Steven Weitzman, "The Origin of the Jews"

동네 도서관 라운지 서가의 책, Steven Weitzman, "The Origin of

the Jews:The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age" (2017) 에서

"Introduction"을 읽었다. 20페이지쯤의 잘 쓰여진 한 편의 에세이다.

책 내용은 여러 각도의 여러 학설을 상세히 다룬 것으로 보이는데 더

읽을 생각은 없다. 저자는 펜실바니아 대학의 Hebrew and Semitic

Languages and Literature 교수다. 아래는 'Introduction'에서의

인용이다.

"The story told of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis, most biblical scholars would agree, is an attempt by much later authors to explain the origin of their people: they might preserve certain kernels of genuine experience, but for the most part, many scholars believe, they do not reflect historical reality, having been composed in much later period and projecting on to the past the experiences and perspectives of much later authors. Similar considerations have led scholars to conclude that the Exodus probably did not happen, or at least not in the way the Torah describes, and they have their doubts as well about the Israelite conquest of the land of Canaan, the existence of a kingdom ruled by David and Solomon, and other events and people mentioned in the biblical account especially in the formative period of Israel's history."

"More than two centuries of research have not yielded certain conclusions or even stable consensus."