A history of Israel
The history of Israel is the history of a people which came into being at a certain point in time as a league of tribes united in covenant with Yahweh, which subsequently existed as a nation, then as two nations, and finally as a religious community, but which was at all times set off from its environment as a distinctive cultural entity. Since this is so, Israel's history is a subject inseparable from the history of Israel's religion. - Foreword.