Historie og kulturel erindring i Det Gamle Testamente

Abstract

It is an established fact that biblical historiography is fundamentally
different from modern historical reconstructions. It was never
the aim to describe the past as it really was. The purpose of historiography
was didactic, and the means had little to do with modern historical
reconstructions. In this way it is preferable to consider biblical
historiography to be cultural memory, and it is sharing with memory
the right not to be dependent on historical facts. Rather it represents a
“memory” of the past as constructed by an elite group – the few who
were able to write and read. It is possible to reconstruct the “profi le” of
these intellectuals and their aim: to write a national history, and clearly
for propagandistic reasons, to support the primacy of Jerusalem over Samaria.
Most likely this historiography dates to the Hasmonean period,