Who “Actually” Wrote The Bible: A Book Review

With Richard Elliott Friedman’s Who Wrote The Bible?, we explore the Hebrew Bible’s authorship. With Professor Jacob Wright’s Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and Its Origins, we explore the goals and ambitions of the people[scribes]working behind the scenes to craft the Hebrew Bible.

With William M. Schniederwind’s Who Really Wrote the Bible, The Story of the Scribes, we get to explore the scribal communities referenced by the likes of Professor Wright. These groups are the largely unknown individuals contributed to the Hebrew Bible’s authorship, editing, and formation.

The author, Mr. William M. Schniedewind, is the Kershaw Chair of Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies and is a Professor of Biblical Studies and Northwest Semitic Languages at the University of California at Los Angeles. Prior to this text, he has authored a book another book on the topic The Finger of the Scribe: How Scribes Learned to Write the Bible.

The Scribe

Being a scribe in ancient times was something beyond physically placing words onto the parchment or papyrus. The scribe, in those times, also contributed to the scripture’s content and meaning. For instance, not only did they write down words, they also crafted documents. For instance, scribes generated mercantile documents as well.

ironically, our modern conception of scribes- talented calligraphers- may have contributed to the Hebrew Bible text’s finalization.

The Review

Who Really Wrote The Bible can be broken down into three sections. The first section addresses ancient middle eastern scribal culture. The information covers the material similar to that of Karel Van der Toorn’s Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible.

The book’s second part is rich with details of the various scribal communities who contributed to the development of scripture. A large part of the material deals with the times of the divided monarchy and the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria. In essence, the turbulence of the times. which created displacement and migration. caused scribal communities to meet.

Scribes from the Northern Kingdom fled to Judah after Israel fell. As such, the text talks of both the impact of the Israelian scribal community had upon the Judean scribal community. Further, the Judean scribal community, as the text describes, was not one uniform community. The book details the impact of the rural Judean scribal communities upon the Jerusalem scribal community.

This part of the text has a lecture-like quality to it. The illustrations contained supplement the reading experience. There are many illustrated depictions of various archeological finds of scribal works. The pictures bring an understanding as to the scribal product. Readers have the opportunity to take in the handiwork of these mostly unknown individuals.

The text then builds upon how scribes impacted scripture. There is an amazing discussion of the Books of Jeremiah. Yes, Books. The text analyzes the various versions of the book dedicated to the Prophet. The discussion demonstrates the role that scribes had in editing the texts. These edits clearly impacted the texts’ content.

Another fantastic section of the book is his discussion of Samaria’s involvement with the Pentateuch’s development. This content illustrates how disparate scribal communities connected in the codifying of scripture. Likewise, it illustrates how some texts differ.

The book addresses the realities surrounding Ezra and Nehemiah. The text assesses as to what the post-exilic scribal community would have amounted to in a Jerusalem. This assessment was based upon the fact that the city had had fallen onto hard times. This as well is an excellent read as it looks hard into the question of what scribal culture was present during this period of time.

The text’s conclusion section is beyond a summary of the book. Beyond archeology, it opens up the conversation to the realities that shaped scripture. This involved Judaism’s transformation to a synagogue-based culture. The synagogue culture created a commercial value in the production of scriptural scrolls. Synagogues needed the scrolls for readings and scribes who practiced mere calligraphy were needed. With this demand, one can extrapolate that the need to reproduce created a need for a master text. Thus, the need for accurate copies of scrolls impliedly necessitated a codified uniform text.

Conclusion

In essence, Who Really Wrote the Bible advances our understanding of the machinations involved in the Hebrew Bible’s development from the scribal community standpoint. As many Hebrew Bible Academics often reference to scribes on a surface level, this book allows us to appreciate how scribes impacted scripture. Further, and more importantly, this book expands upon the notions of a variety of scribal communities participating as opposed to simply two communities. (Refugees from the Northern Kingdom and those in the Judean capital of Jerusalem.)

For those interested in the Hebrew Bible scribes, I strongly recommend the book. For those short on time, the Conclusion section is must-read! The Conclusion section, overall, is a great reference source for many of the ideas and concepts that can explain how the scribal community not only contributed to the texts but perhaps contributed to the need for its finalization. The Book, in a good way, raises as many questions as it answers. The questions it raises will be discussed in another post.

Be well!!

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