Thank you Regnery Faith for sending us this book to review!

Dennis Prager has studied and taught the Torah for fifty years and has hosted The Dennis Prager Show on radio. This book is written for people of all faiths or lack thereof. According to the author, “The Torah either has something to say to everyone or it has nothing to say to Jews.” The Rational Bible: Exodus is 520 pages long and goes through each verse and adds commentary to explain them further as needed.

Each chapter of the book focuses on a chapter in Exodus and the longest chapter by far is the 20th one which focuses on the Ten Commandments. That chapter alone is over fifty pages long. Along with the verse explanations are various essays that are thought provoking. Some of the major topics covered are slavery, abortion, and the “eye for an eye” concept.

When the Bible was written, slavery was much different than slavery during the Civil War. Most of the slaves in Bible times were slaves by choice or circumstance and not by kidnapping/stealing. In fact, human trafficking is punishable by death according to the Bible. Many Jews became slaves to pay off debt and they had many rights that American slaves did not have. Along with guaranteed food, clothing, and freedom after seven years, they were not required to work on the Sabbath, and even had marital rights.

While not tolerated or recommended, slave abuse is also covered in Exodus. Any injury that involved the loss of a tooth, limb, or an eye, freed the slaves from their abusive master. If a slave was killed by their master, their death must be avenged and treated as a murder. Beatings are not harshly punished though they are counterproductive and if done too severely, sets the slave free.

Many controversial topics are covered in this book and I cannot recommend it enough. I only wish that a thorough verse by verse explanation book was available for each book in the Bible. The $25 asking price is very reasonable and worth considering if you want an in-depth explanation of the Ten Commandments and the reasoning behind them.

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