The Consuming Fire

The Complete Priestly Source, from Creation to the Promised Land

Paperback, 264 pages

English language

Published by University of California Press.

ISBN:
978-0-520-38365-4
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5 stars (1 review)

Uncovering an ancient foundation myth, and literary tour de force, obscured within the modern Bible.

Embedded within the Bible lies a largely unknown story of the founding of ancient Israel and its religion, interwoven with other ancient tales more than two thousand years ago in the process of creating the Torah. Generations of scholars have painstakingly worked to recreate the “Priestly Source,” also known as “P.” The complete text has not appeared until now on its own in either Hebrew or English.

Beginning with the creation of the world and ending at the edge of the promised land, the Priestly Source offers a distinctive account of the origins of the people of Israel and a unique perspective on their relationship with their god, Yahweh—one in stark contrast to what is found when we read the Bible now. With a translation by Liane Feldman, an authority on the text, The Consuming …

1 edition

The emergence of a coherent narrative from the Pentateuch

5 stars

If you've ever read the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible, what Christians call the Old Testament, and wondered why it was such a disjointed read and lacked coherence, this book could be for you. Dr. Feldman extracts the (P)reistly source from the Pentateuch and weaves it into a single coherent narrative encapsulating creation, exodus, and arrival into the promised land. Just the introduction is worth the price of the book. Highly recommend for anyone who's interested in modern biblical scholarship.

Subjects

  • Bible