Chapter 14 The World That the Bible Produced Summary and Analysis

Friedman draws the history of the Bible and how its authors created something worth far more than the sum of its parts. The story of Abraham's near sacrifice of his son Isaac appears in Genesis 22, written by E. Somewhere around a hundred years later, author P writes the story of Abraham buying a cave in which to bury his wife Sarah after her death. This appears in Genesis 23 and was put there by R, the redactor. The impact of this placement gives the interpretation that Sarah had died of grief over her son's imminent sacrifice credence, even if E, P and R may have had no such intention. This can be observed in modern literature as well. Oftentimes modern authors write more into their stories than intended, thus taking...