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Who Wrote the Bible? Paperback – January 1, 1987

by Richard Elliott Friedman (Author)

309 customer reviews

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The contemporary classic the New York Times Book Review called “a thought-provoking [and] perceptive guide,” Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard E. Friedman is a fascinating, intellectual, yet highly readable analysis and investigation into the authorship of the Old Testament. The author of Commentary on the Torah, Friedman delves deeply into the history of the Bible in a scholarly work that is as exciting and surprising as a good detective novel. Who Wrote the Bible? is enlightening, riveting, an important contribution to religious literature, and as the Los Angeles Times aptly observed in its rave review, “There is no other book like this one.”

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"J," "P," "E," and "D" are the names scholars have given to some authors of the Bible, and, as such, they are very important letters to a lot of people. Churches have died and been born, and millions of people have lost faith or found it, because of the last two centuries of debate about who, exactly, wrote the canonical texts of Christianity and Judaism. Richard Elliott Friedman's survey of this debate, in Who Wrote the Bible?, may be the best written popular book about this question. Without condescension or high-flown academic language, Friedman carefully describes the history of textual criticism of the Bible--a subject on which his authority is unparalleled (Friedman has contributed voluminously to the authoritative Anchor Bible Dictionary). But this book is not just smart. Perhaps even more impressive than Friedman's erudition is his sensitivity to the power of textual criticism to influence faith. --Michael Joseph Gross

Review

A contemporary classic that is a "thought-provoking [and] perceptive guide [to the Bible's authorship]."--"New York Times Book Review""Brilliantly presented: There is no other book like this one. It may well be unique."--"Los Angeles Times""Remarkable. Friedman has written that most rare of books: a legitimate intellectual contribution that is also a good read. The field of biblical studies will be enriched by this book."--"Dallas Times Herald""It is an event to have a book as readable and exciting as "Who Wrote the Bible? "It has about it the resounding smack of solid truth."--"Harvard Magazine"

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Product details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: HarperOne; Reprint edition (March 21, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060630353
ISBN-13: 978-0060630355
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
Average Customer Review: 309 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #53 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Judaism > Sacred Writings > Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
- #84 in Books > Reference > Encyclopedias & Subject Guides > Religion
- #186 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Bible Study & Reference > Bible Study > Old Testament

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Scholarly And Accessible

November 8, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Richard Elliott Friedman is an eminent Biblical scholar with an illustrious career that includes previous books with titles like Commentary on the Torah. Ordinarily describing an author that way is an indirect way of warning readers that his book is going to be dense and rather dull. Nothing could be farther from the truth in this case. Who Wrote The Bible comes with a large section of notes and a lengthy Appendix, but it is written for the general reader in a lively, informal style that sacrifices none of its scholarly rigor.

Since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Biblical scholarship has concluded that the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament), as well as the books which follow them, are the products of numerous authors writing at various times in the history of the Hebrew Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. What Friedman has done here is to use his own years of research to analyze the work of earlier scholars and explain his agreements or dissents from their theories. The most fascinating sections are those in which Friedman presents sections of the Bible which are familiar to studious Jews and Christians, explaining which were written by early priests, which were produced in either Israel or Judah, and which came from the period after the Babylonian Exile. It makes for an intriguing read that depicts the Old Testament as the outcome of years of study and thought by numerous men (and sometimes women) who worked to understand what God intended for His people.

It's an unfortunate fact that many people regard Biblical studies such as this one as in some way blasphemous, as if using humanity's intellect and imagination to better understand the world could in some way be offensive to God. Rest assured that, while Friedman's readers will be challenged and informed by his scholarship, their faith will not be weakened unless they want it to be.

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Ephraim

Phenomenal! Brilliant!

February 5, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is absolutely brilliant!

As a student of ANE languages, as well as a student of understanding the Jewish background and geography of the Bible, I thought I had a firm foundation for approaching the scriptures and understanding them from a scholarly point-of-view. However, I was mistaken. Without the material presented here by Dr. Friedman, I dare say the student misses a treasure of nuance and humor. Yes, I say humor because you can't help but smile when you see the underlying motivations for stating half of the doublet one way and the other half another way.

Can this knowledge shake the faith of the some? I imagine so. The idea that a writer's own biases went into producing these contributing JEPD documents will be contrary to those who think the authors of the Bible were simply sitting there taking dictation. But, hopefully, what comes out of all of this is a stronger, informed faith that is not plagued by childish notions.

This book helps turn Christian children into Christian adults. Bravo!

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Vigilant

A BRAVE Analysis of the Pentateuch which will Open Up the Bible even more For You

August 26, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Ok, I have read some of the negative reviews posted on Amazon about this book and I understand to a certain extent why they would reject this book. It can easily be perceived that the Bible is a mish mosh of writings from unknown or suspected authors other than whom the book is said to be written by. I suppose the author's humanistic and intellectual approach to breaking down the Bible and its authors lends itself to some of these perceived rejections. But careful study and examination of the what the author is saying does not as a whole negate the truth or inspiration of God's Word by his (author) summations. In fact, for me, as an evangelical Christian and Bible Study student, it opens up the Bible even more. It answers some questions I had in my thoughts and clarifies certain things. I think Mr Friedman did a great job however there were few parts (and I mean few) that I disagreed with such as where the author surmises that Moses hitting the rock in Exodus and again in Numbers is a record of the same event in two different and contradictory places (Mt Sinai and Meribah) that was placed by the Bible "writer ". I believe what the Bible says...period. If it records it as two separate events, then its two separate events. Nevertheless, I do suggest true students of the Word read this book in order to obtain some amazing insight. I already have so many "rabbit trails" I want to explore and study because of this book...such as why the Bible separates at times the two terms, Levites and Priests...I used to think they were one and the same. However, after reading this book it has brought me to the new awareness that it (the Bible) may be referring to priests that originated or stem from the Mushite (Moses) line and those of the Aaronic Line, hence the distinction between Levites and Priests. I did read in one review that this book may not be for "baby" Christians to which I do I agree. This book is certainly "steak" and not "milk"! And the assumption (by the author) that Moses was not the author or more precisely the final scribe of the books we have now in the Bible maybe true, however, what was noticeably absent from the book was that Moses WAS and IS the first original scribe (the author is God of course) from which these Bible scribes obtained their texts from. One only has to search two words in the Bible to confirm what I mean: "MOSES WROTE..." Exodus 24:4 Moses wrote..., Numbers 33:2 Moses wrote..., Deuteronomy 31:9 Moses wrote..., Deuteronomy 31:22 Moses therefore wrote..., Joshua 8:32, Mark 12:19, Luke 20:28, and John 5:46. You get the idea. At the end, Friedman wraps it up nicely though through quote from a christian writer which I wholeheartedly agree with: (From Christian writer Andreas von Maes) - "But in truth there is no great need for contending concerning the writer (of the Bible books) as long as we believe that God is the author, both of the events themselves and of the words wherewith they have been communicated to us..." AGREED!!! To that end, I do like the work Friedman did in this book. I do not feel it takes away from the Bible except in the few parts I disagree with and really there aren't many. After all no one is perfect besides Yeshua :-) Keep an open mind and see for yourself and I expect it will open up the Bible even more for you if you let it.

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Sherry Tourtual

The subject of my review is Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliott Friedman.

September 23, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I learned so much from reading this book. Mainly I learned about the 4 strands of the Pentateuch, the J strand for Jahweh (German), the E strand for Elohist because the people referred to God as 'elohim, the P strand for Priestly Source because it's mainly laws, and the D source for Deuteronomistic History- from Joshua to 2 Kings. There is a Holiness Source -H- which the author didn't mention and which can be found in the Catholic Study Bible (RG 111). This Holiness School brought worship from the tabernacle to everyday life.
J and E were combined when Israel, the Northern Kingdom, was overtaken by the Assyrians around 722 BC. Refugees fled into Judah, and an editor ( the author says that Ezra was the redactor) combined the refugees' E manuscript with their J manuscript. That's the reason for 2 creation stories and 2 flood stories. Ezra also redacted the entire Pentateuch, according to the author.
This was a great book, and I really learned a lot!

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