United Monarchy

1 Kings

Solomon, the temple, the division, Elijah. And the campaign of Shishak: the first solid synchronism between the biblical narrative and an Egyptian record.

2 Samuel

A court narrative of unusual literary quality that refuses to flatter its hero. The Tel Dan inscription attests a dynasty bearing David’s name — and is silent about the man.

1 Samuel

How kingship began, told twice and not the same way twice. The Greek text differs substantially from the Hebrew, and Qumran copies sometimes side with the Greek — a major fact about this book.

Proverbs

Collections inside collections, a stretch running close to Egyptian instruction literature, and the error the form invites: reading an observation as a promise.

Psalms

An anthology spanning centuries, five books with doxologies, and two numbering systems that make the same psalm a different number in different Bibles.