[First posted in 2014. One of our favorite categories which, it appears, is also a favorite of web visitors is MUST READ. It introduces us to books and authors we would otherwise miss, might never have heard of, not even know about, much less buy for our personal library and least of all, bother to read. If hard copies are not available in local bookstores, we don’t discover such treasure finds because bookstores don’t carry everything there is to read. And so, thank you, amazon.com for opening up on the internet and making available the ebooks we have discovered for sharing with our web-visitors. Convenient though it is to upload hundreds of books in a digital reader, our copy is a hard copy, lucky us, who still enjoy the feel and read of a real, instead of an ebook!–Admin1]
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An excellent read: SINAI & ZION: An Entry into the Jewish Bible by Jon D. Levenson.
Here are featured sequels from this book:
- SINAI AND ZION 2 – The Sinaitic Experience and Traditions About It
- MUST READ: Sinai and Zion 3 – YHWH’S Home in No Man’s Land
- SINAI and ZION 4 – SINAI and the Covenant Formulary
As we do with all books we recommend, we provide the CONTENTS, then REVIEW by critics/customers, and excerpted chapters, and usually the Prologue and the Conclusion. There is much to learn from book reviewers themselves, particularly when they are obviously knowledgeable on the subject themselves.
By featuring MUST READ, our intent s to encourage all to get a copy of the book, and if not, at least learn as much from what we feature here.
So, first the CONTENTS:
PART I: SINAI, THE MOUNTAIN OF THE COVENANT
1. The Sinaitic Experience of the Traditions about it?
2. YHWH’s Home in No Man’s Land
3. Sinai and the Covenant Formulary
4. The Theology of the Historical Prologue
5. Mitsvot as the End of History
6. Are Laws the Same as Commandments?
7. Ethics and Ritual in the Light of Covenant Theology
8. One God or One Lord?
9. The Kingship of God and the Kingship of Man
10. The Wedding of God and Israel
11. The Ever-Renewed Covenant
PART 2: ZION, THE MOUNTAIN OF THE TEMPLE
1. The Early History of Zion in Prose Traditions
2. The House of YHWH and the House of David
3. The Vitality of Myth in Biblical Israel
4. Zion as the Cosmic Mountain
5. The Temple as Sacred Space
6. Sacred Space and Sacred Time
7. The Meaning of the Cosmic Mountain in Israel
8. Yearning for the Temple
9. The Survival of the Temple in Judaism
PART 3: THE MANIFOLD RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SINAI AND ZION
1. Zion as the Heir to Sinai
2. Sinai and Zion, North and South
3. Covenant Renewal on the Cosmic Mountain
4. Moses and David
And if that didn’t whet your appetite, here are selected book reviews; some are condensed.
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After a section for each of the traditions of Sinai and Zion, Levenson puts the two together – he sees Zion being heir to the Sinai tradition, which assumed many Sinaitic traits, but did not leave either tradition intact. There was also a geographic division over the dominance of the two traditions, which is not a simple north/south divide, but also a theological tension, interwoven as theology was back then with politics as well.This is a fascinating book, one that brings forward many ideas new to most readers and students (of all sorts) of the bible, from a perspective not often heard, particularly in Christian circles.
For Levenson, the importance of the Sinaitic covenant is inescapably linked with its similarities to suzerain-vassal treaties of the Ancient Near East. For this conclusion, he relies heavily upon the work of George Mendenhall and others pertaining to Hittite treaties. Levenson argues, “The correlation … cannot be coincidental. Israel has become the vassal of YHWH; YHWH has become the suzerain of Israel” (35). This relationship gives meaning to the entirety of the Mosaic covenant while employing a framework which is essential to Jewish theology. Levenson argues that Sinai sets the stage for how Israel views itself, its relationship with YHWH, its relationship with outsiders, even its relationship with other Gods. In sum, Sinai is to be understood as the mountain of identification and definition.
As Judaism develops, we find that the traditions surrounding Mount Zion slowly overshadow Mount Sinai. This transition is less about replacement and more about continuation according to Part II of Levenson’s book. Wherein “Sinai was the mountain of Israel’s infancy” (89), Zion becomes the symbol of Israel’s maturity as a nation. The Sinaitic experience was rooted it the Mosaic Covenant and an understanding of suzerain-vassal treaties, but, Levenson contends, the Davidic covenant, which is central to the Zion experience is a covenant of grant carrying kingship implications. This distinction in covenant types alters the understanding of the interaction between YHWH and humanity; YHWH is bound while Israel receives.
According to the author, Zion differs from Sinai as it is clearly portrayed as a “cosmic mountain” (111). This distinction places Zion and the temple as a touching point for the divine and humanity. In essence, “Jerusalem is simply the earthly manifestation of the heavenly Temple” (140) that is connected with creation and perfection as it stands timelessly in the center of the world as a place of divine importance. Levenson utilizes exegesis of eight separate passages to illustrate the multi-faced purpose of Zion in connecting YHWH with Israel. The author summarizes the distinction between Sinai and Zion by noting that Sinai provides the possibility of meaningful history while Zion allowed meaning above history (141-2).
In his concluding segment, Levenson describes the relationship between Sinai and Zion as one of complex succession. He argues this succession was not primarily chronological with Zion replacing Sinai in importance, nor was it geographical with the North affirming Sinai while the South affirmed Zion. Rather, the theological underpinnings of these two traditions are complementary as each emphasizes a different aspect of Israel’s relationship with YHWH. When described relationally, Zion “inherited the legacy of Sinai” (206) and in many ways continued the “Sinaitic experience on a new mountain” (206). For Levenson, Sinai establishes the people of God and their relationship with God, while Zion serves as a microcosmic touching point between humanity and divinity.
As with any concise treatment of theology, Jewish or otherwise, Levenson’s work offers readers numerous strengths along with a few shortcomings. The most notable strength this work provides is the very approach that the author employs in engaging Jewish scripture. Levenson is able to offer his readers a fresh take on Jewish theology by addressing the task from a strictly Jewish perspective.
Moreover, the author is also able to question historical Jewish approaches to the scripture when the traditional conclusions miss the larger picture. The organization of the text was logical and easy to follow as the author utilizes summary and textual division in a helpful manner. From a scholastic standpoint, Levenson successfully and skillfully employs myriad approaches as he combines historical, literary, exegetical, and philosophical understandings of Jewish theology. Finally, Levenson does a masterful job of portraying the role Sinai and Zion play in understanding YHWH and Israel and their interaction in history.
Numerous weaknesses are also apparent in reading Sinai & Zion. The most glaring is Levenson’s inability to cast a picture of Jewish scripture and theology as a whole as his subtitle suggests is his intention. While his work provides an excellent account of Sinai and Zion in Jewish literature and does a fantastic job of illustrating the relationship between the two, he nonetheless fails to connect these two essential concepts to a coherent idea of the Jewish Bible. Perhaps this is more a fault of titling than of content. In this same vein, the author’s conclusion lacks coherence and introduces more frivolous tangents than helpful summations.
With these critiques in mind, noting that most address the author’s layout and aim rather than accuracy of content, there are several important ideas the author introduces that interact well with the whole of Old Testament scholarship. First, Levenson’s treatment of the importance of covenant is admirable, especially as he places it in its Ancient Near East context of suzerain-vassal treaties and covenants of grant. This socio-historical interaction provides essential insights even if the reader disagrees with the implications he draws. Second, the author recognizes the overall action of YHWH in history as he connects the perfection of Eden with the place of Zion. This, coupled with his overall approach, provides an understanding of the people of God as they encounter the presence of God and seek the place of God.
In conclusion, Levenson’s work in Sinai & Zion provides a fresh perspective on the two essential ideological locations and covenants in Jewish scripture. He weaves together an excellent account of the Jewish understanding of the two Mountains of God and the relationship that exists between them. His multi-faceted approach offers depth and insight despite the fact the book fails to paint a clear picture of Jewish scripture as a whole. In the end, its contribution is noteworthy especially in its offering of a decidedly Jewish approach to Israelite culture and Jewish scripture.
Richard J. Grebenc “rgrebenc” (Cleveland, OH USA) – See all my reviews(REAL NAME)
Also, the third part of the book came as somewhat of a surprise. Maybe this was intended, but little indication was given earlier in the text that the author saw much connection between Sinai and Zion, especially as ends up ranking the covenant with Moses at a higher order. It would have been more helpful to see a smoother flow from the Mosaic to the Davidic earlier, so that comparisons and contrasts would be more apparent in the later discussion.
A last point of contention. Levenson seems to hold that Christians in general don’t find their Old Testament to be of much value. While it is true that there have been, and still are, some Christians who have de-emphasized or even sought to discard the Old Testament (esp. Marcion in the second century who saw an evil God in it), this is certainly not the general contemporary view. Maybe Levenson would now have a different analysis, these twenty-plus years later, as more inroads have been made in inter-religious dialogue. But all he needs to do is look at the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis on such discussions, and maybe more importantly the encyclical on divine revelation (Dei Verbum) which devotes a chapter to the Old Testament, stating that “these books, written under divine inspiration, remain permanently valuable” (no, 14). In addition, the Old Testament sheds light on and explains the New Testament (no. 16). (An additional note: Catholic eyebrows may be raised by a footnote toward the end of the book that reflects the view of some Protestants equating Roman Catholicism with a “deviant” Judah.)
Nevertheless, Sinai and Zion, is a valuable addition to biblical theology, enlightening serious readers of any religious persuasion (or none). The influence of this book has already been seen in subsequent literature which has used it and built upon it.
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[Note to Readers: this review may seem top-heavy with bibliographic material. Given the number of informative reviews of this book, I’ve chosen to focus on its relation to the author’s other books, and on the adaptation to Kindle of several of them. I hope that it will be useful.]I was delighted to see that Jon D. Levenson’s “Sinai & Zion: An Entrance Into the Jewish Bible” (Harper & Row, 1985; corrected paperback, 1987; HarperOne digital edition, May 2013) was available in Kindle format (and Kobo and Nook as well), alongside “Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence” (Harper & Row, 1987; corrected, with a new Preface, Princeton University Press, paperback, 1994; HarperCollins EPub edition, October 2013) and “Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life” (Yale University Press, 2006).I was particularly pleased about the first two, because I no longer have my paperback copies, and wanted to replace them — and at a price closer to what I originally paid than the current list-prices for them.Still awaiting digital publication are, among others by Levenson: “The Hebrew Bible, The Old Testament, and Historical Criticism: Jews and Christians in Biblical Studies” (Westminster / John Knox Press, 1993) and “The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity” (Yale University Press, 1993).
The most recent of his books — and this is not a complete list of the others — is “Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” (Library of Jewish Ideas, 2012), which I have yet to read. It does have a Kindle edition.
The Kindle edition of “Sinai and Zion” is mostly well-executed, until one reaches the Scriptural and General indexes. They have been re-labelled as Lists of Searchable Terms: that is, the old page references are shown, but are not hyperlinked to their locations in the digital text. Instead, one is advised to use the list in conjunction with the Kindle search engine. The same is true of “Creation and the Persistence of Evil,” although there the indexes are not re-labelled, and “Resurrection and the Restoration…,” where even the advice to use the search engine is lacking.
I can understand HarperCollins, a commercial publisher, cutting corners a bit in preparing its own non-fiction for digital release; I am a bit more perturbed by Yale University Press doing the same thing, without even apologizing to the reader.
As will have been noticed from some of the titles, Levenson is interested in, among other things, comparative studies and the history of criticism.
“Sinai & Zion” and “Creation and the Persistence of Evil” include both, with observations on Christian theology and Christian-based historical criticism, and reflections on the general Jewish lack of interest in constructing theologies of the Hebrew Bible. Their main concern, however, is comparing inner-Biblical material; overlap in the central concepts makes the books a kind of thematic duology.
As the title indicates, “Sinai and Zion” is structured around the poles of Mt. Sinai (Revelation, Covenant, and People) and Mt. Zion (Temple, Promise, and King), which it has been fashionable to contrast in various ways.
One extreme is Paul’s distinction between the Law (represented by Sinai) and Grace (represented by God’s promises to King David), with the latter preferred. Sometimes the reading has been political, in which case Zion is held to represent Royalist innovations in Judah, while the Northern Kingdom of Israel adhered more faithfully to the “populist” Sinai Covenant.
It will be noted that such comparisons assume that one pole is good, the other less so, if not seen as simply bad.
Levenson begins with this distinction between the associations of the two mountains, but demonstrates, with well-chosen selections from the Psalms and some of the Prophets, that Zion imagery does not displace or usurp the symbolism of Sinai so much as it absorbs and extends it.
He also shows, from somewhat different perspectives in the two books, that both Zion and Sinai share “historicized” mythological themes, such as the victory of God over the forces of cosmic chaos, represented by the Sea, and human enemies (Egyptian, Assyrian, or other); and that Sinai and Zion share associations with the central Sanctuary (Tabernacle or Temple) of Israel. The working out of these similarities — and of the real distinctions between the two mountains — is the major theme of “Sinai and Zion.”
———————————————This is an excellent book that should be read by all Christians. Too often, we caricature Jewish belief and read the Old Testament (Jewish Bible) only as a justification for Jesus as the Messiah. “Sinai and Zion” allows us to see the Old Testament through Jewish eyes, and to better appreciate its richness.”Sinai and Zion” is easy to read but to grasp it fully, one must read slowly with either a No. 2 pencil or a fresh stack of post-it notes. Levenson presents very profound ideas derived from numerous scriptural citations. Although the discussion is focused on the two traditions (Sinai and Zion), his comments often have broader applications.I found that the book is not organized in a way that I could easily go back and sift out particular gems (there are so many, after all). While Levenson does provide a scripture and an author index, there is no subject index.The book is divided into three parts, each with subsections. I find it difficult to understand the subsections as parts of a hierarchical outline. In some ways, the subsections each seemed like separate essays on different aspects of the main topic treated in that part of the book. The book can be used as a reference book for Bible study if one looks up section head topics or specific scriptural references.
“Sinai and Zion” is a rewarding book to read.
In the second section, “Zion, the Mountain of the Temple,” Levenson shows that as Jewish tradition developed, Sinai was absorbed into a new mountain, Zion, a known hill in Jerusalem. No longer did YHWH reside “in an extraterritorial no man’s land, but within the borders of the Israelite community” (91). The Sinaitic covenant, which focused upon the changeability of humanity, is now supplemented by the Davidic covenant, which focused on the constancy of God (101). Levenson notes that the faith in this everlasting dynasty gives no credence to political history, the rise and fall of kingdoms, and was thus born out of something quite different from a mere meditation of history. This nonhistorical way of relating history was through myth, which is characterized primarily by symbols with “unlimited scope and import,” in this case Mount Zion (103). Zion was the cosmic mountain, whose most significant characteristic was that it was the meeting place of heaven, earth and hell (111, 122). Ordinary concepts of space and time are not adequate in describing the essence of Zion because it transcends both; it is qualitatively different from ordinary reality (127).
Furthermore, comparing the similar language of Zion with the Garden of Eden, Levenson concludes that Zion was the place “in which the primal perfection of Eden is…preserved” (129). Having established its relationship with creation, the temple thus serves as a picture of what creation and life were supposed to be, perfect and eternal (133). What is greatly significant in light of the meaning of Zion is that it was not confined by spatial limitation. Zion was not a “place in the world, but the world in essence…The temple…is a microcosm of which the world itself is the macrocosm” (139). Thus, YHWH’s being enthroned in Zion ultimately implicates His providential rule over his universal kingdom. This “cosmic significance” explains why even at the loss of Land and Temple the Jews did not lose their essential identity; the “Temple was more than a building” and the land was based on a covenant that is still in force. “The earthly Temple lay in ruins, but YHWH remained enthroned…” (181). Thus the mythical, rather than historical, nature of the Land and Temple allowed the Jews to survive in the absence of both.
Finally, in his last section, “Zion as the Heir to Sinai,” Levenson shows that Zion and the Davidic covenant did not replace Sinai and the Mosaic covenant, nor did Sinai survive in the Northern Kingdom while Zion displaced it in the Southern Kingdom. Rather, they were compounded into a holistic tradition, where Sinai represented the voice of God that was present at Zion, which represented the presence of God. This is illustrated in the feature of covenant renewals of the Sinaitic tradition–the indictment of the people for a breach of covenant–that survived into the Zionist tradition, e.g. Psalm 81 and 50. Hence, “The…Lord speaks and summons the earth…” (Ps 50:1, emphasis added). The voice spoken to Israel at Sinai has thus been amplified to the entire world at Zion. Levenson shows that this cooperation of Sinai and Zion is a necessary corrective one for the other, where both the disregard of Israel’s ethical status and the presumptuousness of the sacrificial cult are held to account. “Sinai demolishes the hubris of Zion…Zion demolishes the hubris of Sinai” (209, cf. Jer 7; Ps 50). As such, the messianic hope of the Davidic covenant should be located within the Sinaitic tradition (209). According to Levenson, whereas Judaism maintains the Mosaic and Davidic covenants necessarily in their pluriform nature, the New Testament has used the Davidic covenant to displace the Sinaitic covenant (216, 217). As such, “David is subordinated to Moses, and the restoration of Zion…is subordinated to the righteousness of the Jews…” (217). For Levenson, this does an injustice to the nature and trajectory of the Jewish Bible, which still looks for a righteousness generation of Jews to which the Messiah will come.
Although Levenson offers many wonderful insights to Old Testament studies, the entire book is somewhat undermined by his failure to qualify its premise that the changes in Israel’s history “seem more evolutionary than revolutionary” (4). In other words, the development of Jewish history does not reflect major historical events that changed the course of history. Rather, throughout Israel’s history their writings were shaped by the world in which they lived, in conjunction with a developing and changing theology. This inability to view the Old Testament stories as essentially historical, rather than merely a theological recasting of the past, leaves many unanswered questions and unqualified arguments. For example, Sandra Richter reads YHWH’s suzerain-vassal covenant with Israel as a means of communicating with the Hebrew people, who had been steeped in the polytheism of Egypt, in a language they would understand (Richter, 83). But Levenson interprets this as a natural development that reflects Ancient Near Eastern culture (though he doesn’t bother to explain why it reflects Hittite treaty patterns of the second millennium B.C., though it conflicts with his later dating of the text), not to mention early Jewish polytheism, and thus concludes, “How the idea of God as exclusive suzerain was born thus remains cloaked in mystery.” (70). He does not even consider that God intervened in history in the second millennium B.C. to rescue the Hebrew people from Egypt. Also, even if the Old Testament does lack the historicity that Levenson claims, he offers no explanation for the origin of such an unlikely emergence of an otherwise inept people. It seems necessary to offer a plausible explanation for the origins of the Jewish people if he’s going to dismiss their alleged history that explains such origins. The conclusions of his book seem to be almost entirely based on a “hermeneutic of suspicion” against the historicity of the Old Testament that is no longer readily accepted in Old Testament scholarship (Miller, CT, “Did the Exodus Never Happen”). The argument ultimately reduces to whether or not Levenson is justified in arguing for an evolutionary rather than revolutionary development of the Jewish Bible. Certainly, it would do an injustice to the Old Testament to blindly dismiss the way Israel’s theology affected their interpretation of history, but it is equally unjust to dismiss the history on which their theology is allegedly based. It seems that one can accept both historical plausibility and theological redaction within the Old Testament without contradiction. But the overemphasis of either seems like it will inevitably involve a blind dismissal of what should be its complementary counterpart.
In conclusion, it seems that at the heart of Sinai and Zion is a polemic against the New Testament interpretation of the Jewish Bible, which views the events and theology of Israel’s history as having their culmination in Jesus Christ. This is perhaps why discussions on the New Testament are the book ends of his work, creating the need and giving a conclusion (1, 2, 216, 217). It seems that by emphasizing the evolutionary development of Judaism, Levenson tried to establish a precedent for its indissoluble continuity, which, according to Levenson, is contradicted by the discontinuity evident within the NT, especially with reference to the Law. This gives occasion for the rejection of the NT (though I would argue that this discontinuity is anticipated in the Old Testament, e.g. Jer 31:31-34). His dismissal of the “revolutions” throughout Scripture allows him to recast the Old Testament into a natural progression of Judaistic literary history. By showing that the Temple and Land are unnecessary for the continuity of the Jewish tradition, he has established a way for Jews to understand their place in history today and furthermore has accomplished his goal of presenting Torah and Temple in a different perspective from that of the consensus (3). Despite this admirable accomplishment, it seems to me that he has undermined the very history on which Jewish faith is based and relies.
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God’s revelation concerning Himself is not the goal of “covenant theology…but the prologue to a new kind of relationship” (p 43). Most vital in covenant symbology is that of Israel’s relationship to God presented in marital terms. Fidelity is required from Israel to YHWH.
Just as Jerusalem will be intimately associated with David and the monarchy, so Jerusalem and the temple will be of central importance.
“The earthly Temple is thus the vehicle that conveys the prophet into the supernal Temple, the real Temple, the Temple of YHWH and his retinue…This Temple is an institution common to the heavenly and the terrestrial realms” (p 123).
YHWH dwells in the temple, not in an anthropormorphic way but in His very essence, His “‘name'” (p 125). Thus, the temple becomes the world in essence and the true method of spiritual ascent.
Very valuable book.
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Micah G. Webb (Ridgecrest, California) – See all my reviews(REAL NAME)