What do Jews think scripture is? How do the People of the Book conceive of the Book of Books? In what ways is it authoritative? Who has the right to interpret it? Is it divinely or humanly written? And have Jews always thought about the Bible in the same way?
In seventeen cohesive and rigorously researched essays, this volume traces the way some of the most important Jewish thinkers throughout history have addressed these questions from the rabbinic era through the medieval Islamic world to modern Jewish scholarship. They address why different Jewish thinkers, writers, and communities have turned to the Bible—and what they expect to get from it. Ultimately, argues editor Benjamin D. Sommer, in understanding the ways Jews construct scripture, we begin to understand the ways Jews construct themselves.
The predominance of the historical-critical method has made Biblical studies a field in which religious affiliation is rarely engaged. This volume is a much needed corrective. . . . There really is no book like it—highly recommended! -Gary Anderson,Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology, University of Notre Dame Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty. -
Choice [T]he volume provides a broad chronological range and covers several of the major Jewish figures and movements. The contributors represent an excellent cadre of professors of Jewish Studies. Together, these essays provide a helpful way to examine the history of Judaism by allowing the reader to follow a single topic as it undergoes change and constant refinement. I would recommend it to a wide audience: Jewish and Christian theologians and biblical scholars, historians of Judaism, and professors of the history of Judaism. -Tyler Mayfield,
Religious Studies Review Jewish Concepts of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction is a lucid, engaging, and creative project that promises to expalĂb
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