Review
"well-structured...Aaron's in-depth intertextual investigation into the origins of the Decalogue is...suited to scholars."--Sanford Lakoff
"By his own admission, his method of investigation is hybrid, including literary criticism, cultural criticism, historical criticism, and prominent among them all, ideological criticism. In his approach he engages "counterhistories," versions that were not accorded orthodox status, believing that they reveal much about the process of tradition development. Though meticulous in its approach, the book is quite readable. The serious Bible student will find it very challenging." - Dianne Bergant, The Bible Today, May /June 2007--Sanford Lakoff
"Etched in Stone traces the literary evolution of the Decalogue and shows that the use of the tablets as symbols for Israel's covenant with God is a late literary adaptation of earlier attempts to write so impressive a scene. Through painstaking textual analysis, Aaron leads the reader through dozens of sources, each of which sheds light upon the emergence of the Decalogue as the Pentateuch's most dramatic and emblematic narrative scene." - David H. Aaron is Professor of Bible & History of Interpretation, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati--Sanford Lakoff
"The work itself is a solid, academic study of the date and authorship of the versions of the Decalogue found in the Hebrew Bible....The book was an enjoyable, and informative read. The style is pleasant, detailed, academically responsible, but never patronizing or overwhelming. Given the innovations offered, and the methodological limitations the author set himself in the study, the book is worth reading."- T.R. Hobbs, "Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, "Vol. 7 2007--Sanford Lakoff
"This study articulates a clear and carefully constructed critical methodology and then brilliantly applies it to a central problem in biblical studies, the origin of the Decalogue. While one may not accept all of its arguments and revolutionary conclusions, the serious Pentateuchal scholar will be challenged to rethink his/her previously held views in a very stimulating way." John Van Seters, professor emeritus, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill--Sanford Lakoff
Popularly venerated as a modern 'creed of ethics', an 'image of moral stability', the Decalogue emerges from Aaron's book as a
postexilic literary creation. Far from an simple iconoclastic exercise, David Aaron has produced a sophisticated model of historical analysis that also owes a great deal to literary theory, and that methodically moves through a range of issues, carefully building the case for a specific date and meaning+in the course of which he illuminates nearly every corner of Pentateuchal research.
Philip R. Davies, University of Sheffield, England--Sanford Lakoff
"Thework itself is a solid, academic study of the date and authorship of theversions of the Decalogue found in the Hebrew Bible....The book was an enjoyable, and informative read. The style is pleasant, detailed, academicallyresponsible, but never patronizing or overwhelming. Given the innovationsoffered, and the methodological limitations the author set himself in thestudy, the book is worth reading."- T.R. Hobbs, "Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, "Vol. 7 2007--,
About the Author
David H, Aaron is Professor of Hebrew Bible and History of Interpretation at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio, and the author of Biblical Ambiguities: Metaphor, Semantics, and Divine Imagery
