Nice thought from a new book

I was looking over forthcoming book today, The Land of Canaan and the Destiny of Israel, and ran across this wonderful set of lines:

Several rabbis emphasized that the Torah is not an exact reflection of God’s values. The following passage in y. Mak. 2.6 is illustrative:
שאלו לחכמה חוטא מהו ענשו? אמרה להם, “חטאים תרדף רעה” )משלי יג, כא(. שאלו
לנבואה, חוטא מהו ענשו? אמרה להם, “הנפש החוטאת היא תמות” )יח’ יח, ד(. שאלו לתורה,
חוטא מהו ענשו? אמרה להם, יביא אשם ויתכפר לו. שאלו לקב″ה, חוטא מהו ענשו? אמר להם,
יעשה תשובה ויתכפר לו.
They asked Wisdom, “What is the sinner’s punishment?” She said to them, “Evil pursues sinners” (Prov 13:21). They asked Prophecy, “What is the sinner’s punishment?” She said to them, “The soul that sins shall die” (Ezek 18:4). They asked Torah, “What is the sinner’s punishment?” She said to them, “Let him bring a guilt offering and be atoned.” They asked the Holy One, blessed be he, “What is the sinner’s punishment?” He said to them, “Let him repent and be atoned.”

This rabbinic text presents a scene in which a theological question (What is the punishment of the sinner?) is posed to the three biblical personifications: Wisdom, Prophecy, and Torah. After each personification offers its answer, usually with a biblical quotation, the question is then presented to God, who offers an answer not contemplated by the biblical personifications. God, the talmudic passage implies, cannot be fully captured in the biblical passages that speak of his ways. God’s transcendence always remains higher than the biblical theologies captured by the text. What is more, the different sections of the Bible (Wisdom, Prophets, Torah) present divergent approaches to the theological issue that is raised. It is thus acknowledged that the Bible is a theologically diverse collection of works that reflects various perspectives on central theological issues. No single biblical statement can therefore be taken as anything more than an incomplete and partial reflection of the biblical witness as a whole, which is itself an incomplete reflection of God’s ultimate truth.—The Land of Canaan and the Destiny of Israel, pages 386-387

<idle musing>
I really like this part: "No single biblical statement can therefore be taken as anything more than an incomplete and partial reflection of the biblical witness as a whole, which is itself an incomplete reflection of God’s ultimate truth." We can't put God in a box—not even a biblically sized one! As a friend of mine says, "God is a whole lot bigger and a whole lot more complicated than we think." And Amen to that!
</idle musing>