Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East

404 Pages·1997·15.862 MB·English

by  Victor H. Matthews, Don C. Benjamin

Laws and Stories from
the Ancient Near East
Victor H. Matthews
Don C. Benjamin

? ED
TESTAMENT
PARALLELS
Praise for the First Edition
“... definitely ‘user friendly.’ With its modest price and decent illus-
trations, it should be of good service to the current generation of stu-
dents.” — J. Andrew Dearman, Biblical Archaeologist
“... for the undergraduate student and for those engaged in private study
this is strongly recommended as an excellent introduction to the mysteries
of ancient accounts of creation, law-codes, Ugaritic epics and the like.”
— Richard Coggins, Theological Book Review
“... accessible to the lay person because the texts are not literal ren-
derings or reproductions of the originals, but rather paraphrases of the
ancient documents.” — Biblical Archaeologist
“... the best asset of this book, in my opinion, is the wide variety of texts
collected in it. From creation stories, to legal codes, from treaties to his-
torical annals, from instructions to hymns, from love songs to visions,
Old Testament Parallels offers a comparison to virtually every major type
of literature found in the Bible. Moreover, this book has included a
number of texts which are not readily found elsewhere. In comparison
to the two-volume paperback set of Pritchard’s Ancient Near Eastern Texts—
the standard anthology, and the predominant alternative to Old Testament
Parallels—it contains the following additional texts: the Atrahasis Story,
the Story of Ra and the Serpent, the Treaty of Ramses II and Hattusilis
II, the Story of Balaam, the Yavne-Yam Inscription, the Story of Keret,
the Lament of Ur, the Mari Prophecies, the Sufferer and the Soul, and
the Farmer and the Courts. These are all very important texts and shed
substantial light on the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. Their inclu-
sion in Old Testament Parallels increases the value of this book.”
— Ronald A. Simkins, Creighton University
“, .. this collection should serve well students in basic courses who often
find more text-oriented translations formidable and the price of other
available collections excessive.”
— W. Lee Humphreys, Religious Studies Review
“. .. Important, convenient, essential.” . — Library Journal
“,.. Matthews and Benjamin have done a fine job in sorting through
what’s accessible, picking out the best, modernizing the translations and
explaining their relevance to Scripture. . . . there may be more scholarly
apparatuses on the market, but for preparing a sermon or adult Bible
class, there’s little comparable.” — Religious Book Club News
cet ALD
TESTAMENT
PARALLELS
LAWS AND STORIES FROM
THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
Fully Revised and Expanded Edition
VICTOR H. MATTHEWS
and
DON C. BENJAMIN
Sus
Paulist Press
New York/Mahwah, N_].
Cover Design
Cover design is taken from a fresco in one of the thirty-nine large rock-cut tombs at Beni-
Hasan, about fifteen miles south of el-Minya, Egypt today on the east bank of the Nile. It
depicts thirty-seven members of the household of Absha arriving from Syria-Palestine in
the sixteenth nome or province of southern Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Senworsret
II (1897-1878 BCE). See P.E. Newberry, Beni Hasan (London, 1893): 1: pls 28, 30-31; D.
Kessler, Studien zur altagyptische Kultur 14 (1987), 147-66.
Cover design by Cindy Dunne
Book design by Saija Autrand/Faces Type & Design
Copyright © 1991, 1997 by Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Matthews, Victor Harold.
Old Testament parallels : laws and stories from the ancient Near East / Victor H.
Matthews and Don C. Benjamin. — Fully rev. and expanded ed.
bag CHD
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8091-3731-3 (alk. paper)
1. Bible. O.T.—Extra-canonical parallels. 2. Middle Eastern literature—Relation
to the Old Testament. 3. Law, Ancient—Sources. 4. Law—Middle East—Sources.
5. Bible. O.T.—History of contemporary events—Sources. 6. Bible. O.T.—Antiquities.
7. Middle Eastern literature—Translations into English. 8. Middle East—History—
To 622—Sources. I. Benjamin, Don C. I. Title.
BS1180.M42 1997
221.9’5—dc21 97-15575
CIP
197
Published by Paulist Press
997 Macarthur Boulevard
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
Printed and bound in the
United States of America
CONTENTS
4 Sa
BOTOMOLC HM Artal OI, Mee UeNes 5, | eae ele te p ticks xi-xiv
Genesis
PVM COP EAL AIS Serr aK ares EE SPEED Oe GT 3=5
EV TUMMONG © Unsida dete sled gi eceae deka ae Pee 6-8
Rivitima dish Stowe eens eer es CL ORS SA 9-18
DLOLIEs.OF GUBAMIES HL 268255 A as 1a ee Re oe ee cee 19-30
Stonesot Atmahasis: 2622 aise eo set sn dh ee eee 31-40
DLOLICSON ACAD acs 24.04 2.625 5-48 62. Vee AN oes een 41-45
INVIZIBAT CHIVESS shark iet ke ells (sig ris. es ae ee ne 46-51
nals Of Liatshepsits 40522 2.0c w ie i agedee eee 52-57
AMPA STOR LDC CIMMIOSES £4 9 rte Sh ae, chebe. svar ebs ce.c ae wee ee eae 58-60
Stones of Anubis and bata 1.2, ceecetts cree oe nee eee 61-65
PLILICN OUAGHat Tiiaye ® x sin. Cole ae ik toe ke ae eS rege 10.
ACSA PRETE N seins 8G, cade, a AW omit win wits Rees Biel Glee aoe 76-81
Exodus
aiavals OF Sargon Tie 2.64) << «> Senet ke 2 o)-ta ae we 85
Treaty Between Ramses II and Hattusilis IIJ.............. 86-90
eoals-Or Memeptall .. . 5 .aret watsom deh. lee sass 91-93
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Carer Gr Ee NAMI o. iacst eke moe ee ee ha hae ieee 97-98
ShFeerg Na. OeO r Co nO aa Be? ee ge I BP Pe SRR os ae re 99-100
ae OL attihibablos he co ee ees dn tau Sabet es oe. 101-109
ANNIE OCLC or att Hee We ee xis oe Saw ea LEA Seng ROD 110-113
Middle AssyrianiCode sf digs tierce d IPRS Tass IS GM 114-123
UeI C SOs Era AEN oiv etey weir ad oP Aidt @ OR te ents We. BE 124-126
VI OLD TESTAMENT PARALLELS
Joshua, Judges
Stories Ob Sibi. 26.4) 26h oe ne hende we ene ee
Auras Gb Tuthmoses Wii grid pie a ee eee ire anne
Tl Aisi rik Treks 6 os a con a od id ee ee ee ane
Annals or Ramses TET 6 0665 cas wk ota eens Cen eer
CSetOr RIIATAC ey ex 5 ea es ee eS ee
Ruth
VALELINVES OL SAD ALLE cao oe eos ieee en ee eee eee ree
Samuel, Kings
Wonats of liglath-Feser ] 6. 0G ccomes ioo ma eep eee tee
PATIUIMIS ASE UCR § ee dior Nixlar a gia) «ear eae een 157-159
Teen Aaraisel Hardiel’<\..:3 cesoie eds aa re e
Karatepe Annals'of Azitiwada: <6 0.5 sails riena e
Asnrals of Sitaimianeser TE oot a ees een cule Ue gee oat
Annals of Tigteth-Pileser Ib. . 2 so 106 ss.0 a nas oe anagbaly
annals of Sargon IT; 665 ca « «cep 22s Ee I aes
Annals of Sennacherib 3.2 ss aocwenne aio ee
Siloam Annals). FW oie es Ye Ee... Pe eee
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah
Hected Of Cyruiss< gt. so Saeed Sie) cise ee 193-195
PRG Hiamtrie ECUeTS iirc e ieee te cd ada oe eee 196-200
Job, Ecclesiastes
Declarations of INNOCENCE: «7x5 ee os a: S02 ee
A. Sufferer and,a Soulam Egypt. 375.2 20s See
A. Farmer and the Courts in Egypt... +.E S Fe 215-222
A Sufferer and a Friend in Babylon ..................
Psalms, Lamentations
Hptenms TOL UE 5 vs oes webs ae a eee
Hyoin.to Ninkast......: 0.44. o,ee cc
Etila Archives... sso 40+ 2250 eEee ieee eee
244-256
CONTENTS VII
Proverbs, Sirach, Wisdom
enc nings OObtatr OLED. gs ce. os os ok oa Se Cah 265-269
OCR Ie OLN chen ing tals ve acces eee amelie kates 270-273
TeACaang s OF INEH-CDI-OPe «occ he wn eee en wee oes 274-282
PER AC INIIS STE NUITA R ine toes ie esis 84 ies Wp ee aie 283-288
Teaching sot ANKNSNeSshOUGY «cc 5 eo. ec eee eee 8 289-294
Song of Songs
Movolian WOVE SOROS! aegoei a bsa e ae cor 297-301
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos
Stories. of ishtatand: Vaminiue Sere ie cee os 6 oS ws ow wee 305-311
RVISTOISGL IN CHOUCIN ented Pe.7 Aye nua/f ie i Carat en e eA koe 312-317
bath SetheL s at ain arene Maki se de © c/itate dws eee oe alee 8 318-322
SHOMICSIOL WEEN DION ra a0. ohesetc oie ks Migs wea adalah 323-330
NVA VINGAAYN ete tne rie So. sean aa A ate eMa leG s CRS 331-332
Outline of Mesopotamian, History ...........4 333-334
Outline of Egyptian History
PR le OU SNe DG iheo e 0 gad eeva ieiai blea elv admin <pacedy 335
(EMC OV ISIOCHEC HASLOTY a ccacne aS 2 auc nena des 336-337
Bibliography of Texts in Transcription,
Transiiteration, and Translation: : ©. 0... 6... 25... 338-349
Bibliography of Picture: Sources . .~ 2.6.0 c25.%- 350-351
PDOEGVIGHIOUS ge, fo uh ir ee Pere Sr ieee ths ks ke 352-354
erhn et ie a ae 355-384
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