Which Bible, Which Date? Poem by gershon hepner

The Hebrew Bible comes, like Gaul,
in three parts. First there is the Torah,
the Prophets next and last of all
the Writings with psalmodic aura.
The Christians have a different order
and move the Prophets down to last,
and add a fourth part that’s a quarter,
new prophet leading this new class.
New Testament they call their book,
when A.D. happened after B.C.,
but B.C.E. and C.E. look
religiously correct and easy.

The difference is profound, because
for Christians Malachi leads straight
to Jesus, but for Jews the flaws
in this connection are so great
it’s Chronicles that ends their book,
the story of the Temple Cyrus
commanded Jews to build. We look
at him as man who could admire us
for customs we’d observed since Moses,
expecting us to keep his laws;
the book that starts with Sabbath closes
with holy space as its main cause.

“Which order is correct? ” you may
be asking, if you’re vexed
about its message and the way
it’s written as a hypertext,
but if you may an honest search
for context of each passage and
ignore what you have learned in church
and synagogue, you’ll understand
its words, and know that it’s your duty
to learn its laws, and on day seven
be timeless, dwelling in the beauty
of holy time, which is like heaven.

5/25/97,4/9/06,3/14/07