This article has been adapted from my paper, “Introduction to the Study of the History of the Religion of Israel,” in John Kaltner and Louis Stulman, eds., Inspired Speech: Prophecy in the Ancient near East, Essays in Honour of Herbert B. Huffmon (JSOT SS 378 London and New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), pp. 8–11. It is published here with the permission of the editors and T&T Clark.