The P Text Untangled: Making Sense of the Most Puzzling Text of the Bible - Couverture souple

Siegel, Charles

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1941667570 ISBN 13 : 9781941667576

Editeur : Omo Press, 2025

Synopsis

Since the nineteenth century, many scholars have believed that the first four books of the Bible are woven together from three texts that were originally separate documents. The E text was written by priests who had presided at Shiloh before Jerusalem became Israel’s religious center. The J text was written by a member of the court of the King of Judah. The P text was written by priests from Jerusalem.

Until the mid-twentieth century, this theory was widely accepted by scholars who were not religiously orthodox, but it has been challenged since the 1970s. A key objection to it is that the P text does not hold together as a whole, so it could not possibly have begun as a single document.

Even among scholars who do accept the theory, there are disputes about when the P text was written, with most saying that it was written during or after the Babylonian exile but some saying that it must have been written during the religious reform of King Hezekiah, long before the exile.

This book identifies a cohesive core text within the P text, which clearly was written during Hezekiah’s reform. The core text has not been noticed before because it is much shorter than the later additions.

The core text has a striking structure, focusing on what the author considers the four greatest events of history, the times when God revealed himself, the stories of Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. It connects these four stories with very brief summary narratives that include dates of birth, creating a continuous timeline that lets us date all of this history.

It climaxes dramatically when Moses casts lots among the tribes, and the rod representing Aaron and the Levites blossoms and bears almonds, showing that they are meant to lead the people. The priests who wrote the P text believed they were descended from Aaron.

This book puts the core text in a different font from the later additions, so it is easy to read it from beginning to end.

The core text focuses on the four great revelations of history, but it is also a bit of a revelation to read the core text itself and see this striking document that has always been in the Bible and that we have not noticed before.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Omo Press
• Date d'édition: 2025
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1941667570
• ISBN 13: 9781941667576
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 190
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg