Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? By
William G. Dever ). xi + 268 Reviewed by Dr. Michael Grisanti
15.2 (Fall 2004) : 253-255 Dever, who recently retired as
professor of Near Eastern archaeology and anthropology at the
University of Arizona in Tucson, has spent thirty seasons
excavating various sites in Israel. He rejects the proposals by
revisionists or “minimalists” who characterize biblical
literature as “pious propaganda” as well as conservatives who
refuse even to question the factuality of the Bible. In his
introduction (x), Dever presents five approaches that constitute
the spectrum of views on Israel’s origins: assume that the Bible
is literally true (and ignore all external evidence as
irrelevant); hold that the biblical text is probably true (but
seek external corroboration); approach the text (and external
data) with no preconceptions; contend that nothing in the
biblical text is true unless proven by external data; and reject
the text and any other data, since the Bible c