Volume 39, Number 18 · November 5, 1992
Book of Books Books
By Denis Donoghue
The World of Biblical Literature
by Robert Alter
Basic Books, 225 pp., $23.00
Reading the Book: Making the Bible a Timeless Text
by Burton L. Visotzky
Anchor, 240 pp., $12.00 (paper)
The Voice of Jacob: On the Composition of Genesis
by Leslie Brisman
Indiana University Press, 122 pp., $24.95
The Changes of Cain: Violence and the Lost Brother in Cain and Abel Literature
by Ricardo J. Quinones
Princeton University Press, 284 pp., $12.95 (paper)
The Hebrew Bible is so called because the Greek 'ta biblia' means 'the books.' These books were written during a period of more than a thousand years, from the thirteenth to the second century BCE (Before the Common Era). The canon of the Hebrew scriptures was established about 100 CE. It consists of three parts, the Torah (the Law), the Nevi'im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (Writings). In 450 BCE the prophet Ezra read to the people of Israel the Torah, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. His reading established the primary text for Jews. In the first century CE certain rabbis consolidated the Torah with the Nevi'im (the books of the Prophets, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) and with the Ketuvim (diverse writings that included the Psalms, Song of Songs, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Ezra, Chronicles, and Daniel). These three groups of writings constitute the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh.
Review, 5590 words
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