This subject has probably been beaten to death, and not much is in need of being said after Kenneth Kitchen's On the Reliability of the Old Testament. At the same time, it is a topic that is interesting on its own I would suggest, and it is worthwhile to give examples of the Scriptures being vindicated, especially in these times. Further, the papers listed below are very current.
Genesis 37:25:
And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and,
behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. (King James Version)
In The Bible Unearthed, Israel Finkelstein says
that Genesis 37:25 presents us with an anachronism, namely the use of camels as pack animals. He says that this paired with the mention of spices, balm, and myrrh, which were common products of the 8th and 7th Century BC era Assyrian Empire, points to a late dating of the text. (page 37)
Camels: He argues that archeological evidence proves that they were
not used as pack animals prior to the late second millennium. In this view,
they would also not have been commonly used until ‘well after 1000 BC.’ This already is not pointing to an anachronism per se, but instead just something unlikely. The Patriarchs were meant to be quite wealthy, and it would not be inconceivable that they would have made use of an expensive and rare new means of transport. It is not as if we're talking about having a flintlock musket in ancient Rome, but at worst, something like a musket a few year after its invention.
So, even if we grant the datings he gives in the text, there isn't a real challenge to the reliability of the text, much less to inerrancy. (It could be that a text is not to be seen at face value as historically reliable, but is inerrant. In such a situation it would be describing solely highly unlikely events that are not absolutely ruled, all that happen to be true. One would not be justified in trusting it, but it would still be stating facts) On the other hand, it is relatively easy to vindicate the book of Genesis here.
Some articles on
the subject may first be consulted:
In all three it
is shown that it would have been within the realm of possibility that Abraham
and the other Patriarchs would have had access to camels. Further than that, Sala and
Horowitz give reason to suggest that it would not have been improbable:
“By
far the earliest document of the use of a dromedary as pack animal is the
limestone vessel shaped as a lying camel carrying a generic burden, dated at
the First Dynasty (3050-2890 BC), already quoted above (par. 1.1). Its
significance is debatable because found in a ritual funerary context, but its
date matches the one of the earliest terracotta figurines of harnessed Bactrian
camels found in Turkmenistan. During the II millennium BC, when overland trade
routes became relatively safe compared to the more dangerous sea navigation,
domesticated dromedaries were associated with the emergence of the
"incense route" along the western edge of Arabia, connecting the
Sabaean coast with Egypt and Near East.” (Sala, 2017)
He later says
that the use of the camel in the Genesis account is not yet supported by
archeological evidence, but it is reasonable to point out that Abraham and the
other Patriarchs did not originate in Israel, but instead in lands where they
did already exist. Camels in Canaan are not proven at this time, but Abraham did not begin his life there, and as a constant traveller, he would have had access to lots of different items from around the region. There is an interesting mention of an 'incense route' in the article, which could further confirm the idea that the products that are mentioned would not point to the late date.
This is link below Christian site, meaning that some may not find it to be a compelling source, but it is also of interest: http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2014/02/17/The-Date-of-Camel-Domestication-in-the-Ancient-Near-East.aspx
I don't think I could do any justice to the question of the dating of the Pentateuch here, and it is not something I have done substantial research on. Here I am simply trying to give arguments against supposed errors or anachronisms in the Scriptures.
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