From Gods to God

by Shinan, Avigdor; Zakovitch, Yair; Zakovitch, Valerie

• ISBN13: 9780827609082
• ISBN10: 0827609086
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-12-01
• Publisher: Jewish Pubn Society

Summary

The ancient Israelites believed things that the writers of the Bible wanted them to forget: myths and legends from a pre-biblical world that the new monotheist order needed to bury, hide, or reinterpret. Ancient Israel was rich in such literary traditions before the Bible reached the final form that we have today. These traditions were not lost but continued, passed down through the ages. Many managed to reach us in post-biblical sources: rabbinic literature, Jewish Hellenistic writings, the writings of the Dead Sea sect, the Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and other ancient translations of the Bible, and even outside the ancient Jewish world in Christian and Islamic texts. The Bible itself sometimes alludes to these traditions, often in surprising contexts. Written in clear and accessible language, this volume presents thirty such traditions. It voyages behind the veil of the written Bible to reconstruct what was told and retold among the ancient Israelites, even if it is "not what the Bible tells us."

Author Biography

Avigdor Shinan is the Yitzhak Becker Professor of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of numerous books in Hebrew on rabbinic literature, Jewish liturgy, and the Aramaic translations of the Bible. Yair Zakovitch is the Emeritus Father Takeji Otsuki Professor of Bible Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a professor of Jewish Peoplehood at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya. He is the author of numerous books in Hebrew'on biblical literature and ancient interpretation of the Bible. Valerie Zakovitch is a translator and editor of works in Jewish studies and the humanities.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Translators Note	p. xi
Introduction: When God Fought the Sea Dragons	p. 1
The World of Myth
Eden's Winged Serpent	p. 19
When Gods Seduced Women	p. 27
Moses or God? Who Split the Sea of Reeds?	p. 35
What Is Manna?	p. 46
The Hero Who Stopped the Sun	p. 56
Cult and Sacred Geography
The Wandering Gate of Heaven	p. 65
Seeing and Weeping: Managing the Story of a Divine Defeat	p. 73
Where Were Rachel and Jacob Buried?	p. 84
Where in the Wilderness Did Israel Receive the Torah?	p. 91
Some More Reasons for Eating Matzah	p. 96
Was Worshiping the Golden Calf a Sin?	p. 101
Where Was the Law Given? In the Wilderness or in the Land of Israel?	p. 109
When and How Was the City of Dan Sanctified?	p. 120
Biblical Heroes and Their Biographies
What Did Ham Do to His Father?	p. 131
Out of the Fire: Recovering the Story of Abrahams Origins	p. 138
The Reinterpretation of a Name: Jacob's In Utero Activities	p. 149
Were the Israelites Never in Egypt? A Peculiar Tradition about Ephraim	p. 157
MosesÆs Most Miraculous Birth	p. 164
Moses's African Romance	p. 173
Moses's Necessary Death	p. 179
Son of God? The Suspicious Story of Samson's Birth	p. 189
A Cinderella Tale: Clues to David's Lost Birth Story	p. 197
Finding the Real Killer of Goliath	p. 206
How a Savior Became a Villain: Jeroboam and the Exodus	p. 213
Relations between Men and Women
Sister or Not: SarahÆs Adventures with Pharaoh	p. 223
The Story of Rebekah and the Servant on the Road from Haran	p. 230
Reuben, Bilhah, and a Silent Jacob	p. 237
Seduction before Murder: The Case of Jael	p. 242
No Innocent Death: David, Abigail, and Nabal	p. 250
Not Just Riddles: Solomon and the Queen of Sheba	p. 259
In Closing	p. 267
Glossary of Extra-Biblical Sources	p. 271
Index	p. 293
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