Lost World of the Israelite Conquest, The (Walton, Walton): Covenant, Retribution, and the Fate of the Canaanites / January 01, 2017

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Holy warfare is the festering wound on the conscience of Bible-believing Christians. Of all the problems the Old Testament poses for our modern age, this is the one we want to avoid in mixed company.

But do the so-called holy war texts of the Old Testament portray a divinely inspired genocide? Did Israel slaughter Canaanites at God’s command? Were they enforcing divine retribution on an unholy people? These texts shock us. And we turn the page. But have we rightly understood them?

In The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest, John Walton and J. Harvey Walton take us on an archaeological dig, excavating the layers of translation and interpretation that over time have encrusted these texts and our perceptions. What happens when we take new approaches, frame new questions? When we weigh again their language and rhetoric? Were the Canaanites punished for sinning against the covenanting God? Does the Hebrew word herem mean “devote to destruction”? How are the Canaanites portrayed and why? And what happens when we backlight these texts with their ancient context?

The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest keenly recalibrates our perception and reframes our questions. While not attempting to provide all the answers, it offers surprising new insights and clears the ground for further understanding.

About the Series:
There are some historical or biblical issues that are inherently controversial—which is why they remain issues of debate. The books in the Lost World Series follow the pattern set by Bible scholar John H. Walton as they bring a fresh, close reading of the Hebrew text to an accessible discussion of the topic at hand.

Addressed through propositions that move the reader through a logical sequence of the principal points of discussion, these volumes are informed by knowledge of the ancient Near Eastern literature and cognitive environment, and undergirded by a consistently applied hermeneutic. Authors seek to find God’s authoritative message in the text represented in the communication as understood by the human source (speaker or writer) and his audience—working out the principle that the Bible is written for us, but not to us.

The intention with the Lost World Series is not to offer the single “correct” interpretation of the given text. These books seek, instead, to provide an interpretation based on a conviction that the Bible is the Word of God—Scripture that speaks truly. The goal is not to convert the reader to the author’s conclusions, or even to persuade the reader to adopt their way of thinking. Instead, this series seeks to bring information to the reader’s attention that has helped the authors as they have struggled with the passages.