“understand better the world in which it was born and how inextricably connected it was to that world; to appreciate the wonder of how it came together; to appreciate that literary study and historical study of the Bible are not… — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share Image
“no word in the Hebrew language of that period for “religion.” Religion was not a separate, identifiable category of beliefs and activities. It was an inseparable, pervasive part of life.” — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share Image
“The document that was associated with the divine name Yahweh/Jehovah was called J. The document that was identified as referring to the deity as God (in Hebrew, Elohim) was called E. The third document, by far the largest, included most of the legal sections and concentrated a great deal on matters having to do with priests, and so it was… — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share
“missîm. The term missîm in Hebrew refers to a sort of tax, not of money but of physical labor. Citizens owed a month of… — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share Image
“Gen 22:11–16a The story of the near-sacrifice of Isaac is traced to E. It refers to the deity as Elohim in vv. 1,3,8, and 9. But, just as Abraham’s hand is raised with the knife to sacrifice Isaac, the text says that the angel of Yahweh stops him (v. 11). The verses in which Isaac is spared refer to the… — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share
“The chief pagan god in the region that was to become Israel was El. El was male, patriarchal, a ruler.” — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share Image
“There are two different stories of the creation of the world. There are two stories of the covenant between God and the patriarch Abraham,… — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share Image
“understand better the world in which it was born and how inextricably connected it was to that world; to appreciate the wonder of how… — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share Image
“no word in the Hebrew language of that period for “religion.” Religion was not a separate, identifiable category of beliefs and activities. It was… — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share Image
“of the story would refer to the deity simply as “God.” That is, the doublets lined up into two groups of parallel versions of… — Richard Elliott Friedman Copy Share Image
