The Hidden Book in the Bible

by Richard Elliott Friedman

Renowned biblical sleuth and scholar Richard Elliot Friedman reveals the first work of prose literature in the world-a 3000-year-old epic hidden within the books of the Hebrew Bible. Written by a single, masterful author but obscured by ancient editors and lost for millennia, this brilliant epic of love, deception, war, and redemption is a compelling account of humankind's complex relationship with God. Friedman boldly restores this prose masterpiece-the very heart of the Bible-to the extraordinary form in which it was originally written.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History, Theology, Christian, Jewish, Christianity

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

RICHARD ELLIOTT FRIEDMAN is one of the premier bible scholars in the country. He earned his doctorate at Harvard and was a visiting fellow at Oxford and Cambridge, a Senior Fellow of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Jerusalem, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Haifa. He is the Ann & Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia and the Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization Emeritus of the University of California, San Diego.

He is the author of Commentary on the Torah, The Disappearance of God, The Hidden Book in the Bible, The Bible with Sources Revealed, The Bible Now, The Exile and Biblical Narrative, the bestselling Who Wrote the Bible?, and his newest book, The Exodus.

He was an American Council of Learned Societies Fellow and was elected to membership in The Biblical Colloquium. His books have been translated into Hebrew, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Polish, Hungarian, Dutch, Portuguese, Czech, Turkish, Korean, and French.

He was a consultant for the Dreamworks film "The Prince of Egypt," for Alice Hoffman's The Dovekeepers, and for NBC, A&E, PBS, and Nova.

Reviews

[John]

With appreciation from Dr. Friedman's scholastic honesty and sincerity, I am enjoying reading about an approach to Biblical studies that should otherwise enrage me as a believer. As I read, thought, my interest in the Bible as God's Word is strengthened not challenged. My faith has a tighter grasp of its hope in the message of Scripture and I continue to see it as more than good literature or merely the first history or prose.

Any talk of viewing the Bible stories or discrediting its miracles as myth or the fantastic story telling of semitic oral tradition is not the burden of this work. This is not an apology. Dr. Friedman advances his interest in rearranging the puzzle pieces as proposed by—a now debunk documentary hypothesis of— Julius Wellhausen. Friedman identifies a book within the Bible as the product of a single author which in no way discredits its inspiration or our faith that this work is the product of divine providence in getting it to us.

The Hidden Book in the Bible comprises 236 entries [Jehovistic] from 9 books from Genesis 2:4b to I Kings 2:46.

The work of 5 primary sources for the Torah is still maintained as likely: J,E,D,P and R—a redactor who put it all together, probably Esau. But the pieces to the Biblical puzzle were put in place by scribes, prophets and priest—see Friedman's work, Who Wrote the Bible —and these are the people who should have done it as Divine agents.

The traditions themselves, I still believe, still originate with Moses.

A captivating read.

[James Madsen]

An excellent follow-up to Friedman's earlier work Who Wrote the Bible, this book restores what Friedman considers to be the text of the core story from the Old Testament. I find such reconstructed texts (as in The Five Gospels, by the Jesus Seminar, or, in a fantasy setting, The Silmarillion) to be both exhilarating and problematic, but Friedman's excellent writing carries the day.

[Carson Stones]

This book has fundamentally reshaped my relationship with the Bible and now I can’t unsee it. Harold Bloom attempted a version of this with The Book of J that I found deeply unsatisfying, whereas, by going beyond the five books of the Torah and into 2 Kings, what Dr Friedman had achieved here is the remarkable epic legitimizing the reign of King David, written down by a member of his court centuries before Homer.
This is the true foundation upon which the Old Testament as we read and understand it today was built and helps explain so much about the multiple sources that were added later.

[David Holmer]

I have been brought up believing we have to "rightly divide" the Bible (II Tim 2:15) and I think Friedman got it right!

[Crystal Hunter]

Compelling scholarship and very readable text.

[David Peck]

Bible brought to new level

Having read all of Friedman’s books, he still manages to bring my understanding and love of the Bible to new levels

[Sue]

This book represents the consecutive writings of "J" as interpreted by Friedman. It's interesting and beautifully put together (after all, isn't this person a Bible writer, eloquent and poignant?), but at this time I'm more interested in reading the whole history of the times, including the documents found from neighboring states, to gain a greater understanding of how this faith I subscribe to took shape - its context, its culture, its times. This book will stay on my shelves and I'll pick it up from time to time to study.

[Jcurmudge]

Interesting concept based on linguistic research. The early books of the Bible contain what was just one major work from Adam to Solomon. The original author used only the 4 letter "word" for God throughout (YHWH) and never variations of "elohim". It certainly makes sense to me. In our time other writers would have been sued for plagiarism.

[Ahdom]

This was an incredible read. I have really enjoyed the works of Friedman in relation to The Bible. He has helped shape my understanding of the texts and the beauty in them. This book lays out the book of J in it's entirety and brings into light the first book of prose literature that we know of. This book is a thing of beauty!

[Kilian Metcalf]

Way over my head. This is a work for people who are very grounded in Torah and knowledgeable about Torah scholarship and research. I understood about one word in three. Not his fault, the lack is mine, but readers should know this is not for the average person.

[Sandra]

interesting book --worth paging through....