Dean Anderson

Well, I've devoured The Jesus Puzzle and Who Wrote The Bible? and I want more.

Can anyone recomment similarly well researched introductions to the authorship of the other OT books.

I am particularly interested in Job, Proverbs and Psalms. I have heard mention that Job is the oldest book in the Bible, and I have heard mention that Proverbs bears a startling similarity to some Egyptian writings called 'The Wisom of Ra'.

Where can I find out more about the scholarly consensus (if there is one) on these books - preferably in a form relatively friendly to a layman like myself.

Yeah - I know - I want the moon on a stick, too...

judge

Here is a link which compares portions of proverbs with the "instructions of Amenhotep"
http://www.specialtyinterests.net/proverbs.html

LP675

Just been reading an amazing scholarly work that I would heartily recommend on Genesis, “The Genesis record�?, by H. Morris. I think it should definitely be put on the recommended reading list…


[edit- oops, that was a little flippant. Bracing for impact…]

Celsus

Have you tried the Recommended Reading List here? Boadt for the traditional view, McKenzie and Graham for a more radical view.
Job can hardly be called the oldest book of the Bible. In fact, no one agrees on the dates. Proverbs clearly is an amalgam of different wisdom sayings, and together with Psalms are extremely late (3rd century at the earliest, more likely in the 2nd and 1st). Thus any similarities with old books is mostly coincidence (and the similarities are hardly conclusive) or representative of scribal school traditions.
Try Boadt in the Recommended Reading, that's the mainstream, conservative view. Unfortunately, beyond simple books like that and Friedman, it gets very technical, very fast, and this topic isn't for everyone (I've mostly given up because I need to teach myself Hebrew to progress any further).

Joel

DrJim

AThere is another intro to the Heb. Bible with a useful website (the book itself is expensive). By Bandstra, "Reading the Old Testament" http://www.hope.edu/academic/religio.../RTOT/RTOT.HTM

It may suffice till you make your way to a bookstore.

JRL

MiddleMan

You're not referring to "Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings" by Henry Morris from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) are you??

Mageth

I'm afraid he is. Some rather funny reviews of the book (for different reasons):

http://www.christianlibrary.org.au/c...s/book003.html

http://www.book-info.com/asin/080106...5THlh5FPfhfvJn

I like that one the best...

http://www.icr.org/Merchant2/merchan...ategory_Code=1

Umm, OK.

aikido7

I always thought PROVERBS contained "conventional wisdom"--and that may account for the similarities between the Hebrew and Egyptian texts. Perhaps there was no "copying" as such; they both drank from the same well. I do admit, however, that the particular translations in the link show a similarity. Whether that similarity is forced or literally translated as close as the original(s) is/are is a question I would pose....

Amlodhi

Please excuse the off-topic digression, but thank you Hobbit Fancier. It always lifts my spirits when people make spontaneous references to wonderful literature.

Namaste'

Artful Dodg . . er, I mean,

Amlodhi

Dean Anderson

Thanks. I had looked at the reading list but it gives lots of books and for someone like me (an amateur with no real budget to spend on textbooks) not enough details to distinguish which are the best ones to look for - so I was hoping that someone could recommend one or two.