Text and History

For several decades, a strong current in biblical scholarship has held that the Hebrew Bible tells us little reliable about the history of ancient Israel, and some of its most forceful voices have worked in Copenhagen. Jens Bruun Kofoed, writing from the same city, takes up the questions of method beneath that debate. If the final form of the text is late, perhaps Hellenistic, does that alone lessen its worth as a source? And what follows when text and archaeology no longer line up convincingly?

Kofoed examines the assumptions behind competing approaches and works through specific test cases. He argues that lateness by itself is no verdict, that modern genre research and attention to authorial intent change how ancient historical writing should be judged, and that the present impasse can be overcome. A careful, closely argued study for students and scholars of the Old Testament who want method examined rather than assumed.