After a flurry of interest in the 1960s followed by a period of neglect, the topic of the religious practices of ancient Israel has once again returned to the forefront of academic interest. In both the previous and present incarnations, the object of interest is not simply an unfolding and explicating of the Scriptural data, but rather using the biblical data along with other sources as a means to reconstruct the actual practices of historical Israel. What has changed over the intervening period, however, is the breadth of other data and methodologies brought to bear on the topic, so that now sociology, anthropology and material archaeology are added to the data gleaned from the Biblical text. This breadth of methodologies makes intense demands on any would-be ‘expert’ in the discipline, especially in light of the need to deal with data culled from all of the different genres and time periods of the OT. The ‘religion’ of ancient Israel is a subject that touches every page of the Bible and almost every aspect of ancient Israelite life. To attempt to summarise a topic as broad as this in a little over 200 pages of text (plus extensive footnotes) is an overwhelming task. In his introduction, Miller is refreshingly humble about the scale of the project and the necessarily provisional nature of the results presented. Having said that, he has achieved a readable and reasonably comprehensive introduction to a fascinating and important topic.

In contrast to R. Albertz’s two volume History of Israelite Religion, Miller achieves brevity by following a topical outline, deliberately avoiding difficult historical questions wherever possible (see p. xx). In his first chapter, he addresses the question of Israel’s conception of God, especially the similarities and differences between Yahweh and the gods of the surrounding nations. From there, he moves on to discuss types of religion in ancient Israel, in terms of the various forms of Yahwism (orthodox, heterodox, syncretistic) and of the various levels of the cult (family, regional, national). The third chapter addresses the forms and functions of sacrifices and offerings in Israel, while the fourth covers the topics of holiness and purity. Finally, he looks at leadership and participation in the cult: the tasks of priest, prophet, king, and sage in leadership and the participation and exclusion of foreigners and women.

From this summary it will be clear that some topics that were the mainstay of older approaches are barely mentioned—for example, the tabernacle rates a single reference in the index—while new subjects have come to the fore, notably the place of women in Israel’s worship. The concepts of sacred space and time, which are subsumed under the chapter on holiness and purity, could each have been profitably expanded into a chapter of their own. For those disappointed by the relative omission of a particular topic, however, the comprehensive bibliography gives plenty of other sources to research. Meanwhile, in the areas that are covered Miller presents an up-to-date and balanced summary of the current state of research, along with a substantial number of helpful illustrations and photographs. Overall, this volume has admirably succeeded in its aim, which is to draw on multiple disciplines to expand our comprehension of the day-to-day reality of ancient Israelite religion.

---