Book Review: THE GIFTS OF THE JEWS

The Gifts of the Jews is a pretty fascinating read. Amazon describes the book as "a light-handed, popular account of ancient Jewish culture, the culture of the Bible." The book is written from a modern point of view but would probably appeal to everyone from a somewhat traditional Jew to a Christian to an atheist (or even a humanist or two). Basically it is an academic analysis of the Torah written in an enjoyable format.

Cahill weaves anthropology and history into the stories of the Bible, which is why I think the book is so fascinating. But Cahill's underlying theme is how the Jewish worldview changed the humainty's view the world. Judaism and the Torah created a linear history as opposed to a cyclical history. Also, the Jewish vision of G-d is also much different than the role G-d played in ancient Middle Eastern culture.

Here are a couple of selections from the book that I have thought interesting thus far (I'm about half-way done):

1. Cahill makes some guesses as to who the Pharaohs in the Book of Exodus were and why one pharaoh was willing to hire Joseph as his vizier/dream interpreter and the pharaoh who followed this "good" pharaoh enslaved the Jews. I am sure that Cahill's guesses in this regard are not novel, but I had never given much thought as to who they might have been, so the guess was novel to me. I also thought it interesting that Cahill points out that none of the Pharaohs are given names, yet at many points in the Torah whole family histories of relatively unimportant characters are given. Cahill posits that this is the ultimate insult to Pharaoh. I've read this idea in other places: the idea that naming something connotes importance and value. I think the first time I read it was with regards to analysis of Genesis in a book my Mom gave me. But I got a good chuckle at Pharaoh's expense in Cahill's book when he pointed this out.
2. The other interesting thing that Cahill gets into is the meaning of the Hebrew letters connoting G-d's name which are often translated as YHWH. Apparently no matter how vowels are added to the four consonants, the word YHWH is most definitely a verb. He writes that Biblical anthropologists/historians have basically three educated guesses as to what these consonants once spelled. The first possibility is "I am who I am" or "I am He who causes things to be" from the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Torah. The second possibility is the same phrase, "I am who I am" but meanings "none of your business." The last possibility is "I will be--there with you" emphasizing G-d's continued presence in his creation.