Old Testament Parallels (Fully Revised and Expanded Third Edition): Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East

This is the type of book that is probably best used as a reference book, but worth reading through in its entirety. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the "parallels", although in the majority of instances that word is used very loosely. As the authors make clear in their introduction: "There are genre parallels, motif parallels, social institution parallels, plot parallels, and parallels in historical events."As you read through the text you will be treated to an introduction to each ancient document that usually discusses it's origin, date, and reason for its inclusion in the book. In addition to this, as you read through each selection you will be treated to referenced biblical texts for comparisons. Although the referenced biblical texts strewn throughout each ancient selection often seemed quite awkward when presented as parallels. I flipped open the book randomly and pulled up an example of this. This particular ancient text reads as follows:"Then I will travel with you to safe harbor, Then we shall live together forever" pg229The parallel text is Psalm 94:19 which reads as follows: "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul." KJV.As you can see, I was left scratching my head as to how this was a parallel, but others are slightly more applicable, dealing with similar topics(ie: food, life, oxen, etc.) as we see in the biblical texts.Now to the primary topic, the stories/texts themselves! Many of these stories are thematically similar(ie: laments, poems, stories about brothers, laws against crimes, stories about barren women, etc.) to the biblical narratives, but often strikingly different in actual content and intent. The most notable exception to this is the flood story of Gilgamesh. However, this is difficult to determine if this is due to a common tradition of a real event, a borrowed tradition from one culture to another, or something else entirely. As the authors themselves make clear: "Establishing the correct connection between related biblical and non-biblical traditions is never easy. Simple solutions are generally misleading solutions." (Forward xiii).The most enjoyable parallels were those that demonstrated grammatical and stylistic similarities of the texts - it is a beautiful reminder that the Hebrew people were a real people, in the real world, who interacted with their cultural peers.That said, I learned quite a bit from this volume and I have accumulated a few pages of notes for further study.

*Old Testament Parallels* is indeed a useful anthology of ANE texts with perspicuous translations for the casual reader. The selections, short albeit, are actually very enjoyable, and as I read them I was reminded of just how beautiful, crude, wise, and diverse the world of ANE literature can be; from the raw vagaries of the Baal cycle, through the mundane social interactions of the Nuzi Texts, to the practical and epigrammatic sapience of Anksheshonq...the parallels are engaging enough on their own without minding their comparisons with the Old Testament at all. Many of the bible passages adjacent to the lines in the ANE selections often don't seem to relate or to be of any real consequence anyway.Nevertheless it is still a delight when they do. The selections follow the order of the books of the Old Testament, although some of them are misplaced. The 'Stories of Sinuhe' contain striking parallels to Moses' exile in Midianite territory from Egypt and to David and Goliath, but nothing apparently from Joshua-Judges, the section it's found under. Likewise with the 'Gezer Almanac'. And I certainly can't discover what the 'Yavne-Yam Letter' is doing under the prophets section. The authors were also remiss to inform the reader where it is preserved today. I'm inclined to withhold a star, but I'd recommend to anyone.The book includes three brief outlines of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Israelite history, bibliography for each text and for the pictures, and an index of over 1,300 Old Testament parallels.Fun Facts:* Yes, I counted the items in the index out of boredom!* The island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean is conspicuously missing from the map on p. 177.

This book provides translations of recovered tablets, etc. from the regions covered in the Old Testament and some in the New Testament, ranging from Babylon, Ur, Egypt, and others. The words on those artifacts have parallels to Old Testament stories and doctrines, showing the cultural origins of such. Whenever there are parallels, the authors cite scriptural chapter and verse for the reader to locate the corresponding place in the Bible. As an example, in an Egyptian story from around 2300 B.C.E., a farmer uses the phrase that one should do to others as they would have done to themselves. I found that moral code, which parallels Jesus' words "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you," to be fascinating to learn of its antiquity. Another example is the doctrine in Ur that a man with a barren wife could choose to have a child by a servant, showing that the custom in Ur where Abram and Sarai were from, was followed when Abram took Hagar and she conceived a son, Ishmael. This book is mostly dry, however, and should be read by one who is knowledgeable of the Bible and who wishes to expand their knowledge.

Add this to your book collection for serious OT study. Wonderful arrangement of content, illustrations throughout provide good visual aids, this is a great addition to the OT collection. This book is a deep volume of relevant parallel stories which our most beloved OT literature probably originated or shared a common source with. No, this does not undermine "inspiration" of Scripture, rather it illuminates the world and context of the OT. A must have for a three dimensional look to OT Scriptures.

If you ever wanted to understand where the Bible writers came up with all those fascinating stories, presented here are all the other near east's cultures stories in a clear precise order. Very well researched and easy for anyone to understand. I highly recommend it if you are at all interested in the Bible and its origins.

V. H. Matthews & D. C. Benjamin's `Old Testament Parallels' is a great `anthology of ancient... texts related to the Bible'. It's divided into twelve main sections (each corresponding to a book or section of the Bible) before an appendix section lists (very) short historical outlines of Israel, Egypt & Mesopotamia, plus brief bibliographic details and indexes.The first part is obviously `Genesis' (pages 3-88) and includes the `Enuma Elish Stories' (p11-20), which offer alternative creation accounts, and the `Stories of Gilgamesh (p21-32) which offers a very striking flood account. The next section is `Exodus' (p89-100) with the `Annals of Merneptah' (p97) offering the first (as far as I know!) description of the people of Israel in archaeology. The last main section is `Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos' (p329-356).Examples: the Enuma Elish describes the Babylonian creation stories which are markedly different from the Bible (to me, they seem dreadfully gory and almost pornographic). By contrast, the Gilgamesh Epic contains an amazing flood story - with an ark, the animals and bird releases etc. (`... The origins of which date to the Early Bronze period (3300-2300 B.C.)' - much older than the sources for the Genesis 6-9 accounts of Noah.) Things like this make `Old Testament Parallels' a fascinating read.My only criticisms would be:1. Editing: e.g. the Annals of Merneptah; while this is just a single carved stone (about 7½ feet high!) it warrants barely a page in this book (p97-98), of which only a paragraph is translated text (with a line drawing of the `stele' and the hieroglyphics for `Israel'). I am fortunate enough to have a 1962 edition of Winton Thomas' wonderful `Documents from Old Testament Times' which lends four pages to this text (nearly two for translation) plus another for a photograph of the stele itself. While Matthews and Benjamin offer many more ancient texts for examination - they have fifty more years of archaeological discovery to plunder! - the breadth of coverage hinders its depth.2. Translation: the Matthews/Benjamin translation feels far too `modern' to me. It's akin to (but not as marked as) comparing the Message Bible to the King James. While I don't like the King James translation at all, I prefer Winton Thomas' translations as they `feel' more authentic (to my layman's ears). 3. Critical Analysis: Winton Thomas offers several pages of `Notes' after each text which compares and contrasts it more directly with the Bible and explains some of the text's ancient terminology. Matthews and Benjamin do not, but (like Winton Thomas) they do explain some of the background to each text and also skip large sections with explanatory notes.In the end, `Old Testament Parallels' is great as a detailed introduction to ancient texts which relate to the Bible. It's very accessible indeed with an impressive breadth of coverage - though at the expense of depth of analysis. If you only get one book on this subject, this is excellent. I paid £16 for mine and was quite happy but as Amazon offer the softback for just a tenner now, you should not resist!

Helped me have a better understanding especially writing for assignments

This book is usefull to complete the Jerusalen's Catholic Bible, although I miss the presence of the text from the biblic paralles that are mentioned in the book in order to have a better view of the matter. Nevertheless, the book is very recommendable as a secundary source, because the text references to the primary sources appear very clear. Maybe a fourth edition with the biblical texts and longer introductions to its extrabiblical parallels will made it an excellent book, I mean, a essential one.

So much cheaper than buying the book. Just wish i could see the actual pagw numbers!

Amazing book!