Customer Reviews

Exploring Exodus: The Origins of Biblical Israel

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sarna's book guides the reader through Exodus, and tries to place it in the context of other Middle Eastern cultures (while at the same time not ignoring the key differences between Israel and its polytheistic neighbors). The book is full of interesting little tidbits: for example, "Mose" (meaning "son" or "one who is born" in Egyptian) was commonly a part of ancient Egyptian names, and kings had names like "Thut-mose" (so it makes sense that the egyptians would name a baby "Moses" or some variant thereof). Basically a work of history rather than theology--that is, it doesn't really purport to address the big questions of who wrote Exodus, etc. Rather, it shows readers how Exodus made sense to ancient readers familiar with heathen customs.

This book is essentially a commentary on Exodus but framed in such a way that it can be read without having the text constantly in front of you. The main sources for the commentary are the results of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern scholarship which he uses to place the narrative in its context and supplement on what is found therein.

He admits at the outset that "the Torah is not a book of history but one that makes use of history for didactic purposes" (xi) and tries to show by means of this background material what these purposes were.

In 9 chapters he does this and very succesfully. His suggestions based on similarities (or differences) between other ancient material are at the very least fascinating and in many cases quite persuasive. His approach is critical but not overly so, he is careful in his suggestions and generally engages the primary sources without making sweeping generalizations. Especially the chapter that compares laws from the Torah with that of other cultures I found very interesting.

I would recommend the book to people interested in looking at parts of the narrative from the perspective of the Ancient Near East. Both the similarities and differences yield a very interesting picture.

Grade:

8 out of 10

I first read this book ...and his Genesis work..in library copies for a study group. I am buying both because the insight and the language literally transported me! Do not read this alone because you will want to share thoughts. Even when you are alone, you will want to return to a line and say it aloud. This will be a cherished book regardless of your professed faith. I plan to give extra copies as gifts! The only reason it is four stars is because Exodus is getting five!

This book is essentially apologetics (specifically, Jewish) masquerading as historical analysis. It does contain some useful information, but it is compromised every step of the way by the author's almost uncritical acceptance of the historicity of the events described in the biblical text, even down to their last details. It might have been useful as an explication of the biblical STORY, except that Sarna has frequent recourse to genuine historical issues, mixing them freely with his exposition of the Exodus text. You can do narrative analysis, and you can do historical analysis, and you can look for ways to connect the two; what you cannot do, if you want to be at all rigorous, is to start with the assumption that a narrative, particularly an ancient one, is basically historically correct and proceed from there.

Perhaps some people are fooled by the fact that Sarna is not a fundamentalist and is willing to allow for occasional deviations of Exodus from historical facts, but that's not enough. While there is undoubtedly some historical information in Exodus that is true--how much is a hot debate--as a work of religious advocacy, it is hardly an inherently reliable source. To give an extreme example, Sarna essentially accepts the parting of the Red Sea/Sea of Reeds, or at least gives no indication that he sees any need for an alternative explanation of how the Israelites got out of Egypt (that they did so at all is highly debatable). This is history?

Furthermore, when comparing Exodus with parallels from the polytheistic cultures of the region, Sarna is far too ready to dismiss similarities, just because important differences also exist. This, too, is typical of the apologist writer, who sees the "truths" of his or her religion as overriding all other considerations.