Biblical Themes

Towards the beginning of this year I began listening to Richard Elliott Friedman's 29 hour long lectures on the Hebrew Bible.  I'd never done anything like this regarding the Bible but ran across an intriguing reference to the Friedman lectures, decided to give it a try, and ended up, to my initial surprise, listening to all of them (which you can easily find by searching on his name on YouTube).  Since then, I've read two of Friedman's books, Who Wrote The Bible? and The Exodus: How It Happened and Why It Matters, thoroughly enjoying both.

Friedman taught for many years at University of California, San Diego and is currently Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia. 

The lectures address the historicity of the Bible using both text and archaeology.  Friedman, who reads nine languages, including Assyrian, Aramaic, Greek, and ancient Hebrew and is conversant in recent archaeological investigations in the Middle East provides an easily understandable guide.  After some general scene setting he proceeds chronologically through the narrative books of the Bible skipping, for instance, Psalms, Proverbs, and Job.  Along the way he addresses who authored the Bible, the relationship between Israel and other Middle Eastern cultures, and when and how the transition from paganism to monotheism occurred.  I very much like his informative and casusal style, often interspersed with "Dad" jokes (in fact he starts the first lecture with one), though by the end I'd heard some of them two or three times.  Who Wrote The Bible? provides a more in depth analysis of his lecture discussions, while The Exodus is his attempt to reconcile Biblical accounts with history and archeology about whether and how that pivotal event occurred.

I am not knowledgeable about biblical scholarship so can't evaluate his work in relation to other scholars but I like that when he explains how he reached his views he also acknowledges those who differ in their interpretations and is open about when his conclusions are not aligned with those of most other scholars.  

Here is the first of his lectures: