Treasury of Bible Stories Read online

  Doves are among the world’s most common birds. This dove carries a sprig from the olive, an evergreen original to the Mediterranean area and famous for its oil and fruit.

  Wells were an important source of freshwater for people and livestock, especially in rural communities. Here a family is gathered around one.

  Text Copyright © 2019 Donna Jo Napoli

  Illustrations Copyright © 2019 Christina Balit

  Compilation Copyright © 2019 National Geographic Partners, LLC

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  Book design by Callie Broaddus adapted for ebook

  Hardcover ISBN 9781426335389

  Reinforced library binding ISBN 9781426335396

  Ebook ISBN 9781426335402

  19/PPS/1

  v5.4_c3

  a

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  INTRODUCTION

  A NOTE ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS

  Story 1 CREATION

  GENESIS 1:1–2:4

  Story 2 EDEN

  GENESIS 2:4–2:25

  Story 3 EXPULSION FROM EDEN

  GENESIS 3

  Story 4 THE FIRST SIBLINGS

  GENESIS 4–5:5

  Story 5 THE FLOOD

  GENESIS 5:6–9:17

  Story 6 THE TOWER OF BABEL

  GENESIS 10–11:9

  Story 7 ABRAM AND LOT, SARAI AND HAGAR

  GENESIS 11:10–19:26

  Story 8 ABRAHAM, ISHMAEL, ISAAC

  GENESIS 21–22

  Story 9 REBEKAH

  GENESIS 24

  Story 10 ESAU AND JACOB

  GENESIS 25:21–28:9

  Story 11 JACOB, RACHEL, LEAH

  GENESIS 28:10–33, 35:16–35:20

  Story 12 JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS: THE CRIME

  GENESIS 35:27–35:29, 37

  Story 13 JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS: FORGIVENESS

  GENESIS 39–50

  Story 14 THE BABY MOSES

  EXODUS 1–2

  Story 15 MOSES AND THE TEN PLAGUES

  EXODUS 3–13

  Story 16 THE REED SEA AND MANNA

  EXODUS 14–16

  Story 17 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE LAWS

  EXODUS 17–40, DEUTERONOMY, NUMBERS 13–14

  Story 18 JOSHUA AND THE BATTLE OF JERICHO

  JOSHUA 1–8

  Story 19 SAMSON AND DELILAH

  JUDGES 13–16

  Story 20 DAVID AND GOLIATH

  1 SAMUEL 8:3–17:51

  Story 21 KINGS STRUGGLE

  1 SAMUEL 17:52–31, 2 SAMUEL 1–13, 1 KINGS 1

  Story 22 SOLOMON’S WISDOM

  1 KINGS 2–11

  Story 23 ELIJAH

  1 KINGS 16:29–22, 2 KINGS 1–2

  Story 24 JONAH AND THE GIANT FISH

  BOOK OF JONAH

  Story 25 JOB’S AFFLICTIONS

  BOOK OF JOB

  Story 26 RUTH

  BOOK OF RUTH

  Story 27 ESTHER SAVES HER PEOPLE

  BOOK OF ESTHER

  Story 28 DANIEL IN THE LIONS’ DEN

  DANIEL 1–6

  MAP: LANDS OF THE BIBLE

  TIMELINE

  THE PEOPLE OF THE BIBLE

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  CONTRIBUTOR BIOS

  INDEX

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Illustrations Credits

  Note: Books of the Bible appear in bold.

  The stories in this book are my own reimaginings and retellings from the ancient Bible, often referred to as the Hebrew Bible by Jewish scholars and as the Old Testament by Christian scholars. These retellings are as faithful to the originals as I could manage with the weekly help of my guide, Rabbi Helen Plotkin, over the better part of a year. The stories include much beloved ones as well as some that may not be so commonly shared, but that are offered here in hopes of giving a fuller, more cohesive book overall. This volume carries us from the opening of the Book of Genesis to the end of the Book of Daniel. As such, the stories present a view of human history from the creation to the building of the second temple in Jerusalem.

  Readers may be surprised at the very outset to find two creation stories, but this is true to the ancient Bible. In fact, in the ancient Bible several stories are told twice and these doublets often differ profoundly on matters of substance. Sometimes I have chosen to present both versions, particularly if they shed light on the nature of the divine (as with the creation stories). Other times I have blended versions (as with King David coming to know Saul). Still other times I offer only one version. The choice is based on what, in my eyes, makes the best overall book.

  Readers may also be surprised to find two names for the divine—God and Lord—with distinct behaviors at the outset. These names are present in the original text (along with other names that are not pertinent to the stories offered here): Elohim (אלהים) for God and Adonai (a euphemism for the unpronounceable four-letter name יהוה) for the Lord. These name differences are present in all the common English translations, but they are often overlooked. Especially in the early stories, the different names seem to be linked to different aspects of the divine’s character, a factor I have worked to make clear. Though both names continue to be used throughout the ancient Bible, the clarity of that distinction is less obvious to me in the later stories (though biblical scholars still study this matter). Nevertheless, I call the divine by the name used in the ancient Bible in each story, so that the reader can have the benefit of the original.

  The stories are not always ordered in a way that makes sense chronologically. For example, in the ancient Bible the story of Esther saving her people precedes the story of Daniel in the lions’ den, even though Esther lives three generations after Daniel. Certainly there is some correlation to historical events in some stories; at times a story’s chronology may match historical chronology quite well (such as the story of King David). But other times the chronology is confused. This confusion may reflect the fact that stories that might have originated true to historical chronology were passed down orally as cultural treasures rather than as historical accounts. Still other
events are clearly metaphorical, with a sense that the beliefs they espouse reflect a divine plan rather than reflecting a strict history. Readers shouldn’t be dismayed. The point is not to reason a straight path through the stories, but to wander about through them, perhaps knocking into the same plot lines multiple times, letting each encounter add another layer of meaning. The stories express ideological beliefs. They are founded in the faith that there is sense in the passing of time—shape and purpose to it that humans may find difficult to discern but that is surely there.

  Like ancient stories in other cultures, we see here huge questions to wrestle with: How and why did life begin? What is our job, our purpose, during our time in this life? Does death (help to) give meaning to life? Will life on Earth go on forever or is there some ending point ahead? In other words, as the philosophers say: What’s it all about?

  The stories aim to give answers largely via interactions between humankind and the divine, and, sometimes, via interactions among humans. We find no tidy, comfortable answers, however. Instead, we find insistence on harsh realities. Faith and loyalty are rewarded, but not always. Kindness and generosity are prized, but only usually. Trickery sometimes ends in success, but generally at a cost. Jealousy almost always bites its own tail, as does greed. Violence, particularly as a reaction to violence, is sometimes inevitable. No pretty picture is painted, possibly because it would be dangerous to do so. The people listening to or reading these ancient stories needed to understand what they were up against, or else they might be left unprepared and defenseless.

  We see a world in which living beings experience great hardships. Survival is an ever-present issue, short-term and long-term. So much depends upon fertility. A woman’s social status correlates positively with her ability to bear children, particularly sons. A barren woman is at the bottom. So much depends upon water. If the rains don’t come, the crops and wells dry up. Famine ravages humans and beasts. People have to emigrate, often to places that are inhospitable to strangers. They might be outcasts. They might get enslaved. They might wind up as religious martyrs. They might be fought off.

  Wells, appropriately, provide the scene for charming encounters. When there has been enough water so that crops and beasts thrive, we find fabulous celebrations. The celebrations following the barley harvest and the sheep shearing, for example, are carefree—a release from the anxieties of other seasons.

  Still, much depends upon the mercy of others. Some are rich; some poor. The rich are required to give to the poor, but only on certain occasions. God, also, is counted on for mercy. People make burnt offerings and pray to win divine mercy. Yet sometimes that mercy is delayed or even withheld—as we learn in the excruciating story of Job. The God we meet in these stories can be severe—and perhaps this is one reason why these stories have been part of tradition for so long; they are as gritty and glorious as the real world.

  The illustrations in this book rely heavily on the ancient scriptures, gleaning information from various parts of the scriptures to bear on each story here. They are also informed by findings of archaeologists and biologists, including more recent work in biogenetics. For example, the people in our illustrations range in skin tone and facial characteristics. They are sometimes starkly different from Western depictions common from medieval through modern times, which were often modeled on the illustrators themselves. Skin tone is an unreliable clue to biogeography and human genetic relationships—instead, variation is common. We have therefore chosen to represent the people in these stories with the widely varying characteristics of those currently living in the areas these stories took place in—from present-day Ethiopia in Africa across the Near East.

  Out of interminable darkness came everything: seas and skies, mountains and valleys and jungles, and life dancing through it all.

  CREATION

  Darkness pressed from everywhere. Vast. Heavy. Empty.

  God was alone, curled tight.

  But oh, emptiness was full of potential. Like flower petals, though there were no flowers yet. But there could be. That was the point.

  A wind started. It came from inside God and blew out over the waters. It cleared the way, so that God’s words became inevitable: “Let there be light.”

  And there was light. The wondrous beginning. A crystalline start of clarity.

  That was good. Night was dark. Day was light. It felt orderly, balanced. Right.

  That was Night One, Day One.

  But now both dark and light pressed from everywhere. And those endless waters—they lapped constantly until they couldn’t be ignored any longer. Something was needed, a place to be separate from the waters. So God spoke. The words created in that marvelous way that only words can do: The heavens formed.

  This was good. Order of dark and light was now accompanied by order of water and space.

  That was Night Two, Day Two.

  Order is a force in itself, though. One order wants another, and then another. Waters and the heavens—together they wanted more. God spoke, and the waters pulled together, leaving behind dry land. Bare like that, it revealed itself as a find, a true treasure. Land offered innumerable possibilities. God spoke, and the land filled with grasses, plants that scattered seeds that grew into more plants, and trees that bore fruit that grew into more trees. That was good. What a richness the earth allowed, what a fecundity.

  That was Night Three, Day Three.

  Wind blew, a wondrous stirring, and God created light, then the heavens to waft above the waters, then dry land to nourish plants.

  On Day Five God filled the waters and the skies with life. All kinds of sea creatures wiggled and swam. All kinds of birds dived and soared.

  God looked around. That just-created earth was now lush and fragrant. Leaves fluttered in breezes from the utterly clean heavens. Colors dazzled in new-born light. All was delicious to every sense.

  But now those clean, bright heavens suddenly seemed paltry in comparison—empty. Wasn’t that just the way? Richness exposes poverty. Well, God could fix that. With words. God spoke, and the sun appeared, the moon, the stars. This was incredibly good. The sun had dominion over day. The moon had dominion over night. Since the moon was weaker and frailer than the sun, the stars could help shore it up with their sparkles. Together all of them could mark the passing of time—days, weeks, months, seasons, years. The patterns of time would be apparent to all. Another order. How pleasing!

  That was Night Four, Day Four.

  But, of course, more had to happen now. The earth and the heavens were delightful—but the waters lay still and empty. The air above that water and that earth, the air that reached to the heavens, hung flat and plain, when it should have been active, alive. Words were needed, words again; God spoke. And fish, turtles, eels, rays swam shallow and deep. Crabs scuttled. Jellyfish wavered in their flimsy-floaty way. Over those teeming waters flew pelicans, cormorants, tiny storm petrels. Over the vivid earth flew golden finches, red-headed buntings, rosy starlings. Creatures everywhere happily fed on the abundant seeds from the abundant plants. God blessed them in a way that cannot help but evoke awe: God said, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Simple words. But crucial for life on earth. They bestowed on these creatures the power to make more of their own kind. To fill the seas and the air.

  This was the essence of goodness.

  That was Night Five, Day Five.

  But the order of things needed more. The earth could sustain more than plant life and fowl. The earth could sustain spider, fly, snail, lizard, horse, elephant. Yes! God created all of them and it was good, right, just. Every creepy, crawly creature, docile or monstrous—all of them together! Life went flying, swooping, diving, loping, running in joyful chaos.

  Ouch! Chaos! All this activity needed a ruler to impose decorum. God spoke. And humans were created in the image God trusted, God’s own image. Women and men. God blessed them like the other animals: “Be fruitful and multiply.” God gave them a charge: to take care of the earth, to be the masters of all,
to make what God had created work.

  God looked at the toils so far, including those final ones, of Night Six, Day Six. The plants were self-reproducing, ever fruitful. The animals could eat them and thrive in the pleasure of each other’s company. Everything could go on forever, days melting into months, seasons, years, measured out by the sun and moon. Everything with its order. A self-sustaining creation, perpetual, perfect.

  God made a judgment: finished. So on Night Seven, Day Seven, God ceased. Well done. A blessed day, this seventh one.

  God rested in trust of where all this good work would lead.

  THE MEASURE OF TIME

  This story is based on Genesis 1, about the creation and the organization of time as it relates to nature. For example, the Earth’s rotation around its axis determines the length of a day. The moon’s revolution around the Earth determines the length of a month. The Earth’s revolution around the sun determines the length of a year. But one part of time is not determined by nature: the breakdown of a month into weeks. The Maori of New Zealand have three 10-day intervals; northern Ethiopians, four 8-day intervals; the Wachagga of Tanzania, six 5-day intervals. Mesopotamians noted intervals of 7 days, 5 days, and 2 days, but it was the Jews who made the consistent 7-day week. Christians and Muslims adopted and spread it.

  All of Eden, down to the tiniest detail, was fashioned from the Lord’s hands: hairy fur on buffalo, striped fur on tigers, greasy fur on wolves.

  EDEN

  God had created the world in an organized fashion. Everything had balance. But it didn’t quite make sense; the picture wasn’t quite complete. How could plants grow all over the earth? Plants needed rain, but God hadn’t made rain. God hadn’t even made springs to feed the plants from below. And God hadn’t assigned anyone the task of tending those plants.

  The idea that everything could thrive forever without strife or need of God’s intervention was some kind of ideal based on a sense of a perfect order and a perfect justice; God knew all about order and justice.