Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D
Dr. Samuel Sandmel, a biblical scholar and my teacher, claims
that “More people praise the Bible than read it; more people read it than
understand it, and more people understand it than conscientiously follow it.” (The
Hebrew Scriptures, NY: Knoff, 1963, 3). There is no doubt that the Bible is
a best seller. The question is whether it is also historically reliable. Is it
historically correct? And, on this issue, we have different opinions. Most traditionalists
maintain that it is, whereas many biblical scholars have great doubts about it.
The Hebrew Bible is a difficult book to read and understand:
1. The stories it tells come from a pre-modern and pre-scientific
time, emerging out of an agricultural and patriarchal background.
2. The Hebrew Bible (as well as the New Testament) is a collection
of books, each having its own religious perspective. They were assembled over a
long period of time. If there is a unified message of all the books, it is that
God and the biblical Israelites have a special relationship, namely a covenant,
requiring that instead of serving many gods, they must worship only One
invisible God.
3. All biblical books are attributed to ancient writers. The
traditional assumption is that, for example,
Moses wrote the Pentateuch, and Joshua wrote his book. In reality, we do
not know who were the real authors or compilers, and when exactly they were composed.
4. Most of the biblical material is legendary in nature; most
likely, stories about the Israelites and their leaders circulated orally for a
long period before someone or a group of writers put them down on
parchment.
5. The Hebrew Bible does not seem to be interested in pure history.
True, the broad outline is there: namely, the emergence of the Israelites in
ancient Canaan, the exodus from Egypt, the split of the kingdom into Judah and
Israel, the destruction of the 1st Temple, the expulsion to Babylon, the return
from Babylon and the building of the 2nd temple. However, the
details are not reliable. Often, the biblical texts refer to outside sources
for real historical information, such
as, “The Book of Yashar” (Josh. 10:13),
“The History of the Kings of Judah” (II K 15: 6), or “The History of the Kings
of Israel” (II K 14: 28)-none of which has survived.
6. The Hebrew Bible also seems to ignore some important historical
data that had a great impact on the lives of biblical Jews. For example, missing
is the major battle of Karkar of 853 BCE that took place between a coalition of
11 Syrian kings, including King Ahab of Israel, and Shamaneser, the king of Assyria. Other
important events are recorded without giving any details, such as “And Tibni
died” (I K 16: 22; He was the rival of Omri to the throne of Israel).
7. Some biblical numbers are symbolic, like 7 (e.g., seven days of
creation, seven branches of the temple candlestick) or 40 (e.g. raining forty
days and forty nights during the Flood , Israelites spending 40 years in the
desert). Others are impossible, like, Avraham living for 175 years (Gen.25:7) or
Isaac living for 180 years (Gen.35:28.
8. Some biblical texts are recorded twice, with considerable
differences. For example, there are two Genesis stories about the creation of
the world (Gen.1 and 2); there are two sets of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20 and
Deut.5).
9. Some biblical stories seem to have a literary pattern: For
example, in the Book of Judges, after Israelites sin, God punishes them. Then
people pray to God and God saves them through a human leader. See, for example
the case of Othniel (Judg. 3:3-11) or the case of Ehud (Judg.3: 12-30).
10. Not clear about the
original setting of the events, today, most Jews read the Hebrew Bible through
the eyes of the ancient Rabbis just as most Christians read it through the eyes
of the Church Fathers.
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