Peterson-Judges as a hit-piece on Saul

Posted on January 31, 2018 by jamesbradfordpate

theoutwardquest

I am going to treat Brian Peterson’s discussion of the book of Judges in a positive way.

First, I need to express frustration that his approach sometimes appears obscurantist to me.  He treats the judges as consecutive leaders of all Israel, taking at face value the narrative.

Even casual readers suspect that most of the judges only led small portions of Israel and that they overlap in time. Treating them as consecutive pushes their period back into the time when Egyptian rule of Canaan was only seriously challenged by the Hittite empire.  So why is Egyptian hegemony never mentioned?

Also he is not willing to tolerate contradictions in the Bible.  If you start reading Judges you will notice almost immediately that Jerusalem was captured and burned (1:8).  But a few verses later it says that the Jebusites held Jerusalem “to this day” (1:21 and Joshua 15:63, corroborated by Judges 19:11-12).

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About jamesbradfordpate

My name is James Pate. This blog is about my journey. I read books. I watch movies and TV shows. I go to church. I try to find meaning. And, when I can’t do that, I just talk about stuff that I find interesting. I have degrees in fields of religious studies. I have an M.Phil. in the History of Biblical Interpretation from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. I also have an M.A. in Hebrew Bible from Jewish Theological Seminary, an M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. from DePauw University.
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