THE OLD TESTAMENT: WHAT IS IT?

Definition
The Old Testament is a set of texts that originated among the people who, at differing times in their
history, have been called Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews, and which became their sacred scriptures.
The Old Testament is actually a library of books, produced over a period of more than a thousand
years (1200–200 B.C.E.).1 This was the Bible that was known to Jesus, the Apostles, and members of
the early Christian church—especially in the period before the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in
70 C.E., when the church was still viewed as another Jewish sect. After 70 C.E., the collection of
Christian writings (which began with some of Paul’s letters and the earliest of the Gospels) began to
be viewed as sacred. And thus having the status of scripture, Christians began to refer to the Hebrew
Bible as the Old Covenant or the Old Testament and their sacred writings as the New Covenant or
the New Testament. They took the term covenant from the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 31:31–34).
“Tell me a story” is the frequent plea of a child. It is through stories that we transmit to our
children our values, our family traditions, and much of our view of life. So it has always been with
humankind, and so it was with ancient Israel. Its stories took many forms: the accounts of the
creation of the universe and of people, its legal system, the oracles of its prophets, the songs of its
singers, and the wisdom of its sages. All these are part of the Old Testament story.
The Literary Forms That Carry the Story2

NARRATIVE. In our culture, we normally expect narrative to be the means of communicating a
story. Thus, we are not surprised that much of the Old Testament is made up of narrative material.
Readers soon discover, however, that stories that come from a very different time and place follow
very different conventions. One of the most striking examples is the lack of descriptive language in
these stories. The most important human character in the Old Testament is Moses. He dominates
four large books, from Exodus to Deuteronomy, yet there is not a word about his physical appear-
ance. Readers are not told whether he is tall or short, large or small, or has blue eyes or brown. The
stories of the Old Testament have a density and economy about them that makes them significantly
different from most contemporary written stories. The story of Cain and Abel, in Genesis 4:1–16, is
one of the most powerful and influential stories in all of Western culture, yet it is slightly less than 200
words long in Hebrew and was translated to slightly less than 400 English words in the King James
Version of the Bible. John Steinbeck’s classic novel, East of Eden, is in many ways a modern retelling
of the Cain and Abel story, and in its most commonly published form is nearly 700 pages long.
The narratives in the Bible often make use of, or are supplemented by, other literary forms
such as laws, songs, genealogies, and lists. Yet these forms are woven into the narrative in such a
way that they become a vital part of it. Narrative is the principal literary vehicle from Genesis
through 2 Kings, in major portions of the prophetic books, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Chapter 1 • The Book and Those Who Study It 3
Jonah, and Haggai, and in the less familiar books of the Old Testament, such as 1 and 2
Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, and Ruth.
What is unusual about all this is that narrative was not a common literary device in other sur-
viving literature from the ancient Near East. Outside of legal codes, most of what is known about its
gods, goddesses, legendary heroes, and kings is told in poetry. Poetry’s primary function is to impart
a sense of emotion and praise for its subject, while narrative serves to give the stories a sense of time
and place, to flesh out their characters, and to impart a sense of the flow of life to what is being told.
There are at least two stories in the Old Testament that are told twice, once in prose narra-
tive and once in poetry. The first is the crossing of the sea by the Israelites as they were pursued
through the wilderness by Pharaoh’s army, after their escape from slavery in Egypt. Exodus 14
tells the story in prose, then the Israelites, led by Moses, sing the “Song of the Sea” in Exodus 15,
which tells the story again in a different way. The powerful poetry of Judges 5 conveys the sense of
celebration for the LORD’s delivery of Israel by the hand of Deborah from a powerful enemy. This
“Song of Deborah” is preceded by a prose account of the same story in Judges 4.
LEGAL MATERIALS. The Old Testament contains numerous sets of laws, which have been
placed into the narrative of the exodus from Egypt and the journey through the wilderness.
Closer examination of these laws later will reveal that they seem to come from different times and
places, but their placement within a story provides a powerful and dynamic way of preserving
and presenting legal material.
POETRY. One would naturally expect Psalms and the Song of Songs to be poetry. What might
come as a surprise to those who have not used modern translations of the Bible is that large por-
tions of the books of the prophets are also in poetic form. The line between poetry and prose is not
always clear. They are perhaps better understood as two ends of a continuum rather than two dis-
tinct categories. The first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, is typically understood as prose, and is
printed that way, but careful reading of this text reveals that it has many of the qualities of poetry.
WISDOM LITERATURE. Although wisdom literature—Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes—is almost

entirely in poetic form, it is a special category because of its subject matter. It discusses matters of
everyday life in a way that is not closely connected to specific religious traditions and ponders dif-
ficult, philosophical questions about suffering and the meaning of existence. In structure, it
ranges from extended wisdom poems to one-line proverbs. Except for Chapters 1 through 2 and
42:7–16, Job is an extended poetic drama in the form of a dialogue between Job and his friends,
followed by two speeches by God. The book of Ecclesiastes is a mixture of prose and poetry.
The Crucial Event

As it stands now, the Old Testament starts at the beginning of all things—the Creation—but this
order is probably not how the story of Israel was first told. Throughout the Old Testament, the
one theme that continually appears is the Exodus. This was the supreme event in Israelite history.
Israel became a people through this event and those that followed. Thus, it is commemorated in
song, in story (Exodus to Deuteronomy), and in numerous references in Psalms (such as 66:6;
68:7–18; 78:11–55; 114; 135:8–12; and 136:10–22), as well as in other places in the Bible. A classic
summary of the Exodus story is found in Deuteronomy 26:5–9:
You shall make this response before the LORD your God: “A wandering Aramean was
my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and
there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us
harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the LORD, the God
of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our
oppression. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an out-
stretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he
brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
The Exodus event made Israel aware of itself as a people with common experiences that united
them. Just as a baby first notices its fingers and toes, leading to the awareness of itself as a person,
so Israel became aware of itself as a people. When the “Who am I?” question is answered, there in-
evitably follows the question, “Where did I come from?” The “Aramean” in Deuteronomy 26:5 is
Jacob, whom all Israelites came to understand as their ancestor.
When people begin to ask these kinds of questions, they begin to look at their history. So
Israel, in times of literary activity, had historians who gathered together the memories and tradi-
tions of the people and began to weave them into a story. In this story, they not only explained
their own origins in the Exodus, but also carried that explanation back through the patriarchs to
the origin of the human race and even to the universe itself. As the nation grew, the history was
expanded and revised, either in written or oral form. Then, when the tragedy of the Babylonian
Exile struck and it looked as though not only historical materials, but also the words of the
prophets, the wisdom materials, and the songs of the people might be lost, a concerted effort was
made to gather together and preserve the literary heritage.
HOW IT BEGAN
How did the Old Testament come to be written? Did someone just suddenly decide, “I’m going to
write the Old Testament”? Or was it a more complicated process?
To answer this question with certainty is impossible. A New Testament writer, for whom
the Old Testament was the Bible, spoke of how “Holy men of old wrote as they were moved by the
Spirit of God” (2 Pet. 1:21). Yet even that statement, setting forth the conviction that God was the
initiator of the process that led to the writing, also suggests that the development of the Old
Testament was an historical process. The following is a suggested scheme of how the Old
Testament may have been developed.
First the Event

Nothing happens without a cause; something must trigger it. The Old Testament grew out of the
events and circumstances of the life of the people of Israel. Although the Exodus and related
events served as the catalyst for the development of the sacred literature of the Israelites, many
events before and after that crucial event contributed to the material resources from which the
Old Testament was constructed.
Then the Story—the First Interpretation

First, things happened. The people to whom things happened told others about their experiences.
Just as every family has a fund of stories about various relatives, much of the Old Testament is
composed of stories that came from the oral tradition of the people who were to be known as
Israel. Not all the stories, however, were based on actual events. Some stories, known as
etiologies, for example, were created to answer “why” questions. Other stories, like Jotham’s fable
about the trees (Judg. 9:7–15), or Samson’s riddle (Judg. 14:14), were told to make a point. Telling
the stories over the centuries also had its effects on their nature and their subsequent interpreta-
tion. The study of how literary texts are interpreted is called hermeneutics.
Chapter 1 • The Book and Those Who Study It 5
Then the Reinterpretation

When things happen to us, we interpret them in the light of existing circumstances. Later, how-
ever, as we look back, we may view a particular event in an entirely different way than we did
when it happened. Time and circumstances may have given us a different insight into its signifi-
cance for us. For instance, an event once seen as a disaster may later be looked on as something
very positive and meaningful for us.
Then the History—the Continuing Interpretation

The Old Testament grew from such hindsight. At some point in the life of Israel as a people,
someone, or a number of someones, looked back at the past and concluded that God had been at
work in the lives of the people—calling their ancestors out of paganism, making himself known
to them, leading them from the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys to Palestine and eventually
into Egypt and bondage. But even that bondage, a disaster by most normal standards, was God’s
way of preserving the Israelites as a people. God raised up a leader, Moses, and prepared him, as
the adopted son of the Egyptian princess and as a Midianite shepherd, for the difficult job of
leading a band of slaves and a mixed multitude of others into the Sinai desert, there to weld this
motley group into a people united in covenant to God.
Furthermore, God led them to a land—a land that had been promised to their ancestors,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. After a long and difficult period, the land became theirs. But their
troubles were not over. After many years of struggle to achieve some kind of national unity, they
finally settled on a monarchy as the kind of government they would have. After a sputtering start
under Saul, the storytellers describe a remarkable growth during David’s time, when the nation
reached its greatest territorial limits, enabling it to withstand any challenge. Solomon gained the
fruits of his father’s success, enjoying a time of peace and great economic prosperity. Yet, he
sowed seeds of discontent that would come to full flower under his son Rehoboam, whose unwise
policies resulted in the kingdom’s splitting into two separate states.
For two centuries, the two parts of the once proud kingdom of David limped along—
sometimes as enemies, sometimes as allies. At times, in their periods of friendship, they com-
bined forces to bring a measure of prosperity to their people. But for most of the time, they were
like pawns, toyed with by the great powers of the time—Egypt and Assyria. Finally, in 721 B.C.E.,
Israel, the Northern Kingdom, was blotted out of existence by the Assyrian giant who destroyed
its cities and deported all that was left of its upper classes, replacing them with foreigners who
were to intermarry with the poor people left in the land, producing the Samaritans.
Judah, the Southern Kingdom, struggled on for just over a century, but it too fell, this time
to Babylonia, the nation that had succeeded Assyria as the terror of the Near East.
As had been the case with Israel, most of the members of Judah’s surviving leadership were
deported, but different factors were at work that allowed the people to keep their identity. The
prophets had warned that such an occurrence was likely if Judah persisted in its wrongdoing.
Seemingly, the stability of the government in the south gave the people a greater sense of unity,
aiding them in holding together in the time of national disaster. Then, too, the Babylonians seem
to have contributed to the situation by settling the people in communities in which they could
follow the advice of the prophet Jeremiah and live as normal a life as possible (Jer. 29).
In response to the trauma of the Exile and the threat of annihilation, Jewish scholars began
in earnest to collect and shape the literature of the people. Although history writing may have
begun earlier, the Exile gave the work a new sense of urgency. Along with the writing of history,
poetry was collected, the law was codified, and the words of the great prophets were arranged and
preserved. Much of the Old Testament as we now know it took shape during the Exile and imme-
diately afterward.
With the people now convinced of the importance of the preservation of their traditions,
the period following the Exile, while not a time of glory, was a time of collection, preservation,
and interpretation that reached its climax in the final canonization of the Old Testament early in
the Christian era.
HOW IT DEVELOPED
The Process
Did the process of forming the literature of the Old Testament begin during the Exile? The answer
most certainly is “No.” The development of the Old Testament may be compared to a river and its
tributaries. A river does not begin full sized. Rather, it is a combination of dozens of smaller
streams that have joined together to form the river. So it was with the Old Testament. Some will be
quick to point out that it began with God. Even so, God worked through human agents, and it is
the work of these human agents that is being discussed. The common belief that God directly dic-
tated the words of the Bible is called plenary verbal inspiration. This view is not assumed here.
The first tiny streams were the oral traditions: the poems of victory, the stories of the ances-
tors, and the memories of great events that were treasured, gathered, and passed on for many gener-
ations. These oral treasures were the means by which families preserved their values and their sense
of who they were. Not only did they remember heroes, they remembered villains as well. Both
played roles in events the community deemed important. Thus, the people preserved the stories—
from exalted stories, such as that of the call of the patriarch Abraham from the paganism of Ur of
the Chaldees, to less than exalted stories, such as the account of how Jacob outwitted both his
brother Esau and his father, Isaac, to secure the birthright and the blessing. The most frequently told
story of all, however, was that of God’s marvelous delivery of their ancestors during the flight from
Egypt. The storyteller was the teacher and the story was the medium through which he taught.
At shrines in which clans (extended families) gathered for worship, the stories were com-
bined into larger units to form cycles of tradition, each with its own distinctive point of view.
Finally, someone conceived the idea, through what religious people call inspiration, that the sto-
ries of God’s dealings with the people needed to be written down or put into a complete story so
that they could be preserved.
The Written Story

Exactly when the smaller streams of tradition were combined to form a connected story is a matter
of dispute. Scholars of a more conservative bent argue for a date as early as the time of Moses.
Others see the smaller streams of tradition continuing either in an oral or a written form until the
time of David and Solomon. They say it was during this period that the first attempts were made
to write a history of Israel. The process continued until the post-Exilic period and embraces not
only the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), or Torah, but also all the major historical
books: Joshua through 2 Kings, as well as 1,2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
According to this view, the stream of tradition that began with the Exodus stories was cho-
sen as the mainstream. To it were added the stories of the ancestors (people like Abraham, Sarah,
Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel) and the stories of the Creation. This edition of the history
of Israel (characterized by referring to God by the personal name YHWH and designated by scholars
by the letter J) was largely composed of materials from the southern part of Israel. It flowed on for
a hundred years or so, until it was joined by another stream of materials from the northern part of
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Reluctantly I realized I was taming down, through sorrow, not
discipline. My childhood pastime of painting took a more serious
turn. I even attempted to write imaginary stories about animals.
Mother was so pleased with my efforts she sent one of these stories
to Aunt Irene saying, “See what our little Nastia has done.” I now
took a greater interest in music and hoped that by working hard I
might sing as well as Mother or play like Olga. I loved Olga for her
true kinship and often kissed her hand for her understanding of us
younger sisters.
A week or two was a long time for me to stick to anything. Again and
again I would revert to my childhood spirit but each time with less of
my former zest. My reputation of being a problem child persisted.
People often asked, “Where does the little one, small in size, store
so much, much energy? She has an endless supply of jokes and
pranks.” Some enjoyed my humor as I could tell from the expression
on their faces, and some did not.
Marie and I had all kinds of “properties” with which to carry out our
practical jokes. We had a set of stuffed animals which we called our
“Circus Kingdom.” We had a mechanical mouse, a yellow iridescent
snake with a moving head and a red, sharp tongue, a snapping turtle
which might tangle in a victim’s dress. Frightened, our victim would
jump up on a sofa or chair while Marie and I pretended to be equally
scared and put on an act with wide-open mouths.
Often, new attendants were warned to watch out for me and my
pranks, but in the end they suffered. In all these activities I was the
leader and most of the time in disgrace. Once Alexei sprinkled water
over me saying, “You must have been born in a dry summer, your
jokes have outgrown you.”
Perhaps my most effective toy for playing pranks was a large doll
with brown phosphorescent eyes that shone in the dark. This
mechanical doll, when wound, would open and close its eyes,
making life-like, blinking motions. On one occasion, I wound my doll
while Marie was watching at the bedroom door and, when we heard
our victim coming, I left the doll on the floor facing the door. We then
jumped into our beds and pretended we were asleep. The attendant,
who had come to see if we were all right, saw this awful thing on the
floor in the dark with its blinking eyes. Terrified she ran screaming
into the hall and awakened everyone on the whole floor. After this a
sign was put up on our playroom door which read, “Enter only by
permission of Olga and Tatiana.” This was designed to prevent
Marie, Alexei, and myself from entering the room at will.
In the face of recent family heartaches I was less and less proud of
my reputation as a prankster.
VI
JUBILEE: 1913
The spring of 1913 marked the three hundredth anniversary of the
Romanov dynasty. Celebrations began with a great jubilee in St.
Petersburg. We arrived from Tsarskoe Selo a few days ahead of the
festivities and took up our residence in the Winter Palace. On the
first day we drove in open carriages through streets lined with troops
to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan where a picturesque
ceremony was held. It was a gray, cold and rainy day, in contrast to
the brilliance that awaited us inside the Cathedral.
According to custom the Tsar entered first, followed by the Heir to
the Crown. When Alexei appeared, it was not a strapping, healthy
Tsarevich to whom all the Grand Dukes and dignitaries bowed, but a
frail little boy of nine, carried in the arms of a Cossack. This was a
sad moment for us. We had hoped Alexei would at least be well
enough to walk but he had not recovered sufficiently from his recent
illness. We stood under a canopy in the middle of the great church.
Alexei sat in a chair. Mother worried about Alexei. She asked us to
watch him also. Dr. Derevenko stood nearby. We sisters were
dressed in white, as was Mother. She wore the blue ribbon of St.
Andrew, the order studded with diamonds and rubies. We had the
red ribbon of the order of St. Catherine with its dazzling star.
Grandmother Marie stood with us, trim and regal as always, blazing
with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The elite of St. Petersburg
were assembled here, a magnificent sight, with the high clergy in
golden robes and elaborate mitres, and the high military dignitaries
in uniforms embroidered in gold.
During the service a dove flew into the Cathedral and circled above
our canopy. Afterwards friends told us they were afraid it would fly
into the lighted candles and start a fire, but fortunately it flew out of
the church through a door. Since the dove is an important symbol of
peace in our religion, a representation of the Holy Ghost, we all
wondered if this event had a special significance. (It is worthwhile
mentioning that also during the coronation, Father said, “A pigeon
flew during the ceremonies.” Later, in Ekaterinburg on the day of
tragedy, while we were having our last walk in the yard, a pigeon
flew over us three times and then dashed repeatedly against the
window.) After the ceremony, in the afternoon, we were attired in
national costumes, as were our guests. Mother was especially
beautiful, in her high kokoshnik, with her white robe exquisitely
embroidered in silver and long veil. In the evening she wore a tiara of
Catherine II and a necklace of diamonds. It was valued at several
million rubles. It was so heavy that she used it in all only a few times.
Olga and Tatiana were attired in soft pink tulle gowns, Marie and I in
white silk and lace.
Some evenings later a ball was held in the Winter Palace. It was the
first official appearance for us two younger sisters, the first time we
participated in such a grand affair. I remember how excitedly we
looked forward to that occasion. Mother was indisposed that evening
and, after a short while, suggested that we leave early and go to our
rooms. Grandmother, however, took our side and asked Mother to let
us stay longer, and promised that she would personally look after us.
Mother burst into tears and said: “These women of St. Petersburg
might talk about the girls, and Anastasia’s jokes might be
misinterpreted.”
I was very unhappy that evening for fear that every move I might
make or every word I might speak would be used against me. All the
innocent joy was taken from me that gala night for fear of those
women’s sharp tongues.
From St. Petersburg we proceeded by train to Moscow where the
Jubilee continued. On this occasion Mother wore the crown jewels.
She never cared for them after the unfortunate incident which
occurred during her early married life. At that time Granny felt that
she still was entitled to wear the crown jewels instead of the young
Empress. In the underground vaults in the Winter Palace there was a
section where Mother kept some of her personal jewels. Any time
she wished to have them, she notified the court chamberlain, Count
Benckendorff, who sent several responsible persons with papers to
fetch the desired pieces which were then brought under guard to
Mother.
After the anniversary festivities we never spent another night at the
Winter Palace, our childhood home. But during the war my sisters
often stopped in the rooms for a glass of tea, after various charitable
meetings. It is sad to think what became of the treasures stored in
those vaults and elsewhere for generations, belonging not only to the
Imperial family but to the Russian people as well. These treasures,
worth billions of rubles, were held until the leaders of the revolution,
Lenin, Trotsky (Bronstein), Apfelbaum, Rosenfeld and others got
their clutches upon them. It was rumored that much of it was divided
among their relatives who came to our country for that purpose and
to kill and loot. These people and their successors have been
exporting our Russian national treasures, so long guarded by the
Imperial family, and selling them to foreign countries.
From Moscow we went to Vladimir, then to Nizhni Novgorod and to
Yaroslavl. The latter—an old historic city with a view of the wide river
—was a charming sight. I cannot even begin to describe the
enthusiastic reception. Throngs of children, cadets, the nobility and
the townspeople lined the streets right down to the dock. What a rich
sight from the river—this beautiful city on a little hill! The bells were
still ringing until we could no longer hear them. We passed an
expanse of meadows, shimmering fields, and the breeze was
sweeping like a soft veil over that heavenly country.
In every city there were similar festivities, and dinners with many
guests who had been especially selected to honor my Father and my
Mother. Father’s guests at dinner were mostly men, and Mother
entertained ladies in separate drawing rooms. The famous
Plevitskaya sang again and bowed gracefully before the appreciative
audience. There were many outstanding entertainments at which we
made many new friends.
We were so tired at the end of our trip that Tatiana, in this mood,
said: “People and more people—I am tired of them!” Mother,
overhearing her say this, reprimanded her.
On our way to Kostroma we sailed on the Volga. People lined the
shores, some even wading into the water up to their waists. When
our boat developed some trouble and while the repairs were being
made, the people thronged the shores and sang “God Save the
Tsar.” The Imperial party was delayed in reaching Kostroma. It was
in this terraced city overlooking the Volga River that the Romanov
dynasty had its official beginning, and now a special ceremony was
to be held to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the
Romanov reign.
At last we reached the city and proceeded to the monument of
Susanin. This was a column on which rested a bronze bust of the
first Romanov Tsar, Michael Feodorovich. This column was
supported by the peasant, Susanin. The latter was the Russian
patriot who deliberately misled the Polish army which had invaded
Russia and asked Susanin to lead the way to the whereabouts of the
newly elected Tsar, who was in hiding. As a result of Susanin’s false
directions, the Polish army was destroyed and was driven out. The
plot of the famous opera, “A Life for the Tsar” by Glinka, was drawn
from this heroic incident. This opera was one of my Father’s
favorites. From the time of Feodor Romanov, a number of the brides
of the Grand Dukes upon marriage adopted Saint Feodor and took
the name of Feodorovna as a patronymic.
From the monument, the procession continued to the Ipatiev
Monastery, where the first Romanov was sheltered in 1613. In the
monastery courtyard was the beautiful Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
and within it stood the iconostasis and the throne of Tsar Michael
Feodorovich. This monastery had been built by a Tartar prince who
was the founder of the Godunov family and who was the first to be
baptized there.
While in the Cathedral we visited the dark rooms in which Michael
once had lived. We sat on the chairs with the beautifully embroidered
double eagles on their backs, and drank tea from the original
containers at the same table once used by Tsar Alexei. In one of the
rooms was a portrait of Michael and Alexei Romanov. Both looked a
little like my Father. The legend tells us that Alexei was born on St.
Job’s day, and so was my Father. And their experiences were sad,
but those of Alexei were not as tragic as those of my Father.
Also, we went to the cemetery and laid an exquisite wreath made of
silver in the form of the cap of Monomakh and decorated with jewels
on the grave of Michael.
Parenthetically speaking, it was a strange coincidence that, in
Ekaterinburg in 1918, in the Ipatiev House, the last Emperor of
Russia, Nicholas II came to his tragic end. The Romanov dynasty
was born in the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma in 1613 and died in
the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, three hundred and five years later.
History tells us that, at the election of Michael Feodorovich
Romanov, a crippled beggar woman who claimed to be a wandering
saint had predicted that the Romanov dynasty was born with Michael
and would die with another Michael. And so it happened. When
Father abdicated, his brother Michael succeeded him to the throne
but soon abdicated.
Another strange incident was that a three hundred year old tree of
immense diameter, said to have been planted by Michael, had been
cut down just before we arrived in Kostroma. We saw it mounted on
huge wooden blocks to be preserved as an object of historical
interest.
One of the members of our party on this trip was Prince Dolgorukov,
a direct descendant of the family that built the city of Kostroma and
also the first church in the Kremlin in Moscow. Prince Dolgorukov,
faithful friend of our family, followed us to Tobolsk and later to
Ekaterinburg where he, too, came to a tragic end.
The year 1913 also marked two hundred years since the seat of
government moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1713.
During this entire trip we received many gifts and pictures, and our
albums were filled with photographs of historic events. On our way
home we stopped at the Nicholas Palace in Moscow. At the functions
there, Mother wore the old Slavonic robe and the crown jewels.
These jewels she never wore again after the Jubilee celebrations
ended. This was a year of many anniversaries and festivities.
Several regiments celebrated their hundredth anniversary. The Naval
Cathedral at Kronstadt was reconsecrated in celebration of its
hundredth anniversary. We attended all these functions.
Soon we were back in Tsarskoe Selo resuming our daily routine.
During this busy year Baroness Iza Buxhoeveden became lady in
waiting, replacing the young Princess Elizabeth (Lili) Obolensky
whose health had become impaired. Lili had taken several trips with
us, including the one to England. We had known Baroness
Buxhoeveden previously. She had already assumed some
responsibilities in the palace. All the ladies in waiting were required
to be single and to come from titled families. Mother did not believe
in all the old court etiquette with its traditions and restrictions. To her
it did not matter whether these young ladies were princesses or
baronesses. She selected them on the basis of the best possible
ability, education and culture. Baroness Buxhoeveden came from a
Baltic family which had produced several ambassadors. Her father
had been an ambassador to Denmark.
The position of lady in waiting was an honorary one to which many
young ladies looked forward. To distinguish their rank from the other
staff, they received badges studded with diamonds, with Mother’s
initial and a crown on its top. Some were in silver and some in gold
according to their length of service. The ladies in waiting were not
permitted to discuss political affairs at any time and all the
happenings were to be kept in strict secrecy. They were not allowed
to enjoy the company of the officers and aides in the palace.
Their duty was to accept telephone calls for Mother and for us girls,
make notations of the calls, note incoming and outgoing telegrams,
filing them by date, and make a memorandum of all telegrams and
letters. They also were to chaperon us on drives or at any other
function. Maids, a footman and a carriage were provided for their
comfort. Extra ladies were called to the palace for the day if needed.
Later during our arrest in Tsarskoe Selo, our letters and telegrams
did not escape from being read. Iza shared our deprivations and
followed us later to Tobolsk, Siberia, but was not permitted entry into
the governor’s house.
PART II
The First World War
VII
EVE OF THE WAR: 1914
Early in the spring of 1914 we went to Livadia. Full days of school
work were continued here. M. Pierre Gilliard and our Russian tutor,
M. Peter Vasilievich Petrov, accompanied us as usual. Sometimes
our tutors were invited to lunch with us and afterwards joined us in
our hikes when the sun was bright and warm, or in some other
recreational pastime. Our hikes took us through the park or along the
shore to Yalta or to the Church of Alexander Nevsky on the opposite
hill. Dinner was the focal point of the day with friends and relatives
as guests. We children, especially, enjoyed Prince Igor
Constantinovich and the Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich. Aunt Ella,
Mother’s older sister, the widow of the Grand Duke Serge, brother of
Alexander III, was another cherished guest. She and Mother had
similar religious views, having inherited this mysticism from their
mother, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, daughter of Queen
Victoria of England.
Grandmother Alice, I was told, was a student of religious history and
movements, having been inspired by her tutor, a theologian who was
a close friend of the Hesse family. He also had a direct influence on
Mother. This theologian imbedded into her thoughts the terrible fear
of sin. For years we children watched her struggle, trying to leave
this deeply-buried mysticism and return to reality. However, due to
the thoughtless criticism by my other grandmother, Father’s mother,
Marie Feodorovna, and also the unsympathetic attitude of the
Russian court, she sought comfort in this mysticism and her whole
soul once more overflowed with it. Then with the misfortune of her
son’s illness, she reverted to it all the more. At the same time she
pretended not to notice the criticism and tried to hide her pride; but
her sensitive heart suffered and the words which she should have
spoken hardened in her soul. Courtiers took her for a heartless, cold
and eccentric woman. She, having been raised by her austere
grandmother, tried to carry on in an efficient English manner. Even
though her humble faith grew stronger, her English upbringing never
left her and she never became a true Russian in manners, but in her
heart and soul she was a better Russian than most native-born
Russians.
We boarded our yacht, the “Standard”, which had been brought to
the Crimean waters from the Baltic Sea via the North Sea. We went
on several short cruises on the Black Sea. Once we crossed to
Constantsa on the Rumanian coast to return a visit of King Carol and
Queen Elizabeth (Carmen Sylva) of Rumania. They had come to see
us with their grandnephew, the future King Carol II. It was an
overnight trip to Constantsa. Carmen Sylva at her late age was still
beautiful, as also was Princess Marie (Missy), wife of Prince
Ferdinand; later they became sovereigns of Rumania. During this
visit Princess Marie and my sister Olga developed a close friendship.
The strained relationship between Mother and Missy’s sister Victoria,
who was divorced from Mother’s brother Ernest, was improved; all
was forgotten now. We had luncheon in a pavilion which seemed to
rise right out of the sea. From this vantage point we could see many
yachts and smaller boats cruising back and forth for a closer look at
the “Standard”.
In the afternoon, tea was served on board the “Standard” for the
members of the two families. After tea a great many dignitaries
joined us on board ship.
1906
1913—JUBILEE YEAR
THE GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA
COMMUNICATION. DATED
JUNE 14TH, 1901 (OLD
STYLE), FROM THE
EMPEROR NICHOLAS II TO
THE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES
ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH
ON JUNE 5TH (OLD STYLE)
OF THE GRAND DUCHESS
ANASTASIA
CONTINUATION OF
COMMUNICATION
ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH OF
ANASTASIA, SIGNED BY
NICHOLAS II AND
COUNTERSIGNED BY
COUNT LAMSDORF,
MINISTER OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS
Courtesy The P.B. Corporation
ca. 1896
THE EMPRESS ALEXANDRA
FEODOROVNA
Courtesy The P.B. Corporation
PETERHOF—1901
THE EMPRESS ALEXANDRA
FEODOROVNA
THE GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA, THE TSESAREVICH ALEXEI
NICHOLAEVICH, AND THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS II ON A
TENDER APPROACHING THE “STANDARD”—ca. 1908
Courtesy The P. B. Corporation
THE TSESAREVICH ALEXEI,
THE EMPRESS ALEXANDRA,
AND THE EMPEROR
NICHOLAS II—ca. 1908
THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL FAMILY ON VISIT TO BRITISH ROYAL
FAMILY—ENGLAND—1909
seated on the ground (l. to r.): the tsesarevich alexei and the
grand duchess anastasia. seated on chairs (l. to r.): mary,
princess of wales (later queen mary); nicholas ii; king
edward vii; the empress alexandra; george, prince of wales
(later king george v); and the grand duchess marie
nicholaevna. standing (l. to r.): prince edward david (later
prince of wales and king edward viii, now the duke of
windsor); queen alexandra; princess mary, now the princess
royal, dowager countess of harewood; princess victoria;
the grand duchess olga nicholaevna; and the grand duchess
tatiana nicholaevna.
the grand duke alexander mikhailovich and the grand
duchess xenia alexandrovna and their children (l. to r.): the
prince nikita, the princess irina, and the princes andrei,
dimitri, vasili, feodor, and rostislav—ca. 1909

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(eBook PDF) Old Testament Story, The

(eBook PDF) A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament:

(eBook PDF) Feature Writing Telling the Story 3rd

(eBook PDF) A Brief Introduction to the New Testament

(eBook PDF) The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to

(eBook PDF) The New Testament: A Historical

(eBook PDF) The New Testament A Historical Introduction

Assassination on Embassy Row: The Shocking Story of the

(eBook PDF) Telling the Story: The Convergence of

To my colleagues on the faculty of the School of Religion at Belmont University

Bibliographical Abbreviations xiii

Chapter 1 The Book and Those Who Study It 1

Chapter 3 Israel Looks at the Beginnings 37

Chapter 4 Israel Becomes a People 61

Themes in the Pentateuch 92

Chapter 5 Israel Gains a Home: Joshua and Judges 95

Chapter 9 The Exile and Restoration: Redefining Israel 187

Ezra and Nehemiah 201

Chapter 10 The Prophetic Literature I: An Introduction to Prophetic Literature

Chapter 11 The Prophetic Literature II: The Scrolls of

Chapter 13 A Legacy of Israel: Wisdom Literature and Psalms 300

Chapter 14 The Time of Silence: Judah in Eclipse 334

Chapter 15 Epilogue: The Continuing Story 352

Figure 1–3 Archaeological sites 20

WHAT’S NEW TO THIS EDITION?

I. Developing Connections and Context

II. Following the Essential Story

III. Prophetic Responses to Israel’s Story

IV. Responses in Stories and Poems

1 The Book and Those

THE OLD TESTAMENT: WHAT IS IT?

The Literary Forms That Carry the Story2

WISDOM LITERATURE. Although wisdom literature—Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes—is almost

The Crucial Event

First the Event

Then the Story—the First Interpretation

Then the Reinterpretation

Then the History—the Continuing Interpretation

The Written Story

THE GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA

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