Last time I concluded with a thought of utmost importance for the Torah student to grasp.
The Jewish Bible was NOT meant to be read.
It was meant to be passed along to the next generation orally.
All those famous Bible stories and narratives we’ve grown to love were meant for storytellers to share out loud instead of being studied and read in silence.
This idea might be difficult for us to accept because we’re such a text-driven society that prioritizes the written word over the spoken.
In ancient times, written records on stone tablets etcetera were only kept as sacred archives.
They served as anchors for stories that were orally transmitted from generation to generation.
I think it’s pretty much impossible for us modern folks today with all of our electronic texting devices to even conceive of a culture where the spoken word was the primary form of communication.
In fact, you may be surprised to know that the use of text only occurred in ancient civilizations who possessed advanced economies such as the Hittites, the Assyrians and the Egyptians and even then written words were only used for accounting records and contracts.
They were never used to instruct believers of a religion how to behave or to teach historical events.
This held true even among those cultures that possessed the highest literacy rates.
The Jews of Yeshua’s day could read Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew.
Every Hebrew child had to undergo 6 years of formal schooling where they were rigorously trained in how to read and write.
Yet they still preferred the spoken word over the written word.
Why?
Because that method was at the heart of their culture not to mention it was also the normal way for the world at that time.
Plus, keep in mind Yeshua never said “Let all those who have eyes, read”.
Nope, he said “Let all those who have ears, listen“.
This was a statement reflecting a culture based on the spoken word.
Again, this idea that different societies had different preferred ways to communicate shouldn’t surprise us because in just the last 10 years alone the way we communicate in our daily lives has dramatically transformed.
We now live in a visual/video world.
In fact, I can’t remember the last time I picked up a paper book.
I read all my books on Kindle now.
I’m not here to promote one communication method as superior to another.
I just want to make sure you understand the Bible (especially the OT) emerged from an oral culture.
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