The New Yorker ran a fascinating review of Jacob L. Wright’s Why The Bible Began? Since the Western Esoteric tradition is significantly influenced by Qabalah, which in turn in is deeply rooted in study of the Torah, this seems pertinent. The book’s basic tenet is that Hebrew Scripture is fairly unique for focusing on the defeats, failures and humiliation of the Hebrew people and taking all that as indicative of YHWH’s special favoring of this people. The book also looks at the rivalry and tension between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judea and how their different national experiences led to different perspectives that appear in the Hebrew Bible, making it full of contradiction and thematic conflict. Have a read:
