This post was prompted by this thought: Isn’t it remarkable that a little over 28 percent of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible is prophecy, which largely criticizes the Jews for not doing what God wants them to do?
And of the post-Torah OT historical narratives (a little over 30 percent of the OT), most of what we find there is sobering for Jews as well: The Jews, more often than not, stray from God’s path and pay the price for that.
That leaves us with the Torah (23 percent of the OT) and the wisdom books (18 percent). Well, the (post-Creation) Jewish story doesn’t start until the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and while they get the one big thing right (worshiping God), they are not perfect (to understate it). Nor is Joseph (though he is my favorite male character in Genesis) — and of course Joseph’s brothers are less perfect still. The four books following Genesis in the Torah tell the Moses story, and Moses is certainly a great man — but his life gets off the a rather shaky start and for his subsequent sin even he is denied entry into the Promised Land in his lifetime.
As for the remaining category, the wisdom books, I’ll concede that there’s not much there to shake the Chosen People’s confidence — but it’s also the smallest category, making up just 18 percent of the Old Testament.
On the other hand, God is talking to them. Would you rather have a parent that ignores you? It ought to be humbling for us non-Jews that even God’s Chosen People struggled mightily.
In all events, the key point here is that the failure of Scripture to flatter its authors is evidence of its truth. Why make up a text that over and over again paints you so unfavorably? We lawyers have an evidentiary rule by which “statements against interest” are given special credibility.