How To Read The Jewish Bible, authored by Biblical scholar, and professor, Marc Zvi Brettler, is an enlightening text, guiding people on how to read the Hebrew scriptures in a more purposeful way. Brettler reveals that this book provides a response to the frustration many readers hold with the Hebrew Bible, based on the accustomed tendency to filter it through the lens of present-day culture. Generally, he argues, as a result, this leads one to either misconstrue passages, or the arrive to the definitive conclusion that the Bible holds no value within our contemporary era and therefore, as a whole, is irrelevant and should just collect dust. Written as a general introduction to the Hebrew Bible, Brettler designedly provides a neutral
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Many existing studies of this passage about the Decalogue, or what are commonly referred to as the 10 Commandments, contend that Moses authored it and that these commandments were revelations directly from God. However, when applying the historical-critical method to this passage, and studying the context and convention of time it was written, Brettler brings attention to a couple of inconsistent points. First, he reveals that the term “10 Commandments” in not actually in the Bible. An interesting fact for something that has become a household term in contemporary Western culture. Secondly, Brettler presents readers with the “Hammurabi Law”, a Babylonian law code dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, around 1754 BCE. As one of the oldest well-preserved writings in the world, he explains that while it provides some background history about the Hammurabi law, there is not much known about the original form of the Decalogue. Brettler also makes readers aware that the layout of the “Decalogue”, and the “Hammurabi law” have similarities, even though the Hammurabi law was written by a king, not Moses. Brettler argues that with the similarities of the Hammurabi law and the Decalogue, it is conceivable an author, other than Moses, revised the Decalogue writings based on the Hammurabi law writings. Without knowledge of the context and culture of ancient Mesopotamia, and the Babylonian law code writings one may not be aware of the Hammurabi Law. So based on the material Brettler presents in this chapter, one could find moral and ethical relevance of this passage of the Hebrew Bible for the Jewish culture it was written for, while perhaps wrestling with whether they carry the same weight in contemporary times when there isn’t full support of information to confirm the Decalogue was actually “commanded by God” to Moses, for Israel, and mankind as a
Many existing studies of this passage about the Decalogue, or what are commonly referred to as the 10 Commandments, contend that Moses authored it and that these commandments were revelations directly from God. However, when applying the historical-critical method to this passage, and studying the context and convention of time it was written, Brettler brings attention to a couple of inconsistent points. First, he reveals that the term “10 Commandments” in not actually in the Bible. An interesting fact for something that has become a household term in contemporary Western culture. Secondly, Brettler presents readers with the “Hammurabi Law”, a Babylonian law code dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, around 1754 BCE. As one of the oldest well-preserved writings in the world, he explains that while it provides some background history about the Hammurabi law, there is not much known about the original form of the Decalogue. Brettler also makes readers aware that the layout of the “Decalogue”, and the “Hammurabi law” have similarities, even though the Hammurabi law was written by a king, not Moses. Brettler argues that with the similarities of the Hammurabi law and the Decalogue, it is conceivable an author, other than Moses, revised the Decalogue writings based on the Hammurabi law writings. Without knowledge of the context and culture of ancient Mesopotamia, and the Babylonian law code writings one may not be aware of the Hammurabi Law. So based on the material Brettler presents in this chapter, one could find moral and ethical relevance of this passage of the Hebrew Bible for the Jewish culture it was written for, while perhaps wrestling with whether they carry the same weight in contemporary times when there isn’t full support of information to confirm the Decalogue was actually “commanded by God” to Moses, for Israel, and mankind as a