Legends of the Jews, Volume 4

Volume 4 of this legendary collection gathers the scattered lore of the wilderness years, the stories that filled the silences between biblical verses. Here are the twelve spies and their terrifying report, Balaam and his talking donkey, the copper serpent that healed with a glance. Here too are the deaths of Miriam and Aaron, and Moses standing at the threshold of the promised land, denied entry for a sin lost to history. Ginzberg spent decades collecting these tales from Talmud, Midrash, and forgotten manuscripts, preserving traditions that had circulated orally for two millennia. For readers who want to understand how Jews imagined their sacred past, these legends offer something the Bible alone cannot: the living imagination of a people who could not stop telling stories about their heroes.