About the Bible

      The book continues to the story of the flood, which wiped out all humanity save Noah and his family, to the Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and ends with Joseph and his family settling in Egypt.

      The next book, Exodus, starts with the enslavement of Jews in Egypt (1600 BC?) and their miraculous deliverance from there, celebrated by Jews every year in Passover, the main holiday of the year. It continues to their journey in the desert to Mt. Sinai, where God spoke to them and delivered His 10 commandments.

      Six books: Joshua is named for the successor of Moses, who according to the book led the conquest of Canaan, and Judges is about the disordered and splintered state of affairs after Joshua died. Samuel 1 and 2 tell how the nation rallied under a king named Saul and later under his successor David. And 1st and 2nd Kings chronicles the kingdom of David's successor Solomon, which then split into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom "Israel" and the southern kingdom "Judah" or as later called by the Romans, Judaea (the word "Jew" derives from that). Israel was conquered by Assyria--northern Iraq today--in 722 BC and its people, the "lost 10 tribes" were exiled and never heard of again (their descendants are now probably Syrian Arabs). Judaea barely managed to hold its own against the Assyrians, but was conquered by their successor Babylon (central Iraq) a century and a half later. The Judaeans were exiled to Babylon, but managed to keep their cultural identity in exile, and 50 years later, when Persia defeated Babylon, were allowed to return and rebuild their land.

      Let there be no mistake: similar trends started elsewhere, too, especially in Greece. The Illiad, the Odyssey and Greek mythology were already old and classical, and Greek culture followed by creating of sports (the Olympic games), history (Thucydides and Herodotus), theatre (both comedy and tragedy), classical sculpture and much more. If you want to know more about that, a very good book exists on Greek culture (unfortunately, out of print) written by ... yes, Isaac Asimov. It was almost inevitable that the two cultures should clash--that is the story of Hanukkah, beyond the scope of this review--and they later created a hybrid growth, Roman Christianity.

      The tradition of prophecy may have started with court soothsayers: King David had Nathan the prophet, and many other examples in the "Early Prophets," e.g. chapter 22 in the first book of Kings, tells of prophets retained in the king's service. In Judah, however, prophets turned literate, and their writings were preserved. Many of their prophecies had political overtones; some prophets, such as Isaiah, were the friends of the king, while others--such as Amos and Jeremiah--were persecuted (see Amos, Ch. 7, v. 12-17). And their style was poetic, which made their writing inspiring--and often, difficult to interpret.

      Some prophets cannot be reliably placed in the biblical chronology. We do know, however, that Ezechiel lived in the Babylonian exile and that Zechariah, Haggai and Malachi lived afterwards. The book of Jonah, almost completely narrative (rather than poetic) looks like a later story more appropriately placed with "writings" such as Ruth and Esther.

      The book of Isaiah presents a particular puzzle, as it almost certainly contains the work of two separate authors. The historical Isaiah is identified as the author of chapters 1-39, most of them poetic but ending with a some narrative sections which mesh with corresponding chapters of the 2nd book of Kings. But then at Chapter 40 a new poetic style begins, whose tone of consolation seems to place it in the period after the return from Babylon. The name of the prophet being unknown, scholars refer to the author as "the second Isaiah."

      Each of the intervening books may be viewed as one of a kind. Proverbs is a collection of aphorisms--ending in a beautiful acrostic poem (the first letters of verses follow alphabetical order--confirming how ancient that order is) praising a "Woman of Valor." Ecclesiastes is somewhat similar, but in a more philosophical vein and more order; it ends with a graphic but cryptic poem on the ravages of old age. The Song of Solomon combines the erotic and the poetic, quite beautifully; Jewish and Christian scholars alike have proclaimed it an allegory, but it reads better as a love poem. Lamentations may be one of the more poetic books of the bible, filled with complex acrostics--but it is not pleasant reading, describing as it does the destruction of Judaea in the hands of Babylon. Jewish tradition ascribes its authorship to Jeremiah. And Job (Hebrew "Eeyov") is a philosophical treatise on suffering, quite obtusely worded.

      Those translations were included with the first Greek translation of the Bible, commissioned by King Ptolemy II of Egypt in the 3rd centure BC. Greek in those days was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean basin, Egypt included, and Ptolemy's domain included many Jewish citizens. The synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt, was reputed to be so large that a flag was used as signal to the congregation to say "Amen" at the end of prayers.

      The Greek translation is known as the "Septuagint," in Hebrew "The translation of the 70," because by legend 72 sages collaborated on it. It might be inferred from this that all books of the bible (plus Apocrypha) were in place by the 3rd century BC, but in fact, parts of the Septuagint may have only been added at a later date.

      The Hebrew originals are not known, except in one case. Jews hold the holy writ as sacred, and old religious writings are therefore not supposed to be discarded or burned. Instead, they are given an honorable burial (often in a cemetery), in a vault known as genizah (treasury). The old Ezra synagogue in Cairo, almost as old as the city itself, had a room which served as genizah, and over the centuries many discarded pieces of writing and printing ended up there. The bone-dry climate of Egypt preserved them, and in the19th century some relics from there ended up with dealers in antiquities, attracting notice abroad.

      Before that, they spoke Hebrew (or "Judaean"--see 2nd Kings 18, v. 26) and used an angular Hebrew alphabet, similar to the Phoenician one (and to ancient Greek writing). They came out speaking Aramaic, the language of Babylon, and for the next 1200 years or so--up to the Arab conquest--they continued speaking Aramaic. Some parts of the Bible (e.g. the book of Daniel) are in fact in Aramaic. The use of Hebrew continued in religious services, but not everyone knew it. The "Kadish" prayer of praise in Aramaic is used to this day, to signal the end of one part of the service and the beginning of another, because that used to be the language everyone knew. It is also used as a prayer recited by lay people in memory of the departed--again, because at one time everybody spoke Aramaic. It is ironic that today Hebrew is widely spoken, while only a few congregants understand all the words of the Kadish.

      The languages are similar, though, and most words of the Kadish are easily recognized or guessed. Both are Semitic languages, follow a similar grammar and use equivalent alphabets. The same holds for Hebrew and Arabic: though Arabic letters use a flowing (cursive) script, each has an equivalent or relative in the Hebrew alphabet. And those squarish letters we today call Hebrew are really Aramaic, adopted in the Babylonian exile. Scholars call them "Babylonian letters."

      The Torah scrolls used in Jewish services and all their forebears (including the Dead Sea scrolls) are all written in such letters. And an interesting fact about them: traditionally, some letters--generally, in random spots--are written extra large or extra small. For instance, the famous line "Hear, o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6, v. 4) has two extra-large letters; it is as if one wrote

      Consider the story of Abimelech king of Grar, taking Abraham's wife Sarah after Abraham lied (for his own safety), saying that she was his sister (Genesis 20). After hardships befell his land, Abimelech relented and returned her unharmed. But Genesis 26, describing events which occurred about 70 years later, has a story about a king of Grar named Abimelech, essentially the same one, only here it involves Rebecca the wife of Isaac. And not only that, a very similar story is found in Genesis 12, only there it involves Pharaoh king of Egypt. A coincidence? Or did the editors encounter all these stories, and not knowing which to keep, kept them all?

      Other duplications can be pointed out. Chapter 22 of the second book of Samuel is repeated almost exactly as Psalm 18--the only difference being one word in the last verse, whose translation starts, in King James "A tower of strength to his king...". The translation is generally accepted as correct and is the source of the expression "tower of strength" used in English. However, "tower" in Hebrew is "migdal", whereas the word in one version is "migdol" (ungrammatical "from greatest") and in the other "magdil" ("increases"). Vowels in Hebrew have a secondary role and change in grammatic conjugations, and if only full-size letters are considered, "migdal" also fits. The Jewish grace after meals includes this phrase--but which version to use? A compromise was struck--one is used on weekdays, the other on Sabbath.

      Perhaps the best known duplication is that of the ten commandments, God's pronouncements to the Children of Israel at Mt. Sinai. They are listed in Exodus ch. 20, and again in Deuteronomy ch. 5. Other ancient sources (not considered here) are the holy scriptures of the Samaritans and the "Nash papyrus," fragments purchased in Egypt around 1900 by a Mr. Nash, probably dating to the time of the Macabees.

      The two versions in the bible are similar but are not the same. In the 5th commandment, did God utter "Remember the day of Sabbath" (Exodus) or "Keep the day of Sabbath" (Deuteronomy)? Jewish sages invoked a miracle of sorts: it was one word, which to its listeners meant both "remember" and "keep." That is why the hymn "Lechah Dodi" (Shlomo Alkabetz, 1541) sung on Friday night to welcome the Sabbath, begins its second stanza with "Keep and remember, in one divine word..."

      The reasons for remembering (and/or keeping) the day of Sabbath also differ. In Exodus the commandment states:

      But wait! None of this appears in the second version! In Deuteronomy quite a different reason is given:

      And how does one divide the commandments into ten distinct items? Different traditions exist on this point. Are coveting your neighbors wife and coveting his possessions part of the same items or are they separate? And anyway, why the number ten?

      Trying to disentangle historical fact from legend is confusing and inconclusive. For example, biblical scholars have been long frustrated by the absence of any reference to the Exodus in Egyptian chronicles. Of course, one may always argue that such chronicles tend to dwell on victories and successes, and that the Exodus of the Jewish tribes was something Egypt would rather forget.

      Similarly, Israeli archeologists are frustrated by the lack of evidence for the conquest of Canaan by Joshua. They have looked for signs of fire, of a great number of cities burned down and destroyed in a short time span, and nothing stands out. The great Canaanite city states apparently continued to exist throughout that era.

      Take the city of Gezer, roughly halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, a large fortified city whose remains were studied by archeologists. The 1st Book of Kings tells how Pharaoh conquered it and gave it to King Solomon as a present for his wedding of Pharaoh's daughter--and that conquest seems to be confirmed by archeology. Before that, however, the existence of this great Canaanite state is only mentioned once, briefly listing Gezer among the cities Joshua did not manage to conquer.

      How can such gaps be explained? History in general progresses from the vague to the definite, from legend to historical fact, from hazy dates to well established ones. Genesis starts legend-like and vague, then with Abraham the focus grows sharper, and the descriptions of the Exodus and the 40 years of wandering in the desert is quite detailed.

      But in the second half of the book of Joshua the focus gets blurry again. The book of Judges is once more filled with hazy legends, becoming more detailed in the story Samuel, Saul and King David, and meshing with history (as discussed further below) in the books of Kings. Could that be the real record, gradually evolving from legend to history, while the books of Moses are a later reconstruction, based on legends?

      Some hint in the books of Kings (and Chronicles) is the prominence given to celebrations of Passover. When a king decreed a national celebration of Passover, it was noteworthy enough to be written about--suggesting it was not always a big annual event. Here, as with many other things, one must resort to guesses. In the days of the 2nd Temple, Passover was a national day of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, with which the story of Jesus is intimately bound. Contrary to the comandments in the books of Moses, it might not have been as prominent in the time of the 1st Temple..

      If the books of Moses are a later reconstruction, who wrote them? Based on the quote below, Jewish sages have maintained that every single letter came from the hand of Moses. Even the words at the end "and Moses died .... and no one knows the place of his burial to this day"? Even those, they say. Moses knew the future since God revealed it to him. Obviously, a miracle.

      What is the alternative? The 2nd book of kings--ch. 22, starting with verse 8, and in more detail Chronicles II, 34, v14--tells how the Book of the Law was rediscovered during the waning years of the Judah kingdom. The Temple in Jerusalem was badly in need of repairs, and King Joshiah took money from the Temple treasury for a big renovation project. And...

      In Jerusalem that would be very unlikely. The Dead Sea scrolls were preserved in bone-dry desert caves, and even they had to be opened very carefully--you can't unroll such scrolls and read them, just so, as Shafan did. Ancient papyri were preserved in the dry deserts of Egypt. Jerusalem, however, gets generous amounts of rain, as well as humidity from clouds which brush its mountaintop location. A hidden scroll would succumb to mildew within a century or so.

      The first is in Ch. 3 in the 2nd Book of Kings and provides good evidence to the problem in interpreting ancient records. Verse 5 (repeating the first verse of the book) tells how Mesha (or Meysha), king of Moab, paid tribute to Ahab king of Israel (the northern kingdom). When Ahab died, Mesha rebelled, and an alliance of three kings--of Israel, Judaea and Edom (Moab's neighbor)--launched a campaign against Moab.

      The chapter describes how the attacking army ran out of water in the desert, and how the prophet Elisha interceded to bring an unexpected flood, providing water to all. The allies then advanced, despoiled the land and laid siege to the capital city. But the chapter ends on an uncertain note:

      Difficult question, but additional information was obtained in 1869, when French archeologists found a black monolith covered with ancient script in the remains of the city of Dibon in the land of Moab, east of the Dead Sea. They left it in place while they looked for a way to transport the stone to France, but luckily they also produced a plaster cast. Luckily, because local inhabitants grew suspicious--why were those foreigners so interested in an ancient slab of stone? They concluded that there must be a treasure inside. They broke up the monument by heating it over a fire and then cooling it suddenly with water, making it crack and shatter. The archeologists could only collect the pieces, which were carefully reassembled and supplemented, using the plaster cast; the "Moabite Stone" is now on display in the Louvre museum in Paris.

      Its script was found to be very similar to the old Hebrew script, and its language was Moabite, also a close relative. When decoded, it turned out to be a victory monument of King Mesha, celebrating his triumph over the king of Israel. It thus appears as if Mesha was the victor at the end--though the picture isn't clear, some feel that the Bible referred to a different campaign. Still... those last lines in 2nd Kings do sound strange. Adding to the uncertainty is the 2nd Book of Chronicles, where the above story does not appear at all--instead, Moab and its allies are the aggressors, attacking Judaea and being repelled at the last moment (chapt. 20). In any case, King Mesha seems to have existed, and that is one early link between archeology and the biblical narrative.

      Another link is related to King Hezekiah (Chizkiyahu), during whose reign Judaea barely survived attacks by the Assyrians. The 2nd Book of Chronicles, Ch. 32, v. 30, wrote:

      Over the centuries the tunnel silted up, but in the late 1800s archeologists gradually cleared it out. And in 1880 an inscription was found there, commemorating the successful completion of the tunnel. It is now in a museum in Istanbul (Jerusalem was under Turkish rule in those days) and it states (http://www.varchive.org/tac/siloam.htm):

      Rumor has it that the Gideons do not mind their Bibles being stolen, since it helps spread interest in the book. That rumor is probably false. However, bibles are fairly inexpensive, and buying one saves you the embarrassment of explaining to your kids how a Gideon Bible came into your possession.

      Not all parts of the bible are easy or of general interest, especially short sections read in isolation. Some short parts, however, make interesting reading. Among them

      As noted earlier, Asimov's companion to the bible is a perfect guide. He too approached the bible as literature, although his views are somewhat more conservative than the ones presented here. Enjoy.