The Pentateuch: An Annotated Bibliography (Ibr Bibliographies, No. 1.)

Assembled in this useful and pleasant-looking booklet are more than seven hundred titles (of both books and articles, intermixed) whose main subject is the Torah in general, one of its five books, or part of one of them. Each title (with the exception of nos. 1 and 415) is accompanied by an abstract of about four lines on the average. The great majority of titles are studies in English, but there are also a few in German. In such cases considerable effort has been made to cite an English translation, if at all available (e.g., G. von Rad, no. 25; M. Noth, no. 26; R. Rendtorff, no. 33). There are also a few articles in French and one (no. 206) in Hebrew, an article by Z. Weisman in Zion; however, the fact that the article is in Hebrew is nowhere mentioned. What should be included in a bibliography of this kind? Given the multitude of publications in the field, selection is of course a serious problem. Sparks explains his considerations as follows: First and foremost I have included classic works that have profoundly shaped present readings of the Pentateuch.... Second ... recent works that are likely to give readers the most up-to-date picture of the debate. Third, I have attempted to provide breadth of subject matter (12). A perusal of the bibliography indeed finds classical works, publishe d many decades ago, alongside more modern scholarship, some even from the first two years of the twenty-first century. [Full Review]