Middle Positions

Fretheim takes a middle position. He agrees: “The book of Genesis does not present the reader with historical narrative, at least in any modern sense.” (see Fretheim, “Genesis,” 326–38). People of faith transmitted the word of God to other people of faith. He suggests that Genesis gained its basic shape during the exile. So Fretheim concludes: “While it is not possible to determine whether the women and men of Genesis were actual historical persons, it seems reasonable to claim that the narratives carry some authentic memories of Israel’s pre-Exodus heritage” (Fretheim, “Genesis,” 327).

Miller and Hayes admit clearly that “the reader is led to understand that these were real people and that the events actually happened.… There are ample grounds for skepticism regarding the usefulness of the Hebrew Bible for historical research” (Miller and Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah). They point to characteristics of ancient history writing—the concept of a “golden age,” schematic chronology, divine direction of human affairs, lineal genealogical descent of a nation’s ancestors, and common storytellers’ motifs. Folk stories and genealogies may have some historical memory behind them, but it is not possible to determine specific historical details.

Velázquez notes: “The trend in the last decade has been to focus on the Persian period for the origin of Israel.… Hypercritical approaches to the Bible have made it almost impossible to search for the origins of Israel” (“The Persian Period,” 61, 65). Yet Velázquez can point the opposite direction, against the lure of Persian Period origins, stating, “There is no evidence that there was an ‘empty land’ or massive return of Judahites that formed a new Israel in the southern Levant. Nor is there evidence that the inhabitants of the Judaean highlands fabricated their origins in the 6th century BCE” (Velázquez, “The Persian Period,” 74).

Hess has described the difficulties of modern study of Israel’s historical foundations (see “Early Israel,” 125). He admits that “to write a continuous history of the period is impossible,” and claims that the core of the documents behind the Hebrew Scriptures originated in David’s court.