The Consuming Fire
The Complete Priestly Source, from Creation to the Promised Land
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- USD 13.99
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- USD 13.99
Descripción editorial
Uncovering an ancient foundation myth, and literary tour de force, obscured within the modern Bible.
Embedded within the Bible lies a largely unknown story of the founding of ancient Israel and its religion, interwoven with other ancient tales more than two thousand years ago in the process of creating the Torah. Generations of scholars have painstakingly worked to recreate the “Priestly Source,” also known as “P.” The complete text has not appeared until now on its own in either Hebrew or English.
Beginning with the creation of the world and ending at the edge of the promised land, the Priestly Source offers a distinctive account of the origins of the people of Israel and a unique perspective on their relationship with their god, Yahweh—one in stark contrast to what is found when we read the Bible now. With a translation by Liane Feldman, an authority on the text, The Consuming Fire reveals the mythical foundation for the practice of sacrifice in ancient Israelite and Jewish religion. By presenting this fascinating material on its own, The Consuming Fire offers an opportunity to expand our understanding of ancient traditions and to find something new and beautiful at the source.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Feldman (The Story of Sacrifice), a Judaic studies professor at NYU, presents the first full translation of the biblical priestly source in this seminal volume. The priestly source, or "P," is considered to be one of the four main sources of the Bible, and Feldman presents it as a "work of literature in its own right," having separated it from the other biblical strands by identifying its distinctive literary style and topical concerns, namely "ritual practices, sacrifices, and purity laws." The resulting account puts forth a perspective that sometimes directly contradicts other biblical textual strands. Aside from its description of sacrificial practices, for example, "P" emphasizes a mobile sanctuary tent for Yahweh that differs dramatically from the one in the Torah; the text also leaves out the Ten Commandments (on Mount Sinai, God instead delivers a set of instructions for the tent's construction). Feldman's thorough introduction and translator's note carefully elucidate her methodology and stylistic choices, such as using "idiomatic modern American English" rather than "Bible-ese." This standout addition to the World Literature in Translation collection is based in diligent scholarship and provides a readable, modern translation that will be accessible to a broad audience. Anyone interested in Jewish studies will be riveted.
