Rewriting Moses: The Narrative Eclipse of the Text.

Rewriting Moses: The Narrative Eclipse of the Text. By Brian M. Britt. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 402. London; T&T Clark International, 2004. Pp. x + 208. Paper, $45.95; cloth, $130.

I found the title of this book intriguing especially coupled with the photo of a "Moses action figure" on the cover, complete with a shepherd's staff and stone tablets. The Moses action figure represents a striking blend and tension of modernity (a plastic figure) meeting the ancient (the biblical text). That is what Britt's book is about--modern portrayals of Moses and their tension with the biblical record and the tension of the character of Moses within the biblical text itself. His particular focus, especially in Section II, is on Moses as communicator and source of revelation and the tension (modern and ancien) of interpreting Moses in these roles.

Rewriting Moses is volume 14 in the Gender, Culture, Theory Series, published in T&T Clark's The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies Series (former JSOTS). According to Britt, the purpose of his book is to analyze "biblical and post-biblical representations of Moses in order to explore ancient and contemporary ideas of scriptural tradition" (p. 1). Basically, he looks at Moses as portrayed in the biblical text and analyzes how ancient (Philo and Josephus) and modern (19th and 20th century) writers portray the character. His premise is that the Moses of the Bible is ambiguous and biographies of him usually are more about contemporary social and cultural issues than about the person of Moses. Therefore, his approach is a literary and cultural analysis of Moses.

Part I of the book (chapters 1-3) examines contemporary images of Moses. Britt gives a good overview of the subject in chapter one. He analyzes the portrayal of Moses in three movies in chapter two-(Moon of Israel, the 1956 version of The Ten Commandments, and Prince of Egypt). Specifically, he looks at the "doubling" of Moses in these films, that is, Moses' qualities projected on other characters or as Moses taking on a doubling of characteristics (specifically, gender and race). In chapter three he looks at how six scholars portray Moses in their writings. Chapter four is an interlude between the two Parts, in which Britt looks at the portrayal of the veil of Moses in the biblical text and in art. His premise is that the veil of Moses, and its implied meaning of revelation, has been avoided in religious traditions and art due to the artist or interpreter's "anxiety before the veil"(p. 84).

Britt discusses the portrayal of Moses in what he calls "uncanny biblical texts" in Part II of the book (chapters 5-8). These texts include Exodus 4:10-17 (chapter 5) Deuteronomy 31-33 (chapters 6 and 7), and Moses' birth and death narratives (chapter 8). Britt's discussion of these texts demonstrates the great depth of research that went into his writing. He engages the biblical text as well as work on the text of noted biblical scholars in an insightful manner. I particularly liked his discussion on Exodus 4 and the birth and death narratives. He includes a limited amount of Hebrew words and phrases in Part II and he does not always translate it. Although quite helpful for those who can read Hebrew, non-Hebrew readers may find Britt's message a little harder to follow because of this usage. The book ends with an extensive bibliography, an index of scripture references, and an index of authors.

Britt certainly achieved his purpose in this work. The overall structure is clear, and the writing is engaging. I think readers who have seen Moses portrayed in movies and have read biographies about him will find Britt's discussion both interesting and insightful. I think the book could be used as a discussion tool in a group setting with an audience of informed readers, especially if one combined this reading with clips from The Ten Commandments and other "Moses" movies. I found Rewriting Moses to be a very intriguing and well-written, well-researched book.

Terry W. Eddinger

Carolina Evangelical Divinity School,

High Point, NC 27265