hidden book in the bible ~ review

8/6/2019 Hidden Book in the Bible ~ review

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Review of The Hidden Book in the Bible

This remarkable book identifies the earliest work of prose literature heretofore hidden in the

Old Testament. It was extracted from Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua,

Judges, I & II Samuel and I Kings. Restored, translated and introduced by Friedman, the

narrative does seem to be the work of one author and was probably written in the time of King

Solomon. Originally a united story, it was cut up by the Bible's editors so that other narratives,

laws and poetry were inserted into and around it.

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In the Introduction, Friedman relates how he discovered this story, the reasons

for considering it one unified work and where it is found in the Bible. He deals

with the different sources called J (this work), E, D and P as used by biblical

scholars plus words, phrases, images and themes that appear in J and nowhere

else in the Bible. In essence it is a tapestry of interactions between God and

mankind. He speculates on the identity of the author, asserting that s/he lived

in the Kingdom of Judah most likely in the latter 9th century BC, was probably

a lay person and may have been female.

Friedman explains his approach to the translation; he stuck close to the original

Hebrew, opting for consistency in the English, retaining idioms when their

meaning is clear and using the Tetragrammaton instead of its substitutes. Some

of the intricacies will be of interest only to the linguist but I found them

fascinating. Footnotes have been kept to a minimum whilst difficult words and

passages are explained elsewhere so that the reader is not distracted.

The narrative itself flows with a remarkable rhythm. It is titled "In The Day"

from its opening words and consists of approximately three thousand

sentences. I am pleased that Friedman keeps it simple in English; reading thetext is quite refreshing compared to the Bible translations one is familiar with.

Critics of the Bible are often confused as to what the Bible reports and what

the Bible teaches. This story is almost pure reportage although in the telling of

the story some interesting lessons come to light. It starts with creation and

ends with the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel.

In the Afterword, Friedman explores the themes and points out how key

elements introduced in the first chapters are resolved in the last two. Themes

include the relationship between the sexes and between fathers and sons,

fratricide, and the positions of king, priest, prophet and military leader. It is

about families in particular and the tension between divine direction and the

human desire for independence. It is both history and a novel. Around it, other

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accounts were added, as well as wisdom literature, poetry and the visions of

the prophets, in order to assemble the Good Book.

The Textual Notes provide further explanation with reference to verses from

Genesis to Kings, whilst the Appendix gives a more detailed treatment of the

evidence for the antiquity and unity of the work. It consists of 4 parts:

(a) evidence for the unity of the work

(b) evidence for its antiquity

(c) response to criticism of recent scholarship that claims a late date of

composition for these texts

(d) a chart demonstrating the distribution of terminology that characterizes

In The Day.

Under (a), Friedman presents proof in the form of terminology, narrative

continuity, allusion, similarity of whole accounts, repeated prose images and

theme, plus a consideration of the implications if this analysis is correct.

Under (b) he returns to a discussion of the aforementioned sources like J, P and

E and the views of biblical scholars on their antiquity. An interesting fact: thehistorical referents in this work (J) overwhelmingly relate to Judah, and those

of E to Israel (the Northern Kingdom). The linguistic-historical research on the

Hebrew language is also considered here.

(d) is introduced by a lengthy analysis of the work of scholars Blum and Van

Seters with reference to Hurvitz, Polzin, Rendsburg, Zevit, Halpern, Kaufmann

and others. A table titled Distribution Of Terms In Prose Narrative provides

comparisons of Hebrew words and expressions in Genesis to Deuteronomy,

Joshua, Judges, I Samuel and II Samuel with the rest of the Old Testament.

The book concludes with 10 pages of bibliographic notes on the Introduction,

Afterword and Appendix.

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A thought-provoking theme of In The Day is the boomerang effect of human

actions and the cyclical or echo-effect of mankind's behavior. There are

repeating patterns from the earliest times. Also the irony in what I would call

the "karmic" nature of this process which applies to good, bad and neutral

actions. It is something like a template built into cosmic law and is humorous in

some instances.

But by far the most important insight that it provided to this reader is about

the nature of God. For better or worse, the God of the Old Testament is often

perceived as vengeful and uncompromising. This core text paints a different

picture, one of a Deity often torn between justice and mercy. In other words,

God gets angry but does not stay angry and forgives upon repentance. This is

just my opinion, but it seems that God gets angry about the evil that mankind

brings upon itself and does intercede when asked, in order to alleviate it.

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Reading this work has greatly piqued my interest in the process of redaction

of the Bible. Who were the editors and when was it done? I say this in light of

having recently read the equally absorbing book by Jeffrey Satinover titled

Cracking The Bible Code, a scholarly work that explores layers of meaning

encrypted in the language and Hebrew letters of the five books of Moses.

I assume that these hidden codes occur right across In The Day (J) as well as

the other aforementioned sources, in other words, cohesively through the final

text. This is most intriguing and a matter that really ought to be investigated

further.

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hidden book in the bible ~ review

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