The Old Testament Myth Or Trut
The Old Testament is a compilation, and like every compilation it has a wide variety of contributors who have their individual influence upon the final work. “Today, thanks to the rediscovery of (ancient) literature, it is possible to recognize that the Old Testament is in fact saturated with the popular lore of the Ancient Near East”1 I will enumerate the influences these cultures had on what we now know as the Old Testament.
Each culture that existed before and during the writing of the Old Testament lent their own specific myths and some myths that were common to all cultures such as the creation of the Earth. We see in the Bible that each of these cultures has given to ...
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back to the first appearance of the Bible in written form, in its earliest translation, we arrive at approximately 450 B.C. Two texts, components of the Pentateuch referred to as J and E texts, can be traced to around 650 B.C. The J texts refer to Yahweh texts, characterized by the use of the word Yahweh or Lord in accounts; the E texts refer to Elohist texts, which use Elohim, in its references to God. But 650 B.C. isn't our oldest reference to the J and E texts; they can be traced, along with the other three strands of the Pentateuch, to at least 1000 B.C. However, our first compilation of these strands existed in 650 B.C. Here, with the J and E texts, is where one can start to piece together the different coinciding stories of the Bible.
We have evidence of an Israelite tribe, the ...
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the city of Ur, as given in the Bible as "...the Ur of Chaldees". Earlier translations read, however, simply "...Land of the Chaldees"; later, it was deduced that Abraham had come from a city called Haran. The book of Genesis tells how Abraham...going up the Euphrates as far as Haran... In any case, he lived in a thriving and prosperous world. Homes were comfortable, even luxurious. Copies of hymns were found next to mathematical tablets detailing formulae for extracting square and cube roots. The level of sophistication four thousand years ago is remarkable. There is a well known sculpture...showing two arms raised in prayer... Through ...
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The Old Testament Myth Or Trut. (2004, August 9). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Old-Testament-Myth-Or-Trut/12417
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"The Old Testament Myth Or Trut." Essayworld.com. August 9, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Old-Testament-Myth-Or-Trut/12417.
"The Old Testament Myth Or Trut." Essayworld.com. August 9, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Old-Testament-Myth-Or-Trut/12417.
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