Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 94:373 (Jan 1937)
Article: Archaeology’s Influence on Old Testament Exegesis
Author: James L. Kelso

BSac 94:373 (Jan 37) p. 31

Archaeology’s Influence on Old Testament Exegesis

James L. Kelso

Few people realize the phenomenal influence that Palestinian archaeology will exercise on Old Testament exegesis in the coming years. The same great advance will be true whenever Protestant New Testament scholars enter the field of Palestinian archaeology, which at the present time the Catholic scholars are monopolizing due to the indifference of Protestant scholars.

In the past, exegesis of the Old Testament has had four major original sources: First, the theological, based upon the New Testament. This field has been a constant field of Old Testament study ever since the various New Testament books were written. Second, the traditional, based upon the teachings of the early Jewish and Christian scholars. This field was originally the work of the early church fathers, but within recent years there has been a genuine and productive revival of the study of this data. Third, the philological, based upon the exhaustive research of the Hebrew and related Semitic tongues. This field was of interest first to the early church fathers, then to the Protestant reformers, and during the last century it reached to its greatest height through the study of the vast new sources of epigraphical material recovered by the archaeologists in all the Near East districts. This field is constantly producing new material today and will continue to do so for a long time as thousands upon thousands of cuneiform tablets in our museums have never yet been translated. Fourth, the historical, based upon a study of the historical data of those

BSac 94:373 (Jan 37) p. 32

nations such as Egypt and Babylonia whose history was interrelated to that of Israel. This field is in the main only a hundred years old and constant researches are adding to its evidential material. All modern studies of the Old Testament specialize upon the last two of these fields.

Today, however, Palestinian archaeology is bringing forth an unbelievable amount of new materials for each of these four techniques of Old Testament interpretation and consequently our understanding and appreciation of that book is growing by leaps and bounds. Although this new material covers all four of the fields its most spectacular findings are in the historical field. The Old Testament is the “History of Redemption” and in no sense is it a history of the Israelite people. Not only decades, but whole centuries of the history of Israel are omitted in the Old Testament. The story of these missing years is coming to light rapidly through the work of the archaeologist. Furthermore, countless new angles of those historical events extensively treated or simply alluded to in the Old Testament are not only confir...