It seems that Dr. William Dever has written a new book and it focuses on the life of the ordinary people of Israel. It is called, The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel and it runs for 446 pages. If it is anything like his work Did God Have a Wife?, then we can be sure that it is not an objective piece but a biased tome presenting Dr. Dever’s unobjective opinion.
One of the things that bothers me is this quote from Eerdman’s page giving the details of the book: “Dever relies on archaeological data, over and above the Hebrew Bible, for primary source material.” This is not a good selling point not because it disagrees with the Bible, (if it does at all), but because the archaeological data is far too sparse to come to any real conclusions about the lives of ordinary people.
They just aren’t recorded in history except when something exceptional happens to them and the media or authority gets wind of it. It is unfair to take this little amount of evidence and create a whole culture from it for we do not have the whole picture nor can we be sure the modern construction of the past is correct.
Take for example the Biblical account of when the widowed woman met Elijah. She fed him and in return not only did she receive a reward but when her son died, he was returned to her alive. How can archaeology record such an event when there is little material remains left behind or even involved in the story?
Sure one can dismiss it as a legend or fable written to give hope to the downtrodden but there is no archaeological evidence to support such dismissal. To dismiss it without contrary evidence in support is hypocritical as opponents of the Biblical record demand archaeological evidence in support of Biblical accounts.
You can’t have it both ways. Getting back to the book, one thing that archaeologists ignore or forget is that common life is basically the same. Nothing monumental happens and to make claims that Dr. Dever does (see past lectures from him eg. Illuminating the Bible from B.A.S.) that the Bible is written by elites about the elites is just ignoring the purpose of the Bible.
Even in modern times, reporters and other news media do not focus on the commoner. Their interests are in the celebrities, the rich, the famous, the politician and rulers. Why? because the common public wants to read about them not someone who has the same life as their own.
The Bible does include commoners, it does state why some are elevated to higher status while others are not but the purpose of the Bible is not to detail the mundane life all civilizations experience but to reveal what God wants His creation to know. It provides lessons for all to learn and it is not highlighting the elites over the common folk, it is just that the events recorded are used because they are the best lessons to use so that all people get the message.
I will probably order the book and read it as I want to know what he is saying but again, it is merely his opinion based upon his predetermined ideas about the past. I would like to see what evidence he includes to support his theory but one thing is for sure I doubt we will get an accurate picture of the past because records have been lost and destroyed, the items that do remain and record bits an dpieces of ancient life do not cover all people who lived in Israel at the time.
Plus he is focused upon the 8th century BC which means that his opinion is narrowly focused and does not include the changes made throughout the centuries. I will also bet that he does not include any ‘fads’ the ancient created.
Dr. Dever’s opinion is a small window, a very small window, into the past and it should not be taken as fact or the final word.
theologyarchaeology 
In your uninformed opinion.
Seems like someone didn’t read the whole post. Archaeological evidence is too sparse to base one’s theory upon.
I’ll take Dever’s opinion over yours. His is based on actual archaeological evidence, not wishful thinking