Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?

Lester Grabbe is a historian of ancient Israel and the Second Temple period, and this book's whole method is stated in its title, it asks what can actually be known and by what evidence, rather than retelling the biblical narrative as history. It works by laying archaeological findings, extra biblical texts and the biblical account side by side and saying plainly where they agree, where they conflict and where the evidence simply runs out. That transparency about uncertainty is its main strength, and also its limit for a reader wanting a single confident narrative, Grabbe often concludes that a question cannot be settled rather than picking a side. Published as an academic monograph, it is written for readers willing to sit with unresolved historical questions rather than for devotional use.