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BookReviews 145 All in all, the authors are to be congratulated on their carefully researched, well balanced, fair-minded interpretation. Louis H. Feldman Yeshiva University Studies in the Bible and Jewish Thought, by Moshe Greenberg. Philadelphia/Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society, 1995. 462 pp. $39.95. Studies in the Bible andJewish Thought appears in the Jewish Publication Society's "Scholar of Distinction Series," and Professor Greenberg certainly deserves the appellation. A native ofPhiladelphia, but a resident ofIsrael since 1970 where he teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Greenberg is the author ofmore than two hundred scholarly works, including numerous articles, encyclopedia entries, and well-received books such as Biblical Prose Prayer and Ezekiel 1-20 (in the Anchor Bible Series). The present book is a collection of25 of his essays and studies, written over a period of close to 45 years. The collected writings are divided into three sections: (l) Phenomenology ofBiblical Religion and Law; (2) The Biblical Text and Its Interpretation; and (3) The Bible in Jewish Thought. Thus, they cover the general range of Greenberg's work on the Bible-studies ofbiblical religion and investigations of the subsequent history of biblical interpretation and exegesis. Greenberg has a reputation for being conversant with several corpora of literature. It is not surprising, then, that while the first essay in the book concerns "Three Conceptions ofthe Torah in Hebrew Scriptures," the last addresses "Biblical Interpretation as Exhibited in the First Book ofMaimonides' Code." In between are studies in several different areas of biblical scholarship-from biblical law through biblical prophecy to biblical theology-together with studies of later materials such as rabbinic literature. While the essays do provide a representative overview of Greenberg's work, they were not chosen solely on that basis. Rather, as Greenberg himself explains, "consideration was shown to essays not readily available-such as those appearing in jubilee volumes [and] collective works" (p. xv). Th~, alongside some readily available pieces from such sources as the Journal ofBiblical Literature, the Journal ofthe American Oriental Society, and the Association for Jewish Studies Review, are some studies that would take longer to locate. In addition, two works are included which appear in published fonn for the first time: "Aspects ofBi~lxm in Hebrew Thought" and "Reflections on Apocalyptic." At the close of the book a bibliography of Greenberg's scholarly writing, including reviews, is appended. The presence ofthis bibliography, the unpublished papers, and the not readily available pieces make the book especially helpful and valuable. Since the papers provide a career retrospective, some of them are noticeably out of 146 SHOFAR Spring 1997 Vol. 15, No.3 date. Greenberg attempts to remedy this situation to some degree by adding notes to the end ofseveral pieces which refer to more recent studies. Some ofthese notes are fascinating in and of themselves, as they spell out what Greenberg considers some of the lasting achievements ofhis work. For instance, he adds to a 1956 article on the biblical text in the light of the then recent manuscript discoveries in the Judean desert a note that states, in part: "What remains ofvalue in the article is its presentation of 'pre-Qumran' sources, and its integration ofthe new textual data into the body of earlier knowledge. The article also sets out a classification ofthe data that can still serve as a primary orientation" (p. 208). While there are some essays that could be read with profit by a non-specialist, Greenberg has intentionally excluded from the book "educational and topical articles" (p. xv). Thus, the best audience is specialist readers, who can handle the book's various technical concepts and untranslated words and texts. Such readers will find the book a welcome one. David S. Williams Department ofReligion University of Georgia Early Israelite Wisdom, by Stuart Weeks. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1.994. 212 pp. $39.95. How can you know history? You can only imagine it. Anchored though you ~y be in fact and document, to write a history is to write a novel with checkpoints, for you must subject the real and absolute truth, too wide and varied for any but God to comprehend, to the idiosyncratic constraints ofyour own understanding. Mark Helprin, Memoirsfrom...

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