The Bible with Sources Revealed Paperback – Illustrated, August 16, 2005

I have just started reading over this invaluable book, the hypothesis about the different origins of part of the Bible is convincing. But then the publisher to save a few pennies decides to only use 3 ink colors, when there are 6 main sources. There is a key at the top right page, but maybe one more color at least could have helped. Then there is the paperback which has the flimsiest cover, I would have expected a University standard hard wearing book.I know quite a bit about the Bible having done Biblical Archaeology, lived in a Minister's family, and my own religious studies. This book strengthens my ideas fostered by "The Bible Unearthed" by Finkelstein and Silberman, that the whole course of human history has been sabotaged by the source Deuteronomy, from the reign of King Josiah. Here we have murderous barbarism. And it set the seeds for the isolation of Jews Christians and Moslems, with a myriad of rules; and also separation from other faiths and extremism. Thats how I read it, it is obvious.But on the other hand my respect for the source P is enormous, and so by allowing us to differentiate we can also have greater positive feelings.It may be harder to really bring out all sources. For instance the story of Noah is taken from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, picked up by the Patriarchs on their journey to Palestine, easily one thousand years before it was written down, possibly two. And the story of the Garden of Eden seems to me to be very old, and not history, but a very important myth. A myth is not something which is false in religion, but a central idea of immense importance. Taking them literally is to miss the meaning.I also noticed in the source E that other laws from Sumer had been moved over, simple matters such as "if a man's ox gores another man then..."It would be interesting to have an online resource to read each source separately, given that conflicting versions of even the "ten commandments" have been put side by side, it suggests that editors over the years have erred by inclusion.I think in my University days 35 years ago I wanted a Bible with sources identified, now I have it for the first five books.

Wow! The intro and second chapter about the collection of evidence for the four source theory is easily worth the price of the book! It does a good job of defending the overall concept against naysayers. I have found myself going back to the evidence chapter over and over again.So Friedman’s basic argument is that each source flows nicely without the other sources and this is part of the basis on how he divides the sources. If only he would have stuck closer to his own idea! I found right away with the Noah story that the P source does not, according to the way he divides it up flow nicely from Genesis 1. I made all kinds of marks in the book suggesting different ways based on Friedman’s own advice! For instance, I don’t see why Gen 5 can’t be The P source except for verse 29. It helps the story flow better which is kinda the point! I noticed abruptness again in Gen 10,11 and then again in Gen 25 and especially Gen 27-33. Again in Gen 42-47!It is all over in Exodus as well. In fact it is really hard to justify any of the sources not having a version of Moses’ birth story and with Pharoahs daughter. Without it Neither E or P flow at all! I found that the redactor that likes to combine J and E IMO is way more active then Friedman sees it. Especially after the Moses story it’s hard to distinguish and also, again one must believe that the original sources had a flow to them.So I would have given it 5 stars but he doesn’t follow his own advice and needs to notice the lack of flow in his version of it. But he does an excellent job of showing that there are different sources even though people might have some alternate color coding.

Why is the Bible so hard to read? The answer lies in the Documentary Hypothesis, conceived over a hundred years ago. This book presents a comprehensive collection of evidence supporting this theory, all in a concentrated format in the first 31 pages.The rest of the book presents the author's translation of the Torah (1st 5 books of the Bible), coded to alleged authorship, with extensive footnotes & explanations. What a job!The short version is as follows: "J" wrote a story representative of Southern Judean interests. "E" wrote one about Northern Israeli interests. When the North and the South united, the Priests in charge could not get rid of either well known document, so he (they) wrote "P", making the story more to his (their) liking. King Josiah "took charge" at age 8. Because of his age, he was heavily influenced by the priests. After he attained young adulthood, the main priest conveniently found "D" (mainly a set of laws) that so impressed the young king that he had the whole tome read aloud to the masses.All these sources and editions were put together by an editor, called the "Redactor" into the final 5-book work. The Redactor may have been Ezra, a priest of the Second Temple after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon.Evidence for this elaborate theory consists of differences in linguistics, terminology, content, narrative flow, connections with other parts of the Bible, relationships among the sources to each other and to history, and convergence (several different lines of evidence converge). This data is fascinating, well-presented, and quite convincing.The above is my light summary of the Documentary Hypothesis. The heart and soul of the book, however, is in the text of the Torah itself, which is color coded. This makes it quite convenient to read each source individually as a flowing text. When read in this fashion, the improvement in continuity is striking. The footnotes are helpful in bringing out political considerations of the authors and the Redactor.Friedman is also the author of "Who Wrote the Bible", a book which creates a mystery out of the authorship delimma. That book I also recommend, and suspect a person who likes one book would like the other. The book under review here appears to be the definitive work on the Documentary Hypothesis. It belongs in the library of anyone interested in the Bible, with the possible exception of literal interpreters, and I recommend it highly.

It is widely agreed that the Pentateuch (first five books of the bible) was compiled from at least four main sources. There are those who think that the parts have been skilfully woven into a coherent whole, but if that were the case this book would have little value. As it is, the editing leaves much to be desired, (if you are in any doubt about this, see the story of Noah and his ark, Genesis 7), so Friedman’s ‘bible with sources revealed’ sheds much light on this and many other passages that have inherent inconsistencies and contradictions. I have also found the many footnotes useful. There are, of course, some features that remain baffling. For instance, why, after God had twice given Moses the second of ten commandments to make no graven images, Exodus 20:4 and again 34:17, does He then instruct Moses to make such an image, (of a snake!), Numbers 21:8? Friedman has undertaken his own translation of the sources, which has not always been helpful. To cite one example, Exodus 33:15. Moses descends Mount Sinai with the ten commandments; KJV; ... the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. NEB; ... inscribed on both sides; on the front and on the back they were inscribed. Friedman; ... tablets written from their two sides: from this side and from this side were they written. This is not a major issue, but there are more instances of this nature, which all interrupt the flow of the narrative, so I have awarded only four stars. This work does however succeed in helping make more comprehensible that which has been poorly constructed.

What a great book to takes you to some interesting realisations of the development of the Bible. Each source is colour coded and it does enable you to gain a sense of who and around what date each section was written. It could do with a few more notes at the bottom of the text where he spots some interesting explanations- for example the different source theory neatly explains how Abraham seems to come from two different places with a later interpolation to try and cover over the reason for this. It's probably a translation you may find a little anthropological.

An excellent case for different authors, different traditions, in the Old Testamant. This is the definitive case for what is known as "The Documentary Hypothesis".The Old Testament divides people, some think it's they very word of God, others are sure it cannot be "true", whilst yet others believe that has been superseded, either by the New Statement or the Quran.If this was written by God, it appears to be in emulation how people would write it.Fascinating and well argued.

Fantastic. Indispensable for anyone studying the OT. Thoroughly argued, utterly scholarly, completely convincing. Friedman is an extraordinary writer on all aspects of the Bible.

book maybe helpful, but my belief is strong and i am happy i have God whose name is YHWH.