/lit/ - Literature

>>18581554
Is this Greek?

>>18581611
yep

most attempts at reading the bible cover to cover end somewhere around the middle of leviticus. you just gotta persevere.

>>18581554
you can skip a lot of that stuff like when they are just listing names or explaining autistically how to build a tabernacle. This is not really relevant to anyone in modern times apart from I guess some Jewish scholars

>>18581629
also OP here.
any suggestion on discussing questions?

like every page almost I have a question, like:
- how is the power gain that Moses has by being (together with Aaron) the unique prophet of God reconciled?
- why is God so brutal towards the Pharaoh? As mentioned after the Plagues, it is to show to the Jews that he alone is God. But why does he strengthen the Pharaoh's resolve. oes it have anything to do with him?
- why are Jews the chosen people and how does that translate to modern day philosophy?

I understand I have like 10,000 years of western and middle eastern philosophy to cover but I feel lost.
Maybe a chart to navigate? An active community to discuss?

>>18581554
You would do yourself a far better service to read interpretations of the text by the actual esteemed doctors of the church. Even Augustine had some numerological things about the dimensions of the ark that implied it was a prefiguring of Christ, such ideas as I never would've taken from the "simple" reading of its dimensions and construction. You don't have to take any of it for immutable truth, but at least it would offer you a something in places where you feel like there's nothing. Everything that's in the book is something that was actively selected for, for the purpose of preservation. Nothing is in there that is empty, nothing is in there that doesn't bear some degree of import. It's just impossible for you to see or commune with because you're not a student of the text or a participant of the culture. None of us are, so things like the tabernacle or the censuses or the genealogies or the laws will not find any apparent rapport with us without doing some digging into the past to learn why those things were important, worth remembering, and worth recording. Seek it out.

>>18581689
any suggestion?

>>18581666
i've never gotten any gets before and that's a shitty get

>>18581666
I mean you're going to spend the rest of your life refining your interpretation of biblical texts in some capacity but I think a very good introduction to the fundamental poetic patterns of the bible is northrop frye's the great code. However, If you have philological questions about the text itself unironically the AcademicBiblical subreddit is good.

numbers is basically the filter that determines whether you will give up or continue reading the whole thing

>>18581554
Start at the New Testament, then read Genesis.

>>18581700
I can't necessarily point you in a conducive direction because I don't know what you're "up for". I am willing to read any book no matter the length if it at least sounds interesting to me. Not all (or even many, it seems like, more and more) people are the same, so I'mnot going to readily advance you into reading Augustine's City of God (900 pages of exegesis), nor his Confessions which is a great book but is not suited to this endeavor. My suggestion is just to look up a list of the renowned fathers and doctors of the church, look into their bodies of written work, specifically for Homilies or Commentaries on books of the Bible, find the ones that sound appropriate for you in terms of length or subject, and just pick one that speaks to your heart and start there.

>>18581711
Thanks. I'm getting the book as we speak.

>>18581730
why? the same for >>18581629

>>18581731
why? is it more accessible that way?

>>18581747
I have both St. Augustine works in print. I've been working a lot lately and didn't have the time to read them. I can go through thick works. I'd more, though, like to know if there is a more optimal way of going about it.
It seems crazy to me that at this board whre last week we had a thread with 300 replies of charts, there is none to go about the Bible,

>>18581781
>charts
I mean I saved this for myself because it has a very comprehensive collection of apocryphal and pseudepigraphal texts along with the ordinary canonical texts. I don't know if you'd find this very useful but here

>>18581781
To the first
>why?
it's just because there's very little that's relevant to the current day theology. The Pentateuch past Exodus is all just notes and history on the Jews as they are preparing to enter the Promised Land, so very little matters aside from the historical benifits and context.
I personally found reading them easier the second and third time.

to the second
>Why
it is indeed more accessible, but it's mostly because the New Testament is significantly more important to Christian Theology than the Old Testament. The whole schtick is that the Old law has passed away and isn't very relevant now that Jesus has reconciled humanity and God.
That's not to say that the OT is useless; the Writings are very useful and the beauty of the Bible's story is only really fulfilled by reading it start to end, but like I said before, it's not very relevant to the current state of the world, aside from context.

>>18581554
You're still at the Pentateuch just keep reading, searching, asking questions (about the text not advice on how to not be a bitch), reading commentary, etc. It's not that hard.

>>18581554
Read a proper book