The Historicity of Biblical Israel: Studies in 1&2 Samuel

Why doubt the historicity of the Biblical narratives before establishing exactly what they have to say in their original Hebrew through engaging in meticulous linguistic and textual analysis? In this book, Professor Salibi, author of The Bible came from Arabia (1985), subjects the text of 1& 2 Samuel, in the received and often problematic Hebrew, to long overdue critical analysis. Salibi then reconstructs from the artificially conflated text seven original stories told, surprisingly, not in prose but in consistent and coherent verse. In the last four chapters, Salibi presents a compelling argument for the setting the 1 & 2 Samuel stories in Western Arabia. Furthermore, he argues that setting them in Palestine remains unsubstantiated not only by existing archeological evidence, as many scholars today agree, but also by the local topography and toponymy. This book pits common sense against the obscurantism of much current Biblical scholarship. The method followed in the analysis is fully and plainly detailed for non-specialist readers, but the book is also necessary reading for specialists on fundamental issues which need to be addressed, The postscript to this second edition of the book contributed by Anthony Lias, provides astronomical evidence that validates Professor Salibi's proposed geography for Biblical history.