Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>]

Dear Jeremy, I think you should get a different bible.
The bible I recommend is the Harper-Collins Study Bible,
it is the NRSV,and has notes and commentary by the foremost
biblical scholars of our time.
The bible has the OT, NT, and the Apocrypha, plus maps and charts.
It is the most literal and up-to-date translation.
I reply more below:
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----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Sasser [mailto:jeremy AT fish.pair.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2000 10:23 AM
To: Biblical Hebrew
Subject: Genesis


<<n the introduction of Genesis in The NIV Study Bible:

During the last two centuries some scholars have claimed to find in the
Pentateuch four underlying sources.>>

Every *scholar* accepts these four sources in the Pentateuch.

<<The presumed documents, allegedly dating from the tenth to the fifth
centuries B.C., are called J (for Jahweh/Yahweh, the personal OT name for
God),>>

J is for the Yawist, the one who calls God by his personal name.

 <<E (for Elohim, a generic name for God), >>

For the Elohist, the one who refers to God as Elohim.

<<D (for Deuteronomic) and P (for Priestly).  Each of these documents is
claimed to have its own characteristics and its own theology, >>

Each of these *do* have their own vocabulary, formulary, and theology.

<<which often contradicts that of the other documents. >>

Yes.

 <<The Pentateuch is thus depicted as a patchwork of stories, poems and
laws. >>
Anyone can see that the Pentateuch/Torah is composed of stories, poems, and
laws.

<<However, this view is not supported by conclusive evidence, >>
There is a law of evidence called Bayes' Theorem. It says that rational
people, no matter
how disparate their original beliefs, will come to the same opinion in time,
if given sufficient and identical evidence -- PROVIDED that they are not
*certain* of their original position. People who are dogmatic, and
completely fixed in their original position will not change their mind no
matter how convincing the evidence, or no matter how much of it they see.


<<and intensive archaeological and literary research has undercut many of
the arguments used to challenge Mosaic authorship.>>

Archaeological and  literary research has rendered Mosaic authorship nearly
impossible,
I'd say the probability of Mosaic authorship is .000000001.  (According to
Bayes' theorem,
my giving it even that much probability leaves me capable of changing my
mind if suffient and overwhelming evidence exists, like for example they
find his grave on Mt. Nebo with a torah in it, preferably in OLd Kingdom
Hieroglyphics.).


Whatyathunk?? :-)

I think you should get a new bible.
Also,  you might enjoy reading
"Who Wrote the Bible?" by Richard Elliot Friedman.
It is in paperback at Borders' and probably elsewhere.

best,
Liz