Armed with his training as a Bible scholar and a linguist, Professor Friedman combines his own understanding of the ancient world with recent archeological evidence and new methods of literary analysis to discover clues within the Bible itself that point to a solution to the puzzle of its authorship. Like a skilled detective on a difficult case, he carefully uncovers the identity of the writers: when and where they lived, their relationship to the events they described, whom they admired, whom they opposed, the political and religious motivations behind their works; and in three cases, he provides their names. He discovers that some of these writers knew each other and tells how this affected, in unexpected ways, the final form the Bible took. Finally, he explains why there are inconsistencies in the Bible, why certain stories came out the way they did and what their relationship was to the historical events they describe, why certain laws were laid down, and why God is portrayed in so many different and often contradictory ways.--From publisher description.

"Biblical scholars, Egyptologists, archaeologists, historians, literary scholars, anthropologists, and filmmakers are drawn to it. Unable to find physical evidence until now, many archaeologists and scholars claim this mass migration is just a story, not history. Others oppose this conclusion, defending the biblical account. Like a detective on an intricate case no one has yet solved, pioneering Bible scholar and bestselling author of Who Wrote the Bible? Richard Elliott Friedman cuts through the noise — the serious studies and the wild theories — merging new findings with new insight. From a spectrum of disciplines, state-of-the-art archeological breakthroughs, and fresh discoveries within scripture, he brings real evidence of a historical basis for the exodus — the history behind the story. The biblical account of millions fleeing Egypt may be an exaggeration, but the exodus itself is not a myth. Friedman does not stop there. Known for his ability to make Bible scholarship accessible to readers, Friedman proceeds to reveal how much is at stake when we explore the historicity of the exodus. The implications, he writes, are monumental. We learn that it became the starting-point of the formation of monotheism, the defining concept of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Moreover, we learn that it precipitated the foundational ethic of loving one's neighbors — including strangers — as oneself. He concludes, the actual exodus was the cradle of global values of compassion and equal rights today"--front flap.