The Bible As It Was (review)

James L. Kugel
The Bible As It Was
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999
Pp. xvii + 680. $19.95, paper.

It has often been said that the history and thought of the Church can be presented as the history of the interpretation of the Bible. Granting the (at least partial) truth of that assertion, one might well conclude that Kugel's The Bible As It Was is an immensely valuable contribution to the field of Early Christian studies. This reviewer draws that conclusion. It is a remarkably rich and learned presentation of how early biblical interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, sought to explain and make sense of texts and themes from the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

The sources used are primarily the apocryphal and pseudepigraphical Jewish writings devoted to biblical interpretation (especially Sirach, Wisdom, Jubilees, Enoch, the Life of Adam and Eve), Josephus and Philo, the New Testament, the Targums, and some other early C.E. Jewish and Christian writings. The orga-nizing principle for the volume is the identification of motifs that arise in the interpretation of biblical texts: creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Melchizedek, Golden Calf, etc.

The author notes that the ancient interpreters agree on four assumptions regarding the biblical text, assumptions that help account for the way they interpret the Bible. They believe that the biblical text is mysterious, cryptic, that it is relevant to their own lives and times, that it is without mistake or moral blemish, and that it is divinely sanctioned or inspired.

Here is a brief sampling of how the motifs are treated. Genesis 1 presents many issues for ancient interpreters. Were heaven and earth really God's first creations, or did not Wisdom come first (Proverbs 8)? Were angels created on the first day, or the second, or the sixth? Who is present with God at the creation? Why did Adam not die after eating the forbidden fruit, or did he in fact die within the thousand-year day that is God's day?

Genesis 49.10 is one of the texts that Christians considered Messianic, with the name "Shiloh" thought to be a hidden reference to the coming Messiah. Kugel lays out texts from many sources showing that both Jewish and Christian exegetes also found the text Messianic.

The earthly tabernacle was built according to the pattern (Hebrew tabnith, Exodus 25.9) that Moses had seen on the sacred mountain. Later exegesis would follow the familiar use of analogy: the earthly tabernacle is a copy of the heavenly. Kugel quotes relevant texts for this view from a wide span of time. The book is a rich commentary on the Torah in the words of early interpreters, care-fully focused by the author, and ranging from Genesis 1:1 to Deuteronomy 34.

The book will help all readers to appreciate the exegetical importance of the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha, of the Targums, of Philo and Josephus, and of the New Testament. Some readers may say, "Never again will I simply jump from the Biblical text to my own private interpretation of it." What a gain that would be. Even though contemporary interpreters may not share some or any of the four assumptions of the ancient exegetes, and even if they find some of the ancient concerns quaint or perhaps trivial, surely today's readers will benefit from this carefully framed perspective on the biblical text. Any contemporary interpretation will be enormously enriched by a review of how some of our forebears read the text.

Scholars of the early Church might well consider a sequel to this volume, carrying the story forward and perhaps using biblical motifs as the organizing principle. Meanwhile, the author or other biblical scholars could profitably turn next to the Former and Latter Prophets and the Writings.

The book is well indexed, has an excellent bibliography and collection of "terms and sources" to help readers, and is also graced by apt and...