The ladder of Jacob : ancient interpretations of the biblical story of Jacob and his children / James L. Kugel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kugel, James L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jacob (Biblical patriarch).

Jacob.

Bible. Genesis--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish.

Bible.

Bible. Genesis.

Physical Description:

xiii, 278 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2006]

Summary:

James Kugel is the expert in the history of biblical interpretation, and he offers a great introduction to and explanation of ancient exegesis of these parts of Genesis."--James VanderKam, University of Notre Dame

"A wonderful book. The chapters follow their subjects detail by detail with a kind of masterfully unpredictable logic, almost like a detective story."--David Stern, University of Pennsylvania

"James Kugel fuses immense learning with a poignant (yet wary) nostalgia for what he has called 'the God of old'. "The Ladder of Jacob" could be read side-by-side with Thomas Mann's Joseph tetralogy. Kugel, like Mann, belongs to authentic cultures now vanished or vanishing. Both novelist and scholar temper their ironies with wisdom and a sense of justice."--Harold Bloom, author of "Jesus and Yahweh" and "Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?

Contents:

Jacob and the Bible's ancient interpreters

The ladder of Jacob

The rape of Dinah, and Simeon and Levi's revenge

Reuben's sin with Bilhah

How Levi came to be a priest

Judah and the trial of Tamar

A prayer about Jacob and Israel from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [223]-262) and indexes.

ISBN:

0691121222

OCLC:

61151456

Publisher Number:

9780691121222

Online:

Publisher description