INTRODUCTION
This article will review the book Israel and the Nations: The History of Israel from the Exodus to the Fall of the Second Temple, by F. F. Bruce (Revised by David F. Payne). This book is a revision of a work originally published in 1963.[1] The author F. F. Bruce (1910-1991) was Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester, England and has authored or contributed to numerous books and biblical commentaries.[2]
Brief Summary
This book traces the history of the nation of Israel through its kings, military commanders, religious leaders, enemies, allies, conquests, captivities and occupations. Above all, the work is a political history.
The story of Israel and the Nations begins with an interesting suggestion in the book’s Introduction: that Israel is unique among the nations in history and has maintained its prominence throughout the centuries because of its religion. Bruce emphasizes that Israel’s God has been central to its survival and has propelled it to premier status among the nations of history. He argues that even today, more than three thousand years after the nation’s founding, the God of Israel “continues to be worshipped by millions of people in every one of the earth’s continents.”[3] At the end of the seventh chapter he adds, “the gods of Assyria as well have disappeared: the God of Israel lives.”
In the first chapter, the book picks up Israel’s history at her exodus from slavery in Egypt in the 13th century BC, which marked her birth as a nation.[4] The nation’s exodus was led by her first prophet, Moses. Israel spent forty years under Moses’ rule. This was followed by a time in Israel’s history known as the period of the judges.
Chapter two includes a brief history of the origins of the Philistines and lays the foundation for the rise of King David. David was preceded by another king, Israel’s first king, Saul, but it was David’s dynasty that would ultimately rule the nation.
Chapter three notes that David came to power in 1010 BC.[5] He took Jerusalem and made it his capital. His reign was not without its problems. While he was largely successful in his military campaigns, family and political turmoil plagued him.
In chapter four, David’s son, Solomon, ascends to the throne. He builds a lavish temple to God and develops the wealth and importance of the nation. After Solomon’s death, the nation is divided politically into two kingdoms, northern and southern, as a result of a tax revolt and civil war.
Chapters five and six note the rise of prophets in Israel, most notably Elijah (northern kingdom) and Isaiah (southern kingdom). Chapters seven through ten trace the Assyrian invasion and conquest of the northern and southern kingdoms. The very short eleventh chapter regards the Babylonian captivity under Nebuchadnezzar. Chapters thirteen and fourteen cover the Persian conquest of Babylon, Persia’s influence over Israel, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and Israel’s national religious revival under Ezra.
In chapter fifteen, Bruce introduces Alexander the Great, briefly follows his exploits and influence and then discusses the impact of his death upon the Greek empire and Israel. Alexander’s two most important successors were Ptolemy and Seleucus, both of whom spawned dynasties. The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Palestine (including Judaea), and the regions to the south and west, including Egypt. Alexandria was the capital of the Ptolemies. The Seleucid dynasty controlled the regions to the north and east of Palestine including northern Syria, Phoenicia, the Asian provinces of Macedonia, and Persia. Antioch was the Seleucid capital. In 200 BC Judaea fell into the hands of the Seleucids.
Chapters sixteen through twenty-two delve into the political intricacies of the Seleucid period in Israel’s history. Rival leaders fight for control. The temple is raided for its wealth to support the Seleucid government’s payments to Rome. Antiochus IV Epiphanes comes to power and commits the “Abomination of Desolation” when he sacrifices a pig[6] on an altar to Zeus erected in the temple court.[7] This event leads to the Maccabean revolt, a Jewish uprising which culminates in the cleansing and rededication of the temple and Israel’s independence.
Chapters twenty-three through twenty eight highlight the events of the Roman period. The Roman Empire continued to spread east along the Mediterranean conquering Greece, Asia Minor and ultimately Palestine along the way. Herod’s family rose to power during this period. In the late 60s AD the Jews revolt against Rome. In 70 AD Jerusalem falls to Titus Vespasian and his Roman legions. He destroys the city and burns and levels the temple.
Critical Analysis
Bruce has written a good historical narrative which is both integrated and successive. He includes major events and influential figures, but also includes background information which gives the reader greater depth of understanding. There is a fluid rhythm and cohesiveness to the work. While the book is centered on political matters, Bruce writes from a distinctly human perspective.
The book contains many useful political insights such as David’s skillful and shrewd selection of Jerusalem as his seat of government, which helped unify the regions of Israel and Judah.[8] Bruce occasionally poses questions to the reader, sometimes on obvious matters, and other times on not so obvious matters. This draws the reader into the narrative and prompts deeper consideration and reflection. His strategic interweaving of Scripture into the narrative punctuates events and gives added clarity to the motives, emotions and perspective of the book’s characters. Of particular usefulness is the depiction of the results of Alexander’s Hellenization of Israel in chapter nineteen[9] (the most compelling chapter of the book) which adds color and texture to the rift which arose between the Hellenistic and non-Hellenistic Jews in Acts 6.
Many valuable observations are incorporated into the volume. Bruce’s noting that “Ezra stands at the end of the history of the Pentateuchal law of the Old Testament as Moses stands at the beginning of it”[10] adds to Ezra’s stature in Scripture and history. The “emergence of the Pharisaic party as an opposition group to the Hasmonean dynasty”[11] helped to explain the doctrines and practices of the New Testament Pharisees. By chapter twenty-three, the reader easily comes to the conclusion that captivity, occupation and revolt are a way of life for the Jews.
Bruce has managed well the task of condensing Israel’s political, military and religious history into a relatively short volume. However, the narrative is sometimes slow-moving, getting bogged down in an endless and convoluted sea of names,[12] battles and kingdoms. However, it does gain momentum with the rise of Cyrus in chapter twelve. On a grammatical point, the use of commas is sometimes excessive so as to cause the reader to stumble while trying to maintain the flow of the narrative.
Occasionally, the writer makes declarative statements which are not expressed explicitly in the biblical text. In other cases, unsubstantiated assumptions are made which tend to diminish somewhat the book’s overall authority. One such instance is Bruce’s suggestion of the likelihood that the Samaritans destroyed part of Jerusalem’s city wall during its reconstruction.[13] Conversely, there are points throughout the book where a more direct and assertive declaration could add authority. It is evident throughout the work that Bruce writes as an academician first and a Christian second. In chapter seventeen, for example, he states that the Jews believed their temple to be “totally different from other temples.”[14] Here, one would rather he stated that the Jews knew their temple to be different from those of false religions.
Some attitudes and approaches in the book should be carefully weighed. Celebrated events such as David’s slaying of Goliath are downplayed or given little mention.[15] In chapter twelve Bruce interjects a brief reference to the Deutero-Isaiah theory but offers no retort, which suggests his agreement with the theory.[16] In chapter fourteen, he seems to side with the Jewish colony in Elephantine, over against the Jews of Jerusalem, arguing in favor of the former’s religious practices.[17] Also in chapter fourteen, Bruce gives the impression that he believes that parts of the Old Testament Scriptures were influenced by Zoroastrianism. [18] In chapter sixteen he makes similar statements about the influence of Greek thought in the Song of Songs.[19] Bruce is non-committal on the origin of the Septuagint, suggesting that the popular account of its development is more legend than fact.[20] Bruce wrongly argues in chapter nineteen that “if every pious Jew had taken this attitude of passive resistance…all hope of regaining religious freedom would have died with them.”[21] This view sees the matter of the Hasmonean resistance in purely human terms. He appears to deny God’s sovereignty and ignore God’s many promises throughout Scripture to preserve for Himself a remnant of the nation of Israel.
Conclusion
F. F. Bruce’s Israel and the Nations is a useful, insightful and compelling book that reads more like a novel than an academic text. It is not flawless, but overall presents the reader with excellent background on the political, military and religious history of Israel.
[1] F. F. Bruce, Israel and the Nations (Downer’s Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997), Back Cover.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., Introduction.
[4] Ibid., 1.
[5] Ibid., 16.
[6] Bruce somewhat softens this attack upon Judaism by referring to the slaughtered pig as an animal “considered unclean by the Jewish law.”
[7] Ibid., 142.
[8] Ibid., 17-18.
[9] Ibid., 146.
[10] Ibid., 102.
[11] Ibid., 170.
[12] The names of rulers in chapter twenty-one are especially hard to follow due to the similarity of names.
[13] Ibid., 99-100.
[14] Ibid., 137.
[15] Ibid., 14.
[16] Ibid., 90.
[17] Ibid., 108.
[18] Ibid., 112.
[19] Ibid., 124.
[20] Ibid., 121.
[21] Ibid., 145.
