Literal interpretation started in the post Babylon era

Submitted by Shishir (United Arab Emirates), Mar 9, 2022 at 04:43

As I understand there were various interpretations of Jewish texts but the idea that the scripture is the literal word of God began in the Babylonian exile. Ive read that rabbis felt that the idea of universe renewing itself in cycles every 432,000 years ,as per the Babylonian belief, would create a sense of fatalism and complacency in the population when action was required hence they shortened it to 6000 or so years to give them more focus in the here and now.
As for Aaron staff and Moses and the Red Sea, the more mundane knowledge of low vs high tides is possible or a metaphor for doing what was considered impossible at the time- successfuly defy the Pharoah who himself was considered a force of nature.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".