Customer Reviews

Who Wrote The Bible?

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I am surprised that there have not been more books written on Biblical authorship. However, the term Bible in this book is used loosely, because almost the entire book is about only the Torah portion of the Bible (aka the Pentatuech or the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deutoronomy)

In this book, the author plays the role of Bible detective and tries to piece together a theory on who wrote (or edited or compiled) the various parts of the Torah, when they wrote it, where they wrote it, and why they wrote what they wrote.

He concludes that there are several distinct sources (from wither individuals or groups) that are pieced together to form the Torah. He identifies them and tries to desribe them.

However, keep in mind that we are dealing with some very old texts here, and it is very difficult to determine anyhting about their authorship. Don't get me wrong, the author does a fine job in his investigation, but still, these are more like educated guesses than they are near conclusive conclusions.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is interested in religion. The Torah directly or indirectly forms a major part of the foundation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is definitely worth knowing where the Torah comes from, and this book is clearly one of the best on this subject.

First, note that Friedman's "Bible" is the Christian "Old Testament." For equally good books about the New Testament, look up the works of Hyam Maccoby and Burton L. Mack.

Second, "Who Wrote the Bible?" took me back to my undergraduate classes in the Old Testament, refreshing my memory regarding such issues as the Documentary Hypothesis, but going beyond with the latest scholarship (a lot has happened in the last twenty plus years!) I can't say enough good things about this book.

This book was so fascinating, I couldn't put it down. It was so gripping, I kept reading it, even though I was supposed to be attending a Bible class at that very moment. This book is easy to read, and provides a wonderfully coherent theory as to the authors of various parts of the bible.

The only problem is that most biblical scholars don't believe in it any more.

After reading it, I approached a number of my professors (I am a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College) to ask them about this book, and had to duck to avoid the vitriol that was unloaded against it. The Documentary Hypothesis doesn't have too many adherents there.

It is definitely worth reading; it needs a huge grain of salt to go with it, though, so be careful.

If you want to learn all about the fascinating Old Testament scholarship of the 20th century, you can either spend a few years in divinity school or read this book. Of course, reading the book is a whole lot cheaper. =)

Actually, Friedman does not discuss the entire Old Testament, but only the first five books (the Torah, or Pentateuch), which are traditionally held to have been written by Moses. He outlines how modern scholarship has in fact identified several different authors, usually referred to as the Yahwist, Elohist, Priestly and Deuteronomist sources, as well as a final Redactor or editor. Brilliant stuff, and Friedman makes it read like the greatest bit of historical detective work ever.

The Christian Church originally believed the first five books of the Bible were written by Moses. Through the centuries, a few people were unconvinced that Moses wrote every single word (such as the account of his death). All were called heretics. Only in the past hundred years or so has the idea of multiple authors gained wide acceptance. That idea is called the Documentary Hypothesis, and in "Who Wrote the Bible", Richard Elliot Friedman turns it into one of the greatest historical mysteries of all time.

Written as a whodunit with suspense on every page, Friedman paints a picture of an ancient civilation racked by inner turmoil and bitterness between rival factions. We see the anger and betrayal, and then the indescribable grief when the nation finally fell. And the one man who sought to heal these wounds creating the most influential book in history. Who was this man? I wouldn't dream of telling you because it would deprive you of the thrill of reading one of the most entertaining non-fiction books ever written. If you are at all curious about the history of the Old Testament, you will love this book.

This excellent book focuses exclusively on who wrote the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Pentateuch or Torah. The title is thus unnecessarily misleading and an explanatory subtitle would have been a simple fix. Such a fix would not compromise sales and would nullify any suspicions that the misleading is partially intended for lucrative purposes. The author's aim is to synthesize his and related research, to give an overview for experts, and to make the topic accessible for a wide audience. The aims are amply achieved, the author is clearly competent, and his writing is a pleasure to read. For me as an amateur novice, it was tantalizing to be lead through some chapters like a whodunit, and surprising to see how advances continue steadily in the field. As a non-expert I got the feeling that the research has matured beyond simply dissecting fragments and has moved towards constructive synthesis. Presumably, this book can be taken more seriously than the many, many books on this or related topics by authors who have no serious credentials. The topic is obviously important for all people of the Western and Middle Easter world, including agnostics like me, because the Bible has defined much of who we are and the first five books are seminal. Yes, most people will say to themselves that only the contents are important, but by understanding the history of how the contents came about, one can get MUCH better understanding of the contents. The second edition includes significant changes and a substantial new preface.

Plot spoiler warning, it was Ezra and Jeremiah.

In reality however the book is not so much about who wrote the bible but the process by which we understand how it was written. Friedman is an academic who has studied the bible for years. This book is a clearly written outline of current thinking about the origin and strucutre of the bible. Probably most of the material in the book is available in dull long academc tones. This book however reduces all that to an easy to understand yet learned exposition in some 240 pages.

Briefly in one examines the first five books of the bible it is possible to note certain duplications of stories. This suggests that two accounts of similiar events has been synthasised together. In addition the two accounts seem to have two different names for God. One uses the term Elohim which simply means God and the other uses Jehovah, something which applies to what became the Jewish God.

Using largely textual and historical anaylsis Friedman suggests that what has happened is that after the splitting of the Davidic kingdom into Israel and Judah two priestly traditions probably oral emerged. These varied slightly as the systems of worship and political strucutre varied somewhat. Moses was a hero to the north, Aaron was the ancesotor of the Judian priestly class.

Deuteronomy appears to have been written in the reign of the King Josiah. This is based on the rather slavish praise given to him despite his mediocraty as a monarch. This would place it around 587 BC.

However rather than there being a bible at this point there would have been two versions of the first four books of the bible and Dueteronomy. Again using a textual anaylsis it would seem that there existed a further book which was of priestly origin. It was concerned largely with rules and laws and a more limited history.

Friedman suggests that these books were edited to form a continous narrative by Ezra the priest who was given power to rule over Judea by Cyrus the great after the conquest of Babylon by the Persians. Historical records suggest that Ezra took with him the Torah from Babylon to Judea. This would place the date of writing as about 539 BCE.

Regardless of whether Friedman is right or wrong the book is a fascinating summary of hundreds of years of textual and historical anaylasis of the bible.

Having read many religious books in an attempt to further my understanding about conflicts between peoples of different beliefs (after 911), I found myself going full circle and reading the Old Testament. After finding obvious conflicts and confusing areas, I found the book, "Who Wrote the Bible". What a wonderful discovery it turned out to be. The author does a great job of explaining all the conflicting and confusing information in the Old Testament. Coupled with other religious texts, I feel I now have a clear understanding of why people will go to very extreme measures to further or protect their cause and/or religion.

As a lay person I had absolutely no problems whatsover following Friedman's writing. It was clear and stated easily, and frankly a joy to read.

I use this excellent and manageable text along with Burton Mack's treatment of the NT as handy sources to review prior to discussions on Biblical topics. This book in particular was recommended to me by a colleague after my "Book of J" disappeared during a class. (It took a while before I got another copy). My colleague recommended this as a better book and in many respects I agree with her. I still like the poetry in "The Book of J" but the analysis by Friedman is excellent and easily led me on to his other books.