"Hendel steers a careful but masterful course between extremes, balancing his craft among the rapids and cataracts of excessive dogmatic assertions at either end of the spectrum. If he occupies some middle ground between radicals and conservatives, it is nevertheless an exciting place to be, and new ideas and new constructions pour forth and are built up in profusion. The scholarship is impeccable."--David Noel Freedman, Professor of Hebrew Bible, University ofCalifornia, San Diego"These interlocking essays offer a lucid and finely instructive account of how the biblical writers wove together myth, folklore, literary invention, and actual memory to create a national past regarded with the utmost seriousness. Ronald Hendel combines acute philological analysis, informed awareness of the archeological evidence, and an openness to the broader horizons of intellectual and cultural history in a way that is a model of intellectualmethod."--Robert Alter, author of The Art of Biblical Narrative"Ronald Hendel has written a magnificent volume of interlocking essays which discuss Israel's historical memories. His book should make a major impact on the field of biblical studies. His perceptions of the evolution of Israel's ethnic identity and religion neglect neither its cultural lore held in common with its neighbors, nor the distinctive traits which emerge, especially in Israel's perception of its history as defining its origins as a distinct nation,and furnishing the ground of its religion.

"--Frank Moore Cross, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Emeritus, Harvard University"Hendel steers a careful but masterful course between extremes, balancing his craft among the rapids and cataracts of excessive dogmatic assertions at either end of the spectrum. If he occupies some middle ground between radicals and conservatives, it is nevertheless an exciting place to be, and new ideas and new constructions pour forth and are built up in profusion. The scholarship is impeccable."--David Noel Freedman, Professor of Hebrew Bible, University ofCalifornia, San Diego"These interlocking essays offer a lucid and finely instructive account of how the biblical writers wove together myth, folklore, literary invention, and actual memory to create a national past regarded with the utmost seriousness. Ronald Hendel combines acute philological analysis, informed awareness of the archeological evidence, and an openness to the broader horizons of intellectual and cultural history in a way that is a model of intellectualmethod."--Robert Alter, author of The Art of Biblical Narrative"Ronald Hendel has written a magnificent volume of interlocking essays which discuss Israel's historical memories. His book should make a major impact on the field of biblical studies. His perceptions of the evolution of Israel's ethnic identity and religion neglect neither its cultural lore held in common with its neighbors, nor the distinctive traits which emerge, especially in Israel's perception of its history as defining its origins as a distinct nation,and furnishing the ground of its religion.

"--Frank Moore Cross, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Emeritus, Harvard University.