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(More customer reviews)Propp's commentary is certainly worth buying for any serious scholar. However, after such a long wait for the Anchor to come out on Exodus, I must say it is a disappointment. His theological presuppositions cause him to leap from A to Z without displaying solid reasons. His distinction between what is hypothesized and what is fact is an interesting one, since the bulk of Biblical studies is hypothesis (not to mention that the source and redactional elements are, although held at some consensus in general, are certainly in the details to be considered speculative). His attention to narrative pattern (lack, initiator, hero, etc.) is to be commended, but his conclusion that the story is fiction (from that standpoint alone) does not logically follow. All narrative (true or false) follows this pattern in one way or another. His constant modernist judgements upon the text are a bit tiring, since one pays to see facts and theological insights in its historical context, not a commentator with an attitude against the text (For instance, the irony of his statement that the author was ignorant concerning how one ought to capture a snake, since the Exodus story has YHWH telling Moses to pick up the serpent by the tail, is ironic, since it is Propp that obviously does not understand how a large snake is always caught in the wild to maneuver the snake in an effort to avoid being bitten---by the tail. Perhaps he should have asked a herpetologist on that one.) In any case, if one can get past Propp's "We're more informed than the primitive author/redactor, and his jumps in logic, the commentary has a lot to say and make one think over the issues. As a final note, Source and Redaction criticism are usually meant to give insight into the text and should not be used (as Propp does many times) to simply side-step an issue. A commentary on Exodus that really considers the issues, rather than blowing them off is, unfortunately, still needed. In any case, I wanted gold from Anchor, but I guess I'll settle for bronze.
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Exodus is the heart of the Hebrew Bible, the defining moment in Israel's birth as a people, the dramatic triumph of their God. Yahweh, Pharaoh, Moses, Aaron, the Hebrew slaves, the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea—these larger-than-life characters and epoch-making events capture the imagination of everyone from biblical scholars to moviemakers. However, the meaning and significance, the beauty and nuance, of this captivating biblical book are lost unless we have a world-class Scripture scholar to open our eyes to its riches.In Exodus 1–18, William H. C. Propp translates the original text in all its grandeur, then provides a masterful exploration and analysis of the book's first eighteen chapters. Here the fate of the Hebrew slaves hangs in the balance of the dramatic conflict between the God of Israel and the Pharaoh of Egypt. From the discovery of Moses in a basket made of bulrushes to the story of the Burning Bush, from the ten plagues visited upon Egypt by God to water from the rock and quail and manna from the skies, Exodus is filled with the miraculous and the dramatic. Doubleday is proud to be publishing the long-awaited first of two volumes of the Anchor Bible Commentary on Exodus. Exhaustive, meticulous, and brilliantly researched, Propp's Exodus 1–18 is well worth the wait, exceeding expectations and meeting the reader's every need.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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