Matthias’s Reviews > The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary > Status Update

There's a soft- (sometimes hard-)antisemitic saw about contrasting the moral brutality of the Old Testament with the loving God of the New. I feel like this has a rational kernel, but the big gulf is between the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim. I also feel like I have a better sense now of my original question of how Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity both "turned out okay," but that's a blog post or more.

Shallow reading, but the curse section of Deuteronomy is so metal. Love it.

(Genuine!) props to Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism for ending up with some pretty good moral teachings in spite of this abhorrent text.

“No sorcerers pls! (Btw here’s a magic spell to see if your wife is cheating on you. Purchase from authorized priest only.)”

Genesis is often set up as a foil to Darwinism - and yet its least realistic feature is just how monomaniacally its characters pursue inclusive genetic fitness. Were people really like that, or think themselves to be? No, but the redactors, pretty blithe about duplication or continuity errors, must have been ruthless about excising anything not on-theme (that is, on patrilineal descent.)