Is the Old Testament Story of Israel Historically Reliable?

Defending the historicity of the Old Testament is a great challenge, and the majority of defenders of the Christian faith who write to sceptical audiences focus on the New Testament rather than the Old. In addition to the plentiful resources for New Testament reliability – such as archaeology, contemporary histories, and hundreds of early copies to compare for accuracy – the New Testament brings with it a great deal less potential for incredulity. While sceptics are not exactly receptive to ideas such as demon exorcism, miraculous healing, virgin births, and resurrection, these are nevertheless not as incredible as parting seas, causing the sun to stand still in the sky, and the ever-popular presence of talking animals. 

For the scope of this article, then, the focus is not on the whole of the Old Testament and the accompanying miracles, but rather for the historicity of Ancient Israel which is laid out primarily in the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and to a lesser extent, the prophetic books. There are, however, two events prior to the period of the Kings which cannot be ignored in any discussion of the historical Israel: the Exodus and the early conquest of Canaan.

The Exodus

The formative event of Israel was her Exodus from Egypt. This is not a matter that can be understated, especially from the Jewish perspective. If the Bible is to be believed, Israel entered Egypt as a small family and exited it as a great nation.

The Law of Moses begins with these words: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3, ESV). In most instances that God gives new commands to the nation throughout the Old Testament, he prefaces his statement with a reminder that he rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt.

In the modern era, a non-Jew who wishes to convert to Judaism must imitate the Exodus event by participating in Passover, being baptized, reciting the Mosaic Law given at Sinai, and fasting for a period of time. Upon completion of these rituals, the person has participated in the essential Jewish experience: the Exodus.

To deny the historicity of the Exodus, then, would be a major blow to Jewish identity, and would somewhat deflate the Christian conception of the Bible as a whole. But is there any evidence to support it?

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Sceptics find themselves fairly confident that no such event occurred in ancient history for two primary reasons: one supposes that if the entire working class comprised of thousands of people were to exit Egypt all at once, it would cause overwhelming devastation, and the evidence of such an emigration would be significant enough to survive in written and archaeological records. The second reason is that thousands of people wandering about for 40 years in the relatively small desert region between Egypt and Israel would leave a tremendous amount of archaeological evidence behind: a superfluity of graves and bones if nothing else. Given that there is no notable evidence of a devastation of Egypt nor any archaeological evidence of a wilderness nation from the time period, it becomes a difficult account to believe – parted seas notwithstanding.

Despite these claims concerning the absence of any evidence of the Exodus, each of these points may be addressed with some convincing details. The presence of a slave class as the Jews were described in scripture is clear in Egyptian history. There is construction built from mud-and-straw brick, exactly as described in the Bible, as well as written records of slaves in Egypt who were not, themselves, Egyptian. One such slave-town, Kahun, has been found to contain buried boxes with infant bones: a fact that correlates nicely with the record of the infant executions in the book of Exodus. This town also contains ample artefacts of tools and living implements which seem to have been left or abandoned in good condition, as if the entire population exited the town quickly.

Correspondence between Egypt and other Middle-Eastern kingdoms contains descriptions of unrest, which they blame on foreigners living among them. The names of Levitical Jews in the Torah tended to be Egyptian rather than Hebrew names, and the language and expressions used in the Torah bear ample evidence of Egyptian influence.

Evidence of the plagues mentioned in Exodus may be found in an ancient Egyptian poem from the historical document, the Ipuwer Papyrus. This reads as follows: “Plague stalks through the land and blood is everywhere… Nay, but the river is blood… gates, columns and walls are consumed with fire… the son of the high-born man is no longer to be recognized… The stranger people from outside are come into Egypt… Nay, but corn has perished everywhere.”

As for the absence of archaeological evidence of a people living in the Sinai wilderness, two points are worth consideration: firstly, there has been relatively little archaeological work done in the wilderness areas. Most archaeology focuses on places where cities and civilizations were known to have been established. Secondly, the ancient Jewish practice has always been to carry the bones of the deceased in “bone boxes” to be buried in family sepulchres. It is likely that, rather than masses of graves dug in the wilderness, the bones of the dead travelled with the people.

The Conquest of Canaan

Whereas the case against the Exodus is made largely from the absence of the kind of evidence one would hope to find (while evidence does exist, as mentioned above), the evidence against the Canaanite conquest is specifically due to an archaeological case that has been made suggesting that the Jews were not, as the Bible suggests, an outside force surging into the region, but rather a loose conglomeration of tribes already there, who gradually allied together and overtook the land from within. This can be explained, however, by the fact that Israel did not generally burn or destroy the cities they conquered, but preserved them for re-occupation. Cities specified by the Bible as having been destroyed, such as Jericho and Ai, have been unearthed with evidence of conquest and destruction. There are also other cities mentioned in scripture with “destruction layers” indicating burning of the city.

Another factor to keep in mind is that the so-called “conquest” of Canaan is recorded as being slow and never fully completed. Further, throughout the Old Testament, it is continually noted that the Israelites conformed to the practices of the Canaanites such that the temples, architecture, pottery, clothing, and other artefacts of everyday living would presumably bear much in common with the other residents.

There is a text from 1210 BCE wherein the Egyptians record their victory against Israel. This is the earliest text outside of the Bible wherein Israel is mentioned by name. Worth noting is that a mighty nation like Egypt did not record victories against insignificant city-states or tribes. The fact that the stela [stone tablet] bothers to list Israel among its conquests suggests that Israel was considered to be a formidable opponent at the time.

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The Kingdom period

This article has looked at the exit of Israel from Egypt and the entrance and gradual establishment of Israel in Canaan under Joshua and the succeeding judges. Worth noting is that, as archaeologists and scholars generally argue, the Bible does not suggest that Israel was a nation united in purpose and rule at this time. According to scripture, Israel was, indeed, a loosely allied (and often contentious) group of twelve tribes during the time of the Judges. However, the Bible records Israel eventually uniting under King David. Following David, Solomon is said to have brought Israel to new heights of civilisation and prosperity. However, after Solomon, Israel degrades back into division, in-fighting, and pagan idolatry under two separate kingdoms. With such little unity and so much division, it should not be entirely surprising that archaeology does not paint a clear picture of the nation of Israel, given that the Bible shows them as a nation in name only.

Until relatively recently, King David has been widely considered to be a legendary figure, a product more of mythology than of actual history. However, a stela inscription discovered in 1992 mentions “the house of David.” The inscription was written by the Aramean kingdom and records the victory of their king over the neighbouring tribes to the south, including the Kingdom of Israel and the House of David. This not only suggests that David may have been a historical figure, but also provides clear evidence of the split kingdom, one of which was ruled by kings in the line of David. The description and dating lead biblical scholars to believe that this may be a record of the battle between King Hazael of Damascus and Kings Jehoram and Ahaziah of Israel and Judah respectively. This gives direct reference to events recorded in the Bible.

The Nation of Israel

That Israel existed during the Kingdom period of the Old Testament and suffered various defeats and exiles under the Persians and Babylonians is fairly evident throughout ancient history. Inscriptions and records from early Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Aramean, Moab, and Persia all record dealings and conflicts with Israel, including as many as 15 kings from the Bible named in external sources, all of these sources being dated to the appropriate periods for those kings.

The Persian king Cyrus was recorded in the book of Ezra as having allowed the exiled people to return to the land. The “cylinder of Cyrus” containing this decree has been recovered by archaeologists.

These are just a small sample of the myriad archaeological discoveries which have lent credence to the Bible’s portrayal of history. While it would be unrealistic to expect such an ancient book to be verified in all its details, one can say with some confidence that it records actual historical figures and events.

The transmission of the documents

The primary source for all of the information about ancient Israel is, of course, the Bible itself. How did this ancient book, recording history about a nation roughly 4,000 years old, come to be, and how has it been copied and transmitted across the centuries?

The first thing worth noting is that there existed an entire sect of people whose job it was to record, copy, and preserve the prophecies and histories of the Hebrew people. This group even had a job title: Soferim. This was an apprenticed position in which the methods, procedures, and tricks of the trade were passed down to each succeeding generation. There is something to be said about tradition and devotion as to the efficiency of the trade.

The reverence for the text was such that only the most skilled specialists were allowed to copy, much less touch, the documents. The exactitude of the measurement between lines and the strokes of the characters from that time (much of which is preserved on durable mediums such as baked clay tablets, stone stelas, treated leather, and even metal) show a reverence and even art to the discipline of textual transmission. In fact, it would have been an act of blasphemy to make a mistake, add, or remove anything when copying the text.

Over time, sects of Jews broke away to establish their own centres of transmission and preservation of the texts. By comparing the preserved texts of the soferim and these break-off groups, the accuracy in transmission is clear. Whereas there are numerous variations between the two, most of these comprise spelling or wording changes, and do not affect the meaning of the text.

The earliest version of the Hebrew scriptures that we have are dated to around 300 years before the time of Jesus. Additionally, various Hebrew passages worn as vestments by the priestly cast are in existence, giving scholars a look at passages written down about 600 years before Christ. These all reflect a very consistent transmission over those centuries, attesting to the efficiency of the scribal methods developed throughout Israel’s history.

Conclusion

If the Bible is to be believed, the nation of Israel:

1.       Was formed upon her exit from Egypt

2.       Made slow incursions into the land of Canaan in about a dozen loosely bonded tribal groups

3.       Were united under King David

4.       Were divided into two kingdoms about a generation later

5.       Were captured and dispersed among the nations

6.       Returned to the land under the Persian King Cyrus, where they continued to exist until the Roman attack in 70 CE.

The primary text from which this history is drawn is the Bible itself, which has been transmitted over centuries of time using tried and true scholarly practice which greatly respected the sacred purity of these texts. Moreover, all of these facts find significant support from the records of surrounding tribes and kingdoms, and from a multitude of archaeological discoveries. Whatever holes or doubts exist in these records can be explained by cultural practices at the time, such as the transportation of the bones of the dead, and the adoption of Gentile culture and practices while existing in Canaan.

One can be forgiven, therefore, for a certain optimism – even confidence – in the historicity of the ancient Israel described in the Bible.

Joel Furches is an apologist, journalist and researcher on conversion and deconversion, based in the USA.