Richard Elliott Friedman (born May 5, 1946)[1] is an American biblical scholar, theologian, and translator who currently serves as the Ann and Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at theUniversity of Georgia.
Friedman was born inRochester, New York.[2] He attended theUniversity of Miami (BA, 1968), theJewish Theological Seminary (MHL, 1971), andHarvard University (Th.M. in Hebrew Bible, 1974; Th.D. in Hebrew Bible and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 1978). He was the Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization: Hebrew Bible; Near Eastern Languages and Literature at theUniversity of California, San Diego, from 1994 until 2006,[3][4] whereupon he joined the faculty of the University of Georgia's Religion Department, where he is currently theAnn and Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies.[5] Friedman teaches courses in Hebrew, Bible, and Jewish Studies.[5]
He is a winner of numerous awards and honors, includingAmerican Council of Learned Societies Fellow.[6] He was a visiting fellow at theUniversity of Cambridge and theUniversity of Oxford; and a Senior Fellow of theAmerican Schools of Oriental Research in Jerusalem. He participated in the City of David Project archaeological excavations of biblical Jerusalem. In his workWho Wrote the Bible?, he provides an updated analysis of thedocumentary hypothesis.
Friedman is of the view that theP Source of the Bible was composed during the time ofHezekiah. P for instance "emphasizes centralization of religion: one center, one altar, one Tabernacle, one place of sacrifice. Who was the king who began centralization? King Hezekiah."[7]
According to Friedman, and others who follow the theories ofJulius Wellhausen regarding the formation of Israel's religion, P is the work of theAaronid priesthood. They are the priests in authority at the central altar – not Moses, not Korah, nor any otherLevites. Only those descended from Aaron can be priests. Friedman then went on to say "P always speaks of two distinct groups, the priests and the Levites. Who was the king who formalized the divisions between priests and Levites? King Hezekiah." Chronicles reported explicitly:
Friedman wrote that the "Aaronid priesthood that produced P had opponents, Levites who saw Moses and not Aaron as their model. What was the most blatant reminder of Moses' power that was visible in Judah? The bronze serpent 'Nehushtan'. According to tradition, stated explicitly in E, Moses had made it. It had the power to save people from snakebite. Who was the king who smashed the Nehushtan? Hezekiah."[citation needed]
Friedman has also proposed that the prophetJeremiah, working together with his scribeBaruch, was also the person that is the D-source, the Deuteronomist, who wrote/rewrote the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. In his bookWho wrote the Bible? he gave supporting evidence pointing towards this identification and also notes that in theTalmud Jeremiah was already seen as the author of theBooks of Kings. In his view this part of the Bible must be seen as one major theological history, which centers on the covenant between the Jews and Yahweh promising eternal prosperity for Israel but demanding that they should worship only Yahweh. In a long cycle of infidelity-defeat-repentance-forgiveness the Jewish history is written. According to him, the history first ended with KingJosiah as the ultimate god-fearing king and was later rewritten after the fall of the kingdom in 586 BE, putting the blame on the evil done under Manasseh, writing "No king ever arose like Josiah. ... But Yahweh did not turn back from his great fury which burned against Judah over all the things in which Manasseh had angered him" (2 Kings 23:25–26).[citation needed]
In his 2017 bookThe Exodus: How It Happened and Why It Matters, Friedman argues thatthe Exodus involved only a few thousand people, who left Egypt during the reign of either PharaohRamesses II or his son, PharaohMerneptah.
This group later merged with theIsraelites, introducing the cult ofYahweh in Caanan, together with the idea ofmonotheism/monolatry, possibly inspired by the religious reforms of PharaohAkhenaten. Once in Israel, Yahweh's cult supplanted the cult of the Caananite godEl, and the two gods became one and the same in Israelite religious mentality. This group of migrants would later form theTribe of Levi. Friedman argues this was vital for the formation of monotheism.
One piece of evidence Friedman uses for his hypothesis is the Egyptian names that the biblical Levites have. Names likeMoses,Aaron, Phineas, and more may have Egyptian origins. Friedman also notes the similarities of theTabernacle with the Battle Tent of Ramesses II. Friedman mentions the Torah’s Levite sources often refer to a commandment to treat stranger in your land well, for “you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
The name Yahweh, according to Friedman, was probably inspired by theShasu deity Yhw, whose presence is attested by two Egyptian texts from the time of PharaohsAmenhotep III (14th century BCE) andRamesses II (13th century BCE). Friedman also hypothesizes the Levites may have encountered Yahweh inMidian.
Friedman also rejects the idea that Jewish monotheism was born during theBabylonian captivity (seeDeutero-Isaiah) and argues that the concept of monotheism/monolatry was present in the Israelite people since the 12th century BCE, although for many centuries it met strong resistance from polytheistic sectors of Israel.[8]
The book has received positive blurbs from several biblical scholars and archaeologists likeThomas Römer,Carol Meyers andThomas E. Levy and from publications likePublishers Weekly,The Christian Century andTheJewish Journal.[9]
Friedman argues that it was not theBabylonians whodestroyed the First Temple, butEdomites. He bases his argument on texts likePsalm 137 andObadiah 10.[10]
