rolmops
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2002
- Messages
- 5,421
It was asked in another thread, so let's ask it in its own thread.<br />I will try and give the jewish opinion about it,after all,we wrote it!I lived in Israel and studied in the Hebrew university of Jerusalem. I will try to convey the dominant jewish view.<br />The old testament is a compiled history of the jewish people which existed as an oral tradition and also a written tradition.The final version as we know it today crystalized about 200 before common era(BC).<br />Genesis is mostly an oral account that does not have a very clear historical,but more a mythical meaning.It tries to explain beginnings and then becomes more historical with the arrival of Abraham(about 1800 BC)Abraham is part of a semitic wave that comes out of Mesapotamia following the Hyksos tribe which conquered Egypt.<br />It appears that the years In Egypt and the slavery there are very murky historically speaking.What we do know is that the Egyptians return out of upper Egypt and reconquer their land after about a hundred years.Now the time has come where "Pharao did not know Jacob".<br />The next 4 books are maybe history,but mostly about the formation of jewish law and the adaption of the old Sumeric(Mesapotamian) tribal law into jewish law.<br />We go to Judges (1200-1000BC)which is again a period mostly described in oral history with an exiting story about a few judges but very little on the whole for what is roughly a 200 year time span.<br />With the arrival of the last judge,Samuel,we see the change from oral history to written history.We witness the forming of the land of Israel.<br />King Saul and mostly King David are the point where the old testament becomes a written history book.We see the war between the iron age Philistines and the still bronze age jewish tribes.David integrates the philistines in his rule and with that the chroniclers take their place in jewish history.<br />The books of kings and chronicles are clearly written historic accounts as seen through the eyes of religious scribes.The prophets mostly describe historical events through the eyes of mystics.Historical events none the less.Now come the small prophets and there appears the book of Job,which is written exactly as a Greek drama.It has very little historical value,but great moral value.This is roughly where the old testament ends.We are at about 250 BC.Now comes the time where the hellenisation of Israel becomes a fact and at the same time a point of contention.The result is the Maccabee revolt.The 2 books of the Maccabees and the book of Judith, which stem from this time,are not included in the final selection which the rabbies made.The Maccabee books have historical but not religious value.The book of Judith is questionable and therefore not included.<br />Now comes the new testament.<br />It describes the Israel in the Roman Empire with Jerusalem as a very rich city,brought to greatness under King Herod.A truly great religious center of its day.<br />The first gospel is probably written about 80 AD.It is the Gospel of Mark.The others come later,between 120 and 150 AD.<br />At least in my eyes,the four gospels have little value as history books,nor is that the goal of these books.The act of the apostels are very much correspondence about real things.<br />Revelations is not something I want to touch, because it is very weird.
