Battles of the Bible

This book purports to be a work of military history. The authors attempt to reconstruct the historic battles fought by the Israelites, in a time frame that ranges from the invasion of Canaan, through the conquests by David and Solomon, split of the kingdom into Israel and Judah, to the Maccabee rebellion. Its authors are Chaim Herzog (formerly the Director of Israeli Military Intelligence and subsequently, President of Israel) and Mordecham Gichon (a military expert, writer, and holder of academic positions).

The main question is whether a book of this nature is at all trustworthy. The chief problem is that available information is so limited; as a result the authors rely on biblical writings. Such writings clearly are biased, show more unreliable, and in addition, often invoke supernatural events.

The authors, to their credit, do not invoke such supernatural events; there is nothing in their account about Joshua making the sun stand still or causing the walls of Jericho to fall by marching around them, or about their god intervening to ensure military victories by the Israelites.

Nevertheless, the authors assume that the ancient Hebrew writings are truthful accounts, From them, they reconstruct major battles, including the geographical arrangement of opposing forces, the relative strengths and weaponry of the combatants, and the military maneuvers involved.

Here is an example of a kind that would refute the contents of this book. Modern scholarship has challenged the idea that a group of Israelite sheepherders, having wandered through the desert for decades, attacked and conquered the highly organized society of Canaan, killing all the males and enslaving the women. Evidence indicates that ancestors of the Israelites were themselves Canaanites -- indigenous people who only later constructed one of those foundational creation myths that cultures construct, to justify their existence and solidify their society. Similarly, "David" and "Solomon" were no more than local tribal chieftains; their supposed great kingdoms were the equivalent of local towns, and their supposed military successes are again entirely mythological.

In sum, while the authors reject supernatural explanations, their attempts to reconstruct ancient history is a house of cards. Being based on dubious assumptions about the truth of their religion- based accounts, it entirely collapses if even minimal standards of historical scholarship are applied. show less