The arc of a covenant: the United States, Israel, and the fate of the Jewish people

Abstract

and Schreiner do not dwell upon the battle of Qarqar, in which a coalition of small states led by the Kingdom of Israel defeated the mighty Assyrian Empire, temporarily interrupting the latter’s effort to expand its borders to the Mediterranean Sea. Not only do the authors seek to make a substantive case on behalf of the ‘greatness’ of the Omride dynasty, but also they seek to make a methodological case on behalf of the Hebrew Bible as a source of authentic, if incomplete, historical information. Indeed, Greenwood and Schreiner illustrate very effectively how the biblical text and contemporary extra-biblical sources complement each other nicely to paint a fuller picture of the military achievements of the Omride dynasty than one that is composed by relying only on the biblical text or only on the extra-biblical sources. Their methodological case on behalf of the search for convergences between the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical sources of information is both sensible and solid. Greenwood and Schreiner’s book, in short, presents a compelling, though quite technical in many spots, account of the Omride dynasty’s military history. Whilst perhaps not the best place to start for novices interested in this history, their work should find a wide readership amongst specialists whose focus is on ancient Israel during the era of the Divided Monarchy.