Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common EraJames Kugel's The Bible As It Was (1997) has been welcomed with universal praise. Here now is the full scholarly edition of this wonderfully rich and illuminating work, expanding the author's findings into an incomparable reference work. Focusing on two dozen core stories in the Pentateuch--from the Creation and Tree of Knowledge through the Exodus from Egypt and journey to the Promised Land--James Kugel shows us how the earliest interpreters of the scriptures radically transformed the Bible and made it into the book that has come down to us today. Kugel explains how and why the writers of this formative age of interpretation--roughly 200 B.C.E. to 150 C.E.--assumed such a significant role. Mining their writings--including the Dead Sea Scrolls, works of Philo and Josephus and letters of the Apostle Paul, and writings of the Apostolic Fathers and the rabbinic Sages--he quotes for us the seminal passages that uncover this crucial interpretive process. For this full-scale reference work Kugel has added a substantial treasury of sources and passages for each of the 24 Bible stories. It will serve as a unique guide and sourcebook for biblical interpretation. |
Contents
1 | |
2 The Creation of the World | 43 |
3 Adam and Eve | 93 |
4 Cain and Abel | 145 |
5 Noah and the Flood | 171 |
6 The Tower of Babel | 227 |
7 Abraham Journeys from Chaldea | 243 |
8 Melchizedek | 275 |
15 Jacobs Sons in Egypt | 459 |
16 Growing Up in Pharaohs Court | 501 |
17 The Exodus from Egypt | 543 |
18 The Red Sea | 581 |
19 Into the Wilderness | 613 |
20 At Mt Sinai | 633 |
21 The Golden Calf | 711 |
22 Worship in the Wilderness | 743 |
9 The Trials of Abraham | 295 |
10 Lot and Lots Wife | 327 |
11 Jacob and Esau | 351 |
12 Jacob and the Angel | 377 |
13 Dinah | 403 |
14 Josephs Ups and Downs | 437 |
23 Trouble along the Way | 775 |
24 The Bronze Serpent Balaam and Phinehas | 795 |
25 The Life of Torah | 827 |
26 Afterword | 889 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aaron Abel Abraham ancient interpreters angels Answers in Genesis apparently Balaam Behold Ben Sira Bible Biblical Antiquities biblical text Bilhah blessing brothers Cain century C.E. Chapter Christian cited commandments covenant created creation daughters death Decalogue descendants Deut Dinah divine earlier earth Egypt Egyptians elsewhere Enoch Ephraem Esau Exod Exodus father fire firstborn flood Fragment Genesis Rabba God's Greek heaven heavenly holy human idea Isaac Israel Israelites Jacob Jewish Antiquities Jews Joseph Josephus Jubilees Judah killed king land later Levi likewise Lord means Mekhilta Melchizedek mentioned Midrash Moses motif Noah passage Pentateuch perhaps Pharaoh Philo phrase priest prophet Pseudo-Philo punishment Qumran rabbinic refer Reuben righteous Sabbath says Scripture Scroll seems Septuagint Shechem Simeon Sinai sins Sira Sodom sons specifically story Targum Neophyti Targum Ongelos Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Temple Testament Testament of Levi things Torah translation verse wife wisdom words