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The Bible is Truth and Archeology Might Be

 

By Rabbi David Eidensohn

 

            The great debate over homosexuality revolves around the biblical proscription in Leviticus, and those who are pro-gay go to great lengths to either discredit the bible or to re-interpret it. Recently a new bible was issued that "re-interpreted" the bible to be more acceptable for secular humanists, and claimed that its stories were false because archeology rejects them. The early Israelites mentioned in the bible never existed, it is claimed.

            Fortunately, I was reading the newly issued (sixth edition) The Encyclopedia of World History, Peter N. Stearns General Editor, praised by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. as "indispensable." What does this history classic tell us about the bible? Was it a fantasy of myths, or did the people live and do what the bible says? On page 31 we are told that the Egyptian writing called Merneptah Stele tells of the successful battle of the Egyptian king Merneptah (1224-1204) B.C.E. against "the people of Israel." This period, 3,206 years ago, was just after the Jews settled Canaan, a land they first entered in the Jewish year 2488, 3,274 years ago. If so, the biblical claim that Jews were in Israel 3,200 years ago is accepted by archeology. Arthur Schlesinger and the scholars who made this classic historical encyclopedia arrived at these conclusion solely on the basis of archeology and secular history.

            The anti-bible group claims that David and Solomon were minor tribal leaders, if they existed at all. Not so, says the Encyclopedia of World History. On page 31 it says, "The rise of the Kingdom of Israel created a powerful state in Palestine," and suggests that the Egyptian princess who married Solomon, as taught in the bible, was the daughter of King Siamum. Further strengthening the biblical assertion that Solomon wrote the Book of Proverbs at that time, the Encyplopedia tells us that a number of precepts in Proverbs are also written in a contemporary Egyptian work, The Instruction of Amenemope. We don't have to accept these surmises, and I don't accept them, but we do accept the archeologist/historian's assertion that Solomon's life and marriage are facts. Today, one can visit in Israel the Tomb of the Daughter of Pharoah, mentioned in the Bible as Solomon's wife.

            The Encyclopedia then mentions a join military venture by Syria, Egypt and Israel against Assyria in the Battle of Qaeqar in 853 B.C.E., and this, by the Hebrew reckoning, would be about the time of King David and a strong Jewish state. The Encyclopedia then tells of the Egyptian King Necho II who defeated the Jewish King Josiah, as recorded in the bible. Contrary to those who dismiss biblical history, the Encyclopedia on page 34 presents a history of the biblical kings mentioned in the bible, supplying the native names of the various kings who the bible calls by Hebrew names. The Encyclopedia says that "the descendents of David ruled Judah for its entire history" except for a short period.

            We could go on and on, and we will just mention here that the Tomb of Queen Esther in Iran, formerly Persia, attests to the Story of Esther, and the Arch of Titus in Rome attests to the Second Temple destroyed by Rome in 70 C.E. There were many doubters among the historians if Jewish history really went back as far as the bible claimed; perhaps some latter day person invented the Book of Isaiah or Psalms. When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, the Book of Isaiah and other material proved that the Jewish bible was at least 2,000 years old, and probably older.

            On the other hand, as an Orthodox and biblical Jew, I don't see eye to eye with the Encyclopedia, because it insists on explaining Judaism in purely secular historical terms. It mentions in several places that scholars have "problems" with Jewish issues, such as how Israel accepted monotheism. In a world where polytheism was universal, how did the Jews become Monotheistic? Even if there was a Pharoah who worshipped one god, the sun obelisk, the idea of the Jewish G-d utterly transcendent and yet directly involved with His Chosen People is a historical aberration that has no secular solution. A nation disappearing into exile for thousands of years and retaining its culture and laws is also a historical anomaly. Historians must present theories of how things work out, and that is what they get paid for. When their designs find a problem, they finesse it, such as Arnold Toynbe's description of the Thirty Years War as a "small war." How do secular historians explain the survival of Israel and the Torah? The Encyclopedia is honest enough to remark that Israel presents "problems" for the secular historian.

            Frederick the Great asked a Lutheran minister for proof of G-d. The clergyman replied, "The Jews." Who could believe, during the Russian pogroms in the early twentieth century, or the German persecution of the middle twentieth century, or the attack by Iraq on Israel with 39 SCUD missiles that landed on crowded apartment buildings, that Jews could survive? Historians can look all day into the caves and ruins of yesteryear, and they will only find "problems." Those of us who treasure our 3,700 year history as Jews, as G-d's Chosen People, know that our history is one where the great cultural forces opposed us and wanted to destroy us. We are still here, and await the open revelation of He who writes history.

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