Meet the Author and Translator
Meir Shalev is well-know internationally for his writing. He is a columnist for the most widely circulated Israeli daily newspaper: Yedioth Ahronoth. Shalev has authored six novels, including the Brenner Prize winning A Pigeon and a Boy (2009). Additionally, Shalev has written five works of nonfiction, including Beginnings: Reflections on the Bible’s Intriguing Firsts (2011). His writings have been translated into more than twenty languages and he has received numerous national and international honors for his work.
Stuart Schoffman translated the book into English. He is an award-winning columnist who serves as a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Additionally, he translated books by David Grossman and A. B. Yehoshua into English.
Book Basics
More than the story of isolated “firsts,” Beginnings is an invitation into the Biblical text. Shalev’s knowledge of the characters and stories of the Biblical books most Protestants call the Old Testament along with his background as renowned nonfiction writer blend to create an engaging book that readers will not want to step away from until they have explored every page. Regardless of one’s faith perspective or prior knowledge of the Bible, this text provides explanations that will strengthen one’s view of the connection, especially of Biblical characters, and challenge assumptions. While offering numerous disclaimers that he is not a Biblical scholar, Shalev does not shy away from offering his views on what a variety of texts mean – even when his views differ from those that are widely accepted.
Each chapter explores a Biblical first. For an event to qualify, the case must “be explicitly designated” (viii). In other words, Shalev considers the first Biblical occurrence when the actual word being considered appears (love, dream, king, weeping, etc.). Chapter content is never limited to the first. Instead, Shalev explores the richness of the topic by considering multiple occurrences.
So What?
Biblical literacy in our culture has been declining for decades. In my years of ministry in mainline churches, I have found that far more people know more of the basic stories, characters and themes in the Second Testament than in the First Testament. Shalev’s book is helpful to those who know only the basics by offering them new data, for those with a deeper understanding by providing more context, and for those are quite familiar by challenging certain assumptions and offering chronology from a usually unexplored perspective of firsts.
- What resources (classes, books, people, etc.) have helped you gain a richer understanding of the First Testament?
- According to the Bible, who was the first to love? to laugh? to be called a prophet? (scroll down to the end of the post for the answers)
Meir Shalev. Beginnings: Reflections on the Bible’s Intriguing Firsts (Harmony Books, 2011). ISBN: 9780307717184.
Answers: Abraham (his love for Isaac), Abraham (upon learning he and Sarah would have a baby at their advanced ages), and Abraham (when God speaks to King Abimelech in a dream)