4Considered by many to be a modern classic, Ancient Israel offers a fascinating, full-scale reconstruction of the social and religious life of Israel in Old Testament times. Drawing principally on the text of the Old Testament itself, as well as from archaeological evidence and information gathered from the historical study of Israel's neighbors, de Vaux first provides an extensive introduction to the nomadic nature of life in ancient Israel and then traces in detail the developments of Israel's most important institutions-family, civil, military, and religious-and their influence on the nation's life and history. "The timely reprint of the English translation of de Vaux's monumental work.makes this available again for all students of the OT at all levels.. This collection of data is still relevant, reliable and a good starting point for these sociological studies." --Society for Old Testament Study Book List "A monument both of progress in biblical exegesis within the Catholic tradition and of mainstream biblical scholarship in the middle decades of this century." --Journal of Near Eastern Studies