Israelite Religion

A panoramic, thousand-year history of Israelite religion, from the Iron Age to the birth of Judaism, by a renowned biblical scholar

In the millennia from its Iron Age beginnings to the Hellenistic period, Israelite religion underwent numerous transformations. As the Israelites responded to major historical events and political realities, their collective beliefs and practices evolved in kind, even as earlier elements of religious culture remained an active substratum.

Weaving together biblical literature, the archaeological record, and Near Eastern comparative sources, award-winning author Karel van der Toorn tells the sweeping story of how Israelite religion evolved from a small tribal cult to a textual tradition practiced by a persecuted minority within the Roman Empire. He demonstrates how religion became integral to nation-building as Israel transitioned from a nomadic chiefdom to a monarchical state; how religious practices changed in response to the loss of political independence as Israel and Judah became provinces of foreign imperial powers; and how in the post-exilic years, as Hellenistic culture permeated the Eastern Mediterranean, Israelite religion flowered into an elegantly literate tradition built on sacred text.

Combining literary studies, anthropology, linguistics, history, and more, this book tells the fascinating story of Israelite religion as it has never been told before.