'Let There Be Light': An explanation of the Book of Genesis - review

The book Let There Be Light – Genesis is a work that will appeal especially to readers who actively practice their Judaism, and also to any serious student of the Bible. The authors have set out to subject the Book of Genesis to intense scrutiny and analysis, using information not available to medieval scholars, in order, finally, to extract the simple meaning of what is written. Their aspiration is to enable an understanding of the text never previously possible.

The authors felt it important to explain their methodology. They have taken as their model the 12th-century biblical commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra, who produced an exegesis of the Book of Genesis based on the simple meaning of its text, grammar, and interpretation. They quote from Ibn Ezra’s introduction to his commentary:

“I shall seek thoroughly the grammar of each word according to the rules, and then I will explain my conclusions therefrom. Then I will explain each significant word of the text according to its plain reading.”

Ibn Ezra, the authors tell us, adopted the Peshat system of exegesis rather than the alternative Derash methodology favored by Rabbi Akiva. Peshat is concerned with elucidating the simple plain meaning of the text, while Derash places its emphasis on the impression aroused in the reader by the text – in other words “What does the text say” as opposed to “What does the text come to teach us?” The authors of Let There Be Light provide a commentary on the Book of Genesis based on the Peshat methodology.

A commentary on Genesis based on the Peshat

The one benefit available to the authors of this book, and not to Ibn Ezra, is the major advance in the study of Akkadian, the earliest Semitic language, starting in the 19th century with the vast archaeological discoveries in Mesopotamia. Comprehending Akkadian, Abraham’s mother tongue, sheds as much new light on the text of Genesis as did Aramaic in Talmudic times and Arabic in the Middle Ages. Akkadian, now extinct, was spoken and written for more than 2,500 years.

SCRIBES FINISH writing a Torah scroll. (credit: DAVID COHEN/FLASH 90)

Facility with Akkadian allows scholars to throw new light on the Hebrew text of Genesis. Among other benefits, it helps uncover, in the light of their Akkadian equivalents, previously obscure meanings for some Hebrew words and expressions and, when there are related expressions in Akkadian, grants a better understanding of Hebrew idiom and nuances.

While taking advantage of these benefits, the authors of Let There Be Light make no claim to be the final word on the understanding of the text of Genesis. Rather, they see themselves as pioneers and invite their readers to accompany them on their journey, attempting to seek a fuller understanding than hitherto available of what the words of the text actually mean.

Co-author Prof. Hayim ben Yosef Tawii has published, among other works, An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew. Richard Rinberg, a graduate of London University, while pursuing a wide-ranging business career, is a student of biblical literature.

The authors provide considerable help to their readers by including a 10-page explanatory glossary of the terms used throughout the exegesis; a number of chronological tables; a map of ancient Mesopotamia; and a table illustrating Judaism’s patriarchy from Terah (Abraham’s father) down to Jacob’s sons, the founders of the 12 tribes of Israel. Finally, a selected bibliography will lead the adventurous reader further into the fascinating areas of study opened up by this book.

Let There Be Light is a work that provides, for people keen to profit by it, new understanding of the first book of the Torah. Based on an in-depth knowledge of Akkadian and its interaction with ancient Hebrew, the authors provide a new, clearer understanding not only of what the text of the Book of Genesis actually means but also of what many of the words imply – nuances not previously revealed.

If any book deserves study, this, for the involved and interested reader, certainly does. ■