In Search of Pre-Exilic Israel Edited by John Day In recent years certain 'revisionist' scholars have claimed that little can be known about pre-exilic Israel because the old Testament was compiled only after the exile. It has even been claimed that the Old Testament is a Hellenistic book. This book argues that this is an extreme and untenable position, and that though the Old Testament was indeed edited in the exilic and post-exilic periods, many of the underlying sources go back to pre-exilic Israel and, when critically analysed, can shed much light on that period. This volume surveys not only historiography but also various aspects of what can be known of pre-exilic prophecy, law, wisdom and psalmody. The light shed by archeology and ancient Near Eastern texts is also evaluated. This important work is the product of an impressive international team of seventeen noted scholars. All the contributions, previously unpublished, arise from papers delivered to the Oxford Old Testament seminar. John Day is Professor of Old Testament Studies at the University of Oxford and Fellow and Tutor of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.