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How the Bible Became a Book: The Textualization of Ancient Israel
How the Bible Became a Book combines recent archaeological discoveries in the Middle East with insights culled from the history of writing to address how the Bible was written and evolved into sacred Scripture. Written for general readers as well as scholars, the book provides rich insight into how these texts came to possess the authority of Scripture and explores why Ancient Israel, an oral culture, began to write literature. It describes an emerging literate society in ancient Israel that challenges the assertion that literacy first arose in Greece during the fifth century BCE. Hb ISBN (2004) 0-521-82946-1
272 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2004
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203 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 13, 2012
This is a book that's probably going to be controversial for some folks - a couple of people in class had real problems with it. So many churches and pastors have never given any real thought to the process - nor the evidence - for how the bible came together, and so many of their most deeply held values that simply aren't supported by either the text nor tradition. The church needs to have a good long look at its views on inspiration, and this book is a good place to start.
He goes through a chronological telling of Israel's history, and connects different works in the OT to those time periods based on the information available to us from archeological and critical research. This is a great work if you want a framework for understanding the human element behind the OT, or even if you just want a survey from a 50,000-foot view of OT history.if nothing else, it'll give you a good start on decoding by what process you think we arrived at where we are with the OT Cannon as its presented to us today.
He goes through a chronological telling of Israel's history, and connects different works in the OT to those time periods based on the information available to us from archeological and critical research. This is a great work if you want a framework for understanding the human element behind the OT, or even if you just want a survey from a 50,000-foot view of OT history.if nothing else, it'll give you a good start on decoding by what process you think we arrived at where we are with the OT Cannon as its presented to us today.
October 13, 2022
One of those books that I should be bored reading, and yet found myself drawn into the history of the making of the bible, a process much earlier than most scholars would like to admit.
June 8, 2024
This was an absolutely fascinating read for me. Most books on the origins of the Bible focus on how the books of the Bible were chosen, selected, or recognized. But Schniedewind answers the question of how an almost entire oral tradition became a written tradition. When and how did the spoken work become the written word?
Schniedewind begins by addressing the illiteracy argument concerning the early Mesopotamian area dna context and how the Israelites were not readers, let alone writers. Writing was almost entirely governmental practice in ancient Israel. If you were royalty, you would certain have a scribe. Often the King himself would not even be able to read and would rely entirely upon the scribes for reading and writing any and all official governmental documents. One of the larger historical changes was how Israel transformed writing from a governmental practice to a priestly practice. We see this early on in ancient Israel, from Moses reading the stone tablets (which Schniedewind argues were instructions for building the tabernacle) to Moses writing the names of the leaders on their staffs to see which one blooms - ostensibly the leaders were able to verify that it was Aaron’s staff that bloomed by reading the names.
The transfer from governmental writing to priestly writing would often overlap. In fact, Schniedewind argues that writing (especially names) was a form of blessing and cursing - something that the priests and kings would do to their subjects. It is pointed out that whenever a census is performed, it is those that had their names written that were either subjected or reprieved from blessings and cursings. Of course, many will immediately think here of the Lamb’s book of life. There is certainly continuity from ancient Israel to 1st century Israel in how literature and writing was viewed.
The whole book was terrifically interesting and written well. I recognize that Schniedewind may be leaning too heavily into the wind of modern liberal textual criticism at times, but it is very easy to chew the meat and spit out the bones with this book. Glad to have read it.
Schniedewind begins by addressing the illiteracy argument concerning the early Mesopotamian area dna context and how the Israelites were not readers, let alone writers. Writing was almost entirely governmental practice in ancient Israel. If you were royalty, you would certain have a scribe. Often the King himself would not even be able to read and would rely entirely upon the scribes for reading and writing any and all official governmental documents. One of the larger historical changes was how Israel transformed writing from a governmental practice to a priestly practice. We see this early on in ancient Israel, from Moses reading the stone tablets (which Schniedewind argues were instructions for building the tabernacle) to Moses writing the names of the leaders on their staffs to see which one blooms - ostensibly the leaders were able to verify that it was Aaron’s staff that bloomed by reading the names.
The transfer from governmental writing to priestly writing would often overlap. In fact, Schniedewind argues that writing (especially names) was a form of blessing and cursing - something that the priests and kings would do to their subjects. It is pointed out that whenever a census is performed, it is those that had their names written that were either subjected or reprieved from blessings and cursings. Of course, many will immediately think here of the Lamb’s book of life. There is certainly continuity from ancient Israel to 1st century Israel in how literature and writing was viewed.
The whole book was terrifically interesting and written well. I recognize that Schniedewind may be leaning too heavily into the wind of modern liberal textual criticism at times, but it is very easy to chew the meat and spit out the bones with this book. Glad to have read it.
July 21, 2017
(Note: This would have received 5 stars but due to the erroneous error committed by choosing endnotes instead of footnotes it receives a 4-star review. Behold, my mercy is great. Endnotes would, if I could, result in negative 2,000 stars).
This book seeks to answer three key questions about the formation of the Bible as a written text (i.e. Book). Who wrote the Bible? When was it written? How was it written?
Overall the book argues that much of the biblical material was written during the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah. Some of it was written during the Persian period (Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Daniel). This is largely due in part to the lack of literary activity in Palestine during other periods is in Israel's history (especially during the Persian period, which is when many scholars think most of the Old Testament was written). There were several reasons why he argues for this. But you will have to read the work to get those. In this review I do not plan to address the "who" and "how" questions.
Schniedewind is an excellent model for aspiring non-fiction writers. He tells you what he is going to argue, argues it, and then summarizes his argument. All the while, he does not make you feel like you are reading the same thing over and over. In other words, he is a good writer and makes the subject matter enjoyable.
This book seeks to answer three key questions about the formation of the Bible as a written text (i.e. Book). Who wrote the Bible? When was it written? How was it written?
Overall the book argues that much of the biblical material was written during the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah. Some of it was written during the Persian period (Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Daniel). This is largely due in part to the lack of literary activity in Palestine during other periods is in Israel's history (especially during the Persian period, which is when many scholars think most of the Old Testament was written). There were several reasons why he argues for this. But you will have to read the work to get those. In this review I do not plan to address the "who" and "how" questions.
Schniedewind is an excellent model for aspiring non-fiction writers. He tells you what he is going to argue, argues it, and then summarizes his argument. All the while, he does not make you feel like you are reading the same thing over and over. In other words, he is a good writer and makes the subject matter enjoyable.
January 1, 2018
I enjoyed this exploration of the relationship between orality and textuality as it applied to ancient Israelite society. It is definitely on the conservative side (but not the ultra-conservative, fundamentalist side) when it comes to dating the biblical texts (he rejects, for example, the thesis of Persian and Hellenistic age composition for most of the books, based on arguments I found pretty convincing). The author makes the important point that early writing was always closely connected to royal administration and urbanization, and thus we should understand the development of the biblical text in this way. Even with the boosts during the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah, when he thinks most of the biblical texts were actually written down, it still took many more centuries for the written Torah to trump oral torah as the most authoritative--interestingly, the adoption of the written Torah as authoritative meant the end of the kind of orally-based authority wielded by the prophets, which lies at the heart of the biblical text.
November 1, 2021
Autor próbuje wskazać na zjawiska społeczne, które wpływały na kulturę literacką; i na podstawie oceny kultury literackiej "datować" fragmenty Biblii (czego efekt jest nieco bardziej konserwatywny niż obecny mainstream).
Samo podejście jest interesujące, a odmalowanie znaczenia literatury i skrybów na starożytnym Bliskim Wschodzie ciekawe. Problem nastręczają wnioski -- to nowe podejście do datowania opiera się na wielu niepewnych domysłach i założeniach (np. że kultura literacka stolicy, zależy od zaludnienia prowincji). W efekcie trudno mówić o datowaniu jakoś lepszym, niż pochodzące od innych badaczy.
Samo podejście jest interesujące, a odmalowanie znaczenia literatury i skrybów na starożytnym Bliskim Wschodzie ciekawe. Problem nastręczają wnioski -- to nowe podejście do datowania opiera się na wielu niepewnych domysłach i założeniach (np. że kultura literacka stolicy, zależy od zaludnienia prowincji). W efekcie trudno mówić o datowaniu jakoś lepszym, niż pochodzące od innych badaczy.
July 7, 2025
Schiedewind addresses an important but uncomfortable topic: much of the written Bible we use today was passed down orally (verbally) or in fractured sections of writing over many millennia. It's a tough subject to wrestle with in a church culture where the Text is the standard for defining orthodoxy. The writing was as concise as it could be, and as engaging as a history book can be. Each place he took a deep dive into a period of history seemed necessary and intentional. I especially enjoyed learning about the ebb and flow of literacy in the Middle East, and how that affected the Jewish and Christian religions.
March 14, 2025
Another VERY academic book by this author, whose knowledge and comprehension is probably below none when it comes to his area of expertise and writing. However, the title of the book is never really answered, probably because it cannot be. The author goes on at length of different time periods and presents what material there is very well, and probably too detailed for most. Nonetheless, the question simply cannot be answered. Read if you are interested in the subject and want to dive into the minutia of writing from the eighth to first century BCE.
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November 16, 2020Read this for a course on Classical Hebrew and found it fascinating! Schniedewind brings new historical light to many dense scholarly debates. A challenging look at orality/textuality, authorship, and the sociopolitical forces which motivated the Bible's development.
October 12, 2024
Excellent
October 23, 2025
Oh man. Source criticism supports Catholic doctrine.
May 8, 2015
Solid popular-level introduction to the composition history of the Hebrew Bible. Schniedewind takes a somewhat unique approach to the problem, choosing to look at the differences between oral, semi-literate, and literate societies (e.g. based on Ong's book); he then proceeds through an overview of textual-linguistic, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence to contend for his narrative of composition history. The narrative is told in a highly readable fashion - the endnotes are extensive, but the technical debates are kept out of the main body of the text. Still, this isn't at all dumbed down; most of his views are perfectly respectable for the field. When they are not (e.g. his disputation of Persian-era composition for a lot of Biblical literature), he notes as much and provides an engaged argument rather than just waving his hand at scholarship. His weakest section, in terms of the argument itself, is surrounding Hezekiah and his kingship as a loci of literary production - the argument depends on a presumed irrelevancy of the survivors from the Northern kingdom as time goes by, but the North continued to have import all the way through the Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic eras. His best argument stems from his problematizing of the composition of Biblical literature in Judea during the Persian era, given the poverty of the region.
March 27, 2013
This book was recomended to me by a friend, so I gave it a shot.
Schniedewind does a good job keeping the reader interested in the subject. There is a ton of information and cool history, as well as explinations of how the bible was created...though the author is arguing that the current understanding of the bible's heritage is false.
I wished that I knew more about the old testement, I think that would have REALLY helped my understanding, as Schniedewind is obviously and academic writing for other acedemics. Even so, I enjoyed this read.
Schniedewind does a good job keeping the reader interested in the subject. There is a ton of information and cool history, as well as explinations of how the bible was created...though the author is arguing that the current understanding of the bible's heritage is false.
I wished that I knew more about the old testement, I think that would have REALLY helped my understanding, as Schniedewind is obviously and academic writing for other acedemics. Even so, I enjoyed this read.
February 6, 2016
I was told this was one of the better books regarding the formation of the Hebrew bible. After reading it, I would have to say it may be the best book around regarding how the Hebrew bible came to be in its current form. I found this book to be absolutely fascinating. I would even recommend this book more highly than Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible.
February 28, 2012
Fascinating and full account of the development of literacy and literature in biblical times. I will come back to it again and again as a reference book.
December 17, 2012
Great book, very instructive
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews