ABSTRACT
To a surprising degree, the contentious nature of history is variously indicated by the labels used, "biblical history," "Israelite history," or "Palestinian history" – the terms themselves are revealing – and the debates concerning their relative legitimacy show no signs of abating. The biblical "historians" certainly a critique of events, but it was conceived within a theological and even mythical framework. While all exponents of "biblical history" will acknowledge in principle the open-endedness of their subject-matter, and the provisional nature of their findings, it is often a qualified acceptance, as emerges in their reaction to alternative views. "History" also has a similarly wide semantic range as myth. One important principle to bear in mind is that any adequate definition of myth ought in principle to be universal. The myth is never questioned. "Myth" can be understood to mean a true story, a false story, a just-so story, a serious story, or a trivial story.
