The Biography of Ancient Israel: National Narratives in the Bible

The Biography of Ancient Israel by Ilana Pardes is based on a reading of the nation as a collective character, not an abstract concept. Particularly in Exodus and Numbers ("where the primary questions about the origin and singularity of the nation are raised"), Pardes argues, Israel is "personified; it is a character with a distinct voice ... it moans and groans, is euphoric at times, complains frequently, and rebels against Moses and God time and again." The Biography of Ancient Israel considers its subject a "male character who is God's first-born son" (though Pardes acknowledges that the Hebrew Scriptures are also full of female metaphors for Israel). Following Israel through its birth, youth, and young adulthood, and ending at Mt. Nebo, where the Scriptures' personification of Israel as God's son ends, this book is preoccupied with understanding the ways in which individual and national lives influence one another. "The biography of the nation seeps into the lives of individuals and shapes their desires and destinies, wittingly and unwittingly," Pardes writes. Although many readers may find it hard getting through parts of this academic biography, their work will be amply rewarded by such insights. --Michael Joseph Gross