The conquest of Canaan
by Yeḥezkel Kaufmann
Category: Religion

Yehezkel Kaufman (1889-1963), modern Israel's foremost biblical scholar, composed this monograph in connection with his two volumes of commentary to the Books of Joshua and Judges -- not available in English. He takes issue with the view that these books originated in late monarchic times, centuries removed from the events they relate and hence of little historical worth. He criticises in detail the literary arguments on which that view is based, contending that, on the contrary, these books are based on, and incorporate, pre-monarchic sources attesting to the earliest phrase of the religion of ancient Israel. This is a reissue of the first 1953 edition.