Description
Naturally influenced by the interpretive framework of each succeeding era, each depiction of Moses is different from the next. Gerhard von Rad’s classic contribution to this cycle of reinterpretation draws correlations between the historicity of the text and his own contemporary context. Passed on through oral tradition from generation to generation, the story has been enriched and built upon, benefitting from the discoveries, questions and perspectives of later eras. Yet, behind the lasting picture of the protagonist who surpasses the bounds of human capacity, the humility of Moses and constant of God is often lost. In this seminal exegetical work about the Moses traditions and the Old Testament, von Rad reminds us that it is God, rather than Moses, who is the principal actor of the text. Through the living God’s great acts of salvation, patience and judgement, His revelation is conveyed to the faithful through the mechanism of man.
K.C. Hanson’s welcome new edition of Moses provides the reader with a more polished text, cross-references to von Rad’s other works, an updated bibliography, Scripture index and a new foreword by Walter Brueggemann.
About the Author
Gerhard von Rad (1901-71) was Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg and was the premier Old Testament theologian of the twentieth century. Among his many publications are Old Testament Theology, 2 vols. (1962-65), Wisdom in Israel (1972), and Genesis (rev. ed. 1972).
K.C. Hanson has taught biblical studies at Episcopal Theological School and the School of Theology at Claremont, Creighton University, and St. Olaf College. He is author of numerous scholarly articles and two volumes in the Proclamation series.
Contents
Editor’s Note
Foreword by Walter Brueggemann
Introduction
1. Moses the Man
2. The Call of Moses
3. The First and Second Commandments
4. God’s Will as Made Manifest in Law
5. From Promise to Fulfillment
Bibliography
Further Reading
Scripture Index
Endorsements and Reviews
Moses is a readable and exciting book that easily appeals to scholars, students, and wider audiences interested in exploring the figure of Moses … I would recommend reading Moses as an enlightening text for Jews and Christians interested to discover the theological interpretation of Moses traditions in German biblical scholarship of the first half of the twentieth century.
Igal German, in Theological Book Review, Vol 24, No 2
A new and revised version of the original text, this little book by Gerhard von Rad will and should continue to hold and shape academic study about ancient Israel today and as such has a prominence to which few other scholars could aspire.
Benjamin Bury, in Reviews in Religion and Theology, Vol 20, No 3
