Genesis A New Interpretation

Most of us are affected or conditioned by the Bible. Whether we accept all, part, or none of it as Gospel, we are surrounded by a culture that is filled with references to, and legal and ethical concepts from, the Bible. Whether you are a believer or nonbeliever, the Bible is the most significant book in Western civilization. To really understand our culture, we need to understand something about the Bible, especially the book of Genesis, one of the five books ascribed to Moses. Many spiritually minded people have given up reading the Jewish Bible or Old Testament. The idea of an angry, jealous, bloodthirsty God is a difficult idea to understand and accept. But there are approaches to its interpretation that may help us to discover the hidden wisdom deep within it. The first five books of the Bible-referred to as the Torah, from Hebrew, meaning instruction, or Pentateuch, from Greek, meaning five scrolls-were traditionally attributed to Moses and were probably written between 1400 and 600 BCE. Today, based on content, differences in style, history, language, and logical inconsistencies, most biblical scholars agree these five books probably had at least three different authors, who were writing what had previously been an oral tradition. All the books were written in Aramaic, the form of Hebrew spoken in those times. I propose that the Bible is an esoteric book, meaning that it contains hidden information in addition to the obvious, literal interpretation. In ancient times, only those of the inner circle were allowed to know the hidden teachings. Moses Maimonides, the famous rabbi (1135-1205 CE), wrote, "Every time that you find in our books (the Old Testament) a tale the reality of which seems impossible, a story which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the