Genesis (review)

Hebrew Studies 33 (1992) 153 Reviews This slim volume is must reading for students of Hebrew literature. It is a tribute to the uncommon skills of the author whose passing at a relatively young age has left a void not soon to be filled. Leon J. Weinberger University ofAlabama Tuscaloosa. AL 35486 GENESIS. By Nahum M. Sarna. The JPS Torah Commentary: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation. Pp. xxiv + 414. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989. Cloth. In the preface to his commentary, Sarna remarks, "It is hoped that the intelligent, educated layman, for whom this work is primarily intended, will find the result of the endeavor infonnative, enlightening, and edifying " (p. xviii). He has succeeded. This commentary brings the whole of the book of Genesis to life, not only because it provides well-researched historical, linguistic, extra-biblical, and inner-biblical infonnation, but also because Sarna's own narrative, theological, and personal insights are often brilliant. Sarna's concern for placing the narratives in the context of the ancient Near East is seen in his usage of linguistic, literary, and contextual data. For example, he compares some of the literary conventions of the Enuma Elish and of the AtralJasis story with their counterparts in Genesis. Joseph's rise to power is placed in the context of the days of Akhnaton (1370-1353) and Merneptah (1224-1214). Sarna is concerned with Hebrew words in their entire biblical context. In discussing m" for example, he includes its usage in the account of the Aood, in the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, and as an indicator of God's presence. The literary features of the narrator are also considered. For example, Sarna examines lists of epithets wherein the last word in the series is the most telling, such as "your land, your homeland , your father's house" in Genesis 12 and "your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love " in Genesis 22. Similarly, careful attention to the narrator's language can be seen in Sarna's description of reference to Joseph as "the man" and his brothers as "the men" to underscore their anonymity before Joseph's revelation of his identity. Hebrew Studies 33 (1992) 154 Reviews Sarna's distinctive reflections are most apparent when he gives his theological and personal insights as well as when he challenges conventional wisdom. In his commentary on the creation story he remarks, "It is a fundamental biblical teaching that the original, divinely ordained order in the physical world has its counterpart in the divinely ordained universal moral order to which the human race is subject" (p. 6). Sarna often shows his independence from many of the commonly held conclusions of modem biblical scholarship. The use of distinctive divine names, for example, is not evidence of various sources, but has a theological purpose. Thus, C'ilC,R connotes "universalism and abstraction" and is "most appropriate for the transcendent God of Creation" (p. 5). Similarly, Abimelech uses C'il'7__ because he does not share Abraham's faith. Genesis 22 is not a polemic against human sacrifice, but is concerned solely with Abraham's unquestionable worthiness to be the recipient of God's promise. As is expected in a commentary, Sarna pays careful attention to each verse. It is his concern for underlying themes, however, that gives the commentary a coherence that is engaging. Sarna states his understanding of key themes in his concise introduction: God is the singularly unchallenged "sovereign of the world" and "Lord of history" (p. xiv). All of humanity, and especially Israel, participate in God's designs. Sarna's own recurring considerations are the antiquity of the traditions and the importance of viewing the narrative as a whole. Although a layperson might not be attuned to the polemical nature of some of his interpretations, the scholar will note that Sarna is in dispute with interpreters who would see his insistence on the authenticity of the ancestral narratives as historicist. He argues that the unique attestations of the God of the father; the inclusion of cultic objects that are later forbidden; some family, marriage, and legal customs of the ancestors; angelology; the depiction of various foreigners; and the use of...