Biblical Images

The characters and heroes of the Bible are without a doubt some of the best-known figures in history. Even people who are not well versed in Scriptures, and who do not read the Bible regularly, know at least the names of some of the major personalities. We encounter them again and again, directly or indirectly, in art, in literature, in speech, or in folklore. And yet these biblical men and women remain among the most elusive, enigmatic and least understood of any heroes.

Biblical Images (Basic Books, 1985; and Jason Aronson, 1994), a collection of selected portraits of biblical characters, is an attempt to fill in some of the outlines in the picture, to clarify what is hinted at in the Scriptures. It is an attempt to understand some well-known biblical figures from within, to analyze their motives, and to try to understand their spiritual experiences and aspirations in the context of the historical period in which they lived.

This book is not intended to provide all the answers, but rather to encourage the reader to become better acquainted with the men and women of the Bible, to read, or reread, the Scriptures for him/herself and to rediscover the pleasure of studying the Bible; for it is a map through the past, a guide for the present, and a directory to the future