Since the Deuteronomists and their successors were a major influence on the formation of the Old Testament — the collection and preservation of the texts that survived the destruction in 597 BCE, for example — there is a complex problem facing any attempt to reconstruct the original temple [or history in general]. There may be complete texts that never became canonical — 1 Enoch is a good example — and there may have been earlier versions of the Hebrew text underlying the present form, as the Qumran fragments suggest. The reason for the exclusion and alteration of those texts is very likely to be that they were evidence for the position the Deuteronomists sought to to supersede. Any reconstruction that relies on their written evidence is therefore at a distinct disadvantage. Since conventional scholarship takes their canonical texts as the norm, a great deal has to be undone before any real progress can be made.

I tend to agree with that statement and think a little looking outside the canonical \”box,\” so to speak, is good for us.

Thanks,
David Larsen