Five Biblical Portraits

Five Biblical Portraits is a sequel to Elie Weisel's Messengers of God; in this work he enhances his well-known skill in bringing ancient religious figures to literary life with his stories of: Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah. Review: This collection of biographies of prophets--Joshua, Elijah, Saul, Jeremiah, and Jonah--does a masterful job of humanizing these figures.

However, in the course of his descriptions, Elie Wiesel does more than inform us about their lives and supposed thoughts. He asks today's questions in the context of the past... There is no ambiguity or vagueness in Wiesel's writing. He promises us portraits, and there is not a wasted brushstroke, not a blurred line. --Christian Century | Jonah the unlucky, Joshua the lucky, Saul the complex, Jeremiah the tearful--all stride through semi-narrative episodes which the masterful story-teller weaves as a historical vignette of prophetic destiny. --Commonweal| Wiesel's sketches will stir the imagination in ways that will open readers to new depths in ancient texts. --Religious Studies Review| Deeply moving and enlightening. --Chicago Tribune