Daniel Hillel, “The Natural History of the Bible: An Environmental Explanation of Hebrew Scriptures”

The author is a Jewish environmental scientist and archaeologist, the latter by experience if not by training. He is fairly secular and moderate, which may make his arguments harder to dismiss.

A few notes (I read only up to page 25 and then skipped to pages 221-240 — i.e., I read the prologue, the first chapter, the epilogue, and the first appendix, discussed below).  A few notes:

  • Appendix I show the Bible’s general reliability (much is confirmed archaeologically and, besides, why make it up?).
  • The harsh environment of the area has led to a tightly knit and independent people.
  • Generally its seems (a) there is a lot of evidence supporting the Bible, (b) there is nothing to contradict it, and (c) where there is an absence of evidence, that proves little, and in many cases the evidence that would likely be confirmatory is beneath current buildings that can’t be disturbed.